I have decided to extend this theme to highlight both songs about dance crazes and those that were spawned in the 1970’s by the advent of disco.
“Land of a Thousand Dances” (or “Land of 1000 Dances“) is a song written and first recorded by American rhythm and blues singer Chris Kenner in 1962. The original Chris Kenner recording, which peaked at No. 77 on the Billboard chart in 1963, mentions 16 dances: the Pony, the Chicken, the Mashed Potato, the Alligator, the Watusi, the Twist, the Fly, the Jerk, the Tango, the Yo-Yo, the Sweet Pea, the Hand Jive, the Slop, the Bop, the Fish, and the Popeye. The song’s best-known version was by Wilson Pickett, who recorded the song during his first set of sessions at FAME Studios backed by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and the Memphis Horns.
“Shake a Tail Feather” is a song written by Otha Hayes, Verlie Rice, and Andre Williams and originally recorded in 1963 by the Chicago-based group the Five Du-Tones. The original recording reached #28 on Billboard‘s Hot R&B Singles chart and #51 on the Hot 100. The song references a number of dance styles/moves including the Boogaloo, The Twist, The fly, The Bird, Monkey, the Mashed Potato, the duck and the Watusi. Ray Charles covered and performed the song during his scenes in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers where he was surrounded by dancers performing the move referenced in the song whilst he himself played a Rhodes piano and sang.
The Bump is a form of popular dance introduced in the 1970’s in the United States. Two partners, generally one male and one female, bump their hips against each other to the beat of the song. Sometimes the dance can be more suggestive, with the female dancer bumping her hip against the male dancer’s crotch. For this reason, the Bump is often believed to be the precursor to the erotic and controversial dance grinding.
The Hustle is a catch-all name for some disco dances which were extremely popular in the 1970s. Late 1970s, Bump, Hustle, Watergate and Spank were popular. It mostly refers to the unique partner dance done in nightclubs to disco music. Hustle has steps in common with Mambo and Salsa and basic steps are somewhat similar to Euro dance style “discofox”, which emerged at about the same time and is more familiar in various European countries. Modern partner hustle is sometimes referred to as New York hustle, however, its original name is the Latin hustle. The original Latin Hustle started being developed in late 1972 by Puerto Rican Teenagers in the South Bronx and by 1974 was being done all over New York and the Tri-State area, and by 1976 became an International Dance Sensation… Do the Hustle became a hit in 1975, following Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony’s song “Hustle” which reached the top of the Billboard chart in July 1975.
Y.M.C.A.” is a song by American disco group Village People. It was released in October 1978 as the only single from their third studio album, Cruisin’ (1978). The song was written by Jaques Morali and singer Victor Willis. YMCA is also the name of a group dance with cheerleader Y-M-C-A choreography invented to fit the song. One of the phases involves moving arms to form the letters Y-M-C-A as they are sung in the chorus. The dance originated on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. The group performed the song during the January 6, 1979 episode. Clark then said to Willis that he would like to show him something, playing the song again with the audience doing YMCA hand gestures. Willis immediately picked up on the dance and mimicked the hand movements back at the audience as other Village People members stared at him with puzzled looks. Clark then turned to Willis and said, “Victor, think you can work this dance into your routine?” Willis responded, “I think we’re gonna have to.”
