HeiligeKatastrophe, Jan 6, 2016
-snip-
This Bus stop line dance was filmed at a Chicago, Illinois nightclub in
1982.
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part III of an ongoing pancocojams series on lines dances performed at Black (African American) cookouts, wedding receptions, and other get-togethers (informal social gatherings).
This post provides information about "the Bust Stop" line dance and showcases a YouTube video of Charlie Green, a Chicago, Illinois DJ, leading a group of people doing the "Bus Stop" line dance in 1982.
The content of this post is presented for historical,
cultural, and entertainment purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Charlie Green and all those who are featured in this embedded YouTube video, thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks to The Fatback Band for their 1975 record "(Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop" and thanks to The People's Choice for their 1975 record "Do It Anyway You Wanna". Thanks also publisher of this video on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUS STOP LINE DANCE
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are
numbered for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1
From https://socialdance.stanford.edu/Syllabi/Bus_Stop.pdf
THE BUS STOP LINE DANCE also called the L.A. Hustle, Description by Richard
Powers
"The L.A. Hustle was one of the earliest disco line
dances (circa 1974), renamed the Bus Stop when it migrated to the East Coast.
It gained media attention when it was published by the first major magazine
article on disco (Rolling Stone magazine) in 1975, and then in a disco book the
following year.
There were many versions of the Bus Stop. Music: Any disco tune. “Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry works well.
Formation: Individuals evenly spaced on the floor, all
facing the same direction."...
-snip-
"The Bus Stop" is the name of a R&B dance that
was recorded by The Fatback Band in 1975. "Click
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeeOPR8bxac for a YouTube video of "The
Bus Stop" and click https://genius.com/The-fatback-band-are-you-ready-do-the-bus-stop-lyrics
for the lyrics to that record.
I haven't come across any YouTube videos of people doing the Bus stop (as a couple's dance) and not the Bus stop line dance. If you are aware of any videos of this, please share a link in the comment section for this post. Thanks.
Notice that this Wikipedia article about The Bus Stop line
dance doesn't specifically mention that the Fatback record "Bus Stop"
was used for that line dance. The 1982 YouTube video of Charlie Green leading a
group of African American women and men doing the Bus Stop line dance features
The People's Choice's 1975 R&B/Funk record song "Do It Anyway You
Want". Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qms17ZEZ7M8 for a YouTube sound file of
"Do It Anyway You Want". Some commenters in that sound file's discussion thread and in other discussion threads for YouTube examples of "Do It Anyway You Wanna" mention that they remember doing the Bus stop line dance to that record.
****
Excerpt #2
Fromhttps://www.libraryofdance.org/dances/bus-stop/#:~:text=Introduction,name%20Bus%20Stop%20%5BKL78%5D
"The Bus Stop
(L. A. Hustle, Pasadena Line Walk, Line Hustle, Continental
Walk, The Roach, The Walk)
(1975)
Introduction
The Bus Stop is an early disco line dance that debuted at a small disco in Los Angeles in the summer of 1975. It became a national hit in the spring of 1976 when it hit the East Coast under the name Bus Stop [KL78].
[...]
Regarding the style, Karen Lustgarten writes that "the body's motion is highly stylized. Think strut: Swing your arms, with a lift of the shoulder and elbow. Try marching in place, swinging your arms and body from side to side—then play it down a little. When you do the steps, you should be swinging. Lift your knees and pick up your feet in a deliberate way; don't just shuffle."
****
SELECTED COMMENTS FROM VARIOUS YOUTUBE VIDEOS ABOUT CHARLIE
GREEN RAPPING WHILE LEADING THE BUS STOP LINE DANCE
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
Discussion thread #1
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF-O8yfrBD0&t=1s [This is
the discussion thread for the video that is embedded in this pancocojams post.]
1. Tanie Baker, 2018
"They know they was too cool!!"
**
2. Robert Ashton, 2020
"The Description says the song is Will The Funkboss -
Make It Clap. It is not. The song is actually People's Choice - Do It Any Way
You Wanna (on The Sound of Philadelphia label). You're welcome."
-snip-
That wrong description is given in the summary for another YouTube vdeo of the Bus Stop line dance with the same Charlie Geen rap: "Bus Stop" Line dance, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIlJnBKidRA&t=121s published Delvonne Foley, May 5, 2017 Performed by the we-r-1 line dance committee; Phoenix, Arizona]
**
Reply
3. Samuel Badillo, 2020
"The bass line was driving me crazy cause I knew the
song from way back. If you Shazam the video it does come up with 'Make it Clap'
but the real song is as you say 'People's Choice - Do It Any Way You Wanna'.
'Thanks' to all that posted the real name. Gotta run, this song is making me
dance The Bus Stop.
**
4. Bill Bull, 2020
"If you don't know this ya ain't from Chicago"
**
Reply
5. Cortez Charles, 2021
"You've lost your damn mind! Chicago gave you this, and
You're welcome!"
