Shake It Up (Expanded Edition) features the original album – remastered in 2016 – expanded with rare and unreleased bonus tracks. Illustrated booklets accompany the music and contain liner notes written by renowned rock journalist David Fricke, who details the history of each album with new interviews by band member David Robinson.
Ric Ocasek, Elliot Easton, Greg Hawkes, Benjamin Orr and David Robinson recorded Shake It Up in 1981 at Syncro Sound, the group’s new studio in Boston, with producer Roy Thomas Baker. Working in their own space afforded them the time to perfect the sound of the album, which became their third-straight Top 10 hit record and sold more than two million copies.
Several unreleased tracks make their debut on Shake It Up (Expanded Edition), including an early version of “Since You’re Gone", the demo for “Shake It Up” and an unreleased song called “Midnight Dancer".