LittleJerryFan92, Jul 11, 2007
-snip-
My transcription of the lyrics for this song is given below in this pancocojams post.
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Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision - May 1, 2026
This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series on a Jazz song with the title "L.O.V.E" and a foot stomping cheer with that same title.
This post showcases a 1970s clip that was aired on the Sesame Street children's television series That clip has the same tune, textual (word) pattern, and very similar performance style as the foot stomping cheer "L.O.V.E".
Unfortunately, I haven't come across any video of that foot stomping cheer. However, this post presents text (word only) examples of that cheer, including the earliest example of that foot stomping cheer that I've come across is from the 1980s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Directions about how the L.O.V.E" foot stomping cheer was performed in Pittsburgh are included in this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/nat-king-cole-love-1964-jazz-song.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post showcases a YouTube sound file and the lyrics for the 1964 Jazz song "L.O.V.E" that was recorded by African American singer Nat 'King' Cole.
Information about Nat 'King' Cole is also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for historical, recreational, socio-cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post Thanks also to the publishers of the YouTube examples that are embedded in this pancocojams post or whose link is given in this post.
-snip-
A lot of this post was previously featured in a 2023 and 2025 pancocojams post with a similar title. I have deleted those post and substituted them with this one. The only comments that were found in the comment sections of those posts were ones that I wrote. One of those comments is reprinted in the comment thread for this 2026 post. The other comments were about the similarities between the textual (word) structure of the "L.O.V.E" foot stomping cheers and the "Tetherball" foot stomping cheer. I plan to publish a pancocojams post on those cheers and will include the link to that post here..
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES
The only similarity between the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s foot stomping cheer "L.O.V.E." and the 2964 Nat King Cole's Jazz song "L.O.V.E" is the titles of these two compositions. That may have been a coincidence as it seems unlikely that the composer/s of that foot stomping cheer would have been familiar with that Jazz song.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SESAME STREET CLIP "GIRLS CLAP ABOUT THE LETTER K"
This showcased clip from the Sesame Street children's
television series was created to showcase some words that begin with the letter
"k". According to AI Overview (results as of April 30, 2026) this
clip first aired on Sesame Street "in the early 1970s".
According to Google
Results (2023), "The Sesame Street episode "Celebrating 'K' and 'DOG'"
aired in 1995, and featured a clip of girls dancing and chanting about the
letter "K". This episode was part of season 26 of Sesame
Street".
I'm showcasing this clip in this pancocojams post because
the tune for the "kah kah kah k" chorus of this song is exactly the
same tune that my daughter remembers (and I remember) for the "L-O-V-E"
foot stomping cheer that she and her friends performed in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania in the mid 1980s.
The self-boasting spirit of the "L.O.V.E" foot stomping cheer is different from the educational, having fun spirit of that Sesame Street chant.
However, the word structure for the "kah kah kah k" portion
of that chant, and the tempo of that Sesame Street chant are the same as
the "L.O.V.E." cheer. (Obviously, most of the words for the K
chant are different from "L.O.V.E".)
Also, the hand clapping and stepping routine that are shown in this Sesame Street video clip is different from the movements that I observed in the mid 1980s (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) for the L.O.V.E. foot stomping cheer.
Unfortunately, I haven't found any YouTube videos of
"L.O.V. E" foot stomping cheers (or YouTube videos of hardly any
other foot stomping cheers).
LYRICS FOR THE SESAME STREET CLIP " GIRLS CLAP ABOUT THE LETTER K"
All girls chant in unison:
Kah kah kah k (clap)
Kah kah kah k (clap)
Kah kah kah kah kah kah
Kah kah kah k (clap)
The soloist chants:
Well, my name is Keanna
And my letter is K
K like a kite
And you blow me away.
K turns the key
K's a kick on me
All girls chant in unison:
Kah kah kah k (clap)
Kah kah kah k (clap)
Kah kah kah kah kah kah
Kah kah kah k (clap)
All the girls except Keanna chant:
Well, her name is Keanna
Her letter is K.
Another girl chants alone:
K like a kangaroo
Hopping all day.
