Shuffle, The (2025)

[bunniefuu]

We are live from the

Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.

Miami was one of those games

where you are in it, you feel,

this is not our night.

The interception.

Whatever could go wrong went

wrong that night.

Although ball was bouncing

off helmets and going for

touchdowns.

The Bears are in deep trouble

There were guys who were a

little frustrated.

They started to play a little bit.

Come on, man, do your job.

Got to get to the quarterback.

You've got to defend that guy.

It was one of those nights

where you couldn't imagine that

we would play that bad.

And those guys really took it to them.

We got our tails kicked that

night on national television.

Here in the article, the

Bears will not go undefeated.

Monday night game, no one

else is playing.

Went around the country and

around the world literally watching.

But, people don't know that we

were going to sh**t the video

the next day of

"the Super Bowl Shuffle"."

We lose, and we got the video

sh**t the next day saying that

throughout the rest of the

season, we are going to the

Super Bowl.

And we are going to win.

We are flying home from Miami.

And it is, like, what the heck

have we gotten ourselves into?

It is like a nightmare.

How do we get out of this?

We talked about going to the

Super Bowl and we got our a*s

kicked on Monday Night Football.

The whole crew was there.

"The Super Bowl Shuffle" sign is

there.

Everything is laid out.

We got there, looked at each

Other.

We've got to go to the

Super Bowl.

We've got to go to the

Super Bowl.

If we don't go to the

Super Bowl, we are going to be

the biggest idiots ever.

We've got to win this thing,

man.

There it is.

In the windy city.

A bunch of football players, it

is known as

"the Super Bowl Shuffle"."

Okay, so here is the vocal.

We are the Bears shufflin'

crew

I'm Fred.

I was the engineer and mix

engineer of

"the Super Bowl Shuffle."

Uh-huh .

There is the uh-huh version.

"The Super Bowl Shuffle" went

viral in an age where there was

no viral existence like we know

it today.

And was played all around the

world.

It was a phenomenal entity as

well as being a good record.

It was an enjoyable record.

It was an entertaining record.

It was a record that resonated

with people.

People asked me, did I ever

dream about this?

No, you don't dream this stuff

up.

We're not here to start no

trouble

we're just here to do the

Super Bowl Shuffle

It just comes your way.

It was a unique moment in time.

Well, d*ck Meyer was that she

created officer at the fragrance

manufacturers.

At that time, they were very

successful with Musk.

Created something called the

talking box which gave you a

little bit of background about

the fragrance itself.

So, on the back of a box, it was

not just what was in it but a

story behind it.

Kind of a romantic story.

He was getting ready to retire

in '85.

And he wanted to follow his

passion... which was music.

At the time that I met him,

he had a recording studio that

had just been built in his home.

He decided to form a record

label, Fred Labeled Records.

And we were doing videos.

Linda Clifford, he had a video

that they had done for hall

called "the heat in me" in the

summer of '85.

That is when d*ck met

Willie Gault.

Well, Willie Gault was a

wide receiver.

That came with all the star

fever.

Willie Gault on the way to

the end zone for a touchdown.

Willie wanted to be in the

movies.

There was a lot of extra things

that Willie Gault did.

I think Willie was the only

player I ever saw as he was

going out to practice where you

are putting your helmet on, he

would look in the mirror, and he

would fix his hair.

I always wanted to try things

that I believe I could do.

I never wanted to sit when i'm

60 or 70 years old and say, I

wish I had tried this.

That is why they are good,

because they have free spirit,

and they have fun.

This whole thing is fun to them.

Baby, I like this kind of party.

As the season went on in

1985, and of the team stayed

undefeated, every player who had

something to do with that

started to do commercials or do

promotions.

So people saw us off the field,

you know.

They saw us without our helmets

on.

I talked to him in real life.

Fridge it was kind of the

focal point.

But everybody was really

becoming their own superstar.

Even lesser-known players are

in demand for handshakes and

autographs.

The greatest football team in

the history of this city.

They were stars.

It didn't go unnoticed by my

husband.

