The Origins Of "Rock The Boat" Girls' Cheerleader Cheers,Softball Cheers, or Children's Camp Cheers

Edited by Azizi Powell Latest edition - November 23, 2024 This is Part I of a two part series about the "Rock The Boat" cheer.

This post presents information about the provenance* of the Rock The Boat" cheerleader squads, softball cheers, or children's camp cheers. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/rock-boat-videos-word-only-examples.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post showcases some examples of "Rock The Boat" cheers and chants that are performed by girls' cheerleader squads , by members of some girls' softball teams, and by attendees of children's camps.

The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, socio-cultural, and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in this embedded video. -snip- Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/11/bring-it-on-all-or-nothing-2006-movies.html for a related pancocojams post entitled "Bring It On All or Nothing 2006 movie's "Introduce Yourself!" Cheer & Other Examples Of "Command/Refusal" Foot Stomping Cheers"
** Here's the definition of "provenance" *from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/provenance
"provenance (noun)

1. origin, source

2. the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art or literature

-snip- **I am differentiating between girls pretending to be cheerleaders who chanted foot stomping cheers during as part of their recreational activities and girls who are actually members of a cheerleading squad that is associated with a sports team. **** THE PROVENANCE OF THE SOFT BALL CHANT "ROCK THE BOAT" . A. THE DISCO RECORD "ROCK THE BOAT" 1. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_the_Boat_(The_Hues_Corporation_song) 
" "Rock the Boat" is a song by American trio The Hues Corporation, written by Wally Holmes. "Rock the Boat" was first featured on their 1973 debut studio album Freedom for the Stallion (the single edit later appeared on certain editions of the band's 1974 second album Rockin' Soul).[1] It was released as the third single from the album in early 1974, to follow up Stallion's title song, which had peaked at number sixty-three on the Hot 100, and "Miracle Maker (Sweet Soul Shaker)" which did not chart.

Initially, "Rock the Boat" appeared as though it would also flop, as months went by without any radio airplay or sales activity. Not until the song became a disco favorite in New York did Top 40 radio finally pick up on the song, leading the record to finally enter the Hot 100 and zip up the chart to number one the week of July 6, 1974, in only its seventh week on the chart (and fourth week in the Top 40). The record also reached the top ten in the United Kingdom. "Rock the Boat" is considered one of the earliest disco songs. Some authorities proclaim it to be the first disco song to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while others give that distinction to "Love's Theme" by Love Unlimited Orchestra or "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" by MFSB, both chart-toppers from earlier in 1974. The song became a gold record. It is a heavy airplay favorite on oldie and adult contemporary stations today.

Composition and recording

Holmes wrote the song for the band's first album, and started the song with the line "Ever since our voyage of love began..". In an attempt to make it more punchy, producer John Florez suggested starting with the line "So I'd like to know where you got the notion."[2]

The song features a lead vocal by Fleming Williams, who left The Hues Corporation shortly after the song was recorded. According to The Billboard Book of Number One Hits by Fred Bronson, the lone female member of the group, H. Ann Kelley, had originally been pegged to sing lead, but this idea was discarded out of fear that groups with female lead singers were less commercially viable. The bass player on the session was Wilton Felder, not James Jamerson as sometimes reported. Florez also brought in two other members of the Jazz Crusaders"...

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2. from https://genius.com/The-hues-corporation-rock-the-boat-lyrics (Genius annotation written by LuckyBluJay, December 15, 2014)
" "Rock the Boat" was featured on the Hues Corporation’s debut album Freedom for the Stallion.

When the song was first released, it went months without getting radio airplay, but it wasn’t until the song became a disco\club music favorite in New York that it was picked up by Top 40 radio.

Hues Corporation member St. Clair Lee said that the song “was a song you could do anything on. You could cuddle or you could get crazy if you wanted to. It was a love song without being a love song, but it was a disco hit and it happened because of the discos.”