All the girls chant in unison:
K like a king, a kiss
K is like this -
[The girls point to an upper case letter "K" that
is shown in the middle of where they are standing. The video ends with all the
girls shouting "K".
The video ends with all the girls shouting "K"!].
-snip-
This is my unofficial transcription from this sound file of that Sesame Street Television series clip)
Additions and corrections for this transcription are very welcome.
I don't know if that line "K's a kick on me" is
correct.
Here are some differences between the performance of that Sesame Street chant and the foot stomping cheer "L.O.V.E." that I observed in the mid. 1980s (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) :
In performances of this foot stomping cheer.
-The girls stood in one line or in a semi-circle facing toward their (often imaginary) audience. The soloist would step forward (about two steps) from her place in that line or in that semi-circle. She didn't stand in front of the center of that line or that semi-circle.) When her soloist part ended, she stepped back (while still facing forward (to her place in that line in that semi-circle.
An essential element of real (and not modified) foot stomping cheers is that each girl in that group had an equal turn as the soloist for that particular cheer. The fact that this consecutive soloist pattern takes a long time to perform is one of the main reason why foot stomping cheers are modified in the rare occasions that they are performed by real cheerleaders before a competitive game or during half time of an actual competitive athletic school basketball game.
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EXAMPLES OF THE FOOT STOMPING CHEER "L.O.V.E"
These are the only examples of this L.O.V.E cheer that I've
come across either directly or by collecting examples online(as of April 30,
2026)
If you know this cheer, and/or other foot stomping cheers from the 1980s, 1990s, and on, please share that example or examples in the comment section below. Thanks!
Numbers for these examples have been assigned for referencing purposes only.
L.O.V.E. (Version #1)
All: L-O-V-E. [clap]
L-O-V-E. [clap
L-O-V.
L-O-V.
L-O-V-E.[clap]
Soloist #1: Well, Kayla’s my name. [clap]
And love is my game.[clap]
I got this boy on my mind [clap].
And Lord knows he’s fine. [clap]
He calls me his girl. [clap]
His number 1 girl.[clap]
I don’t know his sign, [clap]
But Taurus is mine. [clap]
All: L-O-V-E. [clap]
L-O-V-E. [clap]
L-O-V.
L-O-V.
L-O-V-E. [clap]
Soloist #2: Tamika's my name. [clap]
And love is my game. [clap]
I got this boy on my mind. [clap]
And Lord knows he’s fine. [clap]
I got his name on my shirt. [clap]
And don't call it dirt.[clap]
Don’t you worry bout my lover. [clap]
Cause there is no other. [clap]
(Return to beginning and repeat with a new soloist. That
soloist repeats the same verses or similar verses. This pattern continues until
everyone in the group has had one turn as the soloist with this cheer.)
-Tazi M. Powell.(African American female; remembrance of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania in the mid 1980s; performed by African American girls ages around
8-12 years old; Collected by Azizi Powell, 2/1996 although I had observed performances of this cheer in the 1980s.
-snip-
The beat for the "L.O.V.E" foot stomping rhyme routine that I observed in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania (in the East Liberty/Garfield neighborhood) used what I believe was the main beat pattern for foot stomping cheers: "stomp clapclap stomp". That beat pattern continues like a metronome throughout the entire foot stomping cheer, with each soloist without any interruption for every iteration of the cheer. Note: All foot stomping routines begin with the right foot.
However, the movement routine for "L.O.V.E" differs from
the other foot stomping cheers that my daughter Tazi M. (Powell) Hughes and her friends performed in that it included a quick crisscross jumping motion for the last stomp in its "stomp clapclap stomp" routine.
The "criss cross" jumping motion is part of the lyrics & dance movement for DJ Casper's African American originated 2000 hit line dance "Cha Cha Slide".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZv62ShoStY Mr C The Slide Man - Cha-Cha Slide (Official Video) published by MrCTheSlideManVEVO, Jun 16, 2009
**
Here's a 2021 YouTube video short of a demonstration of the criss cross jump.
Criss Cross Jump
@byndphysical, April 29, 2021
-snip-
This quick jump movement replaces the toe tapping motions that the girls in the Sesame Street clip "Girls Clap About The Letter K".
