Popular Dance Moves from the 60s-70s
Thank you for including me in your Monday, kittens & dawgs! Although, the great 2017 total solar eclipse is now history, I had to share the cool photo DD#2 took with her iPhone 7. I think she said she used a special lens for her phone to capture it. She did an amazing job, too! I hope y’all had a nice weekend. Mine was good despite recovering from oral surgery and restricted to a soft diet which will last for six weeks. Alrighty, it’s time to hit the dance floor with XmasDolly, Stacy, Colette , and little ole me with this week’s mewsic theme featuring song titles and lyrics with “Dance Moves“.
I was born in 1961 so by the time I was old enough I certainly remember doing some of these dance moves shown in the above video, especially the “Twist” and “Swim” which were easy peasy for anyone to do.
I kind of forgot “The Loco-Motion” was a dance step but I always loved the song!
Little Eva recorded the song first but it’s Grand Funk Railroad 1974 cover I remember best. Did you know “The Loco-Motion” topped the charts in 1962 with Little Eva and again with Grand Funk Railroad more than a decade later? Australian singer, Kylie Minogue, did well covering the classic hit in 1988 charting #3 in the US.
Flash back some memories with this list of Famous 60s Dance Moves!
The 70s ushered in the disco era. There’s a mix consensus about this type of mewsic, you either love it or hate it. I was a lover! Get to your feet to relive these iconic dance steps!
I found an excellent list of various dance moves in alphabetic order on Wikipedia to refresh your memory or to inspire you with something different!
This is Curious as a Cathy signing off these funky Soul Train cats showing us some cool 70s dance moves!
What mewsic moves you today?
[tweetthis]Tell a friend & hit the dance floor with “Dance Moves” #music with the #4M gals! @xmasdolly [/tweetthis]
This week is going to be another crazy busy one for me with two doctor appointments for me and one for DH but I’ll do my best to hop over to dance with you. I can’t believe my summer hiatus is coming to an end with the return of my normal or somewhat normal blogging routine next month beginning next week on the dance floor with songs about “Labor Day or End of Summer” on Monday’s Music Moves Me!
32 Comments
Live and Learn
Six weeks is a long time on soft food. I bet you’ll be getting creative by the end. Good luck and good healing.
Cathy Kennedy
Thankfully, I’m now able to eat a normal diet again. I don’t think I could’ve gone six weeks on nothing but soft foods. I still need to be careful with what I eat. Certain things are off the table until for six weeks but I can live without crusty bread and nuts for that long. Thanks for visiting. I’ll see you soon!
JamericanSpice (@Jamericanspice)
I always love dancing to the oldies and I play those only or mostly, so my kids know quite a bit of oldies. Love YMCA!
Very fun list Cathy. Thanks for the dance!
Cathy Kennedy
Colette,
We played a variety of mewsic for our kids. It always blew people away to find out our kids not only knew who Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, … but they liked them! I remember my oldest daughter was asked by someone her age for Christmas mewsic suggestions and when she told her to check out Bing Crosby the girl had no clue who Bing was. The girl’s mom was nearby and couldn’t believe that DD#1 knew who he was. Another time, DS met a girl on Facebook and the girl’s grandmother was convinced that because he liked many of the bands from 70s and 80s that we did that he had to be a 30-year-old guy. Of course, I can’t blame the grandma for being cautious and suspicious but I talked to the young girl on occasions, as well I friended her mother. Oh well…I think it’s great you’re playing the oldies for your kiddies. Thanks for dancing with me, dearie!
Mike Spain
Fun songs! How could I forget the hustle?
Cathy Kennedy
Mike,
I don’t know, how did you forget “The Hustle”? 🙂 Thanks for stopping by to dance! Now, I’m boogieing over to see you!
