HISTORY

A CELEBRATION OF THE 7 ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE LOCKERS “THE GROUP THAT CHANGED THE FACE OF DANCE”

- Reformatted from 2009 original layout -

This website was created in 2009 by six of the seven living original LOCKERS (Don “Campbellock” Campbell, Toni Basil, Dave  “Greg Campbellock Jr” Pope, Leo “Fluky Luke” Williamson, Bill “Slim the Robot” Williams, and Adolfo “Shabba-Doo” Quinones, Fred Berry passed away in 2003), co-signed with the assistance of lawyer Greg Bodell, Esq. Now enhanced with additional dates obtained from the Lockers’ original contracts for television and live show performances, dated newspaper articles, interviews, and other legal documents to validate all historical statements below.

1969 – 1971: Birth of The Campbellock 

Created in a cafeteria at Los Angeles Trade Tech College in the end of 1969, the unique dance creation of Don Campbell’s "The Campbellock", gave birth to not just a step, but a new genre of dance.  Don "Campbellock" Campbell has the distinction as being the creator of the very first Street Dance "THE CAMPBELLOCK”. His Dance continues to be performed worldwide. 

Notably, Campbell’s creation came nearly two years before Soul Train first aired in national syndication from Los Angeles on October 2, 1971.

1971-1973: “The Campbellock” song, Formation of the group, change name to The Lockers, signing with Theatrical Agency CMA

After Campbell’s recording of his song “The Campbellock”, two years of perseverance and hard work of Toni Basil and Don Campbell, the opportunity arose when Toni was asked by the Dick Clark Production to choreograph the Roberta Flack Special and the foundation of the group was formed for the show premiering on ABC June 19, 1973. (Toni had previously worked as a choreographer for Dick Clark Productions, since the beginning of the mid-1960s.)

The group was first named THE CAMPBELL-LOCKERS ( as written in promotional material) but was announced in performances as THE CAMPLLOCKERS. Due to copyright legalities with the name, 7 shows later they were officially renamed THE LOCKERS on October 23, 1973.

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PLEASE NOTE (regarding the name change): Although The Lockers’ lawyer, Abe Somer (Head of Music at Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp), advised them to completely change their name due to the copyright ownership lawsuit, The Lockers decided instead to abbreviate the name “The Campbellockers” to “The Lockers.”

The purpose of this decision was to preserve the integrity of the original name “The Campbellock” and to maintain the connection to both the creator of the dance style, Don Campbell, and the name of the dance itself.

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The group officially performed on television as The Lockers November 23, 1973 on ABC’s “InConcerts” together with (as listed in TV Guide) Sly and The Family Stone, BB King and more. 

On December 14, 1973 The Lockers signed with one of the biggest talent agencies in North America CMA representing some of the biggest entertainers worldwide with agent Fred Lawrence.  And history was made. (CMA was later split up and  restructured as ICM) The Lockers resigned with ICM.

This was eight years before MTV, thirty-five years before YouTube, and decades before any television and international dance competition.

As a group,The Lockers Don “Campbellock” Campbell, Toni Basil, Dave  “Greg Campbellock Jr” Pope, Fred “Mr. Penguin AKA Rerun” Berry, Leo “Fluky Luke” Williamson, Bill “Slim the Robot” Williams, and Adolfo “Shabba-Doo” Quinones with their charismatic performances and individual Improvisational contributions to the dance itself “the Campbellock “ as soloist and as a group together with their unique presentation in staging and concept introduced street dance to the world as an American art form. 

From mid 1973: Groundbreaking highlights

The lockers broke down many barriers that “change the face of dance “with well over 100 appearances in their ground breaking first three years on major television shows ,Live performances and film.

Here are a few of their groundbreaking highlights

• The Roberta Flack Special June 19, 1973

• The Tonight Show TV 1973

• The Carol Burnett Show TV 1973

(The name shortened To “The Lockers” to address a lawsuit on the name the Campbellock)

• In Concert TV Nov 23 1973

• The Tonight Show 1974

• The Midnight Special TV May 3 1974

• The Hollywood Palladium TV July 1974 

• The Hollywood Palladium TV, September 6, 1974

• Live Guest starring engagements in Las Vegas main show room 1974

• the MGM Grand Hotel with country star Jimmy Dean 1974

• Reno at Harrah’s hotel with TV star John Davidson 1974

• Lake Tahoe At Harrah’s in Tahoe hotel with Bill Cosby 1974
  

• Continuous television appearances in 1975

• Soul Train TV featured guest star performers January 25, 1975 

• The Midnight Special TV May 23,1975

• Saturday Night Live The featured musical act on October 25, 1975

• FILMS: 1975 Ralph Bashes. Hey good Lookin. Re-edited and premiered in 1982 as a live-action/animated

More Groundbreaking live performances in 1975. They played to an incredible wide range of audiences from funk and soul to legitimate theater.

• New York at Radio City Music Hall they shared the bill with the Funkadelic‘s and the Ohio players 1975

• at Carnegie Hall as a touring act opening up for Frank Sinatra premiering at Carnegie Hall 1975

Continuing with television performances through mid 1976

This is just a small representation of their historic performances

The Lockers paved the way for all the other street dance styles that followed and opened the doors for Street Dancers to earn a living with their talent. 

They were the first ever synchronized Street Dancer’s to give an opportunity and set a new standard for street dance in mainstream media.

