You Can't Sit Down

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"You Can't Sit Down"
Single by The Dovells
from the album You Can't Sit Down [1]
B-side "Stompin' Everywhere"
ReleasedJune 18 1963
Recorded1959
Genre Rock [2]
Length2:19
Label Parkway
Songwriter(s) Dee Clark, Kal Mann, Cornell Muldrow [1]
The Dovells singles chronology
"You Can't Run Away from Yourself"
(1963)
"You Can't Sit Down"
(1963)
"Betty in Bermudas"
(1963)

The Original Instrumental, The Bim Bam Boos, 1959

"You Can't Sit Down" was originally recorded as in instrumental in 1959 as "Can't Sit Down" by The Bim Bam Boos on Dasher Records catalogue number D-500 and credited to Dasher - Muldrow; it featured Philip Upchurch on guitar and Cornell Muldrow on organ.

Contents

1963: Vocal Added Version, The Dovells / The Phrase "Hip Hop"

The Dovells added dance themed lyrics and vocals to their cover of the song and it was released in 1963 on their album of the same name. Although unrelated to specifically describing the much later music genre of the same name the song has the first known instance of the phrase "hip hop" in a recording, the lyric "...you gotta slop, bop, flip flop, hip hop, never stop". [3] the song reached a peak at No.3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 27th of 1963 and charted for 14 weeks. [4] The lyrics also mention South Street in Philadelphia. Their label mates on Cameo-Parkway Records), the Orlons, released a song in the same year called "South Street" and in 1964 the two songs appeared on an album called Golden Hits, comprising half Dovells songs and half Orlons songs in addition to their previous releases. [5]

Other versions

Usage in media

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References

  1. 1 2 Allmusic song info
  2. Porter, James (2001). "The Hardy Boys". In Cooper, Kim; Smay, David (eds.). Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth. Los Angeles: Feral House. pp. 211–213.
  3. "You Can't Sit Down". genius.com. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  4. "You Can't Sit Down". Billboard. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  5. "The Orlons And The Dovells – Golden Hits". discogs.com. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  6. JMS. "Artist: The Dovells (Canary) You can't sit down / Wildwood days". secondhandsongs. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  7. Joel Whitburn, Top Pop Singles. 12th edition, 2009, p. 1013.
  8. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 170.
  9. Allmusic chart history
  10. "You Can't Sit Down". Brucebase. Retrieved 28 March 2020.