"Everybody's doing a brand new dance now."

October 31, 2013 8:45 AM

"The Lurch", performed by Ted Cassidy, on Shindig, 1965. You might remember him from a television show.
posted by timsteil (16 comments total)

Happy Halloween. We had a tri-color basset hound when I was a kid - Mom named him Lurch.
posted by yoga at 8:51 AM on October 31, 2013

Yes, Mr. Addams.
posted by tommasz at 9:00 AM on October 31, 2013

Nice. I remember we thought he was the grooviest.
posted by TimiB at 9:02 AM on October 31, 2013

The B side from that single.
posted by orme at 9:18 AM on October 31, 2013 [3 favorites]

Awesome. I have sent this to my Addams Family loving partner, which I now regret because I see that the 45 of "The Lurch" on ebay is quite expensive and he is also my old vinyl loving partner and I know how his brain works.

From Ted Cassidy's Wiki page linked above:

He is best known for playing the part of Lurch, the butler on the 1960s television series The Addams Family and performing the opening narration of the 1970s TV series The Incredible Hulk, as well as the voice of the Hulk.
...
In the two-part The Six Million Dollar Man episode "The Return of Bigfoot", Cassidy appeared as "Bigfoot" (the role was originated by professional wrestler André the Giant in a previous two-parter). He even provided the vocal effects for Bigfoot. He reprised the role in the episode "Bigfoot V".

This might make Ted Cassidy the most important person from my childhood whose name I didn't know.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:42 AM on October 31, 2013 [3 favorites]

AND -------- of course, he played Ruk in ST:TOS.
posted by wittgenstein at 9:53 AM on October 31, 2013 [2 favorites]

Are those the same backup dancers as the ones inThe Ballad of Bilbo Baggins?


Because that would be pretty cool.
posted by louche mustachio at 10:01 AM on October 31, 2013

Guns or knives, Butch!
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 10:13 AM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]

Little Eva "everyone is doing abrand new dance" back in 1962.

And the B side of the 45 had this, which should have become a total classic, and deserves to be revived.

I did hear the Roches do the B side once back in the late 1970s.
posted by mareli at 10:16 AM on October 31, 2013

"Oh, it's you Batman..."
posted by 1367 at 10:31 AM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]

If the planets lined up just right we could pick up Dallas TV. Ted was a regular on Big Don's Midday Mediocre Entertainment. I was watching the day they announced he was off to Hollywood for a new TV series...
posted by jim in austin at 11:11 AM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]

What I love the best about "The Lurch" (and I love a lot about it considering I didn't know it existed two hours ago) is how a full minute of the song is spent asking Lurch to teach them how to do the dance, twenty seconds is the teaching, and then forty seconds are spent thanking Lurch for taking the time.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:38 AM on October 31, 2013 [4 favorites]

What I love the best about "The Lurch" (and I love a lot about it considering I didn't know it existed two hours ago) is how a full minute of the song is spent asking Lurch to teach them how to do the dance, twenty seconds is the teaching, and then forty seconds are spent thanking Lurch for taking the time.

And that's not counting the 1:45 it takes for Lurch to say, "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii."
posted by cottoncandybeard at 11:42 AM on October 31, 2013

Also, I am reminded by email by my aforementioned Addams Family loving partner that this single may or may not have been inspired by the episode "Lurch, the Teenage Idol" (part 1 here, Wednesday dancing to the song here).
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:52 AM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]

He rang.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:23 PM on October 31, 2013

oh, MCMikeNamara, you are a prince among men.
posted by crush-onastick at 6:22 PM on October 31, 2013 [1 favorite]