"Get Up Offa That Thing" is a song written and performed by James Brown. It was released in 1976 as a two-part single. It reached #4 on the R&B chart, briefly returning Brown to the Top Ten after a year's absence, and #45 on the Billboard Hot 100. Thanks to its chart success, the song became Brown's biggest hit of the late 1970s. The song's lyrics urge listeners to "Get up offa that thing / and dance 'til you feel better." Due to his troubles with the IRS for failure to pay back taxes, Brown credited authorship of the song to his wife Deidre and their daughters, Deanna and Yamma Brown.
Background
According to Brown, the inspiration for "Get Up Offa That Thing" came to him during a club performance in Fort Lauderdale:
The audience was sitting down, trying to do a sophisticated thing, listening to funk. One of the tightest bands they'd ever heard in their lives, and they were sitting. I had worked hard and dehydrated myself and was feeling depressed. I looked out at all those people sitting there, and because I was depressed they looked depressed. I yelled, "Get up offa that thing and dance til you feel better!" I probably meant until I felt better.
Unlike most popular music of the time, which made sophisticated use of multitrack recording and other techniques, "Get Up Offa That Thing" was recorded live in the studio in only two takes. Brown re-recorded "Get Up Offa That Thing" for the Doctor Detroit soundtrack album. He also performs the song during his guest appearance in the film. Other performances of the song appear on the albums Hot on the One, Live in New York, Live at Chastain Park, and Live at the Apollo 1995.
"Get Up Offa That Thing" was performed as a mash-up with "Dancing in the Street" by the nuns of Sister Act 2 as led by Whoopi Goldberg.
It was played during the "Soccer" episode of The Wonder Years with the beginning of the opening game.
The song is used twice in Jim Henson Pictures 1999 film Muppets from Space when Gonzo rides the lawnmower.
The song is featured in the 2009 British filmFish Tank.
The song is used in the closing sequence of Paramount's 1996 filmHarriet the Spy and Blue Sky Studios' 2005 computer animated filmRobots. In the latter film, Robin Williams' character called the song "a fusion of jazz and funk – junk."
The horn samples of this song were sampled extensively for early 1990s hip hop.
The scream in the opening of the song was sampled in Gloria Estefan's 1985 hit single "Conga".
The song is featured in Martin Lawrence's 2001 film Black Knight
The song is played at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox during the 4th inning to encourage fans to get up and stretch and dance. Similarly, if the game goes 13 innings, the song plays again.
The song was used as a parody called "Get Up Offa That Tail" for the toy; Dance Star Mickey.
