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Thanks to YouTuber TransatlanticMoments
Monday morning The McCoys urge Sloopy to hang on.
The woman in the video is Liz Brewer who was once married to the lead singer of the McCoys, Rick Derringer.**
Who was Sloopy? So far I’ve tracked down four stories:
- One of the credited co-writers claims that he wrote the song while in Cuba, and any attractive woman there would be called a Sloopy.
- Sloopy was the nickname of jazz singer Dorothy Sloop who was a girlfriend of one of the writers.
- Jean Sloop was the name of an Ohio waitress who claims to be the inspiration.
- A businessman in St. Louis claimed that when he was just a kid in high school he wrote the song and sold it on the cheap to the credited writers. Rick Derringer seems to most believe this story—but he still doesn’t know why the high school kid used the name Sloopy.
**Update: It may be that Liz Brewer had nothing to do with the video; here’s another claimant for the dancer:
Perhaps Dorothy and Jean are related to Sloop John B (surname comes first) song by Gary Lewis and The Playboys. Or, sound-alike Snoopy, a dog in Peanut.
Ah, didn’t know that Gary Lewis did a version of that song. Here’s one that I like:
https://jackshalom.net/2019/01/14/so-hoist-up-the-john-b-sails/
Hello sir. Actually the credit given to TransatlanticMoments should be given to Steven Smith at Puget Sound Media. He is the one who spent time searching for answers, finding, documenting, researching and verifying stories and witnesses then at his own expense, put together the Deconstructing A Myth: Sloopy Girl video that is getting all the attention this week. He also has an in-depth interview with Lisa Leonard Dalton that will be ready to upload soon.
Also, There is some outstanding proof online that Liz Brewer is in no way associated with Rick, his then wife Liz Agriss Derringer nor the song Hang On Sloopy or the video other than accepting praise for work Lisa did.
If you would like some new to light information to be forwarded to you, I will be happy to do so, just let me know if you are interested in this world wide following after all these years. Even though the video is from 1975, the first YouTube airing doesn’t appear to be but 15 or so years. Lisa first learned that it was uploaded to YT in 2013 but that is all documented in her story.
Let me know if you are interested in the detailed research going on.
Elle
I would like to add please, that Lisa is the Sloopy Girl dancer and makes no claim to be the inspiration to the song. The song was written back in 64 before the McCoys did their 65 version and Lisa was 19 when she danced in the world famous video in 1975. This would have made her only 10 when the original was recorded. Thank you for showing the link to her story, one that now has been rightfully given back to her after credit has been given to someone else for so long. She deserved every dance contest she ever won!
I’m not sure if you have seen all the chatter about this, but indeed Liz Brewer could not have been married to Rick Derringer in the years claimed. If you look it up, she was married to the Christian the Lion man co owner John Rendall. He is the one that co-bought the young lion from Harrods store, raised him and then they set him free in the African Wild. There is a famous viral video from when they went to see if he remembered them. If you do a simple search, you will see the Liz Brewer was married to that man.
Rick’s wife’s maiden name is Liz Agriss and their marriage certificate and photos are online too.
Lisa Leonard Dalton is the rightful name for the dancer, and you really should come on board and make the information correct. After all, you have a lot of information out here and you really seem to want it all to be the truth.
This is Rick and Liz Agriss Derringer at their home not long after getting married in 1969. Ancestry.com shows their marriage license # to be 2226 issued in Manhattan.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/photo-of-married-american-couple-journalist-liz-derringer-news-photo/1135967013?utm_medium=organic&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=iptcurl
This is 2 articles with pictures of Liz Derringer. In them she talks about her marriage with Rick.
https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/in-conversation-with-elizabeth-derringer/2609
https://www.showbiz411.com/2010/07/20/andy-warhols-mrs-rockstar-is-writing-a-book
This is Liz’s brother’s obit: Richard Agriss. Liz and their sisters name is listed at the bottom. They are tied together by phone records.
https://iesnyc.org/blog/Richard_Agriss
This is Liz Brewer:
You can tell by the dates and the undisputable fact that Rick was married 22 years to Liz Agriss. Rick was born 1947, married in 69. Brewer was born June 6, 1940 married in 1978. As you can see, someone did not thoroughly research when the video was very first release around 2010 and haphazardly combined the lives of these two women into one. I can see why Brewer wouldn’t change anything. She is famous worldwide for a dance she didn’t do. And if Lisa never came forward, Brewer would forever be known as that dancer. She has a lot to loose by setting the record straight.
Liz Agriss Derringer may just not care.
A wedding photo from her only marriage to John Rendall Nov. 9th 1978. One thing you might be interested in, Rendall was one of the men that bought Christian the Lion. There is a documentary now, and a viral video when he and his co-owner went to Africa Wild to see if the lion remembered them. The story made world news. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btuxO-C2IzE )
https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/wedding-of-john-rendall-and-liz-brewer-pictured-with-roddy-llewellyn-right-2587556a
https://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?phrase=liz+brewer+wedding
This is Liz, John and her daughter Tallulah. it gives their names under read more after the file size
https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/publication-party-for-the-party-bible-and-top-hat-and-tails-at-the-cabinet-war-rooms-whitehall-26-mar-2003-7527476ao
This is Alamy photo shoots. There are pictures of Liz over the years and one with her etiquette book. She was never the rock star journalist that worked for Andy Warhol. She is the party planner.
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/liz-brewer.html