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182

The economic prosperity of the 1950s may have been a

Below: Even the well-
balm to the wounds of a generation forged in the furnace
respected Arthur Murray
dance school business of two world wars and the most devastating economic
jumped on the rock'n'roll depression the world has ever seen, but it was not an
bandwagon in the Fifties. ideal environment for cultural innovation.

The rock and roll

generation
ln North America, particularly, people were movinS out of the
urban centres into newly developed suburban sprawls, where
back gardens took the place of the street and radio and television
took the place of live entertainment. This suburban middle class
was more prosperous than it had ever been before, and itwanted
nothing to upset the bourgeois tranquillity, be it communism or
jive. ln this environment, where entertaining was more likely to
happen rn someone else's house than in the dancehall, dance
music ceased to provide a soundtrack to most people's lives.
In the cities, too, dance was suffering from the complexities,
and banalities, of the popular music scene. Bebop continued
to plough its own furrow, and elsewhere the music scene was
dorninated by the treacly banalities of the popular crooners. on
stage, traditionally the birthplace of new dance styles, cabaret
was on the wane, and musical choreography was moving ever
closer to the world of classical ballet. Social dancing, such as
there was, had reached a degree of staleness and conventional-
ity not seen since the days before the great ragtime boom. Within
this stifling conformity a new voice was being heard, however. lt
was young, and (more importantly) it had economic clout. The
'teenager' had arrived.
Whatever the sociological reason, the post-war Seneration
felt less pressure to ape the lifestyles of their parents. The con-
cept ofgenerational rebellion may not have been new- in dance
it had always been an impetus in the evolution of new styles - but
for the first time a large section of society had both the time and
 183

Right: Cheap dance-driven

exploitation movies didn't
'Within this stifling
start with the rock'n'roll
craze; this 1945 musical conformity a new voice
feature was a vehicle for
Dizzy Gillespie and other was being heard,
jazz stars of the day.
however. lt was young,
Below: lt seems strange
that the apparently
innocent, alcohol-free
and (more importantly) it
coffee bar and its juke box
should have fostered rock had economic clout. The
and roll with its teen-
rebellion image. teenager had arrived.'

money with which to assert their collective identity. Furthermore,

there was a variety of new media through which the young could
celebrate their voice.
In the movies James Dean and Marlon Brando were immortal-
izinS the image of broody teenage rebellion On television t
American Bandstand and shows like tt were beaming into every
home the new styles and music, and anybody anywhere with a
radio could tune into the hot sounds. For the first time new dance

styles did not have to filter down from hotbeds of creative inno-
vation such as the Savoy Ballroom or the Lafayette Theater in
Harlem (see paSe 52) Rock and roll came rnto every home fully
formed and professionally packaged. To be part of it you just had
to be young and 'with it'.

Jumping, jiving and gyrating

Rock and roll did come from somewhere, of course - its roots lay
in African-American culture - and swing had not suddenly
ceased to exist with the arrival of Charlie Parker and 'Birdland'
Alongside bebop and the electrified blues of the industrial north,
small rhythm and blues combos were plying their trade Smaller
and more compact, these bands began to offer brasher 'jump'
blues, an energized combination of hard-driving rhythm sectrons
and blues progressions, often featuring stomping horns or a wail-
184
The rock and roll generali on

ing sax. This was unapologetically dance music, and among the
best known exponents of jump blues were Louis lordan
(1908-75) and 'Bi8 Joe' Turner (1911-85), who originally wrote
that seminal anthem of rock and roll, 'Shake, Rattle and Roll'.
SwinS dance had not totally disappeared, either. lt had

evolved and cloned into a myriad of different forms and varia-

tions. The jitterbug, jive, boogie-woogie and the original lindy hop
had all survived from the days of the big bands, but as a rule
these styles required a fair amount of space in which to move.
Now, these styles are grouped under the collective title 0f East
Coast swing, but the decline of the large ballrooms, and the
development of the smaller rhythm and blues bands resulted in
the evolution of a tighter, more linear, dance style. This is west
Coast swing, and it includes styles such as the push, the whip and
the sha8.
By the early '1950s nearly all swing dances had become
loosely known as jive, a name that was used to refer to impro-
vised swing dancing, much of it relying on individual expression
as well as partnered steps. on the whole, this was a toned-down
version of swing's boisterous past. The Madison was also

Above: Disc jockey and

promoter Alan Freed, who
pioneered the exposure of
rhythm and blues and early
rock and roll artists to a
white teenage audience.

