1960s, Novelty

Limbo Rock

June 5, 2023

First recorded by The Champs (US #40 1961).
Other hit version by Chubby Checker (US #2/R&B #3 1962).
Also recorded (as “Let’s Limbo Some More”) by Chubby Checker (US #20 1963).

From the wiki: “Limbo Rock” is a popular song about limbo dancing written by Kal Mann (under the pseudonym Jan Sheldon) and Billy Strange. An instrumental version was first recorded by The Champs in 1961, a band of studio musicians that included a touring configuration of Earl Palmer (drums), Tommy Tedesco (guitar), Plas Johnson (saxophone) and its newest member, Glen Campbell (guitar).

“Originally composed as ‘Monotonous Melody’, for the lack of any other name, the recording was retitled ‘Limbo Rock’ for release as the B-side to ‘Tequila Twist’, the 45 rpm followup to the Champs’ Top 10 hit ‘Tequila’. ‘Tequila Twist’ debuted at #98 in February 1962 on the Billboard Hot 100 … and then promptly disappeared. ‘Limbo Rock’ was then released as the A-side. It too debuted at #98 on the Hot 100 in May 1962 but managed to peak at #40, taking a very slow 12 weeks of chart progress to get there.

Loddy Lo

January 25, 2016

Written and first recorded (as “Hey Lolly Lolly”) by Woody Guthrie (1944, released 1952).
Also recorded by Pete Seeger (as “Hey Li-Lee”, 1954), The Vipers Skiffle Group (sa “Hey Liley Liley Lo”, 1957), The Limeliters (as “Hey Li Lee Li Lee”, 1961).
Hit version by Chubby Checker (US #12/R&B #4 1963).

From the wiki: “Woody Guthrie recorded a version of “Hey Lolly Lolly” in 1944 which was not released until 1952. Pete Seeger recorded ‘Hey Li-Lee’ in 1954 but the song did not first gain wide familiarity until The Limeliters recorded their variation, ‘Hey Li Lee Li Lee’, during the early ’60s Folk music revival. Chubby Checker further adapted the song, recording ‘Hey Lolly Lolly’ in 1963 and going Top 20 with it on the Billboard Hot 100 and Top 5 US R&B charts.”

Pony Time

June 19, 2015

Co-written and first recorded by Don Covay & the Goodtimers (1960).
Hit version by Chubby Checker (US #1/R&B #1 1960).

From the wiki: “‘Pony Time’ was written by Don Covay and John Berry (a member of Covay’s earlier vocal group, the Rainbows), and originally recorded in 1960 by Covay with his group the Goodtimers. The song achieved greater success later that same year when it was recorded by Chubby Checker the following year, becoming his second US #1 (after his 1960 single ‘The Twist.’). It also topped the US R&B chart. ‘Pony Time’ does bear a resemblance to ‘The Twist‘, first recorded in 1959 by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters.”

The Twist

June 16, 2013

Written and first recorded by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (early 1958, released 1993)
Based on “Is Your Love For Real” by The Midnighters (1957).
First released by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters (B-side US #28/R&B #16 November 1958 |A-side re-release US #28/R&B #6 1960).
Other hit version by Chubby Checker (US #1/R&B #2/UK #44/AUS #20 1960 |US #1/R&B #4/UK #14/AUS #3 1962).

From the wiki: “Songs about doing ‘the twist’ date back to nineteenth-century minstrelsy, including ‘Grape Vine Twist’ from around 1844. In 1938 Jelly Roll Morton, in ‘Winin’ Boy Blues’, sang, ‘Mama, mama, look at sis, she’s out on the levee doing the double twist’ – a reference to both sex and dancing in those days.

“In 1957, the Midnighters’ Hank Ballard and Cal Green had already had written a song together called ‘Is Your Love for Real’, which they released on the Federal label with no apparent chart success. So, they used ‘Is Your Love for Real’ as the template for a new song by simply putting new words to the older melody and retitling it ‘The Twist’. (‘The Twist’ would, in turn, serve as the template for the Midnighters’ first Top-10 pop hit, ‘Finger Poppin’ Time’ [#7, 1962].)

The Hucklebuck

January 23, 2013

First recorded by Paul Williams & His Hucklebuckers (R&B #1 1949).
Also recorded by Lionel Hampton (1949), .
Other hit versions by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra (US #5 1949), Frank Sinatra (US #10 1949), Roy Milton (R&B #5 1949), Chubby Checker (US #14 1960), Coast to Coast (UK#3 1983).

From the wiki: “In his book, Honkers and Shouters, Arnold Shaw credits Paul Williams as one of the first to employ the honking tenor sax solo that became the hallmark of R&B and Rock ‘n Roll in the 1950s and early 1960s. Williams formed his own band in 1947 after first performing with Clarence Dorsey and King Porter. He became best known for his 1949 hit, ‘The Hucklebuck’, a twelve-bar blues that also spawned a dance craze. The single went to #1 on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart … and stayed there for 14 weeks.

Tagged: Chubby Checker