The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a week in July of 1974. It also peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart and #5 on Billboard’s Hot Dance\Disco Singles chart."
-snip-
This is how that annotation is written on that page 

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3. Hues Corporation - Rock The Boat • TopPop

TopPop, November 6, 2015
-snip-
This Disco record was first released in 1974.

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4.  https://genius.com/The-hues-corporation-rock-the-boat-lyrics 
LYRICS - ROCK THE BOAT
(written by Wally Holmes)

" [Chorus]

So I'd like to know where you got the notion

Said I'd like to know where you got the notion

To rock the boat

Don't rock the boat, baby

 

Rock the boat

Don't tip the boat over

Rock the boat

Don't rock the boat, baby

Rock the boat

 

[Verse 1]

Ever since our voyage of love began

Your touch has thrilled me

Like the rush of the wind

And your arms have held me

Safe from a rolling sea

There's always been a quiet place

To harbor you and me

 

Our love is like a ship on the ocean

We've been sailing with a cargo

Full of love and devotion

 

[Chorus]

So I'd like to know where you got the notion

Said I'd like to know where you got the notion

To rock the boat

Don't rock the boat, baby

Rock the boat

Don't tip the boat over

Rock the boat

Don't rock the boat, baby

Rock the boat

 

[Verse 2:]

Up to now

We sailed through every storm

And I've always had your tender lips

To keep me warm

 

Oh, I need to have the strength

That flows from you

Don't let me drift away my dear

When love can see me through

 

Our love is like a ship on the ocean

We've been sailing with a cargo

Full of love and devotion

 

[Chorus]

So I'd like to know where you got the notion

Said I'd like to know where you got the notion

So I'd like to know where you got the notion

Said I'd like to know where you got the notion

To rock the boat

Don't rock the boat, baby

Rock the boat

Don't tip the boat over

Rock the boat

Don't rock the boat, baby

Rock the boat

Don't tip the boat over

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock on with yo bad self

Rock the boat

Rock on with yo bad self

Rock the boat

Rock on with yo bad self

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat

Rock the boat"

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B. "ROCK THE BOAT" FOOT STOMPING CHEERS 
1. Information about foot stomping cheers
"Rock The Boat" is  an example of a dance style foot stomping cheers.

"Foot stomping cheers is a sub-category of children's cheerleader cheers.

I observed and collected foot stomping cheers (from the mid 1980s to 2009 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Soloists were usually chosen by the order in which the members of the group called out "first", "second", "third" etc. Each person in the group has the same amount of soloist time. Ideally, the cheer doesn't end until each person in the group has a soloist turn. Each soloist turn is the same amount of time.

In my observations, these cheers were* performed as part of the recreational play of Black girls, ages around 6 years to around 12 years. These girls were pretending to be cheerleaders outdoors during school recess, or outdoor or indoors after-school. Usually, there wasn't any  formal audience for these cheerleading performances, although other children (and adults) might watch the girls perform. cheers weren't written down. Girls learned the cheers by watching the performances of others who knew them. Because the entire cheer had to start again from the beginning if anyone "went offbeat" [in the synchronized foot stomping/hand clapping routine or messed up a word because they waited too long to say it, girls who didn't know a cheer were usually reluctant to attempt to perform it. 

Foot stomping cheers used a distinctive foot stomping cheer textual pattern of group/consecutive soloist. The group (without the soloist) speaks first, The soloist responds and the group speaks. At some point, the soloist has a brief portion in the spotlight, sometimes followed by the group which echoes what the soloist says and/or does. That pattern immediately begins again from the beginning.

Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUHe51IiOaM for a YouTube video of the "Shabooya Roll Call" cheer that is performed as part of the 2006 cheerleader movie entitled Bring It On: All Or Nothing. That clip is probably the most widely known example of a performance of a foot stomping cheer. However, I believe that the dancing/stepping that these three girls did while chanting that cheer was greatly exaggerated and therefore isn't an accurate documentation of the choreographed syncopated, foot stomping routines.

