| Cruisin' the Past |
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| Cruisin’ the Past by Ed Dooley |
Dance to the Music
The popular music of our high school years was meant for dancing. It contained no political
or social messages, as did the music of the 60s, and it was not intended to entertain crowds
at concerts, as was much of the music in later years. The lyrics of our songs were almost
always sung clearly enough to be understand, but what came through was often innocent,
saccharine, or sentimental tales of romance, romances gone wrong, romances renewed,
and every now and then of a car or motorcycle wreck that sent one partner to heaven as a
“teen angel” while the other partner was left on earth to mourn. Actually, the words did not
matter much to us. What mattered was the beat and whether one could dance to the music.
Music was a big part of our lives, but it was not as pervasive as it is now with iPods and
other technological advances. The late 50s was, after all, a time before portable CD
players, before cassette tape players, even before the wide-spread availability of the
transistor radio. We listened to popular music at home on 45rpm records, on the radio, and
starting in 1956 on television with Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Nothing was better,
however, than to dance to it, either at parties in private homes or in high school gyms or
cafeterias.
At Catalina, as at most other high schools that permitted such activities, there were many
opportunities to dance. These ranged from mixers -- usually held at the beginning of the
school year to encourage new students to meet -- to hops or informal dances -- normally
held after every football game and on other special occasions -- to semi-formal balls and
formal proms. It’s difficult to single out the most important dance of our school year, but
perhaps it was the Torch Ball where the Torch King and Queen, accompanied by their
attendants, were crowned. A close second in importance was the Senior Prom, a traditional
event at most high schools across the nation.
Considering what teenagers are apt to wear today, the accepted dress for dances held at
Catalina in our time now seems remarkably conservative. For mixers and hops, school
clothes were standard; for semi-formal dances, fancy dresses for girls and slacks and sport
jackets for boys were worn; and for proms, gowns and suits were required. Proms then,
however, were not the extravagant and often costly affairs that they are today, even if they
were considered the high point of the school social year. Footwear was also a
consideration. Most of our hops were “hops” and not “sock hops.” The former, usually held
in a cafeteria, allowed dancers to wear their shoes when dancing, while the latter, usually
held in gyms, required participants to dance in their socks so as not to damage the wood
floor.
The music for all these events was provided in a number of different ways. For hops and
mixers, a simple record player usually furnished the music, “piped through the PA system,”
and therefore they were sometimes called “record hops.” This recorded music (on 45s or
LPs) was often accompanied by live commentary by a “DJ” from either the student body or
from a local radio station. The first Girls’ League Social Hour dance, held in January 1958,
proudly announced that Harry Grant, of Tucson station KCNA, and Buck Herring, of KTKT,
would “spin your favorite records.” The favorite record at Catalina at the time, according to
Burt Schneider and Ray Lindstrom, “denizens of the den of discs,” was “At the Hop” by
Danny and the Juniors. With the promise that “All the cats and chicks can get their kicks at
the hop,” perhaps no other song quite captures the excitement, energy, and fun of a high
school hop in the late 1950s.
The “big band sound” popular in the 1940s and early 1950s and produced by live bands
and orchestras was the preferred music for our semi-formal dances and formal proms. A
favorite at Catalina was Wayne Webb’s band, a local Tucson group. The music they played
was traditional swing style music like the music of Jimmy Dorsey because these bands had
not yet adapted to rock and roll music and instrumentation. Nevertheless, between old
standards, Webb’s band played newer instrumentals like “Moon River” and “Sail Along
Silvery Moon.” No doubt, the best swing music big-band in town was the Tucson High
School student orchestra, but they played only at THS dances.
There were two kinds of music for dancing: fast-beat songs and slow-beat songs. “At the
Hop” is an example of a fast-beat song, while Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” is a slow-beat
song. Both were enormously popular as 1958 began. The dance appropriate for fast-beat
songs was usually a tamed version of the Jitterbug, something that we called “rock and roll
dancing” and that dance schools called the Lindy Hop. However, one would sometimes see
couples dancing the older Shag and Bop, which were still popular. To the untrained eye, all
of these dances looked alike. Slow-beat songs, on the other hand, were for “slow dancing”
or “partner dancing” and involved slow dance steps, some made up by the dancers
themselves, or simply swaying back and forth to the music. People who write about dancing
say that very slow dancing in the 50s was simply “hug-and-sway” dancing and was popular
mainly with teenagers. Yes, they are probably right!