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Here are the performance instructions for
[Girls stood in a half circle facing their (usually pretend)
audience. While chanting, the girls would move this way. ]
"1. Right leg stomp forward - for the letter "L"
2. Jump open with both legs - "O"
3. Jump close with both legs -"V"
4. Right leg stomp forward" - "E"
Then clap your hands one time.
Continue this pattern for the entire cheer."
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L-O-V-E (Version #2)
"I am a 25 year old African American woman from Eastern North
Carolina.
The section on the chant L-O-V-E caught my attention we used
to do this
when I was younger. We would stand in a circle and we would
clap our hands and stomp our feet sort of tapping out the words L- O-V-E.
First Person: Erica's my name love is my game I got this boy
on my mind
he's looking real fine he calls me his girl his number one
pearl
only with their name in place.
-name and posting date not known (I accidentally deleted
this information when I retrieved this example from my no longer available
cocojams.com website.)
-snip-
Notice the commenter's reference to "tapping out the
words L-O-V-E". It's interesting to note that the girls in that Sesame
Street "Letter K chant" tapped their feet when they sung the chorus
to that chant.
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L. O.V.E (Version #3)
"on da playground-
L.O.V.E. L.O.V.E. L.O.V L.O.V. L.O.V.E
Well Terrie's my name
and Love is my game
I got da boys on my mind
Most of da time
Capricorn's My Sign
Say Wha?
Capricorn's My Sign
Say Wha?
Capricorn, Capricorn
Capricorn's My sign!"
- Geechie Gurl, August 26, 2009;
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=118895016491
“When I be a gal in da Ya'd! Memba Dese..Just a few of em”’
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L.O.V.E. (fragment) Version #4
"Love these!! Anybody remember one that goes "L-O-V-E
love L-O-V-E love, ...is my name, ...is my game, something something! Lmao, I
can't remember the rest man, it used to be some footwork with it though!
-KaLa Roberts,2019,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zEcsIfe6lU&t=387s&ab_channel=Geneas
90s Hand Games [comment] This video is no longer available.
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This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Here's Here's an excerpt from a 2018 pancocojams post entitled "An Overview Of Foot Stomping Cheers From the 1970s To The Early 2000s & How And Where Some Of Those Cheers & Their Movement Art Has Survived In The 2000s"
ReplyDeletehttp://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/11/an-overview-of-foot-stomping-cheers.html
"Here are some reasons why I think the foot stomping cheers are no longer created or performed since around 2009 except in modified forms as other types of cheerleader cheers :
1. The informal recreational activity that I call "foot stomping cheers" was started in the 1970s in imitation of actual cheerleading (i.e. performing cheers as part of a cheerleading squad).
Since the 1970s it has become much easier for Black American girls to join actual cheerleading squads- both "so-called" mainstream cheerleading, African American originated "Stomp & Shake cheerleading, and the modified mainstream/stomp & shake cheerleading styles.
As to why more middle/high schools didn't/don't perform "foot stomping cheers" -the synchronized stomping and clapping movement activity of foot stomping cheers isn't easy for everyone to do-and particularly isn't easy for many non-Black people who haven't been immersed in the percussive music throughout their secular and religious lives. That immersion makes it easier for many Black people to perform these foot stomping movements.
Furthermore, the group/consecutive soloist textual structure of foot stomping cheers (where every member of the group has to have an equal time as the soloist) isn't compatible with the time constrictions of actual cheerleading during athletic events.
2. The popularity of organized Hip Hop majorette dance teams (such as the Dancing Dolls on the television series Bring It!) among many African American girls provides performance opportunities that have replaced the informal foot stomping cheer activities.
3. The existence of high school, middle school, and other pre-university step teams have also replaced foot stomping cheer activities (with "stepping" meaning the movement arts that are most commonly associated with historically Black Greek letter fraternities and sororities).
4. The popularity of Tiktok dances and performances of those dances (as they are performed online with only minor improvisations) and spending time on other internet sites and on cell phone face time with their friends have replaced the time and energy (and creativity) that African American girls and others once gave to performing and creating "foot stomping cheers".
-snip-
I slightly modified my wording for point #4 above.