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/03/some-youtube-videos-of-foot-stomping.html for a pancocojams post entitled "Some YouTube Videos Of Foot Stomping Cheers (With Other Videos Of Similar Children's Stepping Motions & Routines)."

*I'm using past tense about foot stomping cheers in this post (and in other pancocojams posts) because (based on my direct observation and based on the lack of current comments about these cheers and the lack of examples of current performances of these cheers, I believe that old foot stomping cheers are no longer performed [the same way that they were traditionally performed] and new foot stomping cheers don't seem to be created.

The BIG caveat for the above statement is that (usually unbeknown to the people chanting these cheers), a few old foot stomping cheers still live on as softball cheer, and/or (actual) cheerleader cheers, and/or camp songs/cheers.

Although those above categorized cheers have some of the same words as some foot stomping cheers, they may not strictly adhere to the "every one in the group has a solo turn" that is an essential foot stomping cheer rule. Also, those softball cheers that originated as foot stomping cheers may not be performed the same way as "traditional" foot stomping cheers (i.e. with chanters standing in a circle or in a horizontal line performing a choreographed, syncopated foot stomping and hand clapping routine to a 4/4 metronome type beat.)

For more information about foot stomping cheers click  https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/an-overview-of-foot-stomping-cheers.html "An Overview Of Foot Stomping Cheers (Part I- Characteristics, Sources, & Videos)"

and 

https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/11/an-overview-of-foot-stomping-cheers.html "An Overview Of Foot Stomping Cheers (Part II -Types Of Cheers With Examples)".

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2. Two Examples Of "Rock The Boat' Foot Stomping Cheers   

ROCK THE BOAT (Version #1)

Rock the boat,

Rock, rock the boat

[repeat]

My name is Yasmin (rock the boat)

I know I'm fine (rock the boat)

Just like my sign (rock the boat)

My sign is Leo

I go bang-bang choo choo train

Wind me up and I do my thing

Reeses pieces butter cup

Don't mess with me, cause I'll mess you up,

Rock the boat, rock rock the boat...
-Yasmin H. (Latina female; memories of East Brooklyn, New York, in the late 1980s), 2/25/04
-snip-
Yasmin noted that the words in parenthesis were chanted by the other members of the cheerleading squad. This example probably was performed using the "traditional" choreographed, syncopated foot stomping and hand clapping routine.

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ROCK THE BOAT (Version #2)
this is how we do it at my school:

rock the boat dont tip it over

rock the boat dont tip it over

my name is __

yeah!

im feelin fine!

yeah!

u mess with me

yeah!

ill blow ur mind

so bang bang choo choo train

u look at me and i do my thang

no recces pieces no butter cup

i kno karate i kno kung fu

u mess with ill mes with u!

 

i kno its tottaly off to wat everyone else is sayin but thats wat we sing on the bus all the time.
-slimeshady100, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9QuTsAtQPY, 2010
-snip-
I categorize this example as a somewhat modified foot stomping cheer. This example begins with the group voice as is a characteristic of "traditional" foot stomping cheers. However, based on this contributor's comment, that this cheer was chanted during bus rides (probably to and from school), the chanters couldn't perform the foot stomping/hand clapping routine that is a key characteristic of foot stomping cheers.

Softball examples of "Rock The Boat" are even more modified than that example, as is partly documented in Part II of this pancocojams series.  

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This concludes Part I of this two part pancocojams series.

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Gloria Gaynor -"I Will Survive" (information, video, & lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases the 1978 hit Disco song "I Will Survive" performed by Gloria Gaynor.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris, the composers of "I Will Survive". Thanks also to Gloria Gaynor who popularized this song. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO & LYRICS:I Will Survive



Wesley Tai, Published on May 21, 2007

[Lyrics]
At first I was afraid I was petrified.
Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side.
But then I spent so many nights
Thinking how you did me wrong.
And I grew strong!
And I learned how to get along!
So now you're back from out of space.
I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face.

