Hully Gully
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hully Gully is a type of unstructured line dance originating from the sixties which consisted of a series of "steps" that are called out by the MC. Each step was relatively simple and easy to do however the challenge was to keep up with the speed of each step.
The Hully Gully was started by Frank Rocco at the Cadillac Hotel in Miami Beach Florida. The rock group, the Olympics, sang the song "Hully Gully", back in early 1960, which involved no physical contact at all. The same tune was used a year later as a song by the Marathons, entitled "Peanut Butter", which was later used for the Peter Pan Peanut Butter commercial during the 1980s. Tim Morgan sang different lyrics to the song "Peanut Butter" as well, however, only mentioning the Skippy" brand. There was another song about the dance by the Dovells, entitled "Hully Gully Baby" Ed Sullivan mentioned the Cadillac Hotel as "Home of the Hully Gully" on his weekly show, featuring some dancers from Frank Rocco's revue. Known as "Mr. Hully Gully", Rocco then toured America, including the 1964 New York World's Fair he danced it with Goldie Hawn and Europe, where over the next year he taught the dance at the NATO Base in Naples, Italy, in Rome, and all over Europe.
[edit] References in pop culture
- An example of the Hully Gully can be seen as performed by John Belushi in the film the Blues Brothers.
- On an episode of The Simpsons, Gabbo the ventriloquist dummy attempts to oust Krusty the Clown from his time slot by submitting that he can "do the Hully Gully," as well as "imitate Vin Scully."
- In the Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein, the hully gully.
