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Mike Roger's - The Slop 45"  Sleeve cover
The Slop Dance

    “The Slop” originated in the Philadelphia black community but it may have started in Delaware or Baltimore and made it big in Philly. The Slop during the 1950's was introduced to the public on the TV Show 'Bandstand'. It began in the late fifties as a couples dance, without touching. The style morphed here and there from the fifties into the sixties, becoming even more popular in the sixties on the Philly dance scene at the Jerry Blavat dances and on his “Discophonic Scene” dance show. The dance made its way up and down the east coast, as far north

 

as NYC and as far south as Washington, D.C.

    In Philadelphia there were a number of slop styles. The steps and count were all the same but the way one did the slop was a dead giveaway as to what part of the city of Philadelphia you were from. There was a distinct South Philly style and distinct Kensington style. In Norristown there was a west end slop style and an east end slop style. The kids from the west end (mostly preppy) used more arm motion in their style of slop (it was cool looking but no evidence of bad-boy or bad-girl in the style.)

    Now down in the east end, the guys slipped their hands in their pockets and hiked up their pants when they did the slop (these were the “hoods” who wore tight black pants and Italian import shoes with Cuban heels). The east-end girls would slop lifting their skirts with two fingers just a bit above one knee to shoe either their slip or a “little leg.” In Norristown there was also did a slop line-dance. Line-dances were huge in the Philly and burb area in the mid-sixties.

    One famous song of the 1950s was 'At the Hop' by Danny and the Jr's. A main part in the lyrics goes like:
"You... can roll it, You can "Slop it," and can stroll it at the hop, When the record starts spinnin' You "Chalypso" when you "Chicken" at the hop, Do the dance sensation that's sweeping the Nation ... at the Hop."

    American Swing dance has a couple of steps borrowed from this dance, including The Lindy Hop and West Coast Swing. During the 1960s gained some popularity as a solo couples fad dance in Paris, France as well.


(Many thanks to Jim Fillman for much of the above info on the slop)

Birth Place

Creation Date

Creator

Dance Type

Philadelphia 1950s n/a Freestyle, Line

 

Posters, Lobby Cards etc.

Sheet Music Covers

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Music Titles with Slop

1950's - The Slop - Louis Jordan (Decca) Back Slop - Baby Earl & the Trini Dads
1958 - Hard Times - The Slop - Noble "Thin Man" Watts Big Top Slop - The Hop-Cats
1958 - Slop Time - The Shirelle's (The Sherry's) Chinese Slop - Paul & Four-Most
1960 - The Slop - The Olympics (Jasper Love, Mingus) (dance the) Mess Around (Checker)
1961 - The Slop - Aki Aleong & His Teen Twenty Dance the Slop With Me - Mike Roger & Machine Guns
1962 - Georgia Slop - Jimmy McCracklin ('Big' Al Downing) Do The Slop - Dave "Baby" Cortez
1962 - Slop Around - Buddy Guy Eurovisions Slop - Blue Sound Inc.
1962 - The Slop - Chubby Checker Hop Slop - The Hop-Cats
1968 - Slop Beatin' - Bill Haley Let's Slop - Mike Roger & Machine Guns
1973 - Cosmic Slop (Funkadelic) Pork Chop Beer Slop - The Hekawis
1974 - Hard Times - The Slop - The Band Slop Beat, the - The Teen Beats
1987 - Slop Bucket - Noble "Thin Man" Watts Slop Jar Blues - Donald Byrd
At The Hop - Danny and the Jr's. Why Don't You Slop With Me
Atomic Slop  
 

Night Clubs

Theaters

Locations

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Films / Movies

Television

Ballets / Stage

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  Super Lou Show  
         
         
           

Publications

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Other Related Dances of the time...

Baiao (1950) Fast Dance Merengue (1955) Rock and Roll (1955)
Bossa Nova Hand Dance Majestic Slop Slop and Slide
Calypso (1956) La Bamba (1958) Pachanga (1959) Suavacha (1958)
Cha-Cha-Cha (1953) Lebo Slop Raspa (1950) Sucu Sucu (1957)
Cueva (1951) Mambo (1955) Rock-Cha-Cha (1954) Twist (1960)

Dancers, Choreographers etc.

Political

James Brown n/a n/a
     

Books, Magazine Articles on the dance...

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Musicians

Singers

Poets / Writers

Big Al Downing n/a n/a
Buddy Guy        
Chubby Checker        
         

Misc. Research Words that may be related ... to help your searches

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Other...

February 22, 2010
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