One day I will never forget, he

was in his dressing room.

He came out and goes, what do

you think of football players

doing a rap song and doing a

line dance?

I looked at him, and I remember

walking back into his dressing

room and saying, what happened

in there?

Where did you get this idea?

He said, "no, I think it would

be a really fun idea for Chicago

and their personalities on their

own.

I just think since rap is kind

of coming up, and it is really

catching on, and it is fun, it

would be kind of fun to

incorporate them."

So I met with them.

We had dinner.

At dinner, we talked about the

Bears.

And we talked about, he said,

well, you know, we should do a

video, a song with the Bears.

So d*ck made a list of who he

wanted in his video pretty gave

it to Willie.

The dubious job of me to

convince these guys to do a rap

song.

It was the seventh week of

the season when in our Tuesday

production meeting, we were

informed by d*ck that we had a

relationship with the Bears, and

we were going to do a record

with them.

Once he had an idea, d*ck was

very well known for getting

things done right away.

Because he didn't want to lose

the moment.

We knew we were looking for

release at Christmas.

We all got very excited.

And began trying to figure out

what to do.

I knew that if anybody can

get it done, he could get it

done.

Ultimately felt within a

couple of days, we realized that

on the shelf, we had a product

that we had unreleased that

would be perfect to repurpose.

It was called

"the Kingfish shaffle."

It was about an old TV show

called "Amos and Andy."

King fish was one of the

characters.

We are the

the Kingfish shuffin' crew,

doing it for you, et cetera.

We got a 24 track tape without

any of the vocals, just with the

band track.

The entire record is based off

of that beat.

Using drum machine was kind of a

brand-new concept.

And it was funky.

It is a danceable fund record to

listen to.

d*ck thought it was great.

He brought other people in.

And they spent long hours just

kind of making the words to the

music.

And then the music to the words.

The chorus lyrics are the

same, we are

the Kingfish shuffin' crew

became we are the Bears

shufflin' crew.

We had a foundation of the

shufflin' crew forests.

We are the Bears shufflin'

crew

shufflin' on down, doin' it

for you

we're so bad, we know we're

good

blowin' your mind like we knew

we would

d*ck was used to doing

commercials.

I think he used the same process

with the song and the words.

Something catchy, something

people would remember.

We're not here to start no

trouble

we're just here to do the

Super Bowl Shuffle

There were games left to

play.

Here they are talking about, we

are going to the Super Bowl.

Uh-huh we are going to win

the thing in their games left to

play.

Uh-huh , uh-huh .

I know enough about sports

and sports, and momentum to

realize you are making a

superstitious chance.

That is why with the Shuffle,

d*ck wanted other people to

invest.

He didn't want them to bet on

something that might perhaps not

happen.

We're not here to start no

trouble

we're just here to do the

Super Bowl Shuffle

You know, Chicago is a big

city.

It's always had its great

beauty.

It is absolutely in love with

the Chicago Bears here but it

has always had its problems.

And, this was an era, the idea

of using music to promote

something for charity, live aid,

we are the world.

He came in 1985.

With me are the world, 45 of

this nation's top recording

artists came together and made a

song in the hopes that it would

make a difference for starving

people throughout the world.

It was such a wonderful thing

to give back to the world that

d*ck wanted to be part of that.

We wanted to really help

people in Chicago.

Without helping their neediest

families in Chicago would be

great.

Certainly when we say

something is for charity, you

can quite often get people to do

ridiculous things.

The first person I went to

his Walter Payton.

I knew if I could get Walter

involved that everyone else

would follow, because Walter was

basically our team.

And he said, this would be

great.

This would be great.

It was good with me.

Everyone would know that I get

the best that I good.

The next person I went to a

Jim McMahon.

Jim was crazy.

Jim did everything.

Jim didn't care.

He will do this record and

all the proceeds would go and do

a good thing for Chicago.

We thought that was a cool thing

to do.

Ii have those two guys.

And then, that guy that I was

most concerned about,

Mike Singletary.

The leader of the defense,

Samurai.

I went to Mike Singletary.

