(CBS 11) - Rufus Thomas (1917-2001) was a R&B/soul singer ... He is known for his novelty dance songs primarily and we are featuring one of them here. "Walking The Dog" was written by Thomas ...

Soul icon Rufus Thomas, pioneering radio DJ and singer-songwriter ... each inspired by the prevailing dance craze of the time. “Walking The Dog,” from 1963, marked his first top 10 pop hit ...

Memphis recording artist, disc jockey, dance craze originator and public personality Rufus Thomas was an entertainer for almost his entire life, so perhaps it's no surprise he attracted nicknames ...

“Aside from Jim Stewart, [label co-owner] Estelle Axton and [executive] Al Bell, you could argue Rufus Thomas might be the ... that’s where his great dance songs came from.

Besides Carla and Rufus Thomas, Stax gave the world Isaac Hayes ... Thomas was the first tap dance teacher at the Memphis Black Arts Alliance, which is also located in Soulsville.

Mr. Thomas continued making dance songs, including "Jump Back" in ... For his 80th birthday in 1997, the city renamed Hernando Street as Rufus Thomas Boulevard at the intersection of Beale Street ...

RUFUS THOMAS, who has died aged 84, was best known for such novelty dance records as Do the Funky Chicken and Walkin' the Dog in the 1960s and 1970s. He was also a dancer, comedian, disc jockey ...

Stax Records cornerstone and one of R&B’s most memorable iconoclasts, Rufus Thomas, died of heart failure on December 15th in Memphis at age eighty-four. Thomas, who found fame as a radio DJ as ...