April 2010

by John Hook

Beach Music? Many define it by its geography and the kinds of songs it includes while describing ‘friendship’ and ‘good times as the glue which binds it.

If you’re like me you’ve thrilled to square dancing in bright costumes, two-stepping in country bars, bumping and hustling in discos, and line dancing in modern clubs. Theyre all filled with friendship and good times; making those insufficient illustrations of what makes Beach Music what it is.

1.Beach Music in the East and the West are similar, but not the same.
Both coastal communities celebrate individuality and self-expression. At the center of West Coast beach culture is the surfer community encouraging private quests marked by athletic achievement while the East Coast dance culture inspires a new form of social success.

2.East Coast Beach Music nurtures new ideals of social equality, romance, and improvisational self-expression.
Fifteen years before Rock and Roll, white teenagers in the Southeast embraced Black music as their own. At the same time they developed a new dance to express themselves. From that mixture the Shag evolved.

3. Many found the secret rites of Shag and Beach Music at the Beach.
Like the “soul surfers” of the West Coast, the soul dancers set new standards for the ‘good life.’ At the beach, personal and hometown histories stayed home while they assumed nicknames and developed new personalities.

4.Rhythm and Blues and Jazz were foundations for the Shag.
In addition to early black music, soul dancers often flipped over national pop hits to see if the ‘B’ side had the right beat and mood for carefree shuffles in coastal and inland pavilions.

5.Society sometimes misread them as mere rebels.
Like their West coast alter-egos they werent rebelling as much as forming new communities and social hierarchies of greater equality with rights of self-expression.

6.Balmy days and nights, sensual Shag moves, and their own coat of arms embraced giddy summer romances.
The Shaggers dress code included Bass Weejuns, no socks, cashmere sweaters, and madras shirts. Like knights of old, girl-partners were revered. When they danced, *she* was the most gorgeous woman in the world.

7.East Coast soul dancers enshrined the Art of Play as equal to Hard Work.
As such they considered social life equivalent to work life. While they worked summer jobs to support themselves, they worked just as hard at not working on the dance floor.

8.It looked like a sexual revolution.
It really wasnt focused on sex. Self-confidence and cool were guiding principles and the ’safe date’ was integral to Beach Music. They put dancing before drinking–unlike some who need a ‘boost’ to drop their inhibitions.

9.Classic Beach songs include national hits and treasures unknown outside the Southeast.
Fifties Beach songs celebrated the good times in several ways. Although “Drinkin’ Wine Spo Dee O Dee” mentioned wine, it more loudly proclaimed the ‘good times’! Fifties hits included “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” “Sixty Minute Man,” and “Sh-Boom.” The 60s added hundreds more like Under the Boardwalk, My Girl, What Does it Take To Win Your Love, and Brown Eyed Girl.

10.The Shag had other names including the ‘Bop’ ‘Freestylin” and ‘Fas’ Dancin’.
The music wasnt named for 25 years! In the beginning most teenagers found it at the Beach. Eventually there were 500+ inland dance clubs, Pavilions, restaurants, swimming pools, and fishing lakes with dance floors.

Beach Music and Shag history show a culture celebrating individual uniqueness in the rituals of music and romance experienced by those who were dancing to their own destinies. The Beach Music community was like a beta version of MySpace, a flat world where everyone was equal, each member was in charge of their own self-expression and the accumulation of friends with whom they had common interests. The internet has simply made the field of dance partners much much larger.

To learn more about this fascinating chapter of American life that is still being written, follow this link http://www.beachshag.com/BMG%20SITC.htm

“Fessa” John Hook is a 39 year broadcaster captains the Endless Summer Network of Beach and Shag music on the net.

His three books on Beach music and Shag are: “Shaggin’ in the Carolinas,” and the “Beach Music Guide 1945-2006, Vols 1 & 2″ and another, “Dancing On the Edge – How Music Freed the South,” coming in the fall of 2009.

“‘Shagging In the Carolinas,’ according to Hook, a Beach Music and Shag enthusiast, is a love letter that took 26 years to write.” –Sun Times newspaper

“Hook writes about how Shagging defied social conventions as carefree white teenagers were inspired by the possibilities inherent in improvisational black dance and music.” –Lexington Dispatch

“Hook knows what he’s talking about when it comes to Beach Music. As a broadcaster in the late 1980s, he was responsible for the first full-time Beach Music radio station in history….he chronicles the evolution of the dance….before the Lindy Hop, before the Jitterbug, came the Shag, a dance born and bred in the Carolinas.” –Our State magazine

John Hook
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/10-ways-beach-music-romance-selfexpression-created-the-first-myspace-751911.html

{ 0 comments }

http://cartooncostumes.org/ Batman Costumes are very popular costumes. These are best arrays of costumes that are suitable for all ages and available with different designs and styles. For more info, visit http://cartooncostumes.org/.

