The Original Instrumental, The Bim Bam Boos, 1959

"You Can't Sit Down" was originally recorded as in instrumental in 1959 as "Can't Sit Down" by The Bim Bam Boos on Dasher Records catalogue number D-500 and credited to Dasher - Muldrow; it featured Philip Upchurch on guitar and Cornell Muldrow on organ.

1963: Vocal Added Version, The Dovells / The Phrase "Hip Hop"

The Dovells added dance themed lyrics and vocals to their cover of the song and it was released in 1963. Although unrelated to specifically describing the much later music genre of the same name the song has the first known instance of the phrase "hip hop" in a recording, the lyric "...you gotta slop, bop, flip flop, hip hop, never stop". the song reached a peak at No.3 on Billboard on April 27th of 1963 and charted for 14 weeks. The lyrics also mention South Street in Philadelphia. Their label mates on Cameo-Parkway Records), the Orlons, released a song in the same year called "South Street" and in 1964 the two songs appeared on an album called "Golden Hits", comprising half Dovells songs and half Orlons songs in addition to their previous releases.

Other versions

Usage in media