Sesame Street 1980s Clip "Girls clap out a song about K" & The Words To A 1980s Foot Stomping Cheer "L.O.V.E" That Had The Same Tune

LittleJerryFan92, Jul 11, 2007

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases the 1980s? Sesame Street clip "Girls clap out a song about K". That clip shows a group of young African American girls clapping and foot stomping (stepping) while chantin.

My unofficial transcript of this song is included in this post along with my description of the movements that the girls are doing while they chant.   

The content of this post is presented for cultural and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are associated with this embedded Sesame Street video and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.  

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WORDS TO SESAME STREET "GIRLS CLAP OUT A SONG ABOUT K"*

Entire group:
kah kah kah k
kah kah kah k
kah kah kah
kah kah kah
kah kah kah k

First Soloist: 
Well my name is Keanna
My letter was K
K like a kite
and you blow me away 
K turns the key
K like Kick ah me

Entire Group:
kah kah kah k
kah kah kah k
kah kah kah
kah kah kah
kah kah kah k

Group (except the soloist Keanna)
Well her name is Keanna
Her letter is K
Second soloist:
K like a kangaroo
Hoppin all day
Entire Group:
'Cause a K a kiss
K is like this 
(The group stops stepping and forms the letter K with outstreached arms and Keanna standing in the middle of the group with her arms at her sides.)  
-snip-
This is my unofficial transcription of this song. Additions and corrections are welcome.
-snip-
The tune for the "kah kah kah k" "chorus" of this song is exactly the same tune as the "L-O-V-E" cheer*.  The other part of the song is a little bit different from the L.O.V.E. cheer.

Also, the way the girls performed the foot sliding in the front motion is different from the movements that were done for the L.O.V.E. cheer. 

* My daughter who performed the L.O.V.E. cheer in the mid 1980s confirmed what I wrote about the similarities and differences between this song and that cheer.  

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WORDS TO A VERSION OF THE FOOT STOMPING CHEER "L.O.V.E."

All: L-O-V-E. [clap- not spoken]
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]

All: L-O-V-E. [clap]
L-O-V-E. [clap]
L-O-V. 
L-O-V. 
L-O-V-E. [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 it performed in the 1980s.
-snip-
Here's what my daughter shared with me about how she and her friends performed this cheer*.

The movement routine for "L.O.V.E" differs from the other foot stomping cheers that my daughter and her friends showed me. My daughter wrote down these performance instructions for me on October 28, 2018:

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.

-snip-
The girls stood in a circle. The order of soloist was determined by who was the fastest to yell out "first", "second", "third" etc. Pne way that girls used to know when it was their turn was to remember who they came after.

Each soloist remained standing where she was for her solo part. (She didn't move into the center of the circle.). When it was the soloist's turn, the rest of the girls contined doing the same movement routine, but were silent while the soloist chanted. 

The beat is continual,  like a metronone. The object was to remain "on beat" throughout the entire cheer without any interruptions. (The cheer immediately begins with the next soloist and continues until everyone has a turn as the soloist.) If anyone goes "off -beat" -by messing up the foot stomping routine or forgetting what to say or otherwise messing up the flow of the chant- the cheer stops and has to begin all over again. Usually girls who didn't know a particular cheer would sit out that cheer until they were confident that they really knew it. One way that girls gained respect and status regardless of their age or what grade they were in school was being "really good at" doing cheers. 

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