Sunday Music: The Madison

I've been out of music listening mode the last two weeks, but rummaged around in my YouTube favorites for a few long-neglected clips.

The Madison Dance was invented by William "Bubbles" Holloway at the LVA Club in Columbus, Ohio, in 1957. It was picked up by a dance/variety show in Baltimore in 1960, and the craze soon spread across the country. The Madison was lovingly recreated in the 1988 film Hairspray, directed by Baltimore native John Waters. The song which is most associated with the dance today is "The Madison" by the Ray Bryant Combo.



The Madison dance eventually spread to Europe, and beyond. It is apparently still a staple of parties in Cambodia. In 1964, in Jean-Luc Godard's film Bande à Part (Band of Outsiders) The Madison is jazzed up with jumps and hand claps. This sequence is just the apogée of cool.



It's Madison Time! (Columbus Music History) [Link]