Let’s face it, Dance has been inextricably linked with Popular Music since the advent of recorded sound. Dance music itself reached an early apogee in terms of popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, following the arrival of radio, gramophones and 78 rpm records…but by the dawn of the R&R era musical tastes had changed radically, and the first post-WWII generation of teenagers wanted to dance to far less polite and/or formal sounds. Consequently, between the mid 1950s and early 1960s – i.e. between the arrival of Rock’n’Roll and the British Invasion – the US Pop charts were all a-shimmy with Dance Craze discs whose very exuberance, diversity and sheer silliness took unselfconsciousness into a whole new dimension.
Fuelled by T.V. shows such as Dick Clark’s American Bandstand and exploitation flicks such as Hey, Let’s Twist and Don’t Knock The Twist, fad-obsessed teens could brush up on the latest and the greatest footwork which accompanied such record hop floor-fillers as The Pony, The Watusi, The Hully Gully, The Mashed Potato, The Stroll, The Slop, The Bristol Stomp, The Madison, The Hitch Hike, The Continental and not forgetting Pat Boone’s deathless Wang Dang Taffy Apple Tango (a particular favourite of Now Dig This editor Trevor Cajiao, although he probably won’t thank me for sharing this confidential information with y’all!)...
Special “twist” shoes went on sale and “twisting” hairdos, which would rotate and bounce with the twisting motion, became the rage amongst the carefully-coiffed. It even attained the seal of establishment approval when the First Lady, Jackie Kennedy, was spotted twisting at New York’s Peppermint Lounge. In many ways The Twist’s vitality seemed to echo the optimism, egalitarianism and spirit of the Kennedy era, and remains one of the most memorable images of that period.
Record-wise, just about everybody – from Frank Sinatra to Elvis, from Sam Cooke to Muddy Waters and beyond – began cutting Twist records, and suddenly the world’s Hit Parades were full of ’em. Chubby Checker, of course, recorded loads of the blighters – most notably ‘Let’s Twist Again’, a multi-million-selling, worldwide hit, which topped the UK charts – whilst Joey Dee & The Starlighters took the Peppermint Lounge’s ‘theme tune’, ‘Peppermint Twist’, to No.1 in The States. Sadly, there wasn’t room to include more than a handful of Twist records on this comp, so instead of the obvious (and hey! who wants to listen to Frank Sinatra, anyway?) we’ve gone for a couple of off-the-wall instro’s, viz: The Bill Black Combo’s raunchy ‘Twist-Her’ and King Curtis’s sublime ‘Soul Twist’.
By 1961 Chubby Checker had become the self-appointed ‘King Of Dance Crazes’ and rattled off an accompanying string of hits, notably ‘Pony Time’ (although we’ve included Don Covay & The Goodtimers’ original version herein), ‘The Slop’ and a revival of ‘The Hucklebuck’, a late 40s song which bandleaders Lucky Millinder and Paul Williams both claim to have originated. Again, restrictions on playing time have kept The Chubster down to a mere four tracks on this set, despite the temptation to include a dozen or more!
Before The Twist, The Stroll had been just about the most popular late 50s US teen dance. Initially propelled by Chuck Willis’s ‘C.C. Rider’ – which had led to him being dubbed ‘The King Of The Stroll’ – it naturally became hugely popular on American Bandstand, whereupon Dick Clark remarked to The Diamonds’ manager Nat Goodman that thus far, there had been no specific song written for the dance. Within just weeks ‘The Stroll’ (custom-penned, by Clyde Otis) was on its way to No.1, giving the Canadian quartet its biggest hit. They tried revisiting it with ‘Walking The Stroll’ some four years hence, after their hits had dried up, but the second time around there were no takers.
