{"id":259,"date":"2016-01-06T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T08:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/?p=259"},"modified":"2021-04-05T14:05:53","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T13:05:53","slug":"dances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/dances\/","title":{"rendered":"Dances"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As you probably know, there are a multitude of songs that are also new dances, sometimes very successful:<em> Gangnam Style<\/em> was first and foremost a dance move, and so was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=332SqqV-buk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Oak Tree<\/a>\u267e by Morris Day &#8211; not as popular, but much more fun. The similar category, songs with popular dances in the title, is also pretty big: <em>Tennessee Waltz<\/em>, <em>Mambo Diablo<\/em>, <em>Twist and Shout<\/em> and so on. But I was after a very specific set: songs that talk about dance moves. There aren&#8217;t many, but I find them fascinating &#8211; plus I have personal reasons, explained below. This Issue of MOSS has a video introduction by James Brown.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe style=\"border: 1px solid #3a3a3a;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/Zdz88MBWomo?rel=0\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"otw-sc-divider otw-text-left\" style=\"margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 30px;\"><\/div>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chris_Kenner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Kenner<\/a>: Land Of A Thousand Dances<\/strong> (1963)<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"alignleft wp-image-270 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/lrloatd2.jpg\" alt=\"little richard\" width=\"180\" height=\"165\" \/>This is the very first tune I became obsessed with, and it keeps coming back in my life. 1967: I was 8 years old, and my favorite toy was the family&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.teist.it\/radiorigattiere\/Lesa_Perla\/Lesa%20Perla%20foto.JPG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">portable record player<\/a>, which I monopolized. My mum, who was a journalist, routinely received boxes of 45s from major labels (who were obviously very rich at the time), which she mostly ignored. So I got my pick of whatever came in: traditional italian pop music (which I despised), the new local Rock bands, some of which I liked, and random international music. I loved <em>The House Of The Rising Sun<\/em> (The Animals&#8217; version) and <em>Pepito<\/em> by Los Machucambos. But when I heard <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Little_Richard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Little Richard<\/a>&#8216;s version of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AmqOc2l_tsc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Land Of A Thousand Dances<\/a>\u260a, my life changed forever. I was transfixed, I couldn&#8217;t imagine anything more electrifying, and I played it in a loop for days ( the first time my family thought there was something odd about me). Only years later I discovered that the hook <em>Na-na-na<\/em> was introduced in 1965 by the otherwise forgettable teen band <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Nxs50Td4qos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cannibal and the Headhunters<\/a>\u267e. And that Little Richard&#8217;s arrangement is a copy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3mz_EXHKGHs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wilson Pickett&#8217;s 1966 huge hit<\/a>\u260a*. But I prefer Richard&#8217;s version: faster, wilder and prophetic. The falsetto screams in the intro sound like &#8211; and maybe inspired &#8211; Joe Strummer. There are a million interesting covers of the Pickett\/Richard rendition of <em>Land Of A Thousand Dances<\/em>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=C8-UBbFNUhY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sam &amp; Dave<\/a>\u260a, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nD2n80BAJss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tina Turner<\/a>\u267e, and even a Hard Rock take by american fundamentalist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VIsT0YXG1hI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ted Nugent<\/a>\u267e.<\/p>\n<p>1975: much to my surprise (I was 16 at the time), a very strange cover of <em>Land Of A Thousand Dances<\/em> appeared on the first Patti Smith LP, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Horses_%28album%29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Horses<\/a> (a very influential album for me back then). It&#8217;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KWGk2R2gHEU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">complex<em>,\u00a0<\/em>9:25 version<\/a>\u260a entitled <em>Land<\/em>. The vocal melodies are different, and the lyrics (closer to the original version) are mixed with her own poetry. Still, it&#8217;s an interesting choice: it&#8217;s one of the only two covers (the other being <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gloria_(Them_song)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gloria<\/a> by Van Morrison, 1964) in an otherwise incredibly personal album.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"alignright wp-image-276 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ck.jpg\" alt=\"chris kenner\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ck.jpg 180w, https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ck-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/ck-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/>Then, not so long ago, thanks to the Internet, I came to know the full story of this song, written and first recorded by New Orleans singer and songwriter Chris Kenner in 1963. His single didn&#8217;t do very well, so Kenner asked local star <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fats_Domino\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fats Domino<\/a> to cover it, in exchange for half of the authorship. Domino&#8217;s version also didn&#8217;t sell, but in the meantime the original single picked up, thanks to radio play (an interesting cautionary tale for struggling musicians). Kenner&#8217;s version was produced and arranged by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Allen_Toussaint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Allen Toussaint<\/a> (recently passed, one of the fathers of the amazing New Orleans sound), who also played the piano. This is a fabulous track, with a short Gospel-like intro followed by two minutes of the same two-chord groove (the way it should be, when you&#8217;re dancing), with Kenner instructing the audience and backup singers punctuating his calls. The vocal performance is magnificent, and his melodies are perfect. The arrangement, unlike any other I&#8217;ve ever heard (and way ahead of its time), swings to death &#8211; with New Orleans style drums and piano propelling the whole thing. (Full disclosure: this version has also been on <em>repeat<\/em> in my studio for days, not long ago) The Gospel intro was edited out of all subsequent releases of this recording, and omitted in later covers. Too bad, because it&#8217;s the only part in which the song title appears: &#8220;Children, go where I send you. (Where will you send me?) I&#8217;m gonna send you to that land, the land of a thousand dances.