"Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)"
Single byFour Tops
from the albumOn Top
B-side	"Just as Long as You Need Me"
Released	February 1966
Recorded	Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); January 6, 1966
Genre	Soul,pop
Length	2:41
Label	Motown
Songwriters	Brian Holland Lamont Dozier Eddie Holland
Producers	Brian Holland Lamont Dozier Eddie Holland
Four Tops singles chronology
"Something About You" (1965) "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" (1966) "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" (1966)

"Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" is a song recorded by the American quartetFour Tops for their third studio album,On Top (1966). It was released in February 1966 as a7" vinyl single throughMotown records. It was written and produced byBrian Holland,Lamont Dozier, andEddie Holland. Its lyrics detail a relationship that has ended. It has since been regarded as one of Four Tops' most successful singles ever. It charted moderately well in both the United States and Canada, and became the group's fifth consecutive entry to chart within the top five of theHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Four Tops has performed "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" on various occasions throughout their careers and have included it on severalgreatest hits albums, including onThe Four Tops Greatest Hits (1967) andThe Ultimate Collection (1997).

American musiciansBarbra Streisand andCarol Lloyd also recorded covers of "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" and released them commercially in 1975 and 1979, respectively. Included on her seventeenth studio album,Lazy Afternoon (1975), Streisand's version was more of adisco song, as accomplished by producersJeffrey Lesser andRupert Holmes. Following the success of the song in aNew York City club,Columbia Records decided to release the single which would later become a moderate success on twoBillboard dance charts in that same year. Critically, it was highlighted onLazy Afternoon as a standout track. Lloyd's version was recorded for her debut recordScore in 1979; it received heavy airplay bydisc jockeys and was positively received byBillboard critics.

"Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" was released as the lead single from the group's third studio album,On Top (1966), in February 1966.^[1] The album was a combination of "current hits" and "crossover material" to attract a larger audience for Four Tops.^[2] The song was written and produced byBrian Holland,Lamont Dozier, andEddie Holland, who had collaborated with Four Tops on various occasions in the past.^[2] It is written in the key ofC major with the quartet's vocals ranging from G₄ to D₆. Set in agospel rock tempo, lead singerLevi Stubbs begins stating, "All through this long and sleepless night / I hear my neighbors talking"; after losing the love of someone else, he claims that these people are "Saying that, out of my life, into another's arms / You'll soon be walking," before entering the chorus.^[3] The American female groupthe Andantes provide background vocals for the track alongside the other three Tops.^[4][5]

Motown released "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" as a7" vinyl single in February 1966.^[1] The standard edition commercial single features theB-side track "Just As Long As You Need Me". A promotional early version of the 7" single also exists, with both the stereo and mono versions of the song.^[6]

"Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" was favorably received bymusic critics.Cash Box described the single as a "hard-driving, rhythmic pop-blues heart-throbber about a guy who can’t adjust to losing his girl" that it considered "ultra-commercial."^[7] John Bush fromAllMusic, in his album review ofOn Top, called the track one of "their biggest and best hits of all time".^[2] According to Bill Dahl, author ofMotown: The Golden Years, 1966 was a successful year for Four Tops due to the success of "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" and their others singles "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" and "Reach Out I'll Be There".^[8] At the time, the single was extremely popular inBoston, where it reached #37 on the "Top Sellers in Top Markets" chart in the aforementioned city.^[9]

In the United States, it entered theBillboard Hot 100 at number 86 on February 19, 1966.^[10] After climbing the chart in that country for several weeks, it reached its peak position at number 18 on March 26; overall, it spent nine consecutive weeks in the ranks of theBillboard Hot 100.^[11] It also entered theHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (then called simply the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart) in the United States, where it peaked at number 5 and became the group's fifth consecutive top ten entry.^[12] On Canada's official singles chart, compiled byRPM, the single debuted at number 66 for the week ending March 21, 1966.^[13] The following week on March 28, the single peaked at number 52.^[14]

Four Tops has included "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" on several of theirgreatest hits albums andcompilation albums over the years. It was placed on their first compilation,The Four Tops Greatest Hits, in 1967, followed byThe Four Tops Story 1964-72 (1973),Anthology (1974),Greatest Hits (1988),The Ultimate Collection (1997), andThe Definitive Collection (2008).^[15] The group would also use the name of the track to title another album, calledShake Me, Wake Me: 25 Greatest Hits 1964-1973 in 1998.^[16]

Additionally, the group has performed the song during various occasions throughout the years.^[17] More recently, they reunited on March 3, 2017 and performed various singles from their catalog at an event at theWarner Theatre inTorrington, Connecticut. Titled IMPACT 2017, boththe Temptations and Four Tops sang during the annual live dance, opera, and gala, with the Four Tops performing "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" as the finale.^[18]

"Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)"
Single byBarbra Streisand
from the albumLazy Afternoon
B-side	"Widescreen"
Released	November 12, 1975 (1975-11-12)
Recorded	June 12, 1975
Studio	Record Plant (Los Angeles, CA)[19]
Genre	Disco dance Philadelphia soul[20]
Length	2:55
Label	Columbia
Songwriters	Brian Holland Lamont Dozier Eddie Holland
Producers	Jeffrey Lesser Rupert Holmes
Barbra Streisand singles chronology
"My Father's Song" (1975) "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" (1975) "Evergreen" (1976)

