# Califonia dreamin' on such a... WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927 "2006-05-08T18:23:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/1 "2006-05-08T18:23:03Z")
Check out [this old video of the Mamas and the Papas.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYWCvLVLM08&search=mamas%20and%20the%20papas) Everything’s grooving along as expected, until… Gotta love the sixties. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/2 "2006-05-08T19:04:41Z")
Man, way to spoil the mood of a song. I was all into the sad, wintry vibe, and then the wildly arhythmic bathtub dancers (?!) popped up. Er, huh? ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/3 "2006-05-08T19:19:54Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Man, way to spoil the mood of a song. I was all into the sad, wintry vibe, and then the wildly arhythmic bathtub dancers (?!) popped up. Er, huh? Oh come on. A little whimsy never killed anyone. I liked the way they just popped up, mid-song, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/4 "2006-05-08T19:25:30Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > Oh come on. A little whimsy never killed anyone. I liked the way they just popped up, mid-song, too. A little whimsy never killed anyone, but it sure put a bullet between the song’s eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/5 "2006-05-08T19:30:09Z")
TV producers could be so pathetic. Janis Joplin is said to have stormed off the stage of _The Tom Jones Show_, after seeing the set because, “My public don’t want to see me in front of no fucking plastic rain drops.” ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/6 "2006-05-08T19:39:24Z")
I watched it with the sound off but the radio on and guess what? Those dancers aren’t arhythmic if the song is Blue Sky by the Allman Bros. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/7 "2006-05-08T19:44:26Z")
A bit of scratching around and it seems that the video in the OP, from the Hullabaloo! tv show was a typical treatment for them. Apparently those were the Hullabaloo! dancers and [“the last song of each episode was usually performed on a set which resembled a mod night club - this was called ‘Hullabaloo A Go-Go.’”](http://www.tv.com/hullabaloo!/show/1759/summary.html?full_summary=1) 60s Mod dancing sucks ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/8 "2006-05-08T19:54:00Z")
Just to share the torment I’ve now put myself through, here are [The Yardbirds](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vts5Pp4AbE&search=hullabaloo%21) performing at Hullabaloo A Go-Go. And for an set interpretation as strange as the OP, here are [The Byrds](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhx44GyeWWY&search=hullabaloo%21), introduced by Michael Landon and a parrot, naturally. Instead of dancing, though, the Hullabaloo! dancers stand silently in bird hunting outfits (sorta) with cutout Pointers and duck decoys scattered about while the band stands on a faux marsh. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/9 "2006-05-08T21:19:11Z")
Of course, the dancers are the only ones who are actually performing, however laughably. Hullabaloo didn’t even bother to pretend-mike the correct pretend singer. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/10 "2006-05-08T21:25:26Z")
I think they got lost and wound up in the wrong studio. They must’ve been looking for the song with the discernible, vaguely danceable backbeat that sounded _anything like_ the one they appeared to be dancing to in their heads. You know…that one song. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/11 "2006-05-08T21:31:17Z")
You’re right, that was bizarre. And made me grin. And Michelle Phillips was smokin hot! ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/12 "2006-05-08T21:43:43Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > You’re right, that was bizarre. And made me grin. > > And Michelle Phillips was smokin hot! No kidding! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/13 "2006-05-08T22:09:30Z")
My great-grandmammy used ta says to me, you can’t frug to a flute, she’s used ta says. Every day, she says that. We all thought she’s a loony. But gol durn, if she ain’t right! You can’t frug to a flute! ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/14 "2006-05-08T22:52:21Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > And Michelle Phillips was smokin hot! And apparently so distracted by the dancers that she couldn’t even lipsync with the last chorus. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/15 "2006-05-08T23:01:18Z")
That girl in front, with the pony tail - was she dancing or having a fit? ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/16 "2006-05-08T23:12:23Z")
> [@NoCoolUserName](#): > > And apparently so distracted by the dancers that she couldn’t even lipsync with the last chorus. 🙂 She was laughing at Denny Doherty, who was so distracted by the dancer in the tub to his right that he nearly missed his cue back after the bridge. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/17 "2006-05-09T03:20:40Z")
And if I recall, bath tubs weren’t used much for anything else in the '60s. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/18 "2006-05-09T03:37:15Z")
CD is still an awesome song, though. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/19 "2006-05-09T03:57:01Z")
I just needed to pop in here to say that **Wildly Arhythmic Bathtub Dancers** is the best band name I’ve seen in quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927/20 "2006-05-09T04:00:35Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > You’re right, that was bizarre. And made me grin. > > And Michelle Phillips was smokin hot! RooOOOWWWRRRrrr. I’ll be in my bunk. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/califonia-dreamin-on-such-a-wtf/355927.md?page=2)