Written By: Ken Hulsey"You Rang?"
Hey there hipsters it's another Saturday night and you know what that means! It's time to get down and party like it's ... um ... 1965?
Hmmm .... maybe not? Anyway I have dug up an incredibly strange clip from 1965 for you this evening that stars everyones favorite butler turned dancing queen, Lurch from The Addams Family.
Apparently somebody over in the publicity department at ABC (The network that aired The Addams Family television program) decided that the show needed to reach out to a younger crowd so on Halloween night in 1965 actor Ted Cassidy was marched out onto the floor of the ultra-mod music program "Shindig!" to perform a new dance called "The Lurch". What would follow could be described as "surreal", "unsettling" and just plain strange.
Give this a look:
The Lurch (So you can sing along at home)
Lurch: (Gong) You Rang?
Singers: Hi, Lurch!
Lurch: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Singers: Hey, Lurch, we just heard the news around town
Lurch: Newwwwwwwws?
Singers: And we’re here to see what you’re putting down
Lurch: Ahhhhhhhhh ha-ha-ha!
Singers: We thought you might give us a chance
And teach us how to do the Lurch daaaance annnn-ance
Lurch: My pleasure
Singers: Hey, Lurch, teach us how to do the Lurch dance
Lurch: Your servant
Singers: Yeah, Lurch, we wanna learn to do the Lurch dance
Lurch: ……….Follow me
Lurch: Yah ah ah ah ahhh -ah ah ah ahh. It’s a brand new bag! Yeah!
Lurch: Yah ah ah ah. Don’t just stand there! Lurch!
Lurch: Ah ah aha. Good. Now you got it!
Singers: Hey, Lurch, thanks a lot for turning us on!
Lurch: You’re welcome!
Singers: To a dance that we can do to any song.
Lurch: Any time!
Singers: Now everybody, c’mon and do it
It’s easy and there's really nothing to it! oooooh
Lurch: Ah ah ah ah
Singers: Hey, Lurch, we’re really glad we learned to Lurch.
Lurch: To know it is to love it!
Singers: Hmm hmmm, we’re really glad we learned to Lurch.
Do the Lurch!
Lurch: Satisfaction, jubilation!
Singers: Hmm hmmm, we’re really glad we learned to Lurch.
Do the Lurch!
The fact that Cassidy just stands there throughout most the song leering at the young ladies dancing around him really kinda creeps me out and the dubbed in mumbled voice over lyrics by the actor doesn't help. Then again the way he starts dancing (if you can call it that) during the chorus is sorta cool ... in strange sort of way.
Singers: Hey, Lurch, thanks a lot for turning us on!
Lurch: You’re welcome!
Anyway you slice it the whole thing is just weird.
Of course an album was released by Capitol Records so little monsters and hipsters alike could "Lurch" around their far-out pads on their own time.
Unfortunately for ABC "The Lurch" never quite caught on like the "Mashed Potato" or "The Twist".
Damn, Chubby Checker milked that thing for decades didn't he!
If you can't get enough of Lurch strutting his stuff on the dance floor ... and who really could honestly? Check out this bonus clip from The Addams Family television program:
Here's some trivia from Wikipedia:
Lurch makes a momentary appearance in the Batman TV episode entitled "The Penguin's Nest" (1966), when he opens a window and sticks his head out and observes Batman and Robin climbing the wall to the Penguin's kitchen.
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