Today at RDP, sgeoil asks us to get creative
with the word ‘hullabaloo’. Thanks, Heather!
Here’s where the prompt word took me.
When I was a very young teenager in The Bronx, New York, my friends and I would gather around the TV to watch our two favorite music variety shows … Hullabaloo and Shindig. Hullabaloo was on NBC from January 1965 to April 1966, hosted by American singer, Trini Lopez. Shindig, its greatest competition at the time, was on Channel 7 from September 1964 to January 1966, and hosted by Los Angeles DJ, Jimmy O’Neill. In contrast to the granddaddy of music shows, American Bandstand hosted by Dick Clark, both Shindig and Hullabaloo aired during prime time. Both shows popularized Go-Go Dancing and fashion; one of the most famous dancers on Hullabaloo was Lada Edmund Jr, also known as the “Girl In the Cage”. A popular quote back then was “Look at her a-go-go!”. Our biggest wish was that the Beatles would appear on either show and they finally did, appearing on Shindig a few times and on Hullabaloo in January ’66. The performances were not live but rather taped segments from London. It didn’t matter to us if they appeared live or not, as long as we got to see our idols. Life was much simpler 60 years ago, ya know?
NAR©2025
Nancy’s Notes: Thanks to my dear husband, Bill, who has very vivid memories of Hullabaloo dancer, Lada Edmund Jr!
Here are the Beatles performing on Shindig in 1964.
All text and graphics are copyright for Nancy Richy and are not to be used without permission. NAR©2017-present.
The Elephant's Trunk 
Cool, I forgot about that show…
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My husband didn’t forget about the dancers! 😂
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Oh … those were the days my friend …
https://youtu.be/L0s_TPVJsHo
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A wonderful and most fitting song, dear Ivor. Thanks so much for sharing. 🥰 🎶
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Ah … you can’t go wrong with the Kinks my friend 🎶🎶😎
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That’s for sure! 🥰 🎶
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A simpler life, definitely back then Nance! Not that I would know, since I wasn’t born until 1980, but from things my parents have told me, I can see why it was!
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It always gives me pause when I realize how young some of my readers are; I knew you were one of my younger readers but I didn’t realize you are the same age as my youngest son. Thanks, CA, for appreciating those wonder years from my youth.
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I was just a babe in diapers when they played, unfortunately! This was fun, Nancy.
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This era was such a fabulous time and I’m eternally grateful I was part of it. We lived, loved and created amazing memories.
Thanks, Dale.
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That is for sure!
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I remember them, we thought they were the best, so cool! Everyone had to get the little white go-go boots!
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Yes! And fringe dresses …. they were a big seller!
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Fringe everything!
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So fun to remember back to those days. I watched Hullabaloo and Shindig all the time. Also Where the Action Is. I was in Jr. high school, and my friends gave me the nickname Hullabaloo. Got my first bell bottom pants, and a beatles haircut. and everything was ‘groovy’ hahaha 🙂
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Such great memories, Barbara. Thanks for sharing. I remember going through all those stages too. What fun we had! That’s what it was all about. Thanks so much, Barbara.
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I remember those…
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They were such a big part of our lives, Blue. So glad this brought back some memories for you.
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I had no idea there was a show named Hullabaloo when I picked the prompt. Sounds like a great memory, and one it seems your husband still has from his youth!! lol
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Now that’s what we call serendipity! Yes, when I told my husband what I was writing about, he said not to forget to mention Lada Edmund Jr. He was very explicit about that lol! Thanks for a great word to play around with, Heather.
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Life was so much simpler. Sigh. Great memories 🥰
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Those were the things that were important to us, and we were very lucky to have shows like that. We loved our music and each week our idols came into our living rooms. It was a wonderful time. Thanks so much, Esther.
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Happy memories Nancy – I don’t think we had those programmes here in the UK, they sound great, and it was so good to hear the Beatles play live 🙌
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Thanks, Ange. They definitely were great times. You may not have had these particular shows but you certainly weren’t lacking in musical variety shows. I remember seeing videos from ‘Ready, Steady, Go!‘ and ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars‘ and it looked like the people were having a great time!
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Oh yes I know the names but not sure if I ever saw them 😊
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Great memories. For us it was Top Of The Pops, which ran for decades, and Ready Steady Go, which didn’t.
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The longest running music show here was “American Bandstand”, but it wasn’t really what I would call a variety show and definitely not as polished as Shindig or Hullabaloo. They really were fun times. Thanks, Clive.
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A happy memories post 💜💜💜
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Absolutely, Willow! We had so much fun back then. 💜
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Too right !
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Although I was too young to watch the original Girl in the Cage- I have been fortunate enough to encounter some girls in cages at a multi-level dance club called Confetti’s in Ft Lauderdale during the very early 80’s!
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Sounds like an exciting time! When I got to be a little bit older, we went to the legendary Studio 54. These were the things and places that were available to us; we wanted to experience the action and live life to the fullest. And that’s what we did. Thank you, Jody.
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