We've seen
volcanic eruptions with lightning, heard the
musical styles blending modern electro with the (samoan) sasa, and had a few
snowclones of the phrasal play from
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (a quick way to tag often unnecessary sequels; exhibits: A, B, C, D, and E), but no sign of the originals. Without further ado, I present
The Electric Boogaloos. Float and glide on in for more.
The Electric Boogaloos were not the first group to synchronize moves in popping and related dance styles. The first group was
The Go-Go (or YoYo) Brothers in 1971. Back then, Tony Go-Go, James "Skeeter Rabbit" Higgins and Edwin "Buddy GoGo" Lombard were the first to perform synchronized "funk dancing" consisting of sharp and controlled moves. The group was a local Los Angeles-area phenomenon, primarily seen dancing at clubs, but they did appear on local TV during a basketball half time performance in 1972. They were amongst the
other short-lived groups of the early 1970s, featuring rotating casts of characters in the Southern California scene.
A number of dancers
found fame on Soul Train, which took fashion and dance moves from the local clubs to a national audience. Through Soul Train and other events,
The Go Go Brothers members shuffled around, some becoming part of Creative Generation, and later
The Campbellock Dancers. This group was formed by Don Campbell, the originator of
(Campbel)locking. In the summer of 1973,
Don Campbell rearranged "The Campbellock Dancers" and renamed the group "
The Lockers". The group performed in a variety of TV shows, including "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," the "Dick Van Dyke Show," the "Carol Burnett Show" and "
Saturday Night Live,"
commercial for Schlitz Malt Liquor, and even toured with Frank Sinatra in 1974.
Over-all, there were at two eras of
The Lockers (and
maybe a third). Toni Basil joined the group (or was instrumental in forming, it, depending on who is telling the story), and
was credited as the Abe Saperstein of The Lockers. She was part of the group when they were seen on SNL, and she can be
seen here dancing as Pink Bunny. The group had some
long-standing issues, eventually breaking up for good.
Adolfo "Shabba-Doo" Quinones formed other groups or went solo, and Toni Basil went back to
continue creating choreography for touring groups and movies.
The Lockers inspiration spread with their television appearances. In Fresno, California,
Boogaloo Sam Solomon had seen The Lockers on TV, which put a more solid form to the earlier influence of
James Brown's boogaloo style (
seen here in a less frantic form). According to
Doc Boogaloo, Electric Boogaloo was influenced by
Rumba Columbia,
a fast and energetic Rumba. Sam got some fellows with similar styles of dancing together, and formed The Electric Boogaloo Lockers, though the name was soon shortened to
The Electric Boogaloos.
Sam's Electric Boogaloo style was joined by
Popin' Pete (and
later, in a Talking Heads [remix] video), Creepin' Cid, Robot Dane, and Puppet Boozer (
seen here with Shabba-doo and
Angel).
The Electric Boogaloos' original name
clouded the separation between popping and locking, and in some areas the style is called "poplocking."
Mainstream reports on the styles didn't help split the styles, and
the 1984 movie (
wiki) plus the
sequel released in the same year only muddied terms further. To add to the confusion,
Oakland, California had a popping style that evolved from the robot, as seen with
Oakland Boogaloo with the Black Resurgents. To be fair,
the styles can flow into each-other, and you might not realize it without knowing
the scarecrow from
puppetstyle or
toyman. But to be absolutely clear: this is not
breakdancing.
Popping and locking are funk styles, where breakdancing is related to hip-hop.
Popping and locking are not dead styles.
Boogaloo Sam and
Don Campbellock are still down with their bad selves, and
The Go Go Brothers are now in their second generation, with Tony Go-Go passing the torch to his sons. New groups are paying tribute to the masters from the past, with
The Twilight Players showing
more clear influences, while
Japanes dancers take things to the next level (in this case, it's
U-Min blending a lot of influences, including the newer
Animation or Strobe style).
Bonus bits:
-
The Jacksons TV Show featuring the Jackson 5 and "Disco Dom" Delouise locking to "That's the Way (I Like It)"
-
The Campbellock Story Part 1 (almost 42 minutes long, and the only part I could find)
posted by loquacious at 1:38 PM on May 11, 2010