Meanwhile, although he’d missed out on ‘The Twist’, Hank Ballard continued to rack up plenty of US chart action, among which were several further Dance-oriented discs, including ‘The Coffee Grind’ and ‘The Continental Walk’ (although we’ve cheated, rather, and included The Rollers’ slightly less-successful, rival version of the latter). Elsewhere, Bobby Freeman – he of ‘Do You Want To Dance’ fame – had also become something of a Dance craze specialist, and is represented here by ‘(I Do The) Shimmy Shimmy’ and ‘The Mess Around’. The Shimmy also provided inspiration for Little Anthony & The Imperials (check out their ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop’) and The Olympics (whose ‘Shimmy Like Kate’ revived an ancient Jazz standard) whilst The Mess Around had clearly been inspired by Richard Berry & The Lockettes’ disc of the same title, some three years earlier.
Mention of The Olympics brings us to ‘(Baby) Hully Gully’, their 1959 hit which kicked-started the Hully Gully craze and unwittingly led to the the Vibrations/Marathons’ ‘Peanut Butter’ scam. The Vibrations had originally been known as The Jayhawks, who’d registered a major hit in 1956 with ‘Stranded In The Jungle. By 1961 they’d undergone a couple of personnel changes, were trading as The Vibrations, and were enjoying a Dance craze hit with ‘The Watusi’ (itself a clear lift of Hank Ballard’s ‘Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go’ – but that’s another story!). Legend has it that The Olympics’ record company, Arvee, needed a new release from the group but they were out on tour, and The Vibrations were hired to record a song titled ‘Peanut Butter’, which was a virtual clone of ‘(Baby) Hully Gully’. The disc was released credited to The Marathons (who never actually existed!) – and ironically, ‘Peanut Butter’ became a far bigger hit than either ‘(Baby) Hully Gully’ or ‘The Watusi’!!!
Along similar lines, a couple more cases of ‘hidden identity’ concerned The Dellwoods’ zany ‘Let’s Do The Pretzel’ and Russell Byrd’s bluesy, call-and-response sizzler ‘Hitch Hike (Part 1)’. The former had originally appeared as a 45 during 1961, credited to The Sweet Sick Teens. The following year the same studio group reconvened as The Dellwoods to record an LP for Mad Magazine, and their earlier single was duly exhumed for inclusion on the album, this time under their new moniker! Conversely, ‘Russell Byrd’ was one of several pseudonyms (‘Bernard Russell’ was another) employed by singer/songwriter/producer/arranger/all-round whiz-kid Bert Berns, early in his career.
Whilst it’s true to say that some of the best known hep dance records emanated from Philadelphia – and in particular Cameo-Parkway Records, home of such ebullient dance exponents as The Dovells (whose irresistible breakthrough hit ‘Bristol Stomp’ was another million seller’), teen idol Bobby Rydell (‘The Fish’, anyone?) and of course, the much-lauded Chubby Checker – other regional labels were not slow to catch on to the public’s seemingly insatiable desire for new footstomping fashions. And, as we have already seen, some states had their own specialities which had to be catered for – mind you, it’s unlikely that some of these Dance records escaped the State they were recorded in! (certainly, Guitar Jr’s jaunty ‘The Crawl’ barely made it out of Louisiana – although Lee Baker Jr, to give him his full name, has gone on to enjoy a long and distinguished career as Blues singer/guitarist Lonnie Brooks).
Among the more obscure Dance crazes, special mentions should perhaps be made of Dee Clark’s stillborn ‘Kangaroo Hop’ (buried on the B-side of his rather better-known ‘Gloria’), Tony & Joe’s frankly daft ‘The Freeze’, and The Commandos’ ‘Chicken Scratch’ (a record which very likely featured King Curtis) - although while we’re talking chickens, Rosco Gordon was (sadly) never likely to do much business with a disc titled ‘The Chicken (Dance With You)’. And whilst The Shirelles’ ‘Doin’ The Ronde’ made for a great B-side, you didn’t ever see anyone in New York or Philly actually doing The Ronde, did you?; furthermore, as great as he undoubtedly was, I really can’t remember too many 50s teenagers complying with Sam Cooke’s assertion that ‘Everybody Loves To Cha-Cha-Cha’!
