Guest post by Nathan Arizona
Where did all the hippies meet? The Orlons told us well before the 1967 summer of love in San Fransisco. They met in Philadelphia on “South Street, South Street . . . Where the dancin’ is elite.” (Some people think they say “hippest” instead of “hippies,” but you only have to listen to realize they say “hippies.” They do say ‘hippest’ later and it sounds completely different.)
It was 1963 and the Orlons were singing about a street in their home town. The city had been threatening to build an expressway right through the area. Rents plunged and artists and other “fringe” folks moved in. The expressway didn’t happen, but the beginning of South Street as the center of Philadelphia hipster culture did.
The national counterculture at that time was Beat. Kerouac, Ginsberg, that bunch. But “hippie” was already being used to describe the kind of people on South Street, at least by the Orlons.
The street already had an important music tradition. From the 1920s to the 1950s it was the bustling home of clubs and theaters presenting nationally known black artists.
Three girls and a guy formed the Orlons in 1960 soon after graduating from Overbrook High School (Wilt Chamberlain’s alma mater). The band was named for the Du Pont product, or it was a nod to a fellow group called the Cashmeres, or it was both. They hooked up with the Cameo-Parkway label (Bobby Rydell, Chubby Checker), where they sang back-up on Dee Dee Sharp’s “Mashed Potato Time.” Then came “South Street” and another snappy hit, “The Wah-Watusi.”
Here are the Orlons singing “South Street,” but what you’ll actually see is teenagers dancing to it on Dick Clark’s “Bandstand,” then broadcasting from Philadelphia. I think they’re doing the Mashed Potato, but I’m not sure. (Editor: It’s actually called the South Street). It’s repetitive but becomes kind of mesmerizing.
You can see what the group looks like in this video of “The Wah-Watusi.” The Watusi was a dance craze. It was a time of dance crazes. You could hit your local teen club and do the Mashed Potato, the Frug, the Swim, the Twist, the Pony, the Madison and more.
I’m gonna throw this in because I think it’s cool. You might not. Slightly bored young French people dance the Madison in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1966 movie “Bande a Part.” At one point their thoughts are narrated off screen. Quentin Tarantino named his production after this movie. You’re allowed to stop right here.
