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Groovy (or, less commonly, groovie or groovey) is a slang colloquialism popular during the 1950s, '60s and '70s. It is roughly synonymous with words such as "excellent", "fashionable", or "amazing", depending on context.
The word originated in the jazz culture of the 1920s, in which it referred to the “groove” of a piece of music (its rhythm and “feel”), plus the response felt by its listeners. [1] It can also reference the physical groove of a record in which the pick-up needle runs. Radio disc jockeys would announce playing “good grooves, hot grooves, cool grooves, etc.” when introducing a record about to play.
Recorded use of the word in its slang context has been found dating back to September 30, 1941, when it was used on the Fibber McGee and Molly radio show; band leader Billy Mills used it to describe his summer vacation. In the 1941 song “Let Me Off Uptown” by Gene Krupa, Anita O’Day invites Roy Eldridge to “… come here Roy and get groovy”. The 1942 film Miss Annie Rooney features a teenage Shirley Temple using the term as she impresses Dickie Moore with her jitterbug moves and knowledge of jive. In the 1945 film A Thousand and One Nights , Phil Silvers uses the term to describe an ostentatiously bejeweled turban.
It has been found in print as early as 1946, in Really the Blues, the autobiography of jazz saxophonist Mezz Mezzrow. [2] The word appears in advertising spots for the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street , and in the same year the phrase “Everything’s groovy” was included on a 78 rpm recording of “Open The Door, Richard” sung by Walter Brown with Tiny Grimes Sextet.
![Simon and Garfunkel's 1965 release of "The Sounds of Silence" was backed with "We've Got a Groovey [sic] Thing Goin'". Soundofsilence.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/Soundofsilence.jpg)
Starting in the 1940s, variations of the word were used in the titles of many popular songs, including:
An early use of the word is in the trailer to the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street , which depicts various viewers reactions to the films, wherein a few of the younger viewers use the word “groovy” to describe the film.
The term was also part of the title of a TV program called The Groovy Show , which ran from 1967 to 1970. There was also an American TV cartoon show called Groovie Goolies , which ran from 1970 to 1972.
By the early 1970s, the word was commonplace in American TV advertisements aimed at young audiences, as exemplified by the slogan "Feeling groovy, just had my Cheerios."
An early ironic use of the term appears in the title of the 1974 film The Groove Tube , which satirized the American counterculture of the time.
The term was later used jokingly in films such as Evil Dead II , Army of Darkness , and the Austin Powers films, as well as in the Duke Nukem 3D video game.
It later made its way into the titles of albums, such as Groovy Decay , a 1982 album by Robyn Hitchcock, and Groovy, Laidback and Nasty , a 1990 album by Cabaret Voltaire. Examples of band names include Groovy Aardvark from Canada, The Groovy Little Numbers from Scotland, and Groovy Rednecks and the Flamin' Groovies from the US. There was also a band called Groovy Ruby.
E. B. White used the term in the 1970 novel The Trumpet of the Swan , which takes place in 1968. "'This is real groovy!' cried a boy in the front seat. 'That bird is as good as Louis Armstrong, the famous trumpet player.'"
Marvel Comics produced a Silver Age comic book entitled Groovy, subtitled "Cartoons, gags, jokes". Only three issues were published, dated March, May and July 1967.
Bookends is the fourth studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Produced by Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and Roy Halee, the album was released on April 3, 1968, in the United States by Columbia Records. The duo had risen to fame two years prior with the albums Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme and the soundtrack album for the 1967 film The Graduate.
Arthur Ira Garfunkel is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainted with Simon through an elementary school play, a production of Alice in Wonderland, and sought a partnership. Their combined presence in music began in the 1950s, and throughout the 1960s the duo of Simon & Garfunkel achieved great chart success with tracks such as "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "Scarborough Fair", "The Boxer" and "Bridge over Troubled Water". The latter song's title also served as the name of Simon & Garfunkel's final album in 1970. Simon & Garfunkel split for personal reasons, but the pair have occasionally reunited in the years since. Both men experienced success in solo careers in the years following the duo's breakup.
