About The Jitterbug In the mid 1950's, as swing gave way to rock and roll music, many teens believed The Jitterbug dance was a new creation of television bandstand shows as onscreen high schoolers jitterbugged to Little Richard and Bill Haley records. Critical, perhsps hypocritical older adults never told the kids The Jitterbug started in the 1940's (some say late 30's Charleston spawn) to the 78's (lacquer 10" records) of Artie Shaw and Lionel Hampton (who became close friends with R&R radio/TV jocks Al Jarvis, Alan Freed, Hal Jackson and Dick Clark ~ maybe Hampton taught the Jittebug swing to rock and roll merge.

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The catch word "jitterbug" comes from an early 20th-century slang term used0 to describe alcoholics who suffered from the "jitters" (tremors). The term became associated with swing dancers who danced without any control or knowledge of the dance.[3] This term was famously associated with swing era dancers by legendary song stylist and band leader Cab Calloway because, as he put it, "They look like a bunch of jitterbugs out there on the floor," due to their fast and often bouncy movements on the dance floor. In 50's pop culture, it became generalized to mean a swing dancer (e.g., you were a jitterbug), a type of swing dance (e.g., you danced the jitterbug), or the act of swing dancing (e.g., you were jitterbugging).

The Jitterbug as popularized in big screen musicals of the 1940's and burgeoned to then popular big city dance halls. Tunes such as The Andrew Sisters "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and Carmen Caballero's "Runnin' Wild" were two of the many jump beat faster than fox trot hits the 40's kids "jitterbugged" to. Came Rock & Roll in the 50's, The Jitterbug was the perfect fit for records by, Len Barry & The Dovells who wrote the song "Jitterbug" because teens loved it so much, Hen Gates & The Gators who recorded for mass merchandise albums in the NY area under many names (Randy Andy & The Candymen during the Twist craze and The Young Rockers for movie appearances, according to our sources, Little Richard's "Rip It Up" and Danny & The Juniors' "At The Hop.".

In 1957, the American Bandstand featured currently-popular songs, live appearances by musicians, and dancing in the studio. At this time, the most popular fast dance was, in the pre-Beatle pre-British invasion rock & roll era (mid 50's-early 60's) the Jitterbug. British bop brought about "go-go dancing," essentially doing the Jitterbug, but in one spot (i.e. a cage).

The Jitterbug was, in the 40's and again in the 50's, condemned by the Vatican Eucemenical Council of The Catholic Church as "immoral and indecent." OMG,, knees!!!

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