Right: Doing the Madison;

rock and roll reaffirmed the
role of dancing as part of
the social ritual of boy-
meets-girl, which had been
the case in ballrooms and
dancehalls since the turn of
the century.
 185

popular around this time. A unique set dance, that was per-
formed in a line with its own distinct music, the Madison is one in
a long line of novelty dances that sprinkle the century.
All these components then - jump blues, jive dance, teenage
identity - came together to give birth to rock and roll. The father
of rock and roll - or, at least the person credited with giving
rhythm and blues a new title and selling it to white youngsters -
was radio DJ Alan Freed (1922-65). When he was told by a local
record producer that kids were buying rhythm and blues records
in great numbers, Freed began giving the public what they
wanted over the ainruaves. On 11 iuly 1951 he began broadcast-
ing 'Moon Dog's Rock and Roll Party' out of Cleveland, Ohio.
According to legend, recognizing that the term rhythm and blues
(which was still referred to in some quarters as 'race' music)
might be off-putting, Freed gave his records the title 'rock 'n' roll'.
The origins of the term rock and roll are shrouded in myth
lronically, for a phrase attempting to instil respectability, rock and
roll was slang in the black community for sex, and this may have
something to do with its suitability as a name for the new musical
form. The visceral energy of the music was at least partly driven by
testosterone. lt may be that rock and roll was simply a phrase that
cropped up in rhythm and blues music, such as Roy Brown's
'Good Rockin'Tonight' 0r 'Shake, Rattle and Roll', or it might be that

rock and roll simply says it as it

Left: Elvis in 1956 in
is - here was music to dance to
typical pose performing
It was impossible to stand still while listening to rock and roll:
one of his many hits,
its strong accented beats practically demanded that those young
sonts that owed much to
fans who listened to it stood up and moved, whether they were in black American rhythm
a dancehall, a cinema or simply their own bedrooms. The 'King' and blues music.

'The "King" himself -

Elvis Presley - always
maintained that his
pelvic gyrating was an
honest response to
how the music made
him feel.'
186
The rock and roll generation
Above: For many, the man who
epitomized the era of rock and
roll was Elvis Presley, here
dancing on stage with a
member of the audience.
'The energy of Presley,
Little Richard, Jerry Lee
Lewis and the rest
inevitably fed into the
feet of those who
danced to the new
sound.'
himself - Elvis Presley - always maintained that his pelvic gyrat-
ing was an honest response to how the music made him feel.
others, of course, disagreed, and Presley appeared live on the Ed
Sullivan televrsion variety show filmed only from the waist up so
as not to incite degenerate behaviour. With hindsiSht, it is possi-
ble to have some sympathy for Presley. Although those
surrounding him were more than capable of harnessing teenage
thrills for their own economic advantage, Presley was probably
innocent of the accusation. 'Elvis the Pelvis' was instinctively
reacting to how the music made him feel, as many musicians had
done before - only this time, the musician, Elvis, was white.
By now, social dance had been flirting with the desire to drop
the centre of gravity into the pelvis for more than 50 years. The
mooche, ceorgia grind and slow drag had been staples of
African-American dance since well into the nineteenth century.
Pelvic gyratrons had been a principle part of Bert Williams's act 50
years before. He called itthe mooche (see paSe 27).Ihe mooche,
and moves like it, had been present in the raStime animal dance
crazes (see pages 28-30) before the First World War, but they had
been ironed out as the dances spread across sophisticated soci-
ety. ln the 1920s any visitor to the Cotton Club in Harlem could
have seen an eccentric dancer who called himself 'Snake Hips'
Tucker in honour of his act. Elvis Presley's dancing was not noto-
rious because it was new - rather it was a physical manifestation
 The Rock and Roll Generati on
of what had happened in popular music. The black influence had
ceased to be latent and had become overt instead.
The enerSy of Presley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and the
rest inevitably fed into the feet of those who danced to the new
sound. Rock and roll dancing was basically swing dance, but with
an audacity and sexual energy not seen since the early days of
the lindy hop (see page 140). As with the early evolution of the
lindy, the importance ceased to be in the footwork but in the air-
steps. Dancers threw themselves around in what many thought
outrageously provocative ways. Girls threw their legs around their
partners'waists or slid between their partners'feet. The dancers
would, literally, dance up, over and around each other, whole bod-
ies gyrating. lt was sexual, athletic and exhilarating.
Realizing that rock and rollwas more than a passing craze and
that it - and teenage rebellion - was here to stay, the entertain-
ment industry set about taming it. From the outset, films such as
Rock Around the Clock, Don't Knock the Rock and The Girl Can't
Help lt (a111956) had helped to satisfy the appetite for rock and roll
across North America and Europe, but without a doubt the major
influence on the spread of its popularity was Dick Clark's televi-
sron programm e Amer ican Bandstand.
By 1956 popular records were played by radio stations across
the country. ln 1954 Texas lnstruments had begun marketing the
first transistor radio, and its size and portability meant that peo-
187
ple could listen to music at any time and anywhere. Most impor Above left: The set of the
tantly, teenagers could 8et toSether and listen to the new sounds phenomenally popular
away from their parents. Television station WFIL in Philadelphia, American Bandstand
Pennsylvania, hit on the idea of transferring this format to televi-
television programme that
brought the music of rock
sion. Presented by Bob Horn, a local disc jockey, Bandstand aued
and roll to homes all over
locally and featured an invited audience of local teenagers. The
the usA.
show proved successful, and in iuly 1956 another local DJ, Dick
Clark, took over as the show's host. ln 1957 it went nationwide, Above: The presenter of
and such was the show's impact that Clark was still presenting American Bandstand, Dick
American Bandstand more than 40 years later. CIark, seated with
Unlike many of the popular music shows that followed in its members of the audience
footsteps, the local teenaSers in Bandstand were not peripheral
during filming in 1960.
to the show, which was never simply a succession of bands plug-
ging their latest records. lnstead, the camera roved around the
room, settling for a time on the teenagers as they danced, and
many of the regulars become nationally renowned. Viewers
looked for clues for romance as couples smooched to the slow
number at the end of the show and watched for their favourites
to see what they wore or how they did their hair. Dances and
dancing was at the very heart of the programme.
Variant forms of swing dancing, including rock and roll, were
the staple dances of Arnerican Bandstand, but in much the same
way that street fashions were toned down for the show - jackets,
pin ties and button-down shirts were de rigueur for the men - the
1BB
The rcck frn* r* ll generati on

