Shake You Down

"Shake You Down" is a phrase Abbott came up with that he thought expressed the way a man feels when he sees an attractive woman - "Girl, I want to shake you down." He tried the phrase out on a female friend, and when she responded positively, it became the title for a song he was working on. After making a demo, Abbott's uncle, Mike Abbott, told employees of Charles Koppelman's production group, the Entertainment Company, about the song his nephew had written. Through Koppelman's firm, Abbott got a solo deal with Columbia Records and the song became a huge hit.

This received one million US radio plays faster than any other record in history, thanks in large part to its cross-format appeal.

This was Abbott's only big hit. Before it came out, he was an English teacher at the University of Berkeley and at age 8 was a member of St. Patrick's Cathedral Choir. He was married between 1976 and 1979 to the singer Freda Payne, who had a hit in 1970 with "Band of Gold." Abbott's next single, "I Got The Feelin' (It's Over)," stalled at #56 in the US and was his last entry on the Hot 100.