Arlee Bird
I’ve never been much of a dancer, but I remember these dance songs. Dance songs were all the rage back in the sixties. I did get on the dance floor during the days of Disco, but that was either to garner interest from some female or I was so much under an influence other than impressing women that I was just dancing crazy.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Cathy Kennedy
Lee,
Like most young girls the moves I knew I picked up watching American Bandstand, Soul Train, and the older girls. I haven’t danced other than inside my VERY private four walls in years but when I hear mewsic that moves me then move it does. I can’t help it! This used to embarrass my kids when I did a little boogie in a store. I got a lot of eye rolls but I never let it bother me. I figured we only have one life to live, so I might as well enjoy it and mewsic gives me lots of joy! You’re awfully brave to admit the reasons why you were on the dance floor. Either way, I’d say you were entertaining to watch. 😀
Linda, Shenandoah Valley
Your daughter did well with the eclipse photo. I didn’t even try because I didn’t have a special filter and we only had a partial eclipse that looked like a crescent moon.
Cathy Kennedy
Linda,
I didn’t take a picture of the eclipse, either. At the last, DH decided he wanted to take a few hours off from work and take me to see the eclipse in a place where totality lasted longer. I was hard pressed just to get the solar glasses but came up with some from Amazon. Filters for my camera or iPhone were out of stock, so I just lived in the moment enjoying the phenomena. It was incredible seeing it through the glasses, though. I loved every second of it! Parts of Knoxville saw totality but it got dark for more than two minutes just outside of Knoxville about 45 minutes and that’s where we were. Thanks for stopping by!
greyzoned/angelsbark
Hey Cathy,
I sure hope you’re feeling better since your oral surgery. Having a sore mouth is no fun and being restricted to soft foods for 6 weeks? yikes! But at least the mouth is the fastest body part to heal. Feel better soon, my friend!
LOVED the eclipse photo that your daughter took! She did a great job! Thanks for sharing.
I really enjoyed your first video of the 60s dance moves, especially the first segment. Those kids, some of them, seemed to be lost. Looked like it was some kind of show tailored to 17 year olds maybe?? Anyway, that was cute.
I love Disco too, but you know what? While it was hot, I was not at all interested in it. I was a rocker and was more of the “Disco sucks” group but years later, I love the music from the era. And funny, even though I spent more time in bars with rock bands, I do fondly remember some of those nights I spent in the local discotheques. Such great dancing! And the music brings back tons of memories. So now I’m a disco-lover! Although I don’t remember Lady Bump…
I love The Swim! Such great moves. And you’re right: anyone can do The Swim. Probably my favorite of all dance shows back then was Soul Train. Loved the Soul Train dancers. I certainly liked American Bandstand too but Soul Train was my fav.
So enjoyed your post today Cathy! Have a great week and take good care of yourself!
Michele at Angels Bark
Cathy Kennedy
Michele,
The mouth is the fastest part of the body to heal, you say? Well, my mouth is doing excellent! Other than feeling like I having my lower lip lined with cotton and the restricted diet there is no pain to speak of at this point. Actually, I didn’t have much pain even the night of my surgery. I took one pain pill at bedtime and the following morning I used Tylenol, so I’m happy about that!
I loved disco back in the day but these days if I listen to it, it’s only because someone is sharing this mewsic. I have small disco collection in my mewsic library but it occurred to me that my general mewsic preference in the 70s was more easy listening or soft rock with artists like Chicago, Elton John, Barry Manilow, Eagles, and ARS to name just a few. My ear tends to still lean heavily this direction, too. However, I’m more open-minded to different genres now and enjoy sampling what others love. I connected with American Bandstand more for obvious reasons but I loved the funky groove of the Soul Train dancers. I reckon if these shows, assuming they are as good as they were in the day, were on today then I’d probably be a regular viewer of a Soul Train because my perception of mewsic has changed.
I’m happy to know that you enjoyed this post, my friend and appreciate you saying so. I’ll see ya on the dance floor Monday!
15andmeowing
Nice choices, now YMCA will be stuck in my head 🙂
Cathy Kennedy
Ellen,
Oops, sorry about that! Some songs are just notoriously bad for getting stuck in one’s head after hearing them. At least, “YMCA” is a funtastic dance tune that’s sure to keep you bobbing and a swaying all day!
Alana Mautone (@RamblinGarden)
Your daughter’s eclipse picture ROCKED! (My pictures, taken with an iPhone SE, not so much.) But thank you for taking me back to the disco era. The Hustle, The Village People (I must have done YMCA at YMCA water aerobics classes about 10 zillion times in my life, but it never gets old) and, right now, I’m running Donna Summer’s MacArthur Park through my mind even though it isn’t an official “dance moves song”. Grea times, although I never personally visited a disco.