I should have changed that stupid lock!
I should have made you leave your key!
If I had known for just one second you'd be back to bother me.

Go on now, go, walk out that door!
Just turn around now‚
cause you're not welcome any more.
Weren't you the one who tried to hurt (crush) me with goodbye?

Did I crumble
Did I lay down and die
Oh no, not I! I will survive!
Oh and as long as I know how to love I know I stay alive.
I've got all my life to live, I've got all my love to give.
And I'll survive!
I will survive! Hey, hey.

It took all the strength I had not to fall apart.
Kept tryin' hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart!
And I spent oh so many nights
just feeling sorry for myself. I used to cry!
But now I hold my head up high.
And you see me somebody new!
I'm not that chained-up little person still in love with you.

And so you feel like droppin' in,
and just expect me to be free,
now I'm saving all my loving for someone who is loving me!

Go on now...

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "I WILL SURVIVE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Will_Survive
"I Will Survive" is a hit song first performed by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978. It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. A top-selling song after its initial release, it sold 14 million copies worldwide and has remained a popular disco anthem, as well as being certified platinum by the RIAA.[1]

The song's lyrics describe the narrator's discovery of personal strength following an initially devastating breakup. It received heavy airplay in 1979, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the UK Singles Chart on consecutive weeks. The song is also frequently recalled as a symbol of female strength and as a gay anthem.[2][3][4] In 2016, the Library of Congress deemed Gaynor's original recording to be "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry."...

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INFORMATION ABOUT GLORIA GAYNOR
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Gaynor
"Gloria Gaynor (born September 7, 1949) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (Hot 100 number 1, 1979), "Never Can Say Goodbye" (Hot 100 number 9, 1974), "Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (Hot 100 number 42, 1980) and "I Am What I Am" (R&B number 82, 1983.

[...]

Major mainstream breakthrough
... in late 1978, with the release of her album Love Tracks, she climbed the pop charts again with her smash hit single "I Will Survive". The lyrics of this song are written from the point of view of a woman, recently dumped, telling her former lover that she can cope without him and does not want anything more to do with him. The song has become something of an anthem of female emancipation. Interestingly, the song "I Will Survive" was originally the B-side when Polydor Records released it in late 1978. The A-side, a song called "Substitute", then a recent worldwide hit for South African girl-group Clout, was considered more "radio friendly". Boston Disco Radio DJ Jack King, turned the record over and recalls being stunned by what he heard. "I couldn't believe they were burying this monster hit on the B-side", says King. "I played it and played it and my listeners went nuts!" This massive audience response forced the record company to flip the songs, so that subsequent copies of the single listed the more popular song on the A-side. King was honored at New York's "Disco Masters Awards Show" for 3 consecutive years (1979–1981) in recognition of his relentless push of the song. The song received the Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording in 1980, the only year that award was given. It is ranked #492 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and ranked at #97 on Billboard magazine's "All-Time Hot 100". In 2000, the song was ranked #1 in VH1's list of the '100 greatest dance songs' of all time.

As a disco number, the song was unique for its time by virtue of Gaynor's having no background singers or lush production. And, unlike her first disco hits, the track was not pitched up to make it faster and to render Gaynor's recorded voice in a higher register than that in which she actually sang. Most disco hits at the time were heavily produced, with multiple voices, overdubs, and adjustments to pitch and speed. "I Will Survive" had a much more spare and "clean" sound. Had it been originally planned and released as an A-side, it would almost certainly have undergone a substantially more heavy-handed remix."...

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Three Hit Songs By The 1970s-early 1990s Disco, Soul Group The Trammps: "Hold Back The Night", "Disco Inferno", & "That's Where The Happy People Go"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about The 1970s-1980s Disco/Soul Group "The Tramps" and showcases three of that group's hit records: Hold Back The Night", ."Disco Inferno" & "That's Where The Happy People Go."

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to The Trammps for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRAMMPS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trammps
"The Trammps were an American disco and soul band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands.

