1977 Chevrolet Malibu Classic - Shakin' (Rosanna's Daddy's Car)

The video for the late and wonderful Eddie Money's 1982 hit song, "Shakin'" is a cinematic-ally filmed production featuring Eddie being taken for the ride of his life in, of all things, a 1977 Chevrolet Malibu Classic. 

The video came up recently as a suggestion to watch on my youtube.com feed and I bit. Bit hard and I had several takeaways after watching it for the first time in what's probably decades. For starters, what a great song. The beat, the production, the silly and inane lyrics - it's mindless 1980's pop-rock at its finest and most wonderful. Secondly, I never realized that the actress who plays  "Rosanna", as in "Rosanna's daddy had a car she loved to drive", was Patricia Kotero, also known as Apolonia from Prince's "Purple Rain" movie. Then again, "Purple Rain" (the movie) came out two years after the video for "Shakin'" was played on MTV ad nauseum so it's understandable how I never connected the two. 

I wondered now as I did then why a '77 Malibu was chosen for "Rosanna" to drive and not something more visually compelling like at least the 1968 Chevrolet Impala Custom Coupe that's also featured in the video. There's also a split second shot of a 1980 Cadillac Coupe deVille in the scene when Eddie and Rosanna are parked in front of Rae' Diner in Santa Monica, California. Rae's is still there, it's open and looks all but the same as it did when the video was filmed for Shakin'. 

Chevrolet's 1973-1977 Malibu was part of GM's polarizing "colonnade" series of intermediate sized two and four-door sedans and station wagons. They were called such because they had a center pillar or "column" whereas previous designs, on some sedan models and on all coupes, were exclusively hard-tops. "Hard-top" a semi-oxymoronic term for an automobile whose roof line allegedly resembles that of a convertible. On the "colonnades", the center pillar supposedly reinforced the roof structure in anticipation of more stringent federal roll-over regulation that never materialized. 

The Malibu in the video sharing much mechanically and structurally with a number of GM intermediate models across all their divisions except Cadillac and were derided for their sheer mass, inefficient ergonomics, terrible fuel economy and debatably questionable styling. While I take exception to the verisimilitude hurled at these cars, I will say that I much prefer the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix, two-door Oldsmobile Cutlass and even the Buick Century and Regal colonnade coupes to Rosanna's father's car. Incidentally, the "Classic" moniker denoted the top-of-the-line Chevelle Malibu of the era and wasn't a claim by General Motors that these cars were "classic" by any means. Chevrolet kept the "Malibu" moniker through 1983 although they dropped the Chevelle nameplate for 1978; all Malibu's thereafter, even the plebeian sedans that they called "Malibu" starting 1997, are Chevrolet Malibu's whereas from 1964-1977 their proper names were "Chevelle Malibu". 

As for the 1968 Chevrolet Impala Custom Coupe that plays the part of the vehicular foil in the video, while big two-door coupes even by the time the video for "Shakin'" was produced were falling out of favor, there was growing appreciation for the older models. Especially pre-1971 models. Yes, in 1981 or 1982 when the video was shot the Malibu was newer and the Impala could have been construed as "old". We are talking forty or so years ago. However, a quick glance at a NADA used car value guide today illustrates my point. A 1977 Malibu Classic is worth about a third of what a 1968 Chevrolet Impala Custom Coupe is worth today. Then again, the video is less about cars as it is about, you know, "Shakin'". 

The Impala in the video is part GM's 1965-1970 generation of full-size cars that many believe to be the greatest designs in GM history. I don't disagree although I think some of Bill Mitchell and his team's designs of that era are better than others. Certainly they were part of what I refer to as the golden era of GM design from 1949-1972. GM design started to go downhill in 1973 with the advent of federally mandated five-mile per hour safety bumpers. Then the gas crisis hit, then downsizing, imports, recessions - let's not go there again how badly the 1970's sucked. 

There's not much love for the GM "colonnades" although they do have their dedicated, die-hard faithful. Side note - while rear fender spats or skirts were available on 1968 Caprice models, they were not available on Impala. What we see here on the Impala were obviously custom made. 

Aside from the casting of the Malibu in "Shakin'", what we do know about the actual car is that Arturo Garcia bought the car used in 1979 for $6,000. Within a year he had the car "lifted" and in 1981, the car was cast in the video. I could find little if any information as to why the car was cast in the video although Mr. Arturo, who apparently still owns the car, and his big blue Chevrolet, are quite famous in Southern California low-rider circles. Let's speculate that the producers of the video wanted to cast several low-riders in the shoot and they contacted the Southern California low-rider club whose members included Mr. Garcia. 

What are referred to as "low-riders" are usually large, full-perimeter frame automobiles that have modified suspensions that have been equipped with hydraulic pumps that enable the cars to be raised and lowered. Extreme versions have hydraulic systems so powerful that the cars can actually bounce up and down. When those cars are jumping around, they're usually doing so when operated remotely. 

Best I can tell from the video, Mr. Garcia's Malibu can't bounce up and down although we do see the car being raised and lowered hydraulically. I can quibble with the drag racing scene in the video since if anything, his Malibu, which was fresh from the factory pushing two-tons, was made even heavier with the fitment of the hydraulic pumps that enable the car to be lowered and subsequently raised. Additionally, at the time of the filming of the video, which we presume to have been done some time in 1981, modifying the car to make it more powerful to the extent it could even be construed as a drag-racer is somewhat unrealistic given the car would have had to pass extremely stringent emissions regulations in California. Nit-picky? Absolutely. Then again, this is a blog about cars that's doing the nit-pickin' about "Shakin'". 

The Malibu actually sucking the doors off the Impala, which would have been exempt from California emissions regulations since it was manufactured prior to 1975 is as funny today as it was back then. However, it is the stuff that Hollywood cinematic dreams are made of. 

Fun fact - the producers of the video were quite dismayed that Ms. Kotero could not dance and her wardrobe and pedestrian dance moves at the end of the movie were their best attempts to make her appear as though she had more ability than she actually did. 

I first met Eddie Money in the early to mid 1990's when he would come to one of the radio stations I worked back on Long Island. The Long Island native would stop by every time he'd play a venue on the Island to plug his show and, of course, we'd open our doors to him to come on the air and talk about his show and  allow him to be "Eddie". 

It wasn't brilliant radio but it mattered little. To have someone of such mega star power on our humble radio station that was also a "local" somewhat legitimized our sorry existence attempting to keep up with the giant stations out of Manhattan. He was just as nice as he could be too. Friendly, warm, kind,  approachable, self effacing. In short, just a regular guy from Levittown, Long Island who seemed charmingly taken back by his success. Over the years I moved onto stations in other cities and he'd stop by those too and each time he'd remember me like I was an old friend. Funny, I don't know why we're so impressed with ourselves when a celebrity remembers who we are but we are - perhaps we enjoy the slack-jawness of people whom might really impressed with that stuff. I knew Eddie's affability to everyone was what made him so endearing but still, for a celebrity of any magnitude, Eddie was exceptionally nice and for those few fleeting minutes over the years we'd see each other, he always made me feel as though I was a best friend from "back-in-the-day". 

Rest in peace old friend.