The Rascals are an American rock band, formed in Garfield, New Jersey, United States, in 1965.
Richard Arnold "Groove" Holmes was an American jazz organist who performed in the hard bop and soul jazz genre. He is best known for his 1965 recording of "Misty".
Milton Mesirow, better known as Mezz Mezzrow, was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist from Chicago, Illinois. He is remembered for organizing and financing recording sessions with Tommy Ladnier and Sidney Bechet. He recorded with Bechet as well and briefly acted as manager for Louis Armstrong. Mezzrow is equally known as a colorful character, as portrayed in his autobiography, Really the Blues, co-written with Bernard Wolfe and published in 1946.
"America" is a song performed by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel, which they included on their fourth studio album, Bookends, in 1968. It was produced by the duo and Roy Halee. The song was later issued as the B-side of the single "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her " in 1972 to promote the release of the compilation album Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits. After peaking in the charts in July 1972, the song was switched to the A-side of the single and re-entered the charts in November 1972.
Groovie Goolies is an American animated television show that had its original run Saturday mornings on CBS between 1970 and 1972. It was rebroadcast the following season on Sunday mornings. Set at a decrepit castle, the show focused on its monstrous but good-natured and mostly friendly inhabitants. Created by Filmation, Groovie Goolies was an original creation of the studio; its characters would cross over with Filmation's Archie Comics adaptations including Sabrina the Teenage Witch and The Archie Show, as well as with the Looney Tunes cast.
Honky is a derogatory term used to refer to white people, predominantly heard in the United States.
The Electric Flag was an American blues/rock/soul band from Chicago, led by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Buddy Miles, and featuring other musicians such as vocalist Nick Gravenites and bassist Harvey Brooks. Bloomfield formed the Electric Flag in 1967, following his stint with the Butterfield Blues Band. The band reached its peak with the 1968 release, A Long Time Comin', a fusion of rock, jazz, and R&B styles that charted well in the Billboard Pop Albums chart. Their initial recording was a soundtrack for The Trip, a movie about an LSD experience by Peter Fonda, written by Jack Nicholson and directed by Roger Corman.
Harpers Bizarre was an American sunshine pop band of the 1960s, best known for their Broadway/sunshine pop sound and their cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song ."
{{Infobox musical artist | name = The Kinks | image = Helmfrid-sofa4 Touched.JPG | caption = Original lineup in 1965
From left: Pete Quaife, Dave Davies, Ray Davies and Mick Avory | alt = | background = group_or_band | origin = London, England | discography = The Kinks discography
"A Groovy Kind of Love" is a song written by Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager based on a melody by the classical composer Muzio Clementi.
"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" is a song by folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, written by Paul Simon and originally released on their 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. Cash Box called it a "sparkling, spirited lid".
Mr. Bloe was the name given to the musicians who performed the single "Groovin' with Mr. Bloe", which was a hit in 1970 in the UK for Dick James Music (DJM). These included Harry Pitch on harmonica, and Zack Laurence on piano.
Sounds of Silence is the second studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album's title is a slight modification of the title of the duo's first major hit, "The Sound of Silence", which originally was released as "The Sounds of Silence". The song had earlier been released in an acoustic version on the album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., and later on the soundtrack to the movie The Graduate. Without the knowledge of Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel, electric guitars, bass and drums were overdubbed under the direction of Columbia Records staff producer Tom Wilson on June 15, 1965. This new version was released as a single in September 1965, and opens the album.
Charles Coleridge "Red" Richards was an American jazz pianist.
"If You're a Viper" is a jazz song composed by Stuff Smith. It was first recorded by Smith and his Onyx Club Boys in 1936 and released as the b-side to the song "After You've Gone".
Jive talk, also known as Harlem jive or simply Jive, the argot of jazz, jazz jargon, vernacular of the jazz world, slang of jazz, and parlance of hip is an African-American Vernacular English slang or vocabulary that developed in Harlem, where "jive" (jazz) was played and was adopted more widely in African-American society, peaking in the 1940s.
Kenneth Benjamin Laguna is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician, best known for his work with Joan Jett.
This is a summary of 1970 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