He looks at me with those big

eyes.

This is big, but if all the guys

are doing it, I will do it.

If it's good for the team,

and it's good us all.

And once Willie told me about

what it was for, what the money

would go towards, feeding the

hungry, then he knew that was

the body end.

Guys who outrightly said no

and wouldn't do it was Ben

Hampton and Steve have selected

Stephen Michael.

They were little bit more

conservative.

That was also when we beat

Dallas 44-0...

the Chicago Bears have

overwhelmed the cowboys and put

on one of the most impressive

displays that we have seen in a

long time.

And when Willie approached

me, I thought, hey, how bad can

it be?

The recording of the song was

way before the video, of course.

Each guy had to go to Myers at

his recording studio in his

basement to record their lines

on audio track.

So, Thursday of that week, all

the players show up.

d*ck is totally prepared.

He had each one of their lyrics

ready for them.

We put them out in the studio on

a mic.

They would rather tell micro

site and seeing their part.

We got the lyrics and began

to look at them.

It was kind of, like, okay.

This is interesting.

I know I changed a few.

I wanted to change the punky qb.

I still don't know where that

came from.

I am the punky qb known as

mcmahan,"

I cut my hair because I had a

bad haircut.

None of my word that I

checked, I don't say Super Bowl.

I thought it was called

"the Shuffle"."

We're going to do

"the Shuffle" then ring your

bell

You started to realize, oh,

my gosh, some of the guys lyrics

were talking about a Super Bowl.

I just came to do

"the Super Bowl Shuffle"

The idea that you will have

anything that will be bulletin

board material, Super Bowl, are

you out of your mind?

I wasn't thinking about it

when we get the record part.

No one is really going to hear

it other than people in Chicago

could, probably, right?

Between Saturday and Sunday,

we mix that record and prepared

it for shipment to capitol

records for mastering.

The Bears shut out Dallas

last week.

They are working on the shutout

of the falcons.

We had the TV on while we

were mixing on Sunday.

Hello, like it's going to

happen.

Once we all recorded our

song, we set the schedule for

game number 13 to do the

video... which was on Tuesday

after a Monday night game,

because we have Tuesdays off.

What?

That was a part of the deal.

You said we are going to make a

record.

No one ever mentioned the word

video before.

There was always going to be

a music video, it was just gone

into parts.

It's like acting out

musicians seldom act on, play or

sing.

We use recording to sync up the

action and the soundtrack is

added in editing.

With the success of mtv and

the proliferation of music

videos, it wasn't enough just to

have a great song.

Now, you had to have visuals to

accompany this.

It has become real important.

It is become the marketing tune

in production and dolomite for

the album.

When we played Miami, and we

lose, and guys don't want to do

the video.

Man, I'm not doing that.

Forget that.

There was a lot of pressure on

me to go to each guy and say,

we've got to show up tomorrow.

I started that round on the

plane, guys wear, like, I don't

know.

It may be bad luck.

We shouldn't do this.

My heart is going, oh, my gosh,

I am in trouble.

So, I go to Mike Singletary and

say, look, we are committed.

We are doing a good thing here.

We are going to help these

families in Chicago.

We made a commitment to do

"the Super Bowl Shuffle" video.

We have to do it.

And he said, you are right.

We committed to it.

We said we were going to do it.

Hey, let's be men.

Suck it up, let's go.

We are committed.

We said we are going to do it.

Be there.

Cam brown 4, is there somebody on

camera 4?

I was in charge of the video

crew.

The director was Dave Thompson.

I started getting phone calls at

around midnight from crew

members.

I tried to reach out to the

production team to make sure

things were still on.

We really didn't get

confirmation of the taping of

"the Super Bowl Shuffle" was

going to happen until about 4:00

in the morning.

I didn't know it at at the time,

but the Bears were still in the

air flying back from Miami.

They didn't arrive until about

6:00... which is when our load

in began.

It took us about 4 hours or so

to get ready for 10:00 A.M.

Start.

10:00 A.M. came, and there were

no Bears.

10:30 came, there were no Bears.

