Help needed with cold case

[investigatorcoldcase]

Hello Everyone,

I am new here and have worked as a detective for 5 years and have been working a cold case for a few years that I cannot release the details on yet, but can say it is in reference to the death of a child. In some letters that were written from the suspect to a family member, there was a phrase written after every letter that said, "Pop the Lock, It's fun to do, I-Di-Lo". I have no idea where that comes from and have searched and am at my wits end about it. These letters were written in the 1960-1970s. If anyone can figure out where this is from or what it means, I'd greatly appreciate the help. I am trying to make sure this is not evidence or a clue of some sort that I need for my case.

God Bless and Thanks for the help.

Cold Case Detective Sergeant

 

[Gemmie]

Hello Everyone,

I am new here and have worked as a detective for 5 years and have been working a cold case for a few years that I cannot release the details on yet, but can say it is in reference to the death of a child. In some letters that were written from the suspect to a family member, there was a phrase written after every letter that said, "Pop the Lock, It's fun to do, I-Di-Lo". I have no idea where that comes from and have searched and am at my wits end about it. These letters were written in the 1960-1970s. If anyone can figure out where this is from or what it means, I'd greatly appreciate the help. I am trying to make sure this is not evidence or a clue of some sort that I need for my case.

God Bless and Thanks for the help.

Cold Case Detective Sergeant

Have you considered that Pop the Lock might be referring dancing, and not a keyed or combination type lock? Dancing is fun to do, which makes me lean more toward that's what the person meant, and not a physical lock. It wouldn't hurt to go down that path IMO.

Per AI: Popping and locking are dance styles that originated in the 1960s and 1970s and have influenced hip hop and other dance styles
========================================================================================
Locking is a style of funk dance. The name is based on the concept of locking movements, which means freezing from a fast movement and "locking" in a certain position, holding that position for a short while and then continuing at the same speed as before.
...

The beginning of locking can be traced to Don Campbell. In the late 1960s he put together several fad dances adding moves of his own (known as the "Lock") when performing. The original lock was created by accident: Campbell couldn't do a move called the "funky chicken" and stopped at a particular point whilst moving his arms, creating a 'locking' effect.

More on locking here: Locking (dance) - Wikipedia

Popping - Boogaloo Sam was inspired to create a new style of dance after watching some dancers who were locking on television. He created Popping, which is a dance that combines rigid robotic moves with loose flowing moves. Popping came about in the 60’s and started with Boogaloo Sam in Fresno California. He taught his brother, Popin’ Pete and later his cousin, Skeeter Rabbit how to be poppers.

Source: Popping |

A short lesson takes up the 1st 2:30 minutes, then him actually doing the dance starts at 2:30 if you want to move ahead to the nitty-gritty (or to the pop and locking. lol)

Here's a guy doing pop locking without the lesson:

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7323700619179543854

And needless to say... more info is always helpful for WSers to beat the bushes IYKWIM.

 

[concernedcitizen706]

Hello Everyone,

I am new here and have worked as a detective for 5 years and have been working a cold case for a few years that I cannot release the details on yet, but can say it is in reference to the death of a child. In some letters that were written from the suspect to a family member, there was a phrase written after every letter that said, "Pop the Lock, It's fun to do, I-Di-Lo". I have no idea where that comes from and have searched and am at my wits end about it. These letters were written in the 1960-1970s. If anyone can figure out where this is from or what it means, I'd greatly appreciate the help. I am trying to make sure this is not evidence or a clue of some sort that I need for my case.

God Bless and Thanks for the help.

Cold Case Detective Sergeant

Maybe 'I di lo' is short for, I do love you. And I also agree with the above commenter on looking at popping and locking dancing. So maybe they liked to dance a lot at the end of every night, and then the person would say, I do love you. Also I just looked it up and di lo means 'say it' in Spanish.

 

[Gemmie]

Doing a quick search, I-Di-Lo-De might be Nigerian or Ebonics way of speaking. Nigerian's also pop lock/breakdance. Granted, in the 80s and 90s is when it appears they started in Nigeria, but there could still be something here.

1980s and 1990s, street dancing styles influenced by American hip-hop Culture emerged as the people grew. Urban Nigerian teenagers started incorporating pop, lock, and breakdancing into their routines, combining them with local sounds and rhythms.