Mary B
Hi Cathy!
Great dance moves today! It was fun to watch those moves from the 60s and 70s and remember how much fun they were. I loved watching Soul Train. Those guys always knew how to bring in new moves!
Cathy Kennedy
Mary,
I always enjoyed watching the dancers on the Soul Train. Maybe, a little more than those on American Bandstand because they were a bit more funkier. Thanks for dancing with me!
Patrick Weseman
Great songs. I did pick the Kylie Minogue version of the Loco-Motion. I remember watching Soul Train back in the day. I am wishing you as Don Cornelius used to say “Peace, Love and soul”, this week,
Cathy Kennedy
Patrick,
It’s great to have you on the dance floor. Kylie Minogue does a great job on “The Loco-Motion” but honestly I do not recall her cover coming out in the late 80s. It wasn’t until I started blogging and someone shared her version with me. Heck, I don’t think I even knew who Kylie Minogue was until 2010. 🙂 Thanks for the warm wishes. Have a tunetastic week, my friend!
Thomas Anderson
Hi, Cathy!
Your daughter captured a great shot of the solar eclipse! Thanks for showing it to us. I’m sorry to learn you need to stick to a soft food diet for so long. No peanut-brittle or jawbreaker candies for you, dearie! 🙂
This is a fantastic post loaded with memory making mewsic and dances from the decades of my youth. Whenever I hear “The Stroll” I think of its contrapuntal application in the 80s teen horror flick Night Of The Creeps. I was age 8 or 9 when I started tuning in to American Bandstand and I remember Chubby Checker’s version of “The Twist” (a cover of a 1958 original recording by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters) catching fire, sweeping the nation and inspiring dozens of other dance craze records by Checker and other artists in the early and mid 60s. Little Eva’s “The Loco-Motion” was an electrifying hit. Eva was on top of the world when she made the rounds of TV mewsic shows for teens like Hullabaloo and Shindig. Sadly she was unable to sustain a successful recording career and, in the years that followed, fell on hard times. Eva died young, at age 59, of cancer.
The video captured as Bobby Freeman lip synced his top 5 hit “C’mon and Swim” gives younger people some idea of the excitement of the early and mid 60s, the era of bikinis and beach movies and celebrating the laid back, fun-fllled SoCal lifestyle. It was a great time for Shady to be a teenager! 🙂 Bobby Freeman passed away earlier this year at the age of 76.
In the fall of 1967, The Human Beinz had a hit with “Nobody But Me,” a song that mentions four popular dances of the period: The Shing-a-ling, The Skate, The Boogaloo and The Philly, which I believe makes reference to the “Philly Dog,” a hit by The Mar-keys. The Olympics also had a hit with their single “Baby Do The Philly Dog.” It’s interesting that the famous Human Beinz hit “Nobody But Me” is also a cover of a relatively obscure R&B recording, this one a January 1963 single by The Isley Brothers. On their original version, The Isleys mention a different set of songs and dances, those that were hot in 1962 when the song was written. They include The Twist, the Chubby Checker monster that topped the chart for a second time in 1962 after an initial long chart run in 1960, “Shout,” a 1962 hit for the Isleys, The Mashed Potato, the dance popularized by Dee Dee Sharp, and The Popeye, a dance introduced at Halloween 1962 by Chubby Checker.
I haven’t thought about Penny McLean or her hit “Lady Bump” in ages. That video could have been used in my series Bandstands in Foreign lands because Penny is performing on DISCO, the West German TV show. “Y-M-C-A” and the dorky dance that went along with it are indicative of the decline of the Disco movement. It just became an embarrassment to see people in their 40s, 50s and 60s doing disco dances and have oldsters like veteran singer and movie actress Ethel Merman recording disco songs:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ethel_Merman_Disco_Album
It’s nice to see that you included Don Cornelius and The Soul Train Gang in your salute to Popular Dance Moves of the 60s and 70s.
This was mighty entertaining, dear friend Cathy. Have a great week!