Both forms of dancing – fast and slow -- had one thing in common. In either case partners
touched, held each other, or at least held hands. In fact, dances like the Jitterbug are
known collectively as “hand-dancing” because they involve continuous hand contact
between partners. Hand-dancing began to disappear around 1960 when the dances like
the Twist came into fashion and partners broke away and stopped touching. What followed
was an extended period during which individuals “did their own thing,” freestyle, on the
dance floor or did not dance at all. But that was not us.
What made a song popular? It had to have a good beat, which meant you could dance to
it. We were all familiar with the standard responses of teenagers questioned on American
Bandstand who, in judging a new record, gave it high marks by saying “It’s got a good
beat. I’d give it a 10.” When everything worked well – music with a good beat, lively
crowds, a festive atmosphere – one said that “the place was jumping,” and literally it was.
Our four years at Catalina saw the peak of early rock n’ roll music. Even as we were
jumping and hopping to Danny and the Juniors, popular music and dance styles were
changing. The Diamonds 1957 recording of “The Stroll” introduced that new dance.
Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” became a craze. The Hully Gully and other dances followed.
In all of them there was no physical contact between partners. As the turbulent 60s arrived,
popular music increasingly had a social or political message that did not invite dancing at
all. Such changes did not go unnoticed by Lindstrom and Schneider when they wrote: “It
has been called to our attention by some CHS students that there should be more
emphasis on other types of music than rock and roll in our column. This leads us to a big
question. Is rock and roll on the way out? Fats Domino and Little Richard, two big R and R
stars, have gone for many months with out a big hit, while old favorites like Frank Sinatra
and Perry Como have found themselves turning out fast selling discs. Currently ballads
and instrumentals are the big records in Tucson with "Sail Along Silvery Moon", "Are you
Sincere", and "Oh, Julie" high on the top tune charts. This past year we have seen many
records hit the top that were beautiful ballads. One of these, "Tammy" by Debbie
Reynolds, was the most popular tune of 1957. The Question: Is rock and roll fading? Our
Answer: We’ll have to wait and see.”
Perhaps Danny and the Juniors had the last word on this question. In 1958 they recorded
“Rock and Roll is Here to Stay,” and it appears that they were right.
(Note: These Cruisin’ the Past essays will now take a break for summer. They will continue
in September when we look at fall sports at Catalina.)
The popular music of our high school years was meant for dancing. It contained no political
or social messages, as did the music of the 60s, and it was not intended to entertain crowds
at concerts, as was much of the music in later years. The lyrics of our songs were almost
always sung clearly enough to be understand, but what came through was often innocent,
saccharine, or sentimental tales of romance, romances gone wrong, romances renewed,
and every now and then of a car or motorcycle wreck that sent one partner to heaven as a
“teen angel” while the other partner was left on earth to mourn. Actually, the words did not
matter much to us. What mattered was the beat and whether one could dance to the music.
Music was a big part of our lives, but it was not as pervasive as it is now with iPods and
other technological advances. The late 50s was, after all, a time before portable CD
players, before cassette tape players, even before the wide-spread availability of the
transistor radio. We listened to popular music at home on 45rpm records, on the radio, and
starting in 1956 on television with Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Nothing was better,
however, than to dance to it, either at parties in private homes or in high school gyms or
cafeterias.
At Catalina, as at most other high schools that permitted such activities, there were many
opportunities to dance. These ranged from mixers -- usually held at the beginning of the
school year to encourage new students to meet -- to hops or informal dances -- normally
held after every football game and on other special occasions -- to semi-formal balls and
formal proms. It’s difficult to single out the most important dance of our school year, but
perhaps it was the Torch Ball where the Torch King and Queen, accompanied by their
attendants, were crowned. A close second in importance was the Senior Prom, a traditional
event at most high schools across the nation.
Considering what teenagers are apt to wear today, the accepted dress for dances held at
Catalina in our time now seems remarkably conservative. For mixers and hops, school
clothes were standard; for semi-formal dances, fancy dresses for girls and slacks and sport
jackets for boys were worn; and for proms, gowns and suits were required. Proms then,
however, were not the extravagant and often costly affairs that they are today, even if they
were considered the high point of the school social year. Footwear was also a
consideration. Most of our hops were “hops” and not “sock hops.” The former, usually held
in a cafeteria, allowed dancers to wear their shoes when dancing, while the latter, usually
held in gyms, required participants to dance in their socks so as not to damage the wood
floor.