-snip-
This comment and the next one appear to refer to a comment
that is no longer in this discussion thread.
**
Reply
6. Pinky Donaldson, 2021
"You're wrong this all Chicago."
**
Reply
7. Micky Stuckey, 2021
"@Pinky Donaldson
Nope Charlie Green was from Chicago but the Original is from
Philadelphia's Group 'People's Choice - Do It Any Way You Wanna' 1975"
**
Reply
8. Micky Stuckey, 2021
"@Cortez Charles
You only 1/2 way right. Charlie Green was from Chicago but the Original
is from Philadelphia's Group 'People's Choice - Do It Any Way You Wanna'
1975"
**
Reply
9. Keith Powell, 2021
" @Micky Stuckey
True enough it is a Philly track but it is a Chi Town rap over the track
and Charlie Green is from Da Chi! Chicago and Wakanda forever"
**
10. Evan Schoenly, 2021
"Not a mask in sight ... just the people vibin'"
**
Reply
11. Dogs And Yoga, 2021
"Um...isnt this pre-covid?"
**
Reply
12. Pinky Donaldson, 2021
"This is from the 80s Charlie Green died years
ago."
**
Reply
13. Ebony Jet, 2021
"Omggg really!!??This is super duper old🙄🙄"
**
14. Rashad Glover, 2021
"My father had a bar called Addex Carwash and lounge on
72nd and Ashland. They used to play this every day in the '80s and early
'90s."
**
16. S. Deane, 2021
"Tik tok brought me here. Look at all those beautiful melanated brothers and sisters❤🖤💚"
**
16. Niki Bronson, 2021
"Is this the Cha-Cha Slide of it today because it's
really scary to realize that one day the Cha-Cha Slide will be 40 years old and
another long-forgotten relic of the past I mean it's already 20 years old and
also very Mega so maybe the Cupid Shuffle or crank that Batman is more
comparable but it's crazy to think that this is just a lost Relic and was
probably a really popular hip back in the day"
**
17. Stephanie Braxton, 2022
"I remember this well 1st in high school 1972-73 up on the
3rd floor outside the cafeteria near the bridge ( knowm as the black kids/
others area , we were about 130 students of color in a school of nearly 4500
students and we needed something that was ours, so naturally (besides our Afro-
American club)we had dance and we used to do this on our lunch break. Those
were trying times but we made the best of it and had a ball."
-snip-
Stephanie Braxton may have meant her comment to be a general
reflection on Black students dancing at a majority White school in the early
1970s. The Bus Stop dance and the Bus Stop line dance wasn’t created until
1975.
**
18. Lee, 2022
"Stone cold groove and everyone getting down in this
video are blessed"
****
Discussion thread #2
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SGBqK-67T4 , published by Walter Douglass, Mar 26, 2015
"Was this ever released? I see there was a 90s version with
Charlie Green on it, but not the version with the People's Choice backing."
**
2. Doreen Hall, 2016
"this is my favorite version of the Bus stop! never
released it was an underground that a lot of DJs had. I love it"
**
3. Hibiscus7, 2017
"He was soo cool with it .I like the way he did his bus stop
kool charlie" .
**
4. Maestro Townsend, 2018
"Homegirl in the brown suit is steppin’."
-snip-
"Stepping" in that comment means "dancing". It doesn't have the same meaning as historically Black Greek letter fraternities and sororities steppin[g], but is closer to the genre of social dancing called "Chicago Stepping". Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/04/chicago-stepping-information-videos.html for a pancocojams post on Chicago Stepping.
****
Discussion thread #3
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSjJKCD6JJ0 Charlie
Green - The Bus Stop (Original)-REACTION, published by thatsjwill, Feb 8, 2021
1. DANTANA 773, 2021
"It's Chicago 1982.."
**
2. Corey Franklin Sr., 2022
"1982: At The Copherbox II in Chicago, IL. (117th &
Halsted - Southside)"
**
3. nikia gray, 2022
"This song and dance came straight from Chicago every
Sunday my mom and others went on 47 king drive and did this on the bus stop
every sunday"
**
4. nikia gray, 2022
"Chicago everyday this song came on on the radio and I
do believe remember hearing my mom say they used to go down to 47th and King
Drive to the bus stop and do the dance fun times"
****
MY UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTION OF CHARLIE GREEN'S RAP FOR
"THE BUS STOP" LINE DANCE*
Alright. Let's strike it up
Alright
Yes, yes, yes
Give me some folks up on the floor
So we can get down like, uh, we've done before
Name of my dance, it's called "The Bus Stop"
Sure enough guaranteed, gonna make you rock
Gimme a clap right where you stand
'Cause I want you to get down like a well-tuned band
Real big clap, all y'all freeze
One more clap, bus stop please
Real big clap, Everybody shout
One more clap. Toot your booty out
Real loud clap. Everybody freeze
One more clap. Bus stop please
Real big clap Everybody reverse
If you out of step, You did not rehearse
Real big clap. Everybody reverse
You should be in step just as rehearsed
Real loud clap All y'all freeze
One more clap Bus stop please
Real big clap Everybody freeze
One more clap. New wave please
Get it. Get down with it
Real loud clap All y'all freeze
One more clap Bus stop please
All the men say "Yo"
[Men said] "Yo"
All the women said "Yo"
[Women say] "Yo"
Everybody say "Yo"
[Everybody said] Yo"
Yo what?
