July 28, 2010

First, you spread your limbo feet.
Then, you move to limbo beat.

Okay, drop everything. It's time for a limbo party. Got a pole? That's about all you need. So get a pole, if you don't have one already, call some friends over, and get to it. It's fun, and it's a perfect theme for a summer party. How low can YOU go?

Although often mistaken as a Hawaiian invention, the limbo dance actually originated on the island of Trinidad. The name of the dance comes from the local pronunciation of the word "limber" - clearly the most important quality of a good limbo dancer. Since it was fun and got people up and moving about, the dance came to be a very popular fad in North America in the 1960s.

For your party, we have not one, but two albums of limbo music, enough to last until that limbo pole is as close to the floor as it can get.

First up is Lord Jayson and his Limbo Gang, who don't really sound like an authentic limbo/calypso group but they get the job done.



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We've also got an album from Chubby Checker, best known for his 1960 mega-hit "The Twist", as well as "Let's Twist Again" a year later. He must have had a thing for follow-up songs, because he released two limbo-themed albums (1962's "Limbo Party" and 1963's "Let's Limbo Some More") during the height of the limbo craze in the 60s. Actually, he was probably a major reason for the fad to begin with.

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