Duration : 1 min 8 sec

[click to continue]

{ 0 comments }

by John Hook

Beach Music? Many define it by its geography and the kinds of songs it includes while describing ‘friendship’ and ‘good times as the glue which binds it.

If you’re like me you’ve thrilled to square dancing in bright costumes, two-stepping in country bars, bumping and hustling in discos, and line dancing in modern clubs. Theyre all filled with friendship and good times; making those insufficient illustrations of what makes Beach Music what it is.

1.Beach Music in the East and the West are similar, but not the same.
Both coastal communities celebrate individuality and self-expression. At the center of West Coast beach culture is the surfer community encouraging private quests marked by athletic achievement while the East Coast dance culture inspires a new form of social success.

2.East Coast Beach Music nurtures new ideals of social equality, romance, and improvisational self-expression.
Fifteen years before Rock and Roll, white teenagers in the Southeast embraced Black music as their own. At the same time they developed a new dance to express themselves. From that mixture the Shag evolved.

3. Many found the secret rites of Shag and Beach Music at the Beach.
Like the “soul surfers” of the West Coast, the soul dancers set new standards for the ‘good life.’ At the beach, personal and hometown histories stayed home while they assumed nicknames and developed new personalities.

4.Rhythm and Blues and Jazz were foundations for the Shag.
In addition to early black music, soul dancers often flipped over national pop hits to see if the ‘B’ side had the right beat and mood for carefree shuffles in coastal and inland pavilions.

5.Society sometimes misread them as mere rebels.
Like their West coast alter-egos they werent rebelling as much as forming new communities and social hierarchies of greater equality with rights of self-expression.

6.Balmy days and nights, sensual Shag moves, and their own coat of arms embraced giddy summer romances.
The Shaggers dress code included Bass Weejuns, no socks, cashmere sweaters, and madras shirts. Like knights of old, girl-partners were revered. When they danced, *she* was the most gorgeous woman in the world.

7.East Coast soul dancers enshrined the Art of Play as equal to Hard Work.
As such they considered social life equivalent to work life. While they worked summer jobs to support themselves, they worked just as hard at not working on the dance floor.

8.It looked like a sexual revolution.
It really wasnt focused on sex. Self-confidence and cool were guiding principles and the ’safe date’ was integral to Beach Music. They put dancing before drinking–unlike some who need a ‘boost’ to drop their inhibitions.

9.Classic Beach songs include national hits and treasures unknown outside the Southeast.
Fifties Beach songs celebrated the good times in several ways. Although “Drinkin’ Wine Spo Dee O Dee” mentioned wine, it more loudly proclaimed the ‘good times’! Fifties hits included “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” “Sixty Minute Man,” and “Sh-Boom.” The 60s added hundreds more like Under the Boardwalk, My Girl, What Does it Take To Win Your Love, and Brown Eyed Girl.

10.The Shag had other names including the ‘Bop’ ‘Freestylin” and ‘Fas’ Dancin’.
The music wasnt named for 25 years! In the beginning most teenagers found it at the Beach. Eventually there were 500+ inland dance clubs, Pavilions, restaurants, swimming pools, and fishing lakes with dance floors.

Beach Music and Shag history show a culture celebrating individual uniqueness in the rituals of music and romance experienced by those who were dancing to their own destinies. The Beach Music community was like a beta version of MySpace, a flat world where everyone was equal, each member was in charge of their own self-expression and the accumulation of friends with whom they had common interests. The internet has simply made the field of dance partners much much larger.

To learn more about this fascinating chapter of American life that is still being written, follow this link http://www.beachshag.com/BMG%20SITC.htm

“Fessa” John Hook is a 39 year broadcaster captains the Endless Summer Network of Beach and Shag music on the net.

His three books on Beach music and Shag are: “Shaggin’ in the Carolinas,” and the “Beach Music Guide 1945-2006, Vols 1 & 2″ and another, “Dancing On the Edge – How Music Freed the South,” coming in the fall of 2009.

“‘Shagging In the Carolinas,’ according to Hook, a Beach Music and Shag enthusiast, is a love letter that took 26 years to write.” –Sun Times newspaper

“Hook writes about how Shagging defied social conventions as carefree white teenagers were inspired by the possibilities inherent in improvisational black dance and music.” –Lexington Dispatch

“Hook knows what he’s talking about when it comes to Beach Music. As a broadcaster in the late 1980s, he was responsible for the first full-time Beach Music radio station in history….he chronicles the evolution of the dance….before the Lindy Hop, before the Jitterbug, came the Shag, a dance born and bred in the Carolinas.” –Our State magazine

John Hook
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/10-ways-beach-music-romance-selfexpression-created-the-first-myspace-751911.html

{ 0 comments }

http://www.twilightcostume.com/ Twilight Costume, Large selection of Twilight costume and costume ideas based on the movie and including the vampire-based theme.

