In the time honored tradition of veering off topic at ten percent of the speed of light, I always thought "Sugar, Sugar" was inspired by the groove of this, but with the funk ironed out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZJiGu6Gz8E
There were plenty of other shuffle beat minor hits, and Chubby Checkers "The Twist" busted out of the blues charts to become nationwide number 1 in 1960, but few could match the crazed manic funk of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.
You could do the Twist, the Madison, the Monkey, the Swim, all the Philadelphia steps that came out on American Bandstand. It was a little too fast for the Texas dirty bop, an evolutionary descendant of the jitterbug, so it kept the showoffs from taking over the floor.
"Wooly Bully" was popular at parties thrown by my old pal Don L., the inventor of the "Partial Panther": Welch's Grape Juice and 90% ethanol--95% wouldn't work, you could taste the acetone. The Partial Panther was served absolutely ice cold over a block of ice in a punch bowl. You could hardly taste the alcohol at all, and the action of the drink on sorority girls was prompt and highly effective.
The Partial Panther rapidly drove the earlier Panther Piss into obsolescence.
Back to your regularly scheduled programming....
RNJ