Traditional Dance Evolution in Nigeria - Ask Nigeria

Nigerian local and modern dances reflects the cultural expressions of its people. Traditional Dance Evolution in Nigeria.

asknigeria.com

But now to figure out what the heck I-Di-Lo means. <modsnip>

Lastly, I'm leaning toward 'I di lo' being Ebonics from how it's used above, and in the DM I'm about to send you. Unfortunately I can't find an Ebonics slang dictionary, but I'm thinking LE (you) have access to people that could decipher Ebonics.

Per AI (so nothing to link to as a source):

An "Ebonics dictionary" refers to a dictionary that specifically documents and defines words and phrases used in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), also known as "Ebonics," which is a distinct dialect of English spoken by many African Americans, often with unique grammar and vocabulary compared to standard English.

 

[Gemmie]

Also...

 

[Gemmie]

Hello Everyone,

I am new here and have worked as a detective for 5 years and have been working a cold case for a few years that I cannot release the details on yet, but can say it is in reference to the death of a child. In some letters that were written from the suspect to a family member, there was a phrase written after every letter that said, "Pop the Lock, It's fun to do, I-Di-Lo". I have no idea where that comes from and have searched and am at my wits end about it. These letters were written in the 1960-1970s. If anyone can figure out where this is from or what it means, I'd greatly appreciate the help. I am trying to make sure this is not evidence or a clue of some sort that I need for my case.

God Bless and Thanks for the help.

Cold Case Detective Sergeant

Did you try searching this site for the child's name to see if we already have a thread for it? We don't have them all but there's a good chance we may have one already started for the case you're working.

 

[deadfoot13]

Hello Everyone,

I am new here and have worked as a detective for 5 years and have been working a cold case for a few years that I cannot release the details on yet, but can say it is in reference to the death of a child. In some letters that were written from the suspect to a family member, there was a phrase written after every letter that said, "Pop the Lock, It's fun to do, I-Di-Lo". I have no idea where that comes from and have searched and am at my wits end about it. These letters were written in the 1960-1970s. If anyone can figure out where this is from or what it means, I'd greatly appreciate the help. I am trying to make sure this is not evidence or a clue of some sort that I need for my case.

God Bless and Thanks for the help.

Cold Case Detective Sergeant

Random thoughts, take them as you will...

My first thought would be song lyrics, or a commercial jingle. Going a little bit further, maybe it's misheard lyrics that are an "inside joke" -- growing up in the late 70s/early 80s, most of my friends had nicknames, and I can think of at least one whose name came about from the phrase he would mumble when he didn't know the lyrics.

Could it possibly have anything to do with Physics? I searched and found information regarding derivatives with respect to time and position, and the 6th, 7th, and 8th positions are referred to as "pop", "lock", and "drop". Don't ask me what any of that means, my science education ended at Chemistry and that was far enough back that the only thing I remember is do not put cold water in a hot test tube.

The hyphenated I-Di-Lo sounds like an abbreviation for something, but I don't have any thoughts as to what. Something that vague needs more context to be interpreted.

I hope you find the correct answers, and am really intrigued as to what you end up learning!

 

[JDG]

Pop the lock was an arcade game.

 

[Gemmie]

Pop the lock was an arcade game.

Yes, except the arcade game was founded 2016. Those notes date back to the 60s and 70s so wouldn't have anything to do with the arcade game IMO.

In late 2016, Bay Tek had designed a brand new game called Pop the Lock.

Bay Tek Case Study | MCL Industries - Contract Manufacturing Partner

This case study outlines how outsourcing manufacturing can actually increase your revenue, even though it means paying someone else to help you out.

www.mcl.bz

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

Also...

View attachment 545738

Also this in Italian

 

[Aurora90]

I-di-lo reminds me of square dancing as a kid and learning the “do-see-do”

 

[Aurora90]

I also found this song by Ronnie Hudson albeit released in 1982.

 

[concernedcitizen706]

I also found this song by Ronnie Hudson albeit released in 1982.

Yeah this might have been 1982, but I think in the big cities they had their own trends, that started before the media got it. Especially back in the old days before we had the internet. So it might apply to the situation, if the people involved in the case, lived right in the heart of the action in a big city, where they got the initial trends early. It would probably relate less if they lived in some small town somewhere.- You know maybe the child was actually involved in starting the trend. He could have been one of the first poppers and lockers. Or maybe his bigger brother was and he was imitating his bigger brother in the house.

 

[Aurora90]

After some more digging, I have some alternate avenues that I wanted to suggest.

@investigatorcoldcase stated that the letters were sent around the 1960s-1970s and that the phrase "Pop the Lock, It's fun to do, I-Di-Lo" was at the end of every letter. To me, that sounds like a signature of sorts. Which now has me deviating away from the pop-n-lock/dance line of thinking. Perhaps we should be looking elsewhere?