r,vi d excesses of rock and roll danc nB were alsc tllscoLlrageC

Dick Clark, whose character in the sl]ow was that 0i thc respon
sible elcler brotlrer, $ias a nraster of easing colrll cs o!t of the
iimelight if nccessary (A sat re of tiris can De see I i the '1970s

mrsical Grease, seo llagc 222,wldt lras an anrLrsrng pasticire of

C ark, iris shol,v af d tlle dairces that featLrred 0n t )

The show regLrlarly held darcc contests, tn; tlr sintple rLt es

that lrarkcd back to the dance marattrons of tlrC 1930s (scc l-ragcs
'134 135). The claf L:crs we rc rLrr|rbcred, anrl thc v ewers (.rst

thctr votes ovcr.scVCIa],,veeks, tlre rryinners ll0 f g au,/arcle(l a :iim

plc prize and piecc of the irnc ight Ihe attttoslrlrcrewas rilrr: fur
innovation, and overtheyearsthc show becanrc an ncrDator for
ne\\i styles ancl clance crazes I he brnny hop, the stroll an.l the
ca ypso wer-o among tlre danccs tiat sltrcar(J ac[oss tllc (]o!ntry
from tne stu(lios in Philaciclphia Thc strol s a goo(l r:xrnrlrlc of
lro\r a ne\,\ clarcc coulcl crcate a hit recorcl. llr s was J s av,i I ne
dance, nsprrerl bythe sofg'C C Ricler'l.)ytlre'Kingof tlr(] Stro L',

Chuck Wi ls, and C ark slggcsted tlrat songs be spi:r. lrc;lv cre.

ated forthe clance Thc 1957 hit'LI Darrn" Dytie D.lilrOnds\,ias

rti-"',--lOr .e- rtl'. .!Q,'O

Let's twist
Dick C ark lr,as nrLrclr [rore tiai tlro (]r)rxpere of ir lV sirow. llL-

also uscd h s nf Lrr-.nce on Eara/sl.llC to l)0.-ontc a 1towr,'rf tt

player n a new and rcv talized r ecorci ndustry
\4orc tnan errer the trans stor radio, pnlru irr nrLrs c r llri,.
'1950s was transforrre cl / f clr single llitlr
by'tlrc .rrr rral of tl e
erto popular mLrsic lrad lleef itrrJ lable cr y !| alLrmsy /8 rll[]
recorcls. Thc sourtci qLtal tywas 1roor, and lltc Iu(]orLls ti],]ilrs'')1\,rCS
r,vcrc frag e ancl dicl not lenil tlrcnrsc ves to llL.ing p aycrl at par-

