Sha Na Na is a rock n roll revival group that has been active since 1969. They are both a parody and homage of 1950s rock n roll music and New York street culture, billing themselves “from the streets of New York” and dressing in the style of the stereotypical greasers of the time (leather jackets, pompadour hairstyles, etc). Several of their covers were featured in the 1978 movie adaptation of the 1971 musical Grease, and the band itself appears in the movie as Johnny Casino and the Gamblers.

The band met on the campus of Columbia University in NYC and began performing acapella together in 1969. They got the name of their band from a song by the Silhouettes called “Get A Job” that came out in 1957.

Sha Na Na first achieved national fame performing at Woodstock right before Jimi Hendrix’s famous set. A few years later in the mid 1970’s Americans who were young in the 1950s were enjoying a bit of a revival with shows like Happy Days and Broadway shows like Grease. In this cultural climate Sha Na Na landed a network TV show that aired from 1977-1981. The show was a family friendly mix of sketch comedy and music that paid homage to the nostalgia of the 1950’s while poking fun at the freaky 70’s. Every episode of the show famously ended with the band performing the song, “Good Night, Sweetheart.”