The music for all these events was provided in a number of different ways. For hops and
mixers, a simple record player usually furnished the music, “piped through the PA system,”
and therefore they were sometimes called “record hops.” This recorded music (on 45s or
LPs) was often accompanied by live commentary by a “DJ” from either the student body or
from a local radio station. The first Girls’ League Social Hour dance, held in January 1958,
proudly announced that Harry Grant, of Tucson station KCNA, and Buck Herring, of KTKT,
would “spin your favorite records.” The favorite record at Catalina at the time, according to
Burt Schneider and Ray Lindstrom, “denizens of the den of discs,” was “At the Hop” by
Danny and the Juniors. With the promise that “All the cats and chicks can get their kicks at
the hop,” perhaps no other song quite captures the excitement, energy, and fun of a high
school hop in the late 1950s.
The “big band sound” popular in the 1940s and early 1950s and produced by live bands
and orchestras was the preferred music for our semi-formal dances and formal proms. A
favorite at Catalina was Wayne Webb’s band, a local Tucson group. The music they played
was traditional swing style music like the music of Jimmy Dorsey because these bands had
not yet adapted to rock and roll music and instrumentation. Nevertheless, between old
standards, Webb’s band played newer instrumentals like “Moon River” and “Sail Along
Silvery Moon.” No doubt, the best swing music big-band in town was the Tucson High
School student orchestra, but they played only at THS dances.
There were two kinds of music for dancing: fast-beat songs and slow-beat songs. “At the
Hop” is an example of a fast-beat song, while Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” is a slow-beat
song. Both were enormously popular as 1958 began. The dance appropriate for fast-beat
songs was usually a tamed version of the Jitterbug, something that we called “rock and roll
dancing” and that dance schools called the Lindy Hop. However, one would sometimes see
couples dancing the older Shag and Bop, which were still popular. To the untrained eye, all
of these dances looked alike. Slow-beat songs, on the other hand, were for “slow dancing”
or “partner dancing” and involved slow dance steps, some made up by the dancers
themselves, or simply swaying back and forth to the music. People who write about dancing
say that very slow dancing in the 50s was simply “hug-and-sway” dancing and was popular
mainly with teenagers. Yes, they are probably right!
Both forms of dancing – fast and slow -- had one thing in common. In either case partners
touched, held each other, or at least held hands. In fact, dances like the Jitterbug are
known collectively as “hand-dancing” because they involve continuous hand contact
between partners. Hand-dancing began to disappear around 1960 when the dances like
the Twist came into fashion and partners broke away and stopped touching. What followed
was an extended period during which individuals “did their own thing,” freestyle, on the
dance floor or did not dance at all. But that was not us.
What made a song popular? It had to have a good beat, which meant you could dance to
it. We were all familiar with the standard responses of teenagers questioned on American
Bandstand who, in judging a new record, gave it high marks by saying “It’s got a good
beat. I’d give it a 10.” When everything worked well – music with a good beat, lively
crowds, a festive atmosphere – one said that “the place was jumping,” and literally it was.
Our four years at Catalina saw the peak of early rock n’ roll music. Even as we were
jumping and hopping to Danny and the Juniors, popular music and dance styles were
changing. The Diamonds 1957 recording of “The Stroll” introduced that new dance.
Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” became a craze. The Hully Gully and other dances followed.
In all of them there was no physical contact between partners. As the turbulent 60s arrived,
popular music increasingly had a social or political message that did not invite dancing at
all. Such changes did not go unnoticed by Lindstrom and Schneider when they wrote: “It
has been called to our attention by some CHS students that there should be more
emphasis on other types of music than rock and roll in our column. This leads us to a big
question. Is rock and roll on the way out? Fats Domino and Little Richard, two big R and R
stars, have gone for many months with out a big hit, while old favorites like Frank Sinatra
and Perry Como have found themselves turning out fast selling discs. Currently ballads
and instrumentals are the big records in Tucson with "Sail Along Silvery Moon", "Are you
Sincere", and "Oh, Julie" high on the top tune charts. This past year we have seen many
records hit the top that were beautiful ballads. One of these, "Tammy" by Debbie
Reynolds, was the most popular tune of 1957. The Question: Is rock and roll fading? Our
Answer: We’ll have to wait and see.”
Perhaps Danny and the Juniors had the last word on this question. In 1958 they recorded
“Rock and Roll is Here to Stay,” and it appears that they were right.
(Note: These Cruisin’ the Past essays will now take a break for summer. They will continue
in September when we look at fall sports at Catalina.)
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