American vocalistBarbra Streisand recorded her own version of "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" for her seventeenth studio album,Lazy Afternoon (1975) in April 1975.^[19] Different from the original song, producersJeffrey Lesser andRupert Holmes gave the song a "disco treatment".^[21]Nicky Siano, a disc jockey, began playing the track atThe Gallery nightclub inNew York City in the fall of 1975. In a handwritten letter by Streisand for Siano, she wrote that the hype generated from playing her cover at the club prompted Columbia Records to release "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" as another single fromLazy Afternoon.^[22][23]

In a 1979Billboard article titled "Everyone's Jumping on Disco Bandwagon", written by columnist Paul Grein, he speculated that singers accustomed to thepop genre were beginning to "releas[e] disco records" and listed Streisand,Andy Williams, andEthel Merman as a few examples. Following the release of the singer's disco-influenced "The Main Event/Fight" single in 1979, Grein listed both "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" and "Love Breakdown" as Streisand's previous attempts to createdance music.^[24]

Streisand released the single in 7" and 12" vinyl formats on November 12, 1975.^[25] The United States and Canada version features B-side track "Widescreen", which also appears onLazy Afternoon.^[26] The special edition "Columbia Disco Series" release was sent to dance clubs and features a stereo and mono version of "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)".^[27] A promotional release also took place that offered the short and long versions of the track,^[28] while the United Kingdom version (which was released on February 20, 1976) is similar to the United States/Canada one but contains the longer cut of the single instead of the album version.^[29][30]

Critics liked Streisand's version of the track. Christopher Nickens and Karen Swenson, authors ofThe Films of Barbra Streisand, listed both "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" and "Moanin' Low" fromLazy Afternoon as two of the best songs from Streisand's entire career in 2000.^[31] Writer Will Hermes was also positive towards it, calling it a "surprisingly soulful cover".^[22] Derek Winnert, who wrote a biography on the singer in 1996, claimed that because of songs like "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" and album track "By the Way", the parent album was able to be appealing and thus a popular record.^[32] The author ofTrue Colours: A Spectrum of Filipino Gay and Lesbian Online Writings, Nelz Agustin, felt that Streisand's cover was nostalgic and brought him back to the days of his youth.^[33] The success of "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" allowed it to enter two of the dance charts compiled byBillboard: it peaked at number 14 on theDance Club Songs chart and number 10 on the now-defunctDisco Singles chart.^[34]

"Shake Me, Wake Me"
Single byCarol Lloyd
from the albumScore
B-side	"Sundown to Sunrise"
Released	December 1979 (1979-12)
Genre	Disco soul
Length	2:58
Label	Casablanca Earmarc
Songwriters	Brian Holland Lamont Dozier Eddie Holland
Producers	Michael Forte Bruce Weeden
Carol Lloyd singles chronology
"Score" (1979) "Shake Me, Wake Me" (1979) "Come See About Me" (1982)

American singerCarol Lloyd also covered "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" (although she removed the "(When It's Over)" part from the title) and released it in December 1979. It served as the second and final single from her debut studio album,Score (1979); bothCasablanca Records and Earmarc Records handled the 7" commercial releases. It was previously used as the B-side for her debut single, "Score", in September 1979.^[35]

OnBillboard's Top Single Picks for the week of December 22, 1979, the editors listed Lloyd's version as a recommended track under thesoul music category.^[36] In a review from the same publication, editor Barry Lederer called it the "one exceptional cut" onScore. Classifying it as a disco recording, he also found Lloyd's extended version of "Shake Me, Wake Me" to "make th[e] already popular Streisand classic ever better".^[37] The standard edition version, released exclusively in the United States, contained the single and B-side track "Sundown to Sunrise" while the promotional DJ single featured the stereo and mono versions of "Shake Me, Wake Me".^[38][39] It peaked at number 89 onBillboard's Dance Club Songs chart on January 5, 1980.^[40]

United States 7" single^[38]

• A1 "Shake Me, Wake Me" – 2:58
• B1 "Sundown to Sunrise" – 2:59

Promotional 7" single^[39]

• A1 "Shake Me, Wake Me (Stereo)" – 2:58
• B1 "Shake Me, Wake Me (Mono)" – 2:58

• Agustin, Nelz (2008).True Colours: A Spectrum of Filipino Gay and Lesbian Online Writings. Helios Press.ISBN 978-0978321253.
• Aletti, Vince (2009).The Disco Files 1973-78 (illustrated ed.). DJhistory.com Publishing.ISBN 978-0956189608.
• Dahl, Bill (February 28, 2011).Motown: The Golden Years: More Than 100 Rare Photographs. Krause Publications.ISBN 978-1440227837.
• Hermes, Will (September 4, 2012).Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever (illustrated, reprinted ed.). Macmillan.ISBN 978-0374533540.
• Lawrence, Tim (January 12, 2004).Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979. Duke University Press.ISBN 0822385112.
• Nickens, Christopher; Swenson, Karen (2000).The Films of Barbra Streisand (illustrated ed.). Citadel Press.ISBN 0-8065-1954-1.
• Winnert, Derek (1996).Barbra Streisand: Quote Unquote (illustrated ed.). The Book Company.ISBN 0752516035.

• 1966 singles
• 1966 songs
• 1975 singles
• 1979 singles
• Barbra Streisand songs
• Carol Lloyd songs
• Casablanca Records singles
• Columbia Records singles
• Four Tops songs
• Motown singles
• Song recordings produced by Brian Holland
• Song recordings produced by Lamont Dozier
• Songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland

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