In the early 1960s, there were a lot of songs that celebrated popular dances of the time. This is one of them.
The Vibrations were from Los Angeles. They formed in 1955 and were originally known as The Jayhawks; under that name, they reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1956 with "Stranded In The Jungle".
"The Watusi" reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. At about the same time, the group recorded "Peanut Butter" under the name of The Marathons; this reached #20 on the Hot 100 but did not get airplay in Toronto.
The group went on to release the original version of "My Girl Sloopy" in 1964. This reached #26 on the Hot 100 and was covered by The McCoys in 1965 as "Hang On Sloopy"; their version reached #1 in the US and the UK. The McCoys' version, surprisingly, didn't get airplay in Toronto; instead, the Ramsey Lewis Trio, a jazz group, reached #12 in Toronto with their mostly instrumental version of the song.
The Vibrations slogged away in the lower reaches of the charts for a few years after that. They broke up in 1971, reformed again a bit later, and then broke up for good in 1976.
Created February 27, 2026.