Whilst we’re discussing truly great artists, it’s generally forgotten that Roy Orbison, no less, made his recording debut with a bonà-fide Dance disc, viz: ‘Ooby Dooby’ (a million-selling record on the legendary Sun label, in 1956). On the other hand, long-established (and highly respected) Blues singer Jimmy McCracklin wrote and recorded ‘The Walk’ as a direct cash-in, to try and tap into the white R&R record-buying market, after he’d seen the success being enjoyed by artists like Chuck Berry. He was duly rewarded with a Top 10 hit, although further endeavors to tap the same market – e.g. ‘The Wobble’ – were spectacular failures. Mind you, McCracklin certainly wasn’t the first established performer to try and hop aboard the Dance craze bandwagon. Johnny Otis was just as well-established and respected as Jimmy – albeit with a rather more commercially successful track record – and he enjoyed a massive worldwide hit during 1958 with the infectious ‘Willie & The Hand Jive’, a song which would inspire dozens of cover versions.
Even Rock’n’Roll wild man Gene Vincent climbed aboard the Dance craze bandwagon in search of a hit record, in 1957, with ‘Dance To The Bop’ (he was duly rewarded with a million-seller), whilst that self-same Bop had also provided half of Bill Haley’s former Comets, now calling themselves The Jodimars, with the inspiration for their popular ‘Dance The Bop’ the previous year. The “Bop” indeed proved itself to be both a popular and versatile concept within the Rockabilly canon, as further evidenced by a quartet of exceptionally fine floor-fillers, viz: Alvadean Coker & The Cokers’ chugging ‘We’re Gonna Bop’, Sparkle Moore’s high-octane ‘Rock-A-Bop’, Vern Pullens’ frantic ‘Bop Crazy Baby’ (the latter, as near faultless a Rockabilly record as you’ll ever hear) and The Barker Brothers’ Everlys-styled sprint through Lee Hazlewood’s ‘Hey Littla Mama’. Four great records, which would be more or less guaranteed to get young Dave Penny and his chums up on the floor and dancing around their briefcases, in no time.
The oldest track featured herein is an (extremely unlikely) English record, ‘The Creep’ by Ken Mackintosh & His Band (co-written by saxophonist Mackintosh and his trombone player, Gordon Langhorn – aka Don Lang), which made the UK Top 10 in early 1954. By all accounts this disc was a huge favourite among the embryonic Teddy Boys, who danced to it en masse, in an early approximation of The Stroll. A couple of other very early sides are The Hawketts’ iconic, eternally-influential ‘Mardi Gras Mambo’ (which featured a 17-year-old Art Neville on lead vocals) and The Robins’ evocative, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller-penned ‘Loop De Loop Mambo’, which appeared on the flip of their celebrated ‘Framed’. The Robins, of course, later evolved into The Coasters, for whom Leiber & Stoller wrote a whole slew of memorable hits (although ironically, ‘Dance!’ appeared on the flip of ‘Gee Golly’, one of their very few flops).
Elsewhere, a pair of moody, menacing instros, The Strangers’ down’n’dirty ‘Caterpillar Crawl’ and Lee Cook & The Shades’ Link Wray-esque ‘Strollin’ After Dark’, would later provide inspiration for The Cramps. A further cluster of classy instros features Lee Allen & His Band’s struttin’ ‘Walkin’ With Mr Lee’, Sil Austin’s handclap-propelled ‘Slow Walk’, Noble ‘Thin Man’ Watts & His Rhythm Sparks’ equally-saxy ‘Hard Times (The Slop)’ and The Flee-Rekkers’ mellifluous ‘Blue Tango’ (the latter, doubtless inspired by The Bill Black Combo’s contemporaneous US hit). Another curio which perhaps belongs in this company, although it ought more accurately be described as a ‘semi-instro’, is Nat Kendrick & The Swans’ call-to-arms, ‘(Do The) Mashed Potatoes’, a disc which audibly features James Brown. By all accounts the number was a popular feature of Brown’s live set, and he wanted to cut it as a single. His record company, King, demurred, whereupon he and his band cut it for a small, rival label, Dade, with Brown playing piano and yelling out both the song’s title and the “Yeahs”. In order to try and prevent anyone recognising his voice, local radio deejay Carlton ‘King’ Coleman was asked to overdub additional shouted vocals, although Brown’s dulcet tones can still clearly be heard. The disc – which eventually carried a label credit to ‘Nat Kendrick & The Swans’ (Kendrick was the drummer in James Brown’s band at that time) – became a major success, making the R&B Top 10 and even crossing over to the Top 100.