11:00 came, there were no Bears.

The worry began to rise again

that may be the enthusiasm for

dancing and singing after their

first loss of the season just

wasn't going to happen.

Luckily around noon, the Bears

began to trickle in.

I don't think anybody was in

a really good mood.

Excited to volunteer.

How many hours of sleep did

you get last night?

Not many, maybe 4 or 5.

I like football playing

better, but this is something

that helps the needy out.

It's like 30 guys, ten or 25

or so wound up coming.

There were a number of

no-shows, none were more notable

than missing Jim McMahon and

Walter Payton.

It was pretty audacious of us

to talk about going to the

Super Bowl and winning it.

We've still got games to play,

and we just lost.

The rehearsal for words, now.

One thing to hear something

about the radio and then seeing

a bunch of guys on a video

screen.

Walter and I didn't go.

We told them, look, we are not

doing it.

That was a part of the deal.

We said, okay, we have to do

it without them.

All the team, we talked.

We said look, guys, what

happened yesterday was bad.

And we can't let it happen

again.

We have to do things and do it

as a team.

This is Mike Singletary talking.

We started with this, but commit

ourselves to doing it as a team.

Don't lose the game and then

come do a video.

Yeah, I'm "Samurai" Mike.

I stopped him cold.

Okay, I got it.

We are here, we are committed to

being here.

Let's be professional.

Let's get it done.

These are elite athletes.

They can move like nobodies

business.

But nobody had ever taught them

to move together.

One, two, three, we are the

Bears shufflin' crew.

One of the funniest parts of

the whole production was

watching Mike Singletary who

took the lead on this, trying to

get these guys to dance

together.

The first thing, a lot of

guys couldn't dance.

People always say going well,

you are at least a better dance

than Stephen Fuller.

He got hurt and is on crutches.

Steve, the crutches really don't

work.

You watch him come in all you

can do is one leg in and out and

in and out.

Turn.

Yeah, and then take a step.

Slide.

Leslie was probably one of

the worst dancers.

Okay, come on.

Come on.

One, two, three, we are the

Bears shufflin' crew.

He was awful.

Get down.

He is from Mississippi, man,

come on.

He ain't got no rhythm.

It takes a lot of rhythm.

Every course that starts, I

want to get a little more not a

backing.

There's no reason after the

first course you can start

moving and singing and working

out a little bit.

Steve was concerned that the

Bears would have no enthusiasm

for doing this.

d*ck Meyer became the

cheerleader.

Struttin' our stuff for

everyone

we're not here to start no

trouble

we're just here to do the

Super Bowl Shuffle

Whenever they were dancing on

stage, d*ck was dancing behind

the camera.

The fact that these guys

couldn't dance together actually

became a postproduction problem.

Because we had to create the

illusion that they had some

talent.

And that meant that we watch the

video and self, you seldom had a

take that was more than two

seconds long.

Uh-huh

That is as long as they can

keep their hands moving to the

left, and their hands moving to

the right.

Uh-huh

The decision was is made to

get as many wide shots in the

can as possible.

Because we had all the Bears

there at the beginning.

We weren't sure how long they

would stick around.

It took about two hours to get

all of that wide stuff.

And then a lot of them went

home.

And it was again working

one-on-one with the individual

performances.

Many of the Chicago Bears

where perfectionists, and some

of their work.

I'm Samurai Mike, I stop 'em

cold

part of the defense, big and

bold

Mike Singletary in particular

wanted to do it about 25 times.

Give me a chance, I'll rock

you good

nobody messin' in my

neighborhood

I didn't come here lookin' for

trouble

I just came to do the super

bowl Shuffle

Unfortunate, but you've got

to do it until you get it right.

I wouldn't want anything out

there with my name on it that

wasn't right.

Singletary was great.

Otis was great.

The one that was absolutely

astonishing was the French.

The fridge nailed that the first

time.

I can't dance, but I can throw

I can dance, you will see

the others, they all learn

from me

I didn't come here lookin' for

trouble

The person who had the most

trouble with the part was

probably Richard Dent.