I wonder if the suspect was in some part, referencing the jingle from the 1963 Mix-N-Match Barbie Commercial.
"Mix-N-Match it's fun to do, what Barbie wears is up to you". I managed to find a YouTube video.

I also started to dig more into phrases or trends/things that might have been popular or commonly known around at that time. I could not find anything remotely resembling "I-Di-Lo". The closest I could find was 'Al-Di-La'.

In March of 1962, the romantic/drama film 'Rome Adventure' was released. It's a film about a young woman who resigns from her teaching position at an all-female school in New England and decides to summer in Rome. The hit song from that movie was 'Al-Di-La' (Beyond) by Emilio Pericoli (Italian Version) or Jerry Vale (English). (It was released a year prior but became a hit when released with this film)

The song was so beloved that it was chosen to be Italy's entry song for Eurovision. It was all over Italian and Italian-American households. One quote I found details just how well-known this song was at the time among the Italian American community.

Wednesday When It Was Music ~ Jerry Vale ~ Al di là (Beyond)
I heard this song from the time I was so very little, from my grandmother’s house, at our churches annual spaghetti dinner at Alcamo’s on the east side of Detroit and all the Italian weddings and festivals we ever attended during the 1960s.

Here's the music video and lyrics for Al-Di-La - Jerry Vale's version (English).

I hope once the case is solved, OP can come back and update us!

 

[Spy Versus Spy]

I have been considering the 'I-Di-Lo' part could be a mis-written jingle or lyric. Something of a misheard lyric that the writer spells phonetically.
Tenuous but had to say

Eg. Actual line = Aye Dee Low.

 

[Inthedetails]

I-Di-Lo reminds me of the Cab Calloway jazz song "Hi De Ho," but that was popular decades earlier.

 

[concernedcitizen706]

I think i di lo could also maybe be English/Spanish slang for 'I tell you'. I di lo. But I think the di could also be slang for do. Like, I do lo.
And we know love is often shortened to lo, when you sing it. So, I do love... It sounds like they're imitating a child speaking, where they don't finish the words. So, I do love, becomes, I di lo. It could have been a play on words of, Spanish, I tell you, and child's English, I do love you.

 

[IMWizzy]

Hello Everyone,

I am new here and have worked as a detective for 5 years and have been working a cold case for a few years that I cannot release the details on yet, but can say it is in reference to the death of a child. In some letters that were written from the suspect to a family member, there was a phrase written after every letter that said, "Pop the Lock, It's fun to do, I-Di-Lo". I have no idea where that comes from and have searched and am at my wits end about it. These letters were written in the 1960-1970s. If anyone can figure out where this is from or what it means, I'd greatly appreciate the help. I am trying to make sure this is not evidence or a clue of some sort that I need for my case.

God Bless and Thanks for the help.

Cold Case Detective Sergeant

Pop the Lock was a dance created in the 60's on the West Coast. I-Di-Lo used to be slang for I Love It

 

[Auntie Cipation]

I think i di lo could also maybe be English/Spanish slang for 'I tell you'. I di lo. But I think the di could also be slang for do. Like, I do lo.
And we know love is often shortened to lo, when you sing it. So, I do love... It sounds like they're imitating a child speaking, where they don't finish the words. So, I do love, becomes, I di lo. It could have been a play on words of, Spanish, I tell you, and child's English, I do love you.

But "I" is English. In Spanish it would be "Yo di lo" "I tell it". Unless, as you say, this was a known phrase in Spanglish (blend of English/Spanish)

The OP typed "I-Di-Lo" with hyphens and initial capitals. I'm curious if that is actually how it was written in the suspect's letters.

I'm wondering if it was being used as a signature, whether it bears any similarity to the person's actual name or not.

It's also occurred to me that the phrase "Ay Dios Mio" (Spanish for Oh God or Oh My God) starts with the phonetic sounds of I-Di. Maybe a bastardization of that phrase?

But together with the pop the lock phrases, those ideas are not making any more sense than we started with.

 

[Inthedetails]

Pop the Lock was a dance created in the 60's on the West Coast. I-Di-Lo used to be slang for I Love It

I'm not a dancer, but it seems like the dance move is "locking" or freezing and holding a motion and then "popping" out of it to continue dancing.

Make me wonder if the victim was held in position and the perp did something to "pop" the child into motion. The "it's fun" comment makes me think he has done it more than once.

Total speculation, of course. I hope the detective solves the case and let's us know!

jmo