Shake Your Head

"Shake Your Head" is a song by American pop rock group Was (Not Was). It was originally released in 1983 by Geffen on their second album, Born to Laugh at Tornadoes (1983). In 1992, it was re-recorded and remixed by house music producer Steve "Silk" Hurley, and features actress Kim Basinger alongside a re-recorded Ozzy Osbourne on vocals. It appears on the group's third compilation album, Hello Dad... I'm in Jail (1992), and was released as a single in June 1992 by Fontana.

Background
The original version features Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne on lead vocals. A pre-fame Madonna had auditioned for the vocal but was not used on the final release. In 1992, it was re-recorded and remixed by house music producer Steve "Silk" Hurley, and features actress Kim Basinger alongside a re-recorded Ozzy Osbourne on vocals. It appeared on the group's compilation album Hello Dad... I'm in Jail. The original plan was to restore Madonna's vocals to the track for the re-release, but she refused to grant permission, hence Basinger was approached instead. However, Madonna's restored vocals were accidentally released on two occasions. A full Madonna vocal appears on the two-LP and double-cassette formats of compilation release Now Dance 92, entitled the 12-inch mix. The CD format of this compilation includes the regular 7-inch mix, however. Secondly, on the 12-inch and CD single formats of Was (Not Was)'s follow-up single, "Somewhere in America (There's a Street Named after My Dad)", there is a Dub Mix of "Shake Your Head" which uses several of Madonna's vocals. Although the song did not chart in the US, it was the band's biggest commercial success across the Atlantic, reaching number four on the UK Singles Chart.

There are several versions of the 1992 remake:
 * The 3:48 single version starts with Osbourne singing "You can't feed the hungry, you can't talk Shakespeare to a monkey..."
 * The 4:00 album version starts with female vocals (presumably Basinger) singing "You can't argue with death. You can't break a burly sailor's neck. You can't drink lava from plastic glasses...". There is also a Steve "Silk" Hurley 12-inch mix and a 12-inch dub.

The song's lyrics deal with things that cannot be done (some are outlandish, some can be done, but have a high amount of difficulty). After Basinger and Osbourne detail these things, the chorus comes in with the title hook.

Track listings

 * 7-inch and cassette single
 * 1) "Shake Your Head" – 3:42
 * 2) "I Blew Up the United States" – 3:51


 * 12-inch single
 * A1. "Shake Your Head" – 6:49
 * A2. "I Blew Up the United States" – 3:51
 * B1. "Listen Like Thieves" (Giant club mix)
 * B2. "Listen Like Thieves" (Vandal dub)


 * CD single
 * 1) "Shake Your Head"
 * 2) "Spy in the House of Love"
 * 3) "I Blew Up the United States"
 * 4) "Robot Girl"

Other versions
In 2003, Dutch-German pop singer C. C. Catch released a version of the song that reached number 12 on the Spanish Singles Chart.