Richard was just very quiet.

The only lyrics that we felt

that we had to censor was, I

like to knock guys out on their

a*s.

Rather than use a tone, we

decided to put a whistle in.

I got a phone call.

I picked it up.

He's, like, I need you to come

to the park right now.

Because nobody else can fit into

the referee costume.

I said, I have to do what?

Who?

It took only maybe 17 takes to

point and blow a muscle.

I think was an example of a

bunch of professionals that

became professional in an area

that they probably weren't as

used to as they normally are.

And just that filming

session, we bonded in a way that

we could never have bonded in

any other way.

That was the fun part of

working together in a totally

different realm.

Right after that last word on

the chorus...

there were guys that were

backups teaching guys that were

starters.

We mixed in a way that we had

never had a chance to do before.

And it became a rallying point

that brought us together, got us

refocused.

This is what we said we were

going to do.

Let's go get it done.

We finished sh**ting at about

10:00 Tuesday night.

Doing the twenty-first days of

editing that we didn't know

whether Jim McMahon or

Walter Payton would actually

participate in

"the Super Bowl Shuffle."

You know, McMahon got his

nickname for a reason.

He was the punky qb.

He didn't like people telling

them what to do.

And he thought he could just not

show up.

And d*ck found out where he was

and went to speak with him in

person.

d*ck said, this is a group

effort.

You are a part of 18.

And you also signed a contract.

You said you were going to do

it, and you are happy to do it.

Now all of a sudden, you have

something else to do?

So Walter and I had to do our

parts in the racquetball court

after practice.

These are the tools of the

future.

And with a process called

Manning, they were still

dolomite added to the rest of

the Bears with knowing knowing the

difference.

Whatever screen it was behind

us, just did whatever the hell I

was doing.

It looked very awkward to just

pretend you are with a group of

people lip-synching to music.

You are a pit stop anyway and be

there.

Get this and the first take.

It's only going to get worse.

I motivate the cats, I like to

tease

I play so cool, I aim to

please

that's why you all got here on

the double

to catch me doin' the super

bowl Shuffle

The guys behind closed doors,

do it and put it on tape for

everybody else to St. Emma as

kind of unheard of.

Well, they call me sweetness

and I like to dance

runnin' the ball is like

makin' romance

we've had the goal since

training camp

to give Chicago a Super Bowl

champ

and we're not doin' this

because we're greedy

the Bears are doin' it to feed

the needy

we didn't come here to look

for trouble

we just came here to do

the Super Bowl Shuffle

What you see up there, not

really a happy camper.

"The Super Bowl Shuffle" kind

of crept up on everybody but I

think that we had heard that the

Bears had done something.

There is this rambling that this

video or something was going to

come out.

The Bears are gearing up for

the Super Bowl not in the

football field but in the

recording studio.

The music was played on the

radio in Chicago.

Literally, that weekend after

"the Super Bowl Shuffle" was

finished.

The first down kept it even.

In the second half, the Bears

have absolutely dominated.

When the instant it hit the

air, you could not hear it in

this town.

It was playing everywhere.

It was like a wildfire.

They couldn't get enough of it.

You can hear that song

anywhere you went.

We are the Bears shufflin'

crew

shufflin' on down, doin' it

for you

we're so bad, we know we're

good

blowin' your mind like we knew

we would

When the vhs videotape

copies, there were no DVDs

back then.

When the 45 rpm records came out

just before Christmas, they flew

off the shelves.

I'll never forget, I was

walking downtown.

And I had to go to Marshall

fields for something.

And they had television.

All over the lobby.

They were all playing

"the Super Bowl Shuffle"."

It was a big deal everywhere,

even if it was just to hate the

Bears.

Come and look at these idiots.

You have never seen anything

like this, honey.

You've got to see this.

Everybody is trying to rhyme.

It was funny.

I'm not here to feather his

ruffle

I just came here to do

the Super Bowl Shuffle

The Bears go home victorious.

Better the Bears data, the

more momentum it got.

