Bristol Stomp

"Bristol Stomp"
Single by The Dovells
B-side "Letters of Love"
Released August 21, 1961
Genre Doo Wop
Length 2:18
Label Parkway Records 31348
Writer(s) Kal Mann, Dave Appell
The Dovells singles chronology
"No, No, No"
(1961)		 "Bristol Stomp"
(1961)		 "Do the New Continental"
(1962)

"Bristol Stomp" is a song written in 1961 by Kal Mann and Dave Appell, two executives with the Cameo-Parkway record label, for The Dovells, an a cappella singing group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who recorded the song for Cameo-Parkway late that year. It was originally recorded by a group from Bristol, Pennsylvania, Terry and the Appeljacks (Terry Appel was the son of Dave Appel). The recording by Terry and the Appeljacks made neither the Billboard Hot 100 nor the "Bubbling Under" charts.

The Dovells' recording made the #2 spot on the Billboard magazine Hot 100 singles chart in 1961.[1] "Bristol Stomp" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[2]

The song was written about teenagers in 1961 who were dancing a new step called "The Stomp" at Good Will Hose Company dances in Bristol. It refers to Bristol, Pennsylvania, a blue collar suburb of Philadelphia.

The refrain of the song:

"The kids in Bristol are sharp as a pistol
When they do the Bristol Stomp
Really somethin' when the joint is jumpin'
When they do the Bristol Stomp"

Covers

In 1962, under the Columbia record label, Chubby Checker released his version of "Bristol Stomp" on his "Don't Knock the Twist" album. In this version, Chubby Checker performs lead vocals with the Dovells providing backup. Although not as instrumentally polished as the Dovell version, the Checker version adds more pep to the song. The album title is the same name as the movie (released in the USA on 13 April 1962(New York City, New York); released in Venezuela on 6 June 1962 and in Mexico on 1 November 1962) starring [3]Checker.

On the live performance of Gary U.S. Bonds' "Seven Day Weekend" found on Johnny Thunders' live soundtrack album Stations of the Cross, Walter Lure begins singing the chorus of the song, playing on the fact that the two songs share the same chord sequence.

The song was covered in 1979 by British band The Late Show.[4]

The song has been used by Fox Sports during broadcasts of the Food City 500, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race from the Bristol Motor Speedway, in Sullivan County, Tennessee, also referring to massively wrecked racecars as having been "Bristol Stomped" (prior to changes that first were shown on Fox in the 2008 race, the crashes on the notorious one-groove concrete track were known for heavy damage).

References

  1. ↑ Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits
  2. ↑ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 134. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  3. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055922/
  4. ↑ Discogs : The Late Show : Discography Retrieved 11 July 2010

External links