tcs. Tne45 rpm rl scs, or tn. otlrcrhanrl, v/CrC ght, DOrtarblc ancl
c.xtrenrely hard wearing, and tlrcy cori d l)0 !.ppe11 lT.r tlr.r lrag
itf even tie Irost rurrfJr]nctiOirs tccnagr:r. N4ore ilIllort.rrll\,, tlte!
nrcrc relatNrt:iy easy to llr:)tluce, antl tlr. chcap nlaIltfi-lct!r ng
l)rocess rreant tlrat a f cw, f ciepen(lef t reccrcl com1,.lry lracl a
good cirartr-c of competingwth tlre b g boys of tha in(l!-\tr! FLI'
a thesc coltlranies, r.rrl o or te ev s or a r tit'ne was a v ta colrt
ponent of a clisc's slraccss, arrl Dick a.l,rk soorl r'rillilccl tnat hrl
control cLlaccesstotlrc nrost inrportuita r t []0 r llrr Dus It'ss
By tlre end of tirc (lecade Clark owrted, or lr,,lrl rrrterests, rl
somc 33 compaf ies rc atecl t0 thc []Lrsic bus ncss, and ic Ltsccl

his posrtlon t0 pronlotc and reverrt,reccrds tlrat lre lrii'nself lratl

 lhm f{nck end Rnll Generetrnn 189

CHUBBY CHECKER FACTFITE

Born:3 october 1941

Real Name: Ernest Evans

Nickname: 'Chubby' is said to have been

suggested by the wife of w presenter
Dick Clark.

Left: Chubby Checker

i

exploited the twist craze Early career An obscure chicken plucker

to the limit with what f rom Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
!

seemed like endless Checker's first record, 'The Class' (1959)

variations on the theme. brought him to the attention of the impre-
sario Dick Clark.
Opposite: Chubby
Checker, whose version of
'The Twist' inspired the
The twisfi Checker recorded a cover of
Hank Ballard's 'The Twist' (1960) and pre-
worldwide dance craze,
the success of which sented it on clarrsAmerican Bandstand
owed much to how easy it with his own unique performance. The
was to perform. record went to the top of the charts and
sparked a dancing sensation. lts success
led to a host of imitations.
he pecl t.l proclrcr in 959 lrc a(lnr ttcrl to ilav ng a 2/ pcr ceIl '... popular music in the
Stakc ilr everr/ record lrrontotccl 0| hts shorrr Ee \tra:, |ot,t o|il, other re@rds: Between 1959 and 1964
antl the resulttng 'l)ayo a' sc,.tndatl ruinitd t[te aitii]tr rtt r ., r.,r. 1950s was transformed Checker had more than 20 Top-40 hits in
tenrpcrar't, AaI Freed. AlthoLrglt C ark csCaDed fIo[] il e Srlrela the US alone. Among fiem were 'Boogie
hearilgsi",r/tlr ltis ICpltati0a iitact, lte stt I hacl to rel ntlU slr r]r0r! by the arriva! of the 7- Woogie' (1962), 'Let's Twist Again' (1963)
thar $B mil of wOrth 0f mus c iluslIess rivcstm,oilts Cl,t[K \lJa]s a and'The Hucklebuck' (1960).
sircwd operator, horryet,cr, ancl he contiilltec to Drorrctat alct: ana inch single.'
to ever tlle m on to il s slrow. One of these acts [i.]s a ltii,, k,r!,,rI Key to success: Checker's breezy perfor-
i:h ckon-p Lrckcr fronr Plr ladelplr a kfo\,vn as Clrubbv Clr,.:r:(cr mances mirrored dle spirit and style of
ClrLrbby Chccker i,;as ltorn trnest EvaIs on :l Octobcr '194 1 rn the dance.
Plr iadelph a
n '1959, whr c r,,rorking in a ltou Iy mar.ket, lrc fl]ade
iris f rst recorci, 'The C ass' lt \,vas aftcr:ir s tlr.rt ic Dec,rr|e ir|e Fact: 'The Twist' is the only record to
of a se r es of artrsts wiro errloycd the patronage of Di.k it Jrk alril reach No 1 in dle US charts in separate
tirc cca if clependcIt taDe, c.I.lleo parkr,vay clrr:i:kcr's years when perlormed ry the original
monikcr, ChLtbtry 3 (le ibL.rato r ls cn to Fats Dontiito \,.rils aftist.
even s.r d to havO been gven to h m by C ark's .,,;ife ilirccki_.|
recorcjcd a seco|ri sifg c, 'The T\/ist', ancl y/as tlreI dLt _r,'rl sco,,

ered' orl An'i.o1llro,,8andsLtrd The n!mller had Org Ia lv bei.I

recordcci by llank 8al ar'a anrl the N4rclI girters, tlut Clrccker crc
atecl a brgftt and breezy version of the so|g n t[e tradrtio| of
190
j".:::lff: :*.:*..
Above: Gary'U.S.' Bonds,
whose biggest hit was
'Quarter To Three', in
1961, attempted this
twist-and-calypso cash-in
;
trt
I I t a
e
the show, the record was designed to encourage a brief craze for
the dance that went with it. lnstead, the dance became a world-
wide phenomenon.
The twist was the culmination of more than 50 years of social
dance evolution. Throughout the century, countless dance styles
had encouraged dancers to move away from close-couple holds
and to express themselves individually. Always, however, a sem-
blance of couple dancing had survived. Even rock and roll
dancers held each other's hands, if only by the fingertips. Now,
finally, a dance had arrived that did not require a partner at all. At
no point during its execution did one dancer need to touch
another. The twist could be danced alone.
The dance that Checker demonstrated on Bandstand tn 1960
could not have been easier to do. With one foot fonvard, the
ilDS
1d'
dancer swivels the foot as if stubbing out a cigarette, while simul-
taneously swinging the h jps The arms rock from side to side as if
towelling the back after a shower. And that is it. lt was easy, took
no time to learn, and could be done by anyone at any time. The
twist was the first dance that could be performed as easily in the
privacy of the bedroom as in the busiest of dancehalls. The steps,
the look, the sensation, would be exactly the same.
'The Twist' single reached the top of the US charts for tvvo
years running. ln 1962it crossed the Atlantic and proved nearly
as successful in Britain. lt was followed by'Boogie Woogie' and
'Let's Twist ASain', which cemented Checker's and the dance's
reputation around the world. ln the immediate pre-Beatles era,
Chubby Checker became one of showbusiness's biggest draws,
although other artists were producing twist records and feeding
The Rock and Roll Generatron 191

the international craze. Some of these records were simply old

rhythm and blues records cleaned up and repackaged; others
were original songs aiming to cash in on the craze. The lsley
Brothers' 'Twist and Shout'and Sam Cooke's'Twisting the Night
Away'were, perhaps, the best known.
The twist was more than just a teenage fad. Checker's stngles
kept resurfacinS in the music charts because the dance was
taken up by successive generations. In fact, the twist marks a

turning point in popular entertainment - from now on rock and 'The twist was the
roll music and dance would have mass cross-generational
appeal. ln this respect it prepared the ground for the Beatles and culmination of more
the beat invasion. The twist was a more hyped and commercially
packaged dance craze than any that had gone before, and in than 50 years of social
addition to records, shops sold everything from twist ties to twist
shoes. One paperback book, called Dotngthe fillrst, sold 125,000 dance evolution....
copies in 10 days. A New York club called the Peppermint Lounge
became the centre of the phenomenon. Here, everyone from NoW finally, a dance
Arthur Murray to Greta Garbo came to twist their hips and, more
importantly, to be seen doing so. ioey Dee and the Midnighters had arrived that did not
even had a hit single entitled 'Peppermint Twist'. Joey Dee was
one of the club's nightly attractions. require a partner at all.'

Above left: ln view of its

slmpllcity, the dance seems
unlikely subject matter for
books, but that clearly
didn't trouble writer
George Carpozi Jr.

Left: Although they only

made one twist record, a
cover version of the lsley
Brothers' 'Twist And
Shout', the Beatles were
not above doing it, as Ringo
starr showed in 1964.
1e2
The rock and roll generati on

I
rr

::
 The Rock and Roll Generation 193

Oo the mashed potato

The twist inevitably spawned a host of similar dances, mimetic in
quality and sporting animal or alliterative names, and with these
St
the dance scene took on an uncanny resemblance to the animal
dance craze seen before the First World War. (There was even a
resurgence of the turkey trot, see pages 29-30) As simple and
i
straiShtforward as the original, these dances had names that
t, Although the twist had
gave an indication of their performance. The mashed potato
required imaginary mashing of spuds; the pony called for the
l'-- led to a revolution in
knees to be raised in the manner of a trotting horse; the N/arilyn
was an imitation of Marilyn Monroe's wiggle. Others, such as the the way people danced,
frug, the boogaloo, the slop and the watusi, were distinguished
by variations so small as to be nearly negligible. Checker, too, the music itself was
tried to prolong the craze by cuttang records to match his new
dance ideas, but the likes of 'The Fly'(196'1) and'Limbo Rock' nothing new.'
(1962) failed to catch the public imagination.

Although the twist had led to a revolution in the way people

danced, the music itself was nothing new. However, the music Practitioners of the twist and other solo dances believed they felt Aboue: The hand jive, a
scene was about to be taken over by the 'beat'generation and more aware of their peers than ever before (at least in the twen- 'dance' for those of a less
Checker's breezy records would be unable to compete. Solo tieth century). A couple dancing the waltz can dance together all enertetic bent, was part
dancing, however, was here to stay. night if they wish, oblivious to their surroundings. Someone danc- of the solo dancing
Critics decried solo dancing. They claimed that it was a mani-
phenomenon influenced
in8 the twist cannot fail to be aware of the other dancers
by the twist.
festation of the individual's isolated position within a modern and surrounding him or her. A dancer's loyalty was no longer to the
fractured society. This was not, however, how the dancers saw it. partner but to the group.

Opposite: The style of the

twist, and its absurdity.
led to a whole series of
uut0t0-mut0n
dances with peculiar
{F
names and movements,
like the mashed potato.

Rltht: Slightly more

durable than some of the
early 60s dances was
Little Eva's the ilil.Y0lJ t0llt ilt
IO[|ORNOU
locomotion, which
sometimes gets an airing s0irt tilt0.A yJ0illrRrtlr
in discos even today. 0nililil0 tlt t$
flln0t0 00

Far riSht: From the mid- $llAntil0 Y0tl'ljflowil

60s. a now-forgotten
il,il I0 }ltn.& 0ilttfl$
novelty was the swim.
1e4
The rock and roll generation

'Ultimately, the style in

which one danced to the
Beatles was not as

important as the simple

fact that one was
dancing at all.'

vention. Language, fashion, music and dance were all enlisted to

sell the idea, and dancing, therefore, became a means of self-
expression - as freeform as the music to which it was allied.
A dance like the shake is a good example of this progression.
One of a host of dances that appeared in the wake of the twist,
the shake was an ill-defined dance, requiring little more than a

frenzied shaking of the whole body. lt was, if anything, a modern

incarnation of the shimmy (see page 38), and in the early 1960s it
seemed as loose and unstructured as anydance could 8et. Yet by
the end of the decade, although the dance remained, the name
had been dropped. Revellers in the counterculture in San Fran-
cisco and members of the underground clubs of Paris and
Above: Although the Letting it all hang out London still shook their bodies wildly, but they no longer thought
Beatles made no real Group identitywas one of the definingqualitiesof the'1960s. Peo- of themselves as participating in a dance, They were simply
attempt to create dances ple became defined by where they stood in relation to the group, responding to the sound in the moment. For the time bein8,
themselves, unlike other whether it was a rock band, a Seneration or a political movement. dancers had Siven up imitating styles and become their own per-
groups of their era, their
Politics, sex and rebellion all became entvvined, and ultimately, sonal choreographers.
music was still eminently
the style in which one danced to the Beatles was not as important The LP, too, had taken over from the 45 rpm single as the pre-
danceable.
as the simple fact that one was dancing at all. Rock bands did not mier means of expression in the music industry. Bands were
simply offer dance music: they were the focus of dreams and pushing back the boundaries of what was possible within the for-

rebellion. This may be a reason why the 1960s failed to produce a mat of the traditional single. Tracks were Setting longer and
distinctive dance style. The British sound that led the decade cer lonSer. When the British band Cream went to the United States in

tainly demanded physical expression, but it could be as unique the mid-1960s, for example, they fully intended to survive as a

and personal as the idols who created it. Like the pop artists of the regular blues band. However, they ran straiSht into a countercul-
time, pop groups took aspects of everyday culture and reworked ture that craved long, improvisational compositions, and they
and repackaged them in order to kick against the doors of con- ended up stretching out numbers to more than an hour.
 t
195

tl
a

i 5J1 :
'-l I tl
!l
I

I
r-I l I
\:a-- It
ti

..1'' !

c,
t F t

F,, ,
-'
t
t

..a

Left: By the end of the

1960s, there was no
longer any form to
dancing, and young
people just moved their
bodies to the music in
whatever way they
wanted.

Below: Rock fans inspired

by the music to revive the
ancient tradition of circle
dancint while attendint a
festival near Stonehenge
in't978.

ln this environment traditional rituals of social dancing no

longer applied You could dance for as long or as short a time as
you wished. lf you left the dance floor, the chances were that the
'\." \
same track would be playing when you returned. No one was
'}f- : 1

dancing specific steps; everyone was improvising their own

.\s \, ,. '1"f\'- I
.t
l
response. lt was the ultimate free for-all. (ln fact, the great rock -rf u
,-J';
I
festivals of the era saw a brief flowering of medieval European
e ',.\ -\ )
folk dances, such as the carole, or chain dance, and the farandole,
\
but this seems to have been an isolated phenomenon, a direct
response t0 the conditions and emotions of the environment.)
ts'
yt t
.:'=+ I \
\
ln the event, the freeform dance styles that came with t I

advanced rock culture would not have a lasting etfect on social

dancing. Far more influential was soul music and the black ver-
\
nacular traditions within it.
1e6
The rock and roll generation

Soul
Soul music was built on strong and proven musical traditions
Whereas rock and roll took rhythm and blues and mixed it with
the blues and hillbilly music to produce its sound, soul music was
the logical extension of mixing rhythm and blues with gospel and
doo-wop. lt was an undeniably black sound, and it was full of the
pride and strugSle of the culture. As the decade progressed, it
became a primary means of raising black consciousness, and, as
such, it came directly from the heart of the urban centres of the
United States.
The most significant dance innovator to emerSe from the soul
scene is James Brown (b.'1933). Alongwith his illustrious contem-
poraries such as Ray charles and otis ReddinS, Brown epitomizes
the raw emotion of the southern N/emphis sound. The Sospel tra-
dition present in soul music was present in Brown's stage act as
well, and his stage persona was an exhilarating mixture of
revivalist preacher and in-your-face entertainer The physical
exertion this former boxer brought to his act more than justified
his sobriquet 'the hardest working man in show business'.

To songs such as 'l Got Y0u (l Feel Good)' (1965), 'lt's a Man's,

Man's, Man's World'(1966) and'Say lt Loud, l'm Black and l'm

'James Brown owed as

much of his success to

the Nicholas Brothers
and the Berry Brothers
as he did to rhythm
and blues.'

Left: The charismatic

James Brown on stage at
guffalo Bill's Hotel Casino
in Las Vegas in 1998, still
tiving his audience one
hundred per cent.
 197

Left: Soul sinSers and

musicians often carried
out energetic dance
routines as they
performed, as illustrated
here by James Brown.

Below: Motown founder

and supremo Berry Gordy
(bearded, second right)
with singing superstar
Diana Ross in 1971.

ProLrcl' (1968), Brown v/oLr cl clalilce vli ti lll.odig o-rs aiergy tlre civ l r girts detl,rte to f nd la[]es Bro,.y| tr ri-.irte.riirs rste aci
Hc Lou rJ s cle Jc[oss the 5ta8e o|r onc foot, tl]en sl) n alr,:l alrolr St.rLr filrs,C foirnd nrlrss al)l-rea tlrrorrglr thc irrslr, c!ltivrtf d sorrf cl

nto tlre spl ts Hc rvolld clrop o[ to i's kr]e..s an(l lnl.)lorFr tlr(l of Tanrla l\4otrrrr,Ji.
aLrd cf ce aId tlrc microplrone to take p tv 0i lr s jilt I