Mid 1976: Toni Basil and Mr Berry leave the group

The exit from the group of Mr. Berry to pursue a television career and Ms. Basil to pursue her singing career and as a director/choreographer was an amicable and productive move. The group separately and collectively continued to work with Mr. Berry and Ms. Basil on their Emmy and Grammy nominated TV shows, live shows and music videos. 

The 5 remaining ORIGINAL members of the group then continued to perform on such shows as the "Grammys", "Soul Train" (2nd time), and "What's Happening" after Fred Rerun Berry and Toni Basil left the group.

FRED BERRY went on to star in the hit sitcom What's Happening!! (1976 to 1979) in the iconic role of Rerun. He gained national fame and solidified his place in pop culture, with Rerun becoming one of the most recognizable TV characters of the era.

TONI BASIL went on to pursue her singing career with the hit single “Mickey,” which topped the UK charts in 1981 and became a major success in the US, Australia, and other countries in 1982. She also made waves with her groundbreaking live shows at The Roxy (1976 - sold out shows) and the Fox Venice Theatre (1978), where she was the first to integrate a live orchestra, ballet and street dancers—including Shabba Doo, Greg Campbellock Jr, Spaz Attack and the original Waackers (Andrew, Arthur, Billy Star, Tinker Toy, and Danny Lugo)—with a special appearance by Don “Campbellock” Campbell. These innovative performances helped pave the way for her full and successful recording career. (Greg Campbellock Jr Continued to work with Ms. Basil until 1987). In addition to her work as a performer, Toni Basil also had a thriving career as a director and choreographer, working with top artists such as Tina Turner, David Bowie, and Bette Midler, to name a few.

“Street dance”, the term coined by Locker member Toni Basil in an interview with Soul Publication (February 18th,1974), has now become accepted as a great American art form. It has been said that their ground breaking emergence on the scene "changed the face of dance", not only for street dancers, but dance in general. Yes, The Lockers are proud of their accomplishments and they guard their legacy.

End of 1976

Anthony “Tony GoGo” Lewis joined the remaining five, making it a group of six, at the end 1976 signing with The Lockers for the Van Dyke and Company episode 9 which aired on Dec 9, 1976. 

This rendition of the group continued into 1977

Late 1970s: Shabba-Doo, Greg Campbellock Jr and Fluky Luke leave the group

In the late 70s Shabba-Doo, Greg Campbellock Jr and Fluky Luke left the group

Greg established a successful international teaching career. Shabba-Doo went on to enjoy a highly successful career in Hollywood, and Fluky went on to pursue a career in hip hop music. 

Shabba-Doo TV and movie career

In 1980, Shabba-Doo debuted as a starring regular on the TV variety series "The Big Show", before going on to star in the groundbreaking street dance movies "Breaking"(1984) and "Electric Boogaloo"(1984), and continuing to choreograph and direct.

Into 1980s: Led by Don Campbellock Campbell and Slim The Robot

Don and Slim remained active as requests for the group The Lockers to perform continued, hiring various interchangeable members until the 1980s.

TODAY

The surviving original members of the group continue to teach workshops, judge international street dance competitions, and receive awards for their contributions to Street Dance.

PLEASE NOTE: Any job or personal appearance request for any individual Locker must be made directly to that member’s social media. Please do not send such requests to the lawyers’ email below. 

To Correct ANY Misinformation

OFFICIAL STATEMENT: Preserving the Legacy of The Lockers 

Throughout the Locker's career, while signed to the CMA/ICM agency, these seven members were then, and are now considered the ONLY original Lockers: Don (Campbellock) Campbell, Toni Basil, Dave (Greg Campbellock Jr) Pope, Fred (Mr. Penguin AKA Rerun) Berry, Leo (Fluky Luke) Williamson, Bill (Slim the Robot) Williams, and Adolfo (Shabba-Doo) Quinones.

Over the years with the advent of unauthorized websites, Wikipedia entry availability, Internet blogging, misprinted interviews, and with 'photoshop' techniques making it easy to plagiarize images, the group’s legal council continues to be vigilant to protect The 7 original Lockers’ legacy. The persons named above assert that such has been misrepresented,eroded and distorted by others. NONE of “work for hire” dancers were ever considered part of the group by The Lockers or their agency, CMA/ICM. 

To correct any misrepresentation of their history, please be informed that should it be discovered by any of the surviving members of the Lockers, that people other than those mentioned above are holding themselves out as original members of The Lockers, use The Lockers name falsely suggesting affiliation with the above dance group for self promotion or profit, or distorting the history of the dance group The Lockers or any of its individual members history with said group, they will pursue all available remedies." As stated above, the foregoing information has been provided, presented, and approved by “the seven original Lockers that changed the face of dance”: Don Campbell, Toni Basil, Dave Gregory Pope, Leo Williamson, Adolfo Quinones, Bill Williams, and the Fred Berry Estate Circa 2009. Ratified and Legally Binding As Stated in 2009 —-TheLockersDance.com

Abe Somer (Head of Music at Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp) - RIP - 

Gregory Bodell, esq. - RETIRED -
Attorney at Law
1800 Century Park East, 8th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90067
(Licensed to practice in California) 

To report any misconduct on the legacy please email:
NICK HUELSTER nhuelster@gmail.com 

DAVID BLAU david@blaulaw.net