Search - Various Artists :: Dancing at Nick at Nite Club

Eric K. (SoulfulStuff)
Reviewed on 3/30/2018...

Among the best tracks on this 1997 Sony release of 1950s & 1960s
"dance craze" tunes are Ray Bryant's "Madison Time" and
Gene and Wendell's "The Roach," both of which were also featured on the soundtrack to the original 1988 film version of "Hairspray."

Also notable is Big Al Downing's "Georgia Slop," a 1964 remake
of a 1950s Jimmy McCracklin original, later remade again by
Los Lobos on their 1990 album "The Neighborhood."

Long before Michael Jackson made
moonwalking an international
pastime, soul singer Joe Simon was popularizing his own version
in a 1970 hit that reached #11 on Billboard's soul chart but
only #54 on the pop Hot 100.

Of the more obscure titles here, King Curtis' "Do the Monkey"
only managed to last two weeks on the Hot 100 in 1962, reaching
an unlofty peak of #92. And Billy Graves' "The Shag (Is Totally Cool)"
is one I've never seen on any other compilation CD, though it did
make it to #53 in 1959.

Beware the two Chubby Checker tracks; these are re-recordings, not
the Parkway originals. Everything else here is original as you
would have heard it on the radio back in the day. Well, sort of,
anyway. Archie Bell & The Drells' wonderful "Tighten Up," which I
remember fondly from the days of mono-muddy AM radio, is here in
clean original stereo, sounding better than ever.

And any CD that includes both the weirdly charming harmonies of
The Larks ("The Jerk," 1965) and the Bo Diddlley-influenced
chunka-chunk of Johnny Otis' "Willie and the Hand Jive" (1958),
gets a big thumbs-up here!

TRACK LIST -- "DANCING AT THE NICK AT NITECLUB"

RAY BRYANT The Madison Time
JR. WALKER & THE ALL-STARS Shotgun
VIBRATIONS The Watusi
LARKS The Jerk
DIAMONDS The Stroll
GENE & WENDELL The Roach
ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS Tighten Up
JOHNNY OTIS Willie and the Hand Jive
BIG AL DOWNING Georgia Slop
JOE SIMON Moon Walk Parts I and II
CHUBBY CHECKER Pony Time (re-recording)
KING CURTIS Do the Monkey
BILLY GRAVES The Shag (Is Totally Cool)
CHUBBY CHECKER Limbo Rock (re-recording)