The Birth of The Jerk

Article written by: Andre Sanchez
Posted on: October 29, 2009

Since it started, the “Jerk” movement has only gotten larger: what with the skinny jeans, and the “Jerk” dance that the New Boyz (band members Dominic “Legacy”  Thomas and Eric “Ben J” Benjamin) have made so popular… there are even “Jerk” themed shirts at Hot Topic!

But upon diggin’ into the universe of music a little deeper, I learned something really cool that the New Boyz probably didn’t even know themselves…”The Jerk” was born in the 1960’s!

Musician Don Julian first recorded his song  “The Jerk” in 1964 with his group “The Larks” in 1964. It ended up being extremely popular, and led to the band producing four more albums.

According to Wikipedia, “The Jerk is basically…with arms and hands moving as if conducting a band, crossing wrists in front of the chest, then sweeping out, in time, or at half time, with the body’s movement, to the count of four. The hands are up at face level. On count 1, the outward sweep, the hands are “pushed” out into the outward sweep, giving a jerky motion. For a little more style, the fingers are snapped on the two outward movements—the first and third counts of your hand motion.”

Think you got all that? Well, it didn’t even stop there! In 1966 a band by the name of The Capitols made a song “Cool Jerk”, which is DOPE.

Reader, have you learned how to “Jerk” yet? I was watching the New Boyz on the Monique show, and they were telling their story of how they used to sell candy outside of stores just so they could buy music equipment and create what would be their hit single “You’re a Jerk”. For that, I salute their hustle!

So I ask: are you a little more accepting of “The Jerk” given it’s roots in quality Doo-Wop Soul music, or do you think they aren’t even remotely related? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments!