land of 1000 dances #2: the hully gully
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Wikipedia tells us, "The Hully Gully was started by Frank Rocco at the Cadillac Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida." As far as I can determine, the dance combined some of the elements of The Stroll (a "line dance") and The Madison (a dance where an MC calls out instructions to do specific steps.
The first national "Hully Gully" hit was by The Olympics, and in those post-Twistin' days, everyone was quick to try and capitalize on what they hoped would be the next wave. So over in Philadelphia (the home of American Bandstand and Cameo-Parkway Records), The Dovells and Chubby Checker hopped on the HG bandwagon. And Hully Gully records sprang from artists as diverse as Xavier Cugat ("Hully Gully Cha Cha"; Skip & Flip out in LA countered with "Hully Gully Cha Cha Cha," going Xavier one cha better), The Jive Five ("Hully Gully Callin' Time"), King Curtis ("Let's Do The Hully Gully"), and Ike & Tina Turner ("If You Can Hully Gully"). One of my personal faves is a ye-ye record by Sheila, "Viens Danser Le Hully-Gully."You can also find HG instrumentals by The Ventures, Bill Doggett, and Duane Eddy.
Other notable Hully Gullians included The Beatles (who did "Hully Gully" in their sets in Hamburg), The Beach Boys (on "Beach Boys' Party"), The Grateful Dead (there's a clip on YouTube that can't be embedded, from a 1981 show) and, once again according to those experts over at Wikipedia, the ventriloquist's dummy Gabbo on "The Simpsons," who sings "I can do the Hully Gully, I can imitate Vin Scully."I would like to educate you as to the linguistic roots of the term "Hully Gully," but alas, I haven't the faintest idea what it means. Instead, I will leave you with a clip by a Belgian band, previously unknown to me, called The Jokers, doing something called "Spanish Hully Gully."
The first national "Hully Gully" hit was by The Olympics, and in those post-Twistin' days, everyone was quick to try and capitalize on what they hoped would be the next wave. So over in Philadelphia (the home of American Bandstand and Cameo-Parkway Records), The Dovells and Chubby Checker hopped on the HG bandwagon. And Hully Gully records sprang from artists as diverse as Xavier Cugat ("Hully Gully Cha Cha"; Skip & Flip out in LA countered with "Hully Gully Cha Cha Cha," going Xavier one cha better), The Jive Five ("Hully Gully Callin' Time"), King Curtis ("Let's Do The Hully Gully"), and Ike & Tina Turner ("If You Can Hully Gully"). One of my personal faves is a ye-ye record by Sheila, "Viens Danser Le Hully-Gully."You can also find HG instrumentals by The Ventures, Bill Doggett, and Duane Eddy.Other notable Hully Gullians included The Beatles (who did "Hully Gully" in their sets in Hamburg), The Beach Boys (on "Beach Boys' Party"), The Grateful Dead (there's a clip on YouTube that can't be embedded, from a 1981 show) and, once again according to those experts over at Wikipedia, the ventriloquist's dummy Gabbo on "The Simpsons," who sings "I can do the Hully Gully, I can imitate Vin Scully."I would like to educate you as to the linguistic roots of the term "Hully Gully," but alas, I haven't the faintest idea what it means. Instead, I will leave you with a clip by a Belgian band, previously unknown to me, called The Jokers, doing something called "Spanish Hully Gully."
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