I have been challenged by Dee Dee MonSherie to do this hub thanks to CrisA’s challenge in the forums. So here are just a few. Hope you enjoy it now.

• The Stroll
• The Hand Jive
• The Madison
• The Bunny Hop

(not to be confused with the Jitterbug Stroll)

The Music

You can do "The Stroll" to just about any swing music. Strolling was popular on American Bandstand done to the eponymous song The Stroll created by The Diamonds after the craze began.

The emergence of The Stroll as a recognizable dance is due in large part to American Bandstand, the very popular dance party that began in 1954 for teens. The show's regulars created the popular dance called the Bunny Hop. The teens then began churning out new dances for every new beat that came along, including The Stroll, a slow, simple dance, where two lines, the guys on one side, and the gals on the other faced each other, shifting from left to right, then back again. The fun began as the couples met in the middle to strut down the aisle with all eyes on them. The dance was inspired by Chuck Willis' hit C.C. Rider. It grew so much in popularity that Willis was dubbed King of the Stroll. Soon the dance got a song of its own when Dick Clark suggested to the Diamonds that they create a song specifically for the dance. The Diamonds were already hot with their hit Lil Darlin' (1957), they struck gold again with The Stroll.

Dick Clark spoke about the creation of the song that went along with the dance, The Stroll. Dick failed to mention, however, who the friend was that he called to get the song written; it was recording artist Brook Benton. Dick still came up with a great idea. The Diamonds hit gold with this one as it went to number 4 on the chart and stayed on the Billboard Charts for 14 weeks the first part of 1958.

The Hand Jive was a phenomenon in the summer of 1958. It was in the Top Ten for 16 weeks and remained popular with the capricious teenagers for about four months; quite a feat at that time. To appreciate the inception of Hand Jive, we must investigate the career of John Velioties/Johnny Otis, it's creator.

Born on Dec 28, 1921 in Vallejo, CA as Johnny Veliotes. Johnny Otis wore an incredible number of contrasting hats over a musical career of more than 50 years. He was a Band leader, record producer, talent scout, label owner, nightclub impresario, disc jockey, TV variety show host, author, R&B pioneer, rock & roll star and he answered to all those descriptions and quite a few more. He was Greek-American who loved jazz and R&B so fervently that he made the African-American culture as his own.

California-born John Veliotes changed his name to the more black name of Otis when he was in his teens. Drums were his first obsession; he spent time behind his mentors with the Oakland based orchestra of Count Otis Matthews and kept time for various Midwestern swing bands before settling in Los Angeles during the mid 1940s. There he joined Harlan Leonard's Rockets, then the resident musical leader at the Club Alabam.

Otis was soon asked by the club owner to assemble his own orchestra for house-band duties. The group's 1945 debut for Excelsior were in the big-band jazz vein and included an arrangement of the moody Harlem Nocturne that was well received. The Otis band recorded for Excelsior through 1947, but his influence on L.A.'s R&B scene soared exponentially when he and partner Bardu Ali opened the Barrelhouse Club in Watts. R&B replaced jazz in Otis's heart and he reduced his big band in size and exposed young talents such as the Robins, vocalists Mel Walker and Little Esther Phillips, and guitarist Pete Lewis that would serve him well in years to come.

Otis signed with Newark, NJ-based Savoy Records in 1949, and the R&B hits came in droves: Double Crossing Blues, Mistrustin' Blues, and Cupid's Boogie all hit number one that year. Otis scored ten Top Ten smashes that year alone! Gee Baby, Mambo Boogie, and All Nite Long were gold in 1951, and Sunset to Dawn capped his crazy run in 1952.

Otis set the R&B and pop charts on fire in 1958 with his beat, Willie and the Hand Jive, taking the vocal himself as other singers then with the Otis Show included Mel Williams and the very large Marie Adams & the Three Tons of Joy

The dance consists of various hand movements; slap thighs, cross palms, pound fists, touch elbows and the hitchhike move. It's easy to learn as even small children can do it since it is repeated without change over six choruses of the song. No wonder everyone in 1958 could do the Hand Jive! Kids were doing it frequently during school. Now we have the Macarena. hmmm

The Madison was popular in the late 1950s to mid 1960s. It was created and first danced in Columbus, OH, in 1957. The local popularity of the dance and record in Baltimore came to the attention of the producers of  The Buddy Dean Show in 1960. Picked up by dance shows across the country, it became widely popular.

This is a line dance that features a regular back-and-forth pattern interspersed with called steps by a DJ. It was featured in Hairspray and continues on Broadway. There were many songs for this dance craze.

Ray Bryant recorded Madison Time for Columbia Records in 1959.  The Madison took on International status when Count Basie visited Columbus in 1959 and adopted it for his London and European tour creating press notices in London.

Called steps were the Cleveland Box, Double Cross, The Rifleman, Jackie Gleason, The Basketball among some others.

Last of all who can forget The Bunny Hop? I wish I could. I hated it and still do and it was also done on the skating rink, something I could never do.