Cathy Kennedy
Tom,
Thanks for joining me on the dance floor. I’ll survive the soft/liquid diet and who knows maybe I’ll drop a few pounds in the process. *cross fingers* I love peanut brittle! I told DH recently that I need to make some. I haven’t done that in a few years. Maybe, after my gums heal I’ll make a batch. Yum! Ah, that’s sad that cancer claimed Eva prematurely. I didn’t know Bobby Freeman passed away earlier in the year. I did check out the lip sync “C’mon and Swim” video that you referred to and you’re right it’s an excellent example of the era of how kids wanted to live if they weren’t in southern California. 🙂 The Village People “YMCA” dance was a lot of silliness but it was the fun kind of silliness that infectious. I think that’s why it was so popular. I do not remember Ethel Merman’s disco album, so I had to look it up on YouTube just for kicks and to share it. I thought the recording was a comic relief of some sort but I don’t believe it was. I think Merman was trying to ride the disco wave like so many others. What do you think? Anywho, here it is for anyone curious for a listen if you don’t laugh too loud.
The Soul Train dancers were always a lot of fun to watch and I really enjoy catching the vintage clips on your site and YouTube when I can. Have a good day, my friend. It was a pleasure to visit with you.
Thomas Anderson
Hi again, Cathy!
Like crooner Pat Boone’s infamous heavy metal album, I have no doubt Ethel’s album was slapped together to cash in on the latest craze – Disco – before it passed. Unfortunately, albums like hers and novelty singles like “Disco Duck” by DJ Rick Dees made a mockery of a movement that had some fine moments and some great artists, songs and dances, and served to hasten Disco’s demise.
Have a super Tuesday, dear friend!
Cathy Kennedy
Tom,
When Pat Boone came out with his heavy metal album I thought he lost his mind! His genre crossover was something I could not wrap my brain around and I certainly didn’t see him as a big time rock n’ roller. I never saw “Disco Duck” as a mockery. Perhaps, it was my age. I was a mere teen and thought the song was just goofy fun. For serious mewsic enthusiasts, I can see how Rick Dees one-hit wonder was anything but appealing. Thanks for visiting again. I went back to bed this morning since I was wiped out and I’m still a bit lethargic. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Could it be the oral surgery took that much out of me? I didn’t have any anesthesia so all I can figure out is the trauma of the surgery has me still dragging. I’ll be by to see you soon!
Thomas Anderson
I hope you took a nap and are feeling better, dear Cathy. Yessum, surgery of any kind can take a lot out of you requiring extra days of rest. Meanwhile I am nursing a sore throat the last several days. We had 13 inches of rain down here in a 48 hour period and I was out in the nasty weather with Mrs Shady and got soaked to the skin. There is flooding in our area but nothing like what they are going through in Texas. Please feel better soon and thank you very much for the fine comment on SDMM today!
Cathy Kennedy
Tom,
The extra sleep was very much needed. I’ll snap back in a few days. Of course, I’m on restricted activity for the next two weeks and some diet restrictions for 6-weeks. I see my dentist again on Thursday. Is all y’all rain from Harvey? Texas sure did get hit hard. I hope you’re feeling better soon, too. With the change of seasons approaching there are pollens and other allergens to give one problem. The ragweed has been high here lately and naturally every time it rains the mold becomes a problem for us. UGH! Interesting factoid about Kiss’s song “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”. I didn’t know. In fact, I don’t know if I knew they were one the ones to do this song but I really the song. How did the critics like Kiss’s soft ballad, “Beth”? You know, if a heavy rock group like Kiss can pull of two different songs away from the norm which sounds fabulous in my opinion then that says a lot about the band. That takes talent which they have plenty of!
Thomas Anderson
Another point I wanted to make is that purists of any genre tend to resent crossovers. For example, Kiss was criticized by some hardcore rock and heavy metal fans for selling out when the band achieved a hit with their Disco style single “I Was Made For Lovin’ You.”
Thomas Anderson
Hi again, Cathy!
I hope you can find this reply among all the others. You brought up a good question about the Kiss ballad “Beth.” I haven’t read anything about Kiss fans being critical of that tender love song. In my experience, in the strange world of hard rock and metal, a good power ballad is respected a lot more than an up tempo song that sounds too commercial.
