Dancing the night away at a record hop
By Roberta Cannon
My first encounter with a record hop was the second annual Orleans Family Hop in 1957 when I was eight years old. The evening began with a ham and bean dinner in the then Nauset High School cafeteria put on by the town Fire and Police Associations. Approximately 380 people attended the dinner and “the throng swelled to about 600 as three generations danced the night away until 11 PM” according to The Cape Codder.
I had a great time with my family and remember being amazed at the crowd of children and adults dancing to the music as an emcee announced the various rock & roll titles of the records. While I don’t recall the reasons for prizes or what I had to do to get one, I do remember the bright silver dollar I won. I kept rolling if from front to back admiring how shiny it was and dreaming about how I would spend it.
Record hops were also known as sock hops because dancers had to remove their shoes so they wouldn’t scratch the polished hardwood floors of the school gyms where the dances were often held.
In Orleans, the record hops started in 1954 as a way to keep teens off the streets at night. The weekly dances were held at the Town Hall from fall through spring and the annual family event was created to bring families and teens closer together.
Falmouth organizations had a variety of record hops in the 1950s through the early 1960s in multiple locations. Some of the earliest hops were spearheaded by the Falmouth USO beginning in 1953.
Some of the locations for record hops were the Lawrence High School, the Cape Verdean Club, the Barclay Restaurant and Night Club in West Falmouth, the John Wesley Church, the Falmouth Recreation Center, Megansett Yacht Club, the Silver Beach Association at the Megansett Grange Hall, the Waquoit Yacht Club and Popponesset in Mashpee.
The Lawrence High School record hops were sponsored mostly by the 11th and 12th grades to raise money for projects such as senior trips to Washington, DC. The 10th grade occasionally hosted a record hop, too. The dances brought students together in planning, deciding on themes, preparation for the dance and managing the evening along-side adult chaperones.
The hops at Popponesset were held weekly, in the summer.
While the record hops evolved from the early sock hops, the music evolved as well.
The Lawrence High School Junior class hosted a record hop in 1953, the same year Eddie Fisher cut the record, “I’m Walking Behind You.” The Sea Explorers ship 40 hosted a record hop at the Recreation Building in April. Admission was 25 cents for stags and 35 cents for couples.
The Silver Beach Association jumped on the bandwagon with a record hop at the Megansett Grange Hall in North Falmouth in the summer of 1954. Popular songs that year were “Sh-Boom” by the Crew Cuts, “Three Coins in the Fountain,” by the Four Aces, and “Wanted” by Perry Como.
While most of the time, the record hops were hosted by local emcees, the record hop committees started to look at Boston disc jockeys to spin the records for the dances.
Norm Tulin, a deejay with WORL in Boston emceed a record hop for the Senior class in 1956 and gave away $20 worth of records. The dance was open to students in 9th through 12th grades, Lawrence High School graduates and alumni plus all the guests. Admission was 60 cents for stags and $1 for couples.
A campaign to promote shopping in Falmouth sponsored by the Falmouth merchants in the summer of 1956 culminated with a disc jockey hop at the Barclay, a restaurant and night club in West Falmouth. The two disc jockeys that night were Truman Taylor and Lee Sherman from the radio station WBOS in Boston. The tickets were free and prizes were given to participants.
A November 1957 record hop at the Cape Verdean Club was emceed by a disc jockey from radio station WEEI in Boston with plans to continue weekly Friday night hops highlighted by deejays.
This was the same year that Danny and the Juniors released the song, “At the Hop.”
Teens swooned over the many musicians and singers who continued to help make record hops popular until the early 1960s.
Who can forget Elvis Presley with his “swivel hips” and his “rubber legs” dancing while performing his songs, “Hound Dog,” “Jail House Rock,” and “All Shook Up?” And Dick Clark introducing Chubby Checker on American Bandstand with his new song and dance “The Twist.”
Then there were every girl’s favorites, Frankie Avalon with his songs, “Venus,” and “Beauty School Drop Out” or Bobby Darin singing “Dream Lover” and “Mack the Knife.” For the guys, there was Anette Funicello singing “Tall Paul,” Patti Page performing “All My Love” and “Mockin’ Bird Hill,” Brenda Lee crooning “All Alone Am I,” and Dionne Warwick with “Walk on By.”
These days, we all have the opportunity to reminisce about record hops and the fun of dancing to the new song releases by viewing them on YouTube. And we can dance in our living rooms as we exercise to the music. But I miss the excitement of being in the moment with hundreds of other like-minded musical friends who for a few hours enjoyed the company of one another while dancing the night away on a Friday or Saturday night in the high school gym.
