Annotation:Tip Toe Polka

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TIP TOE POLKA. AKA - "Tip Top Polka," "Tip Top Hornpipe." AKA and see "Bacup Coconut Tune," "Britannia Coconut Dance (The)," "Clough/Clow Bang," "Rochdale Coconut Dance." English, Polka (2/4 or cut time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. "Tip Toe Polka", often erroneously called "Tip Top Polka," is associated in traditional circles with the Rochdale Coconut Dance, as one of the tunes played for the polka step dance by Stacksteads Silver Band for the Bacup Britannia Coconut Dancers ('Bacup Nutters') of Pennine town of Bacup, Lancashire. See note for "annotation:Rochdale Coconut Dance" for more information on the dance and dancers. The however the origins of the tune itself remain unclear, however, there are other tunes played for the dance ("Shooting Star") as well.

The tune can presently be heard as the theme music for the character Krusty Krab in the cartoon Spongebob, played by the Chelmsford Folk Band.

There are other, musically unrelated, tunes with the names "Tip Toe Polka" and "Tip Top Polka," with publishing dates as far back as 1850. The so-named polkas that can currently (2022) be accessed on-line are different tunes than the one played by the Bacup Dancers. There is a report that the "Tip Toe Polka" by the prolific songwriter Ezra Read (1862-1922) may the one played for the dance, but it has not been accessed^[1] .

Additional notes

Printed sources : - Barber (Nick Barber's English Choice), 2002; No. 27, p. 16 (as "Tip Top Polka").

Recorded sources : - DMPCD0203, Nick & Mary Barber with Huw Jones - "Bonnie Kate." Carlin Production Music CARLIN 115, The Chelmsford Folk Band - "Folk Music of England" (1996). Folkways FA 2381, "The Hammered Dulcimer as played by Chet Parker" (1966). Soho Records, John Graham Donaldson - "Folk Music of England" (2016). Keith Kendrick & Sylvia Needham - "Shine On" (2018).

See also listing at :
Hear the Chelmsford Folk Band's 1996 recording at youtube.com [1]
Hear/see the tune played on melodeon by Anahata on youtube.com [2]

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↑ Ezra Read, "Tip-toe polka," National Library of Australia collection. Originally published in London and Melbourne by W. Paxton & Co.

[1] Ezra Read, "Tip-toe polka," National Library of Australia collection. Originally published in London and Melbourne by W. Paxton & Co.

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