The band's first major success was with their 1972 cover version of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart". The first disco track they released was "Love Epidemic" in 1973. However, they are best known for their Grammy winning song, "Disco Inferno", originally released in 1976, becoming a UK pop hit and US R&B hit. After inclusion in the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, the song was re-released in 1978 and became a US pop hit.

History
From early 1970s to the dissolution in the early 1990s
The history of the Trammps grew from the 1960s group The Volcanos, who later became The Moods.[1] With a number of line-up changes by the early 1970s, the band membership included gospel-influenced lead singer Jimmy Ellis, drummer and singer (bass voice) Earl Young, with brothers Stanley and Harold 'Doc' Wade. Members of the Philadelphia recording band MFSB played with the group on records and on tour in the 1970s with singer Robert Upchurch joining later. The group was produced by the Philadelphia team of Ronnie Baker, Norman Harris and Young, all MFSB mainstays who played on the recording sessions and contributed songs.

Their debut chart entry came via an upbeat cover version of the standard "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", featuring Young's bass voice, which became a Top 20 US R&B chart hit in 1972.[1][2]

Their first few recordings were released on Buddah Records, including "Hold Back The Night" which was a hit in the UK and on the Billboard R&B chart in 1973, before a re-release saw it climb the U.S. Hot 100 two years later. Several R&B hits followed during a stay with Philadelphia International subsidiary, Golden Fleece (run by Baker-Harris-Young) before they signed to Atlantic Records.

Their single "Disco Inferno" (1976), which was included on the Grammy Award winning Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track in 1977,[3] reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1978.[4]

Other major hits included "Hold Back the Night" (1975) (UK #5[5]) and "That's Where the Happy People Go" (1976). In late 1977, the Trammps released the song "The Night the Lights Went Out" to commemorate the electrical blackout that affected New York City on July 13-14, 1977.

Their signature song "Disco Inferno" has been covered by Tina Turner and Cyndi Lauper. In addition, Graham Parker covered "Hold Back The Night" on "The Pink Parker EP" in 1977, and reached #20 in the UK Singles Chart,[6] and Top 60 in the US."....

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
Example #1: The Trammps - Hold Back The Night • TopPop



TopPop, Published on Oct 22, 2015

The Trammps were an American disco and soul band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands. They visited the Toppop studios in the Netherlands many times.
They are best known for their Grammy winning song, "Disco Inferno", originally released in 1976, becoming a UK pop hit and US R&B hit. After inclusion in the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, the song was re-released in 1978 and became an international pop hit worldwide.
This was the Trammps 5th performance on Toppop.
The lead vocals are from Jimmy Ellis and the bass vocals are by Earl Young.
-snip-
Click https://genius.com/The-trammps-hold-back-the-night-lyricsfor the lyrics to The Trammp's "Hold Back The Night".

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Example #2: The Trammps - Disco Inferno (1976) HD



STAT CHILE, Published on Mar 24, 2016
Artista: The Trammps
Álbum: Disco Inferno
Country: US
Released:1976
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Disco

"Disco Inferno" is a 1976 song by The Trammps from the album of the same name. With two other cuts by the group it reached number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in early 1977, but had limited mainstream success in the U.S. until 1978, after being included on the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, when a re-release hit number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
-snip-
Click https://genius.com/The-trammps-disco-inferno-lyrics for the lyrics to The Trammp's song "Disco Inferno".

A note about this song on that website indicates that "it ["Disco Inferno"] was inspired by the scene of the burning discotheque in the 1974 movie The Towering Inferno.

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Example #3: The Trammps - That's Where The Happy People Go (1976)



crap1453, Published on May 12, 2010

One of the top disco bands in the world. This is imho one of the best disco songs ever.
-snip-
Click https://genius.com/The-trammps-thats-where-the-happy-people-go-lyrics">https://genius.com/The-trammps-thats-where-the-happy-people-go-lyrics for the lyrics to The Trammp's song "That's Where The Happy People Go".

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