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Cover of Shake It Up by The Cars
Cover: Shake It Up

Song · The Cars

“Shake It Up” by The Cars

From the album Shake It Up (1981)

“Shake It Up” by The Cars appears on 45 radio countdowns from 24 stations between 1981 and 2026. It was first released in 1981 on the album Shake It Up. Its best result is #19 on the KISW 25 Biggest Rock Songs from 1981. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #65 alternative song of 1981, #5,279 alternative song of all time and #426 of the '80s.

45countdowns
24stations
#19best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1981–2026years charted

Watch

The Cars - Shake It Up

Video from YouTube (svenssoncorps). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Shake It Up" gave the Cars both the title and the lead single for their fourth album, released on Elektra in November 1981, though Ric Ocasek had written it years before. The song had been hanging around so long that drummer David Robinson didn't even want to cut it; the band had already recorded it more than once and binned the results before tearing the whole arrangement down and building every part again from nothing.

The rebuild worked. With Roy Thomas Baker producing, it comes out as a sleek new wave party invitation, and Elliot Easton pitched his guitar solo as if two players were swapping licks. It climbed to number four on the Billboard Hot 100 early in 1982, with "Cruiser" on the flip side.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1981 65 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981 106
1981 19 KISW Seattle-Tacoma, WA KISW 25 Biggest Rock Songs from 1981 25
1982 64 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1982 107

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 146 91X 91X Top 191 Songs of the 1980s (1989) 191
1998 443 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 182 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
2002 392 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (2002) 500
2011 196 97.9 The Loop The Loop Rock N Roll 500 (2011) 500
2011 687 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 704 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2012 422 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2012) 500
2013 353 Big 100 BIG 500 Labor Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 775 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2013 372 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) 500
2014 964 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 283 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2015) 500
2015 417 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2015 781 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2016 179 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2016 381 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2016 894 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2017 392 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2018 450 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2018 388 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2019 342 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2019 268 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2020 445 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2020 265 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2021 294 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2021 449 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2021 390 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2021 453 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2022 231 97.1 The River River 500 (2022) 500
2022 339 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 327 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 110 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2023 486 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 474 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 229 97.1 The Drive 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 327 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2024 455 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2025 354 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 425 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2025) 500
2026 387 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 423 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Shake it Up.

Charting alongside it in 1981

Best songs of 1981 →
  1. 1Start Me UpThe Rolling Stones
  2. 2Tom SawyerRush
  3. 3I Love Rock-N-RollJoan Jett
  4. 4Every Little Thing She Does Is MagicThe Police
  5. 5Jukebox HeroForeigner
  6. 6For Those About to RockAC/DC

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