There are some interesting facts about “Beth.” It was originally released as the B side of the Kiss single “Detroit Rock City” which tells the grim tale of a rock fan killed in a car crash on the way to a show. “Detroit Rock City” sold poorly at the time but went on to become a fan favorite. Anyhow, as the story goes, the daughter of the music director at powerhouse radio station CKLW liked the flip side of the single “Beth” a lot more and begged her dad to add it to the station’s playlist. When he did, the ballad caught fire and, reissued as the A side, went on to become the highest charting single of Kiss’s career. Another fine Kiss ballad, “Forever,” also made the top 10 to become the band’s second most successful single. Their Disco number “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” is ranked as their third highest charting single at #11.
More interesting facts about “Beth” – In the goofy Kiss movie Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, Peter Criss sings his hit “Beth.” It is the only time Criss’s real voice is heard in the film. All of his speaking lines were dubbed-in using the voice of another actor. In 1988, Kiss drummer Eric Carr, whom I met two years earlier when my camera crew interviewed him backstage at a Kiss concert, recorded a cover of “Beth” for the band’s Smashes, Thrashes & Hits compilation. Carr was reportedly reluctant to record the song out of respect for the original by Criss, but he dis a fine job on it nevertheless. The poor little guy died three years later of an aneurysm and brain hemorrhage. I was heartbroken. Carr died the same day as Freddie Mercury of Queen.
I agree that a band with versatility deserves respect. Kiss proved their versatility with excellent ballads and a brief foray into Disco.
Cathy Kennedy
Tom,
You always leave excellent trivia behind for me and others to learn from and I appreciate you returning with more information on Kiss. I’m glad the daughter of the radio station director persuaded her dad to give “Beth” a shot. It’s my favorite Kiss song! WOW, I really appreciate you turning my ear to “Forever”! That’s another awesome ballad and one I do not remember at all, so mega thanks! In Kiss’s mewsic “Forever” vid their faces aren’t painted which surprised me. I didn’t even know there was a Kiss movie. LOL, That’s really an interesting factoid! You sure have met some interesting people in your career days. Did you know DH played drums in his teen years? He’s self-taught and played for a time with some of his buddies who had a band. He also filled in on occasion for the local high school band. He has an excellent ear for mewsic! I envy anyone who can play a mewsical instrument by ear. Those aneurysms are scary things which are most often undetected until it’s too late to do anything about it. DH’s aunt on his mother’s side died from one which they suspected was related to her medication but I’m not sure if that was revealed in the autopsy (assuming one was done). Anywho, thanks for popping back, my friend!
Thomas Anderson
Hi again, Cathy, and happy Wednesday to you!
Isn’t it great to publish a post and have it spawn a discussion thread that lasts days and days? To me this is what blogging is all about. This is where so much additional learning takes place.
I didn’t know that DH was a drummer in his youth. I was, too! I played drums in the elementary school and junior high bands and was briefly in a garage band. With that in mind, I urge you to bring DH along and visit my blog this Friday or over the weekend. I will be presenting a special post that I think you and he will very much enjoy.
Have a wonderful Wednesday, dear friend Cathy!
Cathy Kennedy
Tom,
Creating interesting discussion threads is one of the perks to blogging. This is something I’m still very much learning to do on regular biases. I haven’t figured out how to be extremely active with everyone but I hope over time I get a better handle on how to do this. The last thing I want to do is to see blogging as a chore and I certainly don’t want anyone else to feel that way when they visit here. I’m sure I’ll find my knack, though.
Oh that’s cool, you played drums, too! I think I may recall you mentioning that before but my brain gets so fuzzy sometimes. I have a problem of mixing up facts about people sometimes. I’m getting better at not doing that but I have room for improvement. 🙂 We’ll definitely try to break away this weekend to check out your upcoming post. Thanks for the invite! Have a good evening.
Joyce Lansky
Fun dance moves. Did we really look like that in the 60s and 70s? LOL! I feel old. I like them all, but I must admit, the Soul Train dancing at the end was a special treat.
Cathy Kennedy
Joyce,
We did but at least we looked better than a lot of the kids do today. 😀 I didn’t watch Soul Train a lot but when I did I always liked it when they did this dance segment on the show. It made me smile then and it makes me smile now. What fun! Thanks for hitting the dance floor with me. I’ll be by to dance with you soon!