Writer of Pop Culture

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Pop Culture Flashback: Do the Hustle (July 26)

On this day in pop culture history, “The Hustle” joined the list of songs inspired by the dance moves of the day or the other way around.

July 26, 2026

“Hustle” may be a general term used for some dances during the disco era, but like Chubby Checker’s “The Twist”, Los Del Rios’ “Macarena” and PSY’s “Gangnam Style”, Van McCoy’s “The Hustle” highlighted one particular dance move.

1975 – “The Hustle” is the #1 Song in America

Silhouette images of dancers — *(Pixabay)*

Unlike other dance crazes, it was the dance called “The Hustle” that inspired the song of the same name by Van McCoy. McCoy was visiting a friend in New York who told him that a new dance had been created by the crowd that hung out at the Adam’s Apple nightclub in Manhattan. After a report given from a business partner, McCoy was inspired to release the album Disco Baby which featured the song “The Hustle” which became the #1 song in America on this day in 1975.

McCoy won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the song. Realm Records released a “how-to” album during this dance craze in 1976. That album is very hard to find now.

OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY:

2000 – Who Let the Dogs Out?

Baha Men single art — *(Wikipedia Commons)*

On this day, the catchy, “Who Let the Dogs Out” song was released by the Baha Men. It was their first hit song. And their last. The song did reach the Top 40 in the U.S. and some say it gained popularity after being used in the animated movie, Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. The next year, the song won a Grammy for Best Dance Recording. However, that doesn’t mean that the song was a hit with everybody. It was the #1 song on Spinner’s 2008 list of “Top 20 Worst Songs Ever” and #8 on Rolling Stone’s “Worst Songs of the 1990’s” list even though the song didn’t come out until 2000!