Alley Oop

Alley Oop is a syndicated comic strip created in 1932 by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the popular and influential strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hamlin introduced an engaging cast of characters, and his story lines entertained with a combination of adventure, fantasy, and humor.

Alley Oop, the strip's title character, was a sturdy citizen in the prehistoric kingdom of Moo. He rode his pet dinosaur Dinny, carried a stone war hammer, and wore nothing but a fur loincloth. He would rather fight dinosaurs in the jungle than deal with his fellow countrymen in Moo's capital and sole cave-town. Despite these exotic settings, the stories were often satires of American suburban life.

Major Characters

Minor Characters

Story

The first stories took place in the Stone Age and centered on Alley Oop's dealings with his fellow cavemen in the kingdom of Moo. Oop and his pals had occasional skirmishes with the rival kingdom of Lem, ruled by King Tunk. The names Moo and Lem are references to the fabled lost continents of Mu and Lemuria.

Alley-oop (basketball)

An alley-oop in basketball is an offensive play in which one player throws the ball near the basket to a teammate who jumps, catches the ball in mid air and puts it in the hoop before touching the ground. The alley-oop combines elements of teamwork, pinpoint passing, timing and finishing.

History

In the 1950s, some players began utilizing jumping abilities by grabbing balls in mid-air and then dunking. Bill Russell at the University of San Francisco, Wilt Chamberlain at Kansas University and 'Jumping' Johnny Green at Michigan State University would frequently grab errant shots by teammates and dunk them (many teammates were not happy with this since they would lose credit for the basket). This resulted in a tightening in the enforcement of offensive goaltending rules in NCAA and NBA basketball in the late 1950s.

Al Tucker and his brother Gerald at Oklahoma Baptist University are sometimes credited with being the first to use the alley-oop in the mid-1960s. In Bill Walton's record-setting 44-point, 21-for-22 shooting performance for UCLA in the 1973 NCAA championship game against Memphis State, six of his baskets came on alley-oop plays.

Alley Oop (disambiguation)

Alley Oop is a syndicated comic strip and its main character, created by V.T. Hamlin in 1932.

Alley Oop may also refer to:

See also

Alley Oop (song)

"Alley Oop" is a song written and composed by Dallas Frazier. The song, heavily inspired by the V. T. Hamlin-created comic strip of the same name, was first recorded by Frazier as a country tune in 1957.

The Hollywood Argyles

The Hollywood Argyles, a short-lived studio band, recorded the song in 1960, and it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the US R&B chart. It also went to #24 on the UK chart. It was produced by Gary Paxton, who also sang lead vocals. At the time, Paxton was under contract to Brent Records, where he recorded as Flip of Skip & Flip.

According to Paxton:

Other versions

Also in 1960, The Dyno-Sores released a version that went to #59 on the Hot 100 chart, and Dante & The Evergreens released a version that went to #15 on the Hot 100 chart. Both Dante & The Evergreens's and the Argyles's versions were credited as number ones in Cashbox magazine's singles chart.

The Beach Boys recorded and released their version on their 1965 album Beach Boys' Party! The British satirical art rock/pop group, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, recorded a version of "Alley Oop," which was released as their second single in October 1966. It was also performed by Dave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters on their self-titled album, released in 1967. The British group, The Tremeloes, recorded a version of the song, too.

Alley Oop (football)

The Alley Oop is an American football play in which a quarterback player would throw the ball into the end zone high like a jump ball, and another player would jump up and catch it. The play was developed in 1950s games by the San Francisco 49ers' players Y. A. Tittle and R. C. Owens. The play was named after V. T. Hamlin's comics strip character Alley Oop; Owens himself was also known as "Alley Oop."

References