A further quartet of the half-forgotten goodies featured herein – viz: ‘The Madison Time’ by The Ray Bryant Combo, ‘The Roach’ by Gene & Wendell, ‘Foot Stompin’ by The Flares and ‘The Bug’ by Jerry Dallman & The Knightcaps – were proudly included in John Waters’ lavishly kitsch tale of dance-crazed Baltimore teen culture, Hairspray…although how more of these gems managed to escape inclusion remains a mystery!
But, we could go on all night! We’ve still not discussed the merits of such long-lost floor-fillers as Chicano rocker Chan Romero’s utterly magnificent, Ritchie Valens-inspired ‘Hippy Hippy Shake’, the mighty Dion’s eternally-cool ‘The Majestic’ (which was initially conceived as the A-side of ‘The Wanderer’), Al Brown’s Tunetoppers (featuring Cookie Brown)’s eternally-overlooked original version of ‘The Madison’ (which lost out, chart-wise, to the aforementioned ‘Madison Time’, by Ray Bryant) or even the erratic, oft-controversial Larry Bright’s invitation to come and do the ‘Mojo Workout’. Happily, however, all of these golden goodies – not to mention Danny & The Juniors’ all-encompassing Dance fave ‘At The Hop’ (which we’ve even got in its original incarnation, ‘Do The Bop’) – are now available once again for everyone to enjoy. So, roll back that rug, kick off your sling-backs and get dancin’. And girls, best apply extra hair lacquer lest that bouffant takes a battering. Ahhh, you’re lookin’ good… - Groper Odson
1. Let's Twist Again - Chubby Checker 2. Dance! - The Coasters 3. The Coffee Grind - Hank Ballard & The Midnighters 4. The Mess Around - Bobby Freeman 5. Ooby Dooby - Roy Orbison & The Teen Kings 6. Dance To The Bop - Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps 7. Rock-a-Bop - Sparkle Moore 8. Slow Walk - Sil Austin 9. Willie & the Hand Jive - Johnny Otis Show 10. The Continental Walk - The Rollers 11. We're Gonna Bop - Alvadean Coker & The Cokers 12. The Chicken Scratch - The Commandos 13. Twist-Her - Bill Black's Combo 14. The Madison - Al Brown's Tunetoppers Feat. Cookie Brown 15. Peanut Butter (Hully Gully) - The Marathons 16. Hitch Hike, Pt. 1 - Russell Byrd 17. Everybody Loves To Cha-Cha-Cha - Sam Cooke 18. The Wang Dang Taffy Apple Tango - Pat Boone 19. Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop - Little Anthony & The Imperials 20. Soul Twist - King Curtis & The Noble Knights 21. Mardi Gras Mambo - The Hawketts 22. The Wobble - Jimmy McCracklin 23. Hey Little Mama - Barker Brothers 24. The Slop - Chubby Checker 25. Blue Tango - The Flee-Rekkers 26. (Do the) Mashed Potatoes - Nat Kendrick & The Swans 27. Walkin' the Stroll - The Diamonds 28. Shimmy Like Kate - The Olympics 29. The Creep - Ken Macintosh & His Band 30. Dance The Bop - The Jodimars 31. The Hippy Hippy Shake - Chan Romero 32. At The Hop - Danny & The Juniors
…originally served by Gyro1966...
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