Originally published by The Mashpee Enterprise, Jan 27, 2017
I had a great time with my family and remember being amazed at the crowd of children and adults dancing to the music as an emcee announced the various rock & roll titles of the records. While I don’t recall the reasons for prizes or what I had to do to get one, I do remember the bright silver dollar I won. I kept rolling if from front to back admiring how shiny it was and dreaming about how I would spend it.
Record hops were also known as sock hops because dancers had to remove their shoes so they wouldn’t scratch the polished hardwood floors of the school gyms where the dances were often held.
In Orleans, the record hops started in 1954 as a way to keep teens off the streets at night. The weekly dances were held at the Town Hall from fall through spring and the annual family event was created to bring families and teens closer together.
Falmouth organizations had a variety of record hops in the 1950s through the early 1960s in multiple locations. Some of the earliest hops were spearheaded by the Falmouth USO beginning in 1953.
Some of the locations for record hops were the Lawrence High School, the Cape Verdean Club, the Barclay Restaurant and Night Club in West Falmouth, the John Wesley Church, the Falmouth Recreation Center, Megansett Yacht Club, the Silver Beach Association at the Megansett Grange Hall, the Waquoit Yacht Club and Popponesset in Mashpee.
The Lawrence High School record hops were sponsored mostly by the 11th and 12th grades to raise money for projects such as senior trips to Washington, DC. The 10th grade occasionally hosted a record hop, too. The dances brought students together in planning, deciding on themes, preparation for the dance and managing the evening along-side adult chaperones.
The hops at Popponesset were held weekly, in the summer.
While the record hops evolved from the early sock hops, the music evolved as well.
The Lawrence High School Junior class hosted a record hop in 1953, the same year Eddie Fisher cut the record, “I’m Walking Behind You.” The Sea Explorers ship 40 hosted a record hop at the Recreation Building in April. Admission was 25 cents for stags and 35 cents for couples.
The Silver Beach Association jumped on the bandwagon with a record hop at the Megansett Grange Hall in North Falmouth in the summer of 1954. Popular songs that year were “Sh-Boom” by the Crew Cuts, “Three Coins in the Fountain,” by the Four Aces, and “Wanted” by Perry Como.
While most of the time, the record hops were hosted by local emcees, the record hop committees started to look at Boston disc jockeys to spin the records for the dances.
Norm Tulin, a deejay with WORL in Boston emceed a record hop for the Senior class in 1956 and gave away $20 worth of records. The dance was open to students in 9th through 12th grades, Lawrence High School graduates and alumni plus all the guests. Admission was 60 cents for stags and $1 for couples.
A campaign to promote shopping in Falmouth sponsored by the Falmouth merchants in the summer of 1956 culminated with a disc jockey hop at the Barclay, a restaurant and night club in West Falmouth. The two disc jockeys that night were Truman Taylor and Lee Sherman from the radio station WBOS in Boston. The tickets were free and prizes were given to participants.
A November 1957 record hop at the Cape Verdean Club was emceed by a disc jockey from radio station WEEI in Boston with plans to continue weekly Friday night hops highlighted by deejays.
This was the same year that Danny and the Juniors released the song, “At the Hop.”
Teens swooned over the many musicians and singers who continued to help make record hops popular until the early 1960s.
Who can forget Elvis Presley with his “swivel hips” and his “rubber legs” dancing while performing his songs, “Hound Dog,” “Jail House Rock,” and “All Shook Up?” And Dick Clark introducing Chubby Checker on American Bandstand with his new song and dance “The Twist.”
Then there were every girl’s favorites, Frankie Avalon with his songs, “Venus,” and “Beauty School Drop Out” or Bobby Darin singing “Dream Lover” and “Mack the Knife.” For the guys, there was Anette Funicello singing “Tall Paul,” Patti Page performing “All My Love” and “Mockin’ Bird Hill,” Brenda Lee crooning “All Alone Am I,” and Dionne Warwick with “Walk on By.”
These days, we all have the opportunity to reminisce about record hops and the fun of dancing to the new song releases by viewing them on YouTube. And we can dance in our living rooms as we exercise to the music. But I miss the excitement of being in the moment with hundreds of other like-minded musical friends who for a few hours enjoyed the company of one another while dancing the night away on a Friday or Saturday night in the high school gym.
Originally published by The Mashpee Enterprise, Jan 27, 2017