"Shame, Shame, Shame" is a 1974 hit song written by Sylvia Robinson, performed by American disco band Shirley & Company and released on the Vibration label. The lead singer is Shirley Goodman, who was one half of Shirley and Lee, who had enjoyed a major hit 18 years earlier, in 1956, with the song "Let The Good Times Roll" for Aladdin Records. The male vocalist is Jesus Alvarez. The saxophone solo is by Seldon Powell, whose instrumental version, "More Shame", is the B-side. The track, with its prominent use of the Bo Diddley beat, was one of the first international disco hits and reached number 12 on the Billboard charts. It also made number one on the soul singles chart for one week. The phrase "got my sun roof down, got my diamonds in the back" appeared as "diamond in the back, sun roof top" in William DeVaughn's 1974 hit "Be Thankful for What You Got". "Shame, Shame, Shame" also stayed at number one on the disco/dance charts for four weeks. It was the sole success of this one-hit wonder band. a full-length album Shame, Shame, Shame was subsequently recorded and was released, however, in 1975.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Cover versions
Linda Fields & the Funky Boys recorded a version, sounding nearly identical and released it as a single in 1975; it was re-released in 1983 as a 12" EP. The version appears on several disco compilation albums and is often confused with the original. Their version charted concurrently with the original in New Zealand, reaching number 24. Ike & Tina Turner recorded a version that was released on the 1980 album The Edge, it reached number 27 on the Billboard Disco chart. In 1982, the song was released as a single in Europe and peaked at number 47 in the Netherlands. Polish-Swedish singer Izabella Scorupco recorded a cover version of the song in 1992, with a video directed by Jonas Åkerlund. It was a chart hit in a number of European countries and appears on an extended version of her 1991 album Iza. Also in 1992 the song was covered by British-American singer Sinitta and was released as a single, which peaked at number 28 in the UK Singles Chart and was later included on her third studio album Naughty Naughty.
