Forty years ago during the waning years of the Satanic panic, a lot of songs were still under scrutiny by several Christian and/or parental groups. Therefore, a song like “Strokin'” would’ve never played on the radio or even MTV but only late at night.
Clarence Carter recorded the song for his album ‘Dr. C.C.’ on the Ichiban label who faced a huge problem. The song’s content about having sex including anal wasn’t going to play on Casey Kasem’s Top 40. There are a lot of songs about sex and love making but they toe the line on what they can get away with.
But while radio stations are bound by the regulations of the FCC, whatever plays on a jukebox is A-OK. And to be honest, lot of bars and clubs in the 1980s had a lot more risqué things going on so the song became popular among jukebox plays. Most people there are trying to have sex anyway so why not give them a special song?
And most Gen Xers and Millennials were listening to it mainly because they knew their parents wouldn’t like it. Rap, hip-hop and R&B was all being hated by parents who ironically had been kids themselves when their parents hated Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and The Beatles.
My brother bought the single on cassette tape and when I heard it, I was hooked. For a while it seemed like it was part of an club. There was no social media, no texting and even MTV was ditching music videos for the atrocities of reality TV.
Then it was used in the 1996 Eddie Murphy comedy ‘The Nutty Professor’ bringing it more popularity. It would also be used in ‘Killer Joe.’ The Internet helped bring it to more people and depending on the decorum of a wedding reception, it was often played.
But it would oddly become popular among country-western music lovers as a popular line dance as its synth funk tempo and rhythm matched country line dancing.
Carter passed away on May 13 at the age of 90 in Atlanta. He had been famous for years for “Backdoor Santa,” “Slip Away,” and “Patches.” But “Strokin'” made him an eternal legend. It hit the charts in New Zealand for 46 weeks with a No. 2 place at the end of the year.
The song also placed in the chairs in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. But in America, it was like a viral song before that was even a thing. And now with the Internet, it will last a lot longer.
Zane Says 