And so you've got

"the Super Bowl Shuffle" playing

in stores, and people dancing to

it downtown.

And the season is not over.

The Bears with their own

theme song,

"the Super Bowl Shuffle."

This is on, guys.

We talked about this.

Now there was a song about it.

Coaches are going to let their

players listen to it before the

game.

Here is that team you are going

to play.

They are talking about going for

the Super Bowl.

That means they've got to beat

you.

I was thinking right then, I

better win.

We would look really is a

musical.

Once again...

he famously said go if you

back it up them it is not

bragging.

If you can't back it up, you are

to have to hang your head and

stay out of the public eye,

because you're not going to be

able to put your head down.

On third down.

That is the real fear, that

you do something like we do it,

and it becomes a parody, because

you lose, and you spend time and

energy and focus on something

that wasn't football related.

The match up for Super Bowl

Sunday set for two weeks from

today will be the powerful

Chicago Bears against the

New England patriots.

The Bears and patriots

together on mtv.

The Bears will battle the

patriots and a special edition

of the Friday night video fight,

"the Super Bowl Shuffle" versus

New England patriots.

No, not that I remember.

Now, I never saw the patriots

response to the video.

I've never seen this.

The Bears are going to get

married

New England is going to be

number one

New England the patriots

post

I think I was up for that

one

I'm sorry.

Rolling onto victory

I will put it this way, if we

are in a situation where we are

going to the Super Bowl, we

haven't done a video.

And another team had done the

video, I'm not going to make

another one and try and arrival

it.

I'm going to go out there and

beat the team.

Welcome to super Sunday.

The Bears as you know have been

america's football darling all

year per logic says they will be

doing "the Super Bowl Shuffle"

in Chicago tonight.

I remember watching the

Super Bowl.

And we just wanted to be quiet

in an area where if it didn't

work out and I lost, we could

cry in private.

They came opened up.

We had fumbles in the first

series.

They scored first.

But then I looked up at the

scoreboard, and it was pretty

much the first team to score,

won 19 out of 20 Super Bowl

spirit statistically,

defeated even though we hadn't given

up the first down.

But that changed pretty quickly.

Well, thank god, it did.

In terms of dominant sports

performance, there is

secretariat, and there is the

Kingfish Bears, and then there

is everybody else.

The honey Bears are hyping up

the crowd and the New England

Super Bowl Shuffle is just an

incredible sight.

It was amazing to actually

see it at the Super Bowl.

We had said that this is what

was going to happen.

And to see that come through, it

was unbelievable.

Will they be doing

"the Super Bowl Shuffle" in

Chicago tonight?

I'm sure they will.

I will be doing a little

shoveling myself.

It took some nuggets, but it

worked out pretty well.

Hundreds of thousands are

expected to welcome their team,

and victory that is more of a

waltz then a Shuffle.

This record found on being

number 41 on the pop billboard

charts.

That was amazing when we

found out we got a gold record.

We were up for a grammy.

We thought we would win.

We were c*ck.

I'm excited about going up to

accept my grammy.

They said...

If it is a grammy, might as

well of the fridge.

Never seen a bunch of guys on

a project more enthusiastically

in my life.

I'm pretty excited about the way

it turned out.

There are many ways to

remember it.

It was funny.

He was smart.

He was 6'7", and could dance

beautifully.

And he was an innovator.

He was somebody who felt that

just because it is new and

hasn't been tried it before

doesn't mean that it won't

succeed.

What would've happened if it

and go your way?

It was a great risk to take.

But we had the skills on the

talent and the confidence.

I am really pleased that we took

the risk.

What started as

"the Super Bowl Shuffle" became

a championship drive.

We were very fortunate to

pull off something that may not

ever happen again.

A team that was crazy enough and

wild enough and different enough

to pull it off.

And so, the message is, every

now and then in life, there are

things that come along that is

unusual.

Never been done before.

That when those things happen,

man, take advantage of them.

Enjoy them.

Don't try to rationalize it.

Take it for what it is.

Reel it in, because it's only a

moment.

That is what

"the Super Bowl Shuffle" was.