\r,ias
rri-aslr
ard tlreatr cal antl owcd not a ittle to tlre acrcbatic Tamla Motown
clancc acts of thc taLr er-a -]arilres Bro\r/| o\,,,JC(l as muclt of hrs lr0n Ca V, tlte i,lr"^r so!ticr,r sa-,! sc!i(j i'.,.l5 picseltttl to tire
sLlcccss to tirc Niclro as BrotiC[s af c] tlic BL.rrV Llrctilrs as l t Crcl pult c Lry \\,ay of \,^/lrite owrecl IcclItl
\'li iar'.,ir, i.'l- ar-al-rit s
ttr rhytlrr,rrcl b Lri]s. A[tal i-, a sl]ootttitr vci: ou o{ soti []t]5 i-, \',iits .r
cftarrcc r'.,|t ta
Brou/n's nf uef ce has becf hLrgi: llis 11-;r.r.-i ;.11111 atl trrclc socy back eftcrDrsit i: ,.'.,,1s tlrc tlr,rra'ilr ;rf .rirrrl aiarltly lr
ci rect y nfl!cncecl lterformers fronr right acr-0ss tlr€ r'irak sircc t:.it 1929:, w|o ltr: lcv0tl as nrLtch rn Afr i-an Al]rer i-,]ir f .r'ir ',.arrk
OSt f 'ltalt y Mlrck laggcr a|Cl l\4 cltael tacksor H s lve
tr.Lrn.r, 'f a[ti scf rc af i,a rs l]a tliil I gcoil ir.rLrs L He set n nlacr .l lrir
perfornrancc of 'Gct on tlre Gcoil Faal' i,1972) rrias so rr,,,rrli:ly tlLrct on irc tlrat tl sarL,\.rer..'1, :lra(:gi,ir eiril il stl ltlte:il sQLr
copiecl ilrat a rlancc knou/r as tire goLrd fo(lt cle\./a clLril I Ni:rr.' r.Lrs Lr tc tlrar \,,/or rl, af (i Dy llre clo5a al tlre l9o!s l.iartar.". r .'.'t!
York C tv, af tl the aar y nritali.]lr of Brown's sty e, f\.1o \r irs tlte iI!e,qt [ 3ar i-,,,.'ri--il aarlrl.]rat,air i ilt0 uI taa st:rtes
lllrrit vc clrops, spins ancl kf ee ttancls, ,.,r,era t0 ilcr-onrar llrc aalt.1 Gorcly bLrit lris s-rar:rr,!s Jr r :llii. f , iai-'Lti rlra iea| fcr a
yst for ttrc brc3kdafcrng c!t!rc of tlrc.1970s airrl 'g80s,iare solrs rroLl tl lle laci tif r0ti, tlrl strcct,( !f l.l!rtl';"s 'i;rt \.. f . ' -
Dagc 2361 His stagc JCt \rircs:lteacl of t!, tinre Tnis nlrxtltra of rar..,, [,4 a:.tii].rrt, i.,irLr il [[ :a!:ri!i] irr ta ||t, a|(l Jlt aLt ot
f r.',,1)! il
-qtatip
emotton a|rd irltensc Divs ca ity \,!as llotlt tite kcy lt) lalICS ltc dcvc oltcr-1 Orrr:c a :ta),rS iriril i-rait,r r;i,r, caa: a-rftarn ltirr tre
Bro\,vn's slcccss anrl the rcarsof fOr h s far Lr|c tc:lltr':at 1rj-rar:,: itirano[]crra 1y sLrci:r.ssf Lr wr.itilrg telnr -rf [']r .i'' .tlri: Eilil ; l: :r-::i
a!(jerlae rttl-r.'19605 lV ti(iia Arlrericar\x/asst Cose ef|rgir l.) ]l r(i Lalltittl []trz lrl t ..rtrs r.rrr itrdatl \'!j tlr tltc |'-. lJ cf \4otor,r,|'s
198
The rcck and roll generation
Below: Perhaps the most
memorable of the Motown
acts in the 60s were the
supremes, whose lead
singer Diana noss is still a Dance played a central part in Motown's finishing school. The
major star.
in-house musicians. Then, while the sonS was mixed and pro-
duced, the talent was coached, trained and 'finished' in order to
go out and perform the record with suitable aplomb. lt was a pro-
duction line, reminiscent of Tin Pan Alley or the Brill Building, and
it was very successful.
lvlotown sound owed a great deal to the doo-wop tradition, in
which a singer would offer an expressive vocal line (usually telling
of love lost or love unrequited), and a collection of background
singers responded with close vocal harmonies. Numerous doo-
wop groups had sprung up in the 1950s, only to have one hit
single and then disappear without trace. One of the reasons for
this was the inability of many of the groups to present themselves
onstage in an interesting fashion. Doo-wop, by its very nature,
required the performers to be onstage alone. ln the studio a
recording can be helped with a little instrumentation, but on
stage the singers had no guitars or pianos to hide behind. Doo-
wop acts had to perform.
Gordy realized that his Motown acts, which were mostly vocal
groups, required training to help them perform in the spotlight.
The man he brought into his organization to help coach these
new acts was Cholly Atkins, one half of the tap team, Coles and
Atkins (see pages 1 10-1 1 1). Coles and Atkins were the doyens of
tap's class acts, and they were unsurpassed in mixing grace,
class and sophistication with precision dancing. Atkins brought
these same qualities to Motown.
Moves, steps and ideas were resurrected, revamped, and
worked into the acts. With this training, groups such as the Four
Tops, the Temptations and the supremes presented sophisti-
cated stage acts that placed before a new generation many of the
classic styles of African American jazz dance. Background vocal-
 The Rock and Roll Generati on 199

Above: with hits like ists moved together with intricate precision steps, and the steps '... the Four Tops, the
'Can't Help Myself' and that accompanied their vocals were variations on, among others,
'Reach Out l'll Be There',
the camel walk, suzy-q and trucking. To give one example of this, Temptations and the
the Four Tops came to
the suzy-q - which consists of clasping the hands in front of the
epitomize the Motown
male vocal group.
knees, bending the body from the waist and moving sideways Supremes presented
with your arms swinging in opposition - had been a staple of tap

Opposate: The Contours dance acts back in the 1930s. What was new was seeing the ways sophisticated stage
were an early name on the in which these lazz dance styles could adapt to soul music.
Motown-related cordy Another popular move with the N/otown acts was the boogie- acts that placed before
label, whose'Do You Love woogie. Again, this was a jazz dance from an earlier generation,
Me' made the No 3 spot in but its signature move - knees together while the hips sway from a new generation many
the US pop charts in 1962.
side to side and the dancer moves forward - can be found in
mambo and the cha cha-cha. This is an important point, because of the classic styles of
the next leap forward in socialdancingwould be characterized by
the combination of Latin with rock and roll dancing. Disco, that African-American jazz
last great wave of the couple-dancing tradition, is a direct result
of the fusion of Latin dancingwith the African-American tradition. dance.'