Marcia Griffiths, reggae singer and creator of the famous “Electric Slide” dance, spoke on on Thursday regarding a rumor about the song that she found “so wicked.”
A source close to Neville Livingston, the original writer of the song “Electric Boogie,” told Aazios on Tuesday that Livingston had confirmed the song wasn’t about a dance, but rather about a vibrator sex toy.
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“I’m surprised it took people this long to figure out!” the source told the outlet.
News sites started circulating the source’s claim as fact, but Griffiths told The Blast on Thursday it couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I don’t sing about vibrators … I sing to teach, educate and uplift,” Griffiths said.
She also said she followed up Livingston (also known as Bunny Wailer) after the rumor started, and he claimed he had no clue where it came from.
“(It’s about) positive vibrations, not vibrators,” Griffiths said.
She also explained the origins of the catchy song. Back in the ’70s Griffiths purchased a music box while performing in Toronto and brought it back with her to her home country of Jamaica. Livingston reportedly wrote the original version of “Electric Boogie” in less than 24 hours after she showed it to him.
“I bought that little box and out of it came a beautiful song that inspired Jamaicans,” she said. “If it was about a vibrator, that would’ve never happened.”
“We didn’t even know what a vibrator was,” the 68-year-old added.
While originally written in 1976, Griffiths popular remixed version wouldn’t debut until 1982. In 1990, the song finally hit it big by reaching No. 51 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, helping it become a staple of weddings and celebrations to this day.
Fans of the song were shocked on social media when the original rumor came out.
“The writer of ‘The Electric Slide’ song has confirmed it’s about a vibrator, now it makes sense why women love dancing it to it at weddings while the men stand there not knowing what to do,” one Twitter user wrote.
“Going over Cha Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle lyrics because I missed the memo that the Electric Slide is about a vibrator and everything is a lie,” wrote another.
“Just found out the Electric Slide was about a vibrator…childhood ruined ONCE AGAIN!!” a distraught Twitter user wrote. “And you would’ve never thought it would be ruined again after learning about what the Macarena was about.”
Photo: Jose Jordan/AFP/Getty Images
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