[Line dancers said] "Yo mama, Yo mama"
Yo what?
[Line dancers said] "Yo mama"
Taught me well
Real big clap All y'all freeze
One more clap Rock it out now please
Rock it out
Rock it out
How low can you go
How low can you go
Can you go down low
All the way to the floor
[“The word "floor” is pronounced to rhyme with the words “go” and
“low”]
How low can you go
If you don't go low
You’re an old so and so
Real big clap
Y'all get silly
One more clap
Do the Uncle Willie
Real big clap
Check out the time
One more clap
Get out those Twines
Real big clap
Real loud clap
One more clap, all you men
Grap your woman and rap [undecipherable talk while men and
women dance facing each other as couples]
Real big clap
All y'all freeze
One more clap
Bus stop please
Freeze!
Bus stop.
Freeze!
Bus stop!
-snip-
*This transription is from the video that is embedded in this pancocojams post.
The words that my are explanations of those lyrics.
This line dance is performed to The People's Choice's 1975 Funk/Disco record "Do It Anyway You Wanna". The words "Do it anyway you wanna do it, Do it anyway you want" are the only lyrics in that record.
The line dancers follow Charlie Green's directions (i.e.
they clap, shout, freeze, do the dances "The Uncle Willie", and "Twine Time" etc. when he directs them to. (I'm not sure if my transcription "Get out those Twines" is correct.
Additions and corrections to my transcription are very
welcome.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Prior to watching the 1982 film clip of Charlie Green rapping while leading "The Bus Stop" line I wasn't familiar with the "Uncle Willie" dance which Green and the other dancers did at 2:51-3:03 in the video embedded in this pancocojams post.
ReplyDeleteSearching online for information about the Uncle Willie dance led me down an Alice In Wonderland rabbit hold -from The Daylighters Oh Mom" (Teach Me How to Uncle Willie) 1963 R&B song that was a hit in Chicago, Illinois to numerous other Uncle Willie dance songs and covers of those songs that were recorded by American recoding group ,and at least one British and one German recording group. I found R&B and Hip Hop Uncle Willie dance records in the United States up to 2019 from the Unitethat I've found was i in the 1960s..
In searching for Uncle Willie dance records, I also happened upon videos of Hawaiian Bluesmen Willie K, and videos of Nigerian band called Uncle willy and The All Stars.
Here's one quote that I found the 1960s R&B Uncle Willie dance:
Deletehttp://dereksdaily45.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-daylighters-oh-mom-teach-me-how-to.html
Friday, September 13, 2013
THE DAYLIGHTERS - OH MOM (TEACH ME HOW TO UNCLE WILLIE)
(originally posted 2/17/11)
"I've been on a serious hard driving r&b kick lately, as evidenced by yesterday and today's posts.
This is one WILD record, from a group known more for smooth vocal harmonies. The Uncle Willie dance was a massive sensation in Chicago during '63-'64, and spawned many records related to the craze. Out of all of them that I've heard (I have a handful of them) this is by far my favorite and it's so much more EXTREME than the other Uncle Willie records! The Uncle Willie itself is a cool, simple step that involves shuffling the feet heel to toe; dancing the Uncle Willie to this song is sure to be a great way to lose weight and have fun in the process.
from 1964..."
Here's a quote about another R&B Uncle Willie dance record:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH2-qTmNwPw [sound file]
Bobby Miller - Uncle Willie Time
Derek See, Jul 13, 2013 Derek's Daily 45 13 July 2013
"Some of the wildest, most outrageously rockin' dance numbers out of Chicago were centered around the too brief Uncle Willie dance (see The Daylighters "Oh Mom, Teach Me How To Uncle Willie", a past 45 of the day, for more proof). "Uncle Willie Time" may not be QUITE as intense as the Daylighters side, but it's more proof that the Uncle Willie may have caused too many dance floor emergencies (hyperventilation, dehydration) forcing it to fade away!
Bobby Miller is far better known as a songwriter (most notably with The mighty Dells), but he cut two dance 45's under his own name for Gene Chandler's Constellation label.
from 1964..."
-snip-
African Americans often recycle social dances, using a different name for movements that are done the same or similarly. We also use the same name for social dances that are done quite differently. The [Hit the] "Uncle Willie" Hip Hop dance is an example of a dance with the same name that is performed differently than the R&B Uncle Willie dance was performed.
Warning- If you're looking up the lyrics for the Hip Hop Uncle Willie records, be prepared for curse words.