Duration : 58 sec

[click to continue]

{ 0 comments }

While Blackpool is known primarily as a tourist resort with amazing amusement arcades and fun fairs, the town also has many museums and art galleries of note.

The Louis Tussauds Waxworks on Central Promenade is certainly Blackpool’s most famous museum. It contains five floors of incredibly lifelike waxwork figures of the Royal family, along with film stars, great singers, superstar athletes and politicians. The museum also has a Chamber of Horrors that is not for the faint of heart and the Anatomy Exhibition.

Science lovers will thoroughly enjoy the Golden Mile Centre on Central Promenade which features a popular Exhibition of the Universe, complete with various aliens and UFOs. The exhibit was created by David Boyle, a researcher who specializes in the spiritual, the supernatural and the unexplained.

Now that you are in a “science fiction mood,” you should pop into the Dr Who Exhibition and Museum, which is just a few short steps away. The Dr Who Exhibit includes a massive collection of original props and costumes spanning 40 years of British science fiction on television.

The Blackpool Model Village and Gardens is another impressive sight, occupying two-and-a-half acres of beautiful gardens on Stanley Park. The exhibit features hundreds of models, including a model windmill and castle, set against a stunning backdrop of lakes, running streams and waterfalls.

If boats are your thing, then the Blackpool Lifeboat Station and Visitor Centre on Central Promenade may be just what the doctor ordered. Standing beneath the imposing shadow of Blackpool Tower, the lifeboat station has a delightful visitors centre with its own interactive displays, a viewing gallery and a souvenir shop.

Blackpool may have only one legitimate art gallery, but what a gallery it is. The Grundy Art Gallery, located right next to the Blackpool Central Library on Queen Street, is widely regarded as one of the premiere small galleries in the United Kingdom. Built in 1911 as a multi-purpose building, the Grundy Art Gallery offers a tranquil haven of peace and serenity to those who wish to escape Blackpool’s hustle and bustle even for a moment.

The gallery is named in honor of the Grundy brothers, Cuthbart and John, two avid art collectors who donated their impressive collection of paintings to the town of Blackpool in 1903. Hence, the Grundy Art Gallery was formed. Today, the gallery boasts of a huge collection of oils and watercolors, including classic and modern British paintings, Oriental ivories and prints.

Over the years, the gallery’s collection has grown considerably and now includes quite a number of ceramics and old photographs depicting Blackpool’s rich history. Throughout the year, many of the foremost local and national artists stage special exhibitions to the delight of visitors.

Although Blackpool only has one art gallery, there are many temporary exhibitions all year round, especially during the summer months at the North Pier. Recently, the North Pier played host to the George Formby Centenary Exhibitions, which commemorated the 100th birth anniversary of the legendary film star and singer.

Over at South Promenade is another permanent display of contemporary art dubbed as the Great Promenade Show. Some of the leading artists and designers in the UK pool their talents to make this year-round outdoor exhibit a hit by contributing noteworthy pieces of sculptures, art pieces and even lighting. At night, the exhibit becomes an inspirational sight, especially when the light hits certain angles and creates new dimensions.

While touring Blackpool for its museums and galleries, visitors should also take note of the town’s many offerings in the realm of dance, such as the annual Dance Festival, contemporary dance school and the tea dances every Saturday at the Tower Ballroom. For these and other reasons, Blackpool has gained some fame as Britain’s capital of dance.

With its theatres regularly hosting the English National Ballet and with the town itself serving as the venue for the World Ballroom Dance competitions, Blackpool has certainly earned its niche in the world of dance. But nothing reinforces its reputation as Britain’s dance capital than the annual Blackpool Dance Festival.

Now over 80 years old, the Dance Festival brings together top dancers from over 50 countries to compete in ballroom and Latin American dancing. The competition almost always includes the British Open Championships. Being the best looking pair on the floor doesn’t guarantee victory but it certainly helps. And the competitors know that as well, as evidenced by these statistics. During the annual Dance Festival, dancers consume about 2,000 cans of hairspray, 1,000 bottles of nail varnish, 3,000 bottles of fake tan and use up over 1,500 pairs of tights.

If you enjoy contemporary dance, then a trip to Blackpool’s leading theatres should be in order. Both the Grand Theatre and the Opera House are renowned for staging modern and hip musicals.

Meanwhile, if you want to do more than just watch, then bring your dancing shoes and head for any of the many dance schools in Blackpool which offer everything from modern and ballroom dancing to ballet, jazz and tap dancing.

Article by Susan Ashby of Blackpool Singles. To read more articles like this or for dating in Blackpool visit htpp://www.Blackpool-singles.co.uk

Susan Ashby
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/blackpools-museums-and-art-galleries-137351.html

{ 0 comments }