DAY 118 - COUNTING DOWN TO THE 50TH

Good Morning, Class of '64

Young Couple Dancing - Henry Woods

 Let us read, and let us dance; 

these two amusements will never 

do any harm to the world.
Voltaire

After all, Ginger Rogers did everything 

that Fred Astaire did. 

She just did it backwards 

and in high heels.
Ann Richards

Dancing is a vertical expression 

of a horizontal desire.
 Robert Frost 

Dance at Bougival - Pierre Auguste Renoir

Many songs we listened to so many years ago had dances to go along with them. Maybe you danced up a storm to them or just watched others as they tripped the light fantastic (or the wild magnificent) to the music. Perhaps the music for the dance is remembered more than the dance itself. 

Maybe you did or didn't do the Stroll, the Watusi, or the Locomotion. But even if it was unseen, behind closed doors, you probably did the twist along with Chubby Checker. "Come on, Baby, let's do the twist" was a difficult invitation to resist once the music started. 

We didn't "get down" like today's youngsters, but we moved and grooved to the beat with the best of them. Watching the kids on American Bandstand taught us how. Whether it was a lunch hour sock hop on the gym floor at school (when they occurred) or in the privacy of our own bedroom at home, we mimicked what we saw on television.

While dancing or humming along to those oldies from years ago, we return in memory to the old high school building back in the valley. We become those youngsters who listened for the bell then climbed up and down the stairs, books in hand, to get to classes. Those days have long passed but are never far from our hearts.

Crazy - Connie Chatwell - http://hackberrystreetstudio.blogspot.com/

 At the Hop

Reached number one on the 

US charts on January 6, 1958.

Became one of the top-selling

singles of 1958.

Also hit number one on the 

R&B Best Sellers list

 stayed on the top of US charts 

for nearly 7 weeks and sold 

over 2 million copies worldwide.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Hop

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4144 

 Danny and the Juniors - 1958

You can rock it 

you can roll it

Do the stomp and even stroll it

At the hop.

When the record starts spinnin'

You chalypso and you chicken at the hop

Do the dance sensation 

that is sweepin' the nation

at the hop

Dance - Connie Chatwell - http://hackberrystreetstudio.blogspot.com/

The Loco-Motion

(The song came before the dance.)

 Ranked No. 359 on the 

Rolling Stone magazine's list of 

"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

The second song to reach No. 1

 by two different musical acts.

Sixth most successful single of 

1962 according to Billboard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Loco-Motion 

Little Eva (Eva Boyd) - 1962

Nobody cares if you 

can't dance well. 

 Just get up and dance.
Dave Barry

Dancing Couple - Herold Alvares

The Watusi

The second-most popular dance 

craze in the 1960s, after the Twist. 

On the Hot 100 Chart for 14 weeks; 

Peaked at #2 and held the 

position for two weeks.

The Orlons - 1962

To dance is to be out of yourself. 

Larger, more beautiful, more powerful..

 This is power, it is glory on earth 

and it is yours for the taking.

Agnes De Mille 

Dancing Couple - Miguel Alfaro

The Stroll

Reached number four on the

Billboard pop charts,

number five on the R&B charts,

and number one on the Cashbox charts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stroll

The Diamonds - 1958

Doing the Stroll

Chuck Willis - Betty and Dupree

Local Teen Show in Idaho

Life is sweet when you pay attention. 

When it doesn't seem sweet, 

put a sticker on your nose 

and do a funky dance.
Whitney Scott

Fernando Botero

The Twist

Reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 

on September 19, 1960 (one week) 

and set a record by being the only single 

to reach No. 1 in two different chart runs 

when it resurfaced and topped the chart 

again on January 13, 1962 (two weeks).

 Number-one song on Billboard's

"Hot 100 50th Anniversary" list of

 "The Billboard: All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs" 

in the first 50 years of the Hot 100 chart.

Number 451 on the Rolling Stone 

magazine's list of  

The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Added to the National Recording Registry 

in the Library of Congress on March 21, 2013 

for long-term preservation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twist_%28song%29

Chubby Checker - 1960

They dined on mince, and slices of quince
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon. 

Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat 

Can I Have This Dance For the Rest of My Life - Margaret Donat