HBO revisits the Chicago Bears’ ‘Super Bowl Shuffle’ 40 years later
The Chicago Bears didn’t want to appear arrogant.
They didn’t want to hurt each other.
They certainly didn’t want to provide their opponents with bulletin board material in their attempt to bring a Super Bowl championship to their hometown after the 1985 season.
As a large group of players from that team – billed as the Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew – said in the lyrics of one of the most unlikely hit songs and music videos of the 1980s: “We’re not here to not make no trouble. We’re just here to do ‘The Super Bowl Shuffle’.”
All these thoughts weighed on the minds of the 30 or so players who recorded “The Super Bowl Shuffle” four decades ago this month, several weeks before the NFL regular season even ended.
“If we don’t go to the Super Bowl, we’ll be the biggest idiots ever,” former Bears linebacker and Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Singletary says in “The Shuffle,” an NFL Films production presented by HBO Documentary Films. “We gotta win this thing, man.”
Singletary is one of many people sharing their thoughts and memories about being part of what has become a beloved relic during the 40-minute documentary that premieres Tuesday at 9 p.m. PST on HBO and streams on HBO Max. Director Jeff Cameron told the Times that it’s no coincidence that “The Shuffle” is being released during the 40th anniversary season of the Bears’ only Super Bowl title.
“Outside of some print media or a few articles, no one had really chronicled the entire genesis, development and production of ‘The Super Bowl Shuffle,’ which is so closely tied to this team,” Cameron said.
The song was the brainchild of Chicago businessman Dick Meyer, who had formed Red Label Records the previous year. With the Bears off to a strong start to the 1985 season, Meyer believed that a hip-hop record featuring many of that team’s already beloved personalities might have some success in Chicago.
Many players agreed to participate after learning that a portion of the proceeds were being donated to the Chicago Community Trust. “We don’t do this ’cause we’re greedy,” rapped running back Walter Payton during his verse, “the Bears do it to feed the needy.”
Other Bears players featured included Singletary, Gary Fencik, Willie Gault, Otis Wilson, Steve Fuller, Mike Richardson, Richard Dent, William “Refrigerator” Perry and Jim McMahon.
The vocal tracks were recorded on November 21, 1985. The Bears were 11-0 at the time, following a 44-0 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. They continued their momentum the following weekend with a 36-0 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
But their run of perfection ended on December 2, 1985, with an ugly 38-24 loss to the Dolphins in Miami on “Monday Night Football.” It turns out that the video shoot for “The Super Bowl Shuffle” was scheduled for the next morning in Chicago.
Suddenly, Gault said in the documentary, “The guys don’t want to make the video. »
Two of the team’s biggest stars, Payton and McMahon, did not show up. They were added to the video after filming their parts a day after practice.
“It was pretty bold of us to talk about going to the Super Bowl, winning it, you know?” McMahon said in the documentary. “We still have games to play and we just lost.”
Chicago Bears players Mike Singletary (left) and Gary Fencik participate in the filming of “The Super Bowl Shuffle” music video on December 3, 1985, at Park West in Chicago.
(Paul Natkin/HBO/Getty Images)
But the video shoot may have had unexpected benefits for the players who participated.
“If it wasn’t for ‘The Shuffle,’ they probably wouldn’t even get together” that day, Cameron told the Times. “They probably don’t see each other until Wednesday because they have Tuesday off after Monday night, and they’re back in the film room or on the practice field. They can’t really forget the loss for a second, come together as a group of guys who love playing with each other and who love each other.”
In behind-the-scenes footage provided to Cameron’s team by Meyer’s widow, Julia Meyer, the players are seen laughing and joking as they attempt to learn a few dance steps and synchronize their parts, all with varying degrees of success.
“We bonded in a way that we never could have otherwise,” Singletary said in the documentary. “That was the fun part of working together in a totally different field. There were guys who were substitutes and teaching guys who were beginners. We mixed in a way that we never had a chance to do before. And it became a rallying point that brought us together, allowed us to refocus. ‘This is what we said we were going to do, let’s do it.’
The Bears did not lose another game before defeating the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX. And “The Super Bowl Shuffle” was a success in its own right, with popularity that extended far beyond Chicago.
The single spent nine weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 41, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Assn. of America (500,000 units moved). The clip, released commercially on VHS and Betamax, was certified platinum (one million units moved).
The song was even nominated for a Grammy in the “Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal” category, ultimately losing to Prince and the Revolution for the song “Kiss.”
“I think it was the perfect marriage of those characters from the top down…and the fact that outside of the Miami game, of course, they continued to win,” Cameron said. “And it wasn’t close. I think it definitely helps propel this video, as well as the rise of MTV. It was a perfect storm of a pop cultural phenomenon.”