&#8221; What follows is a catalog of historical, and more recent, African-american dances: the <a title=\"Pony (dance)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pony_%28dance%29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pony<\/a>, the Chicken, the <a title=\"Mashed Potato (dance)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mashed_Potato_%28dance%29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mashed Potato<\/a>, the Alligator, the<a title=\"The Watusi\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Watusi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Watusi<\/a>, the <a title=\"Twist (dance)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Twist_%28dance%29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twist<\/a>, the Fly, the<a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"The Jerk (song)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Jerk_%28song%29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Jerk<\/a>, the Yo-Yo, the Sweet Pea, the <a title=\"Hand jive\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hand_jive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hand jive<\/a>, the Slop, the Bop, the Fish, the Popeye &#8211; plus\u00a0 the <a class=\"mw-redirect\" title=\"Tango (dance)\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tango_%28dance%29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tango<\/a> (from the song&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Land_of_a_Thousand_Dances\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikipedia page<\/a>). We should be familiar with them: after all, this is where our little saturday night butt-shaking comes from.<\/p>\n<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-259-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/loatd.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/loatd.mp3\">http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/loatd.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/product\/B00CVHFOSI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">buy from amazon<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/album\/land-of-1-000-dances\/id59388822\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">buy from itunes<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/play.spotify.com\/track\/14KTI6xoN4CaDoPVsZPXfH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">play on spotify<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: small;\">*Recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the session was produced by Jerry Wexler for Atlantic, and was released both as a single and in the album <em>The Exciting Wilson Pickett<\/em> in &#8217;66. But who arranged it? <a href=\"http:\/\/www.top40.nl\/wilson-pickett\/wilson-pickett-land-of-1000-dances_9506#songwiki\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A dutch website<\/a> lists five producers: Wexler (executive), Jim Stewart and Tom Dowd (also listed as engineers), Rick Hall (owner of FAME studios) and Steve Cropper. If this information is correct, he&#8217;s the most likely arranger, having written and produced <em>In The Midnight Hour<\/em> with Pickett the year before.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"otw-sc-divider otw-text-left\" style=\"margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 30px;\"><\/div>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ray_Charles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ray Charles<\/a> (with the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Blues_Brothers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blues Brothers Band<\/a>): Shake A Tail Feather<\/strong> (1980)<\/p>\n<p>This tune, the way it was originally performed by the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Five_Du-Tones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Five Du-Tones<\/a> in &#8217;63, only mentions dance steps in passing. The topic is a not so subtle sex\/dance metaphor:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>I heard about this fella you been dancin&#8217; with all over the neighbourhood,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> So why didn&#8217;t you ask me baby? Or didn&#8217;t you think I could?<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Well I know that the Rock and Roll is not for shy, I seen the women bird all night,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Well if that was you and me out there baby, I would have shown you how to do, do it right.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Twistin&#8217;, Shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it baby<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Here we go loop-de-loop, Shake it up, baby<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Here we go loop-de-lie, Bend over let me see you shake your tail feather<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_279\" style=\"width: 190px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-279\" class=\"wp-image-279 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/rcstmp.jpg\" alt=\"ray charles stamp\" width=\"180\" height=\"178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/rcstmp.jpg 180w, https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/rcstmp-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-279\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 2013 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.usps.com\/store\/browse\/productDetailSingleSku.jsp?categoryNav=false&amp;navAction=push&amp;navCount=0&amp;atg.multisite.remap=false&amp;categoryId=buy-stamps&amp;productId=S_579544\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USPS Forever<\/a><\/span> stamp dedicated to Ray Charles.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Five Du-Tones version wasn&#8217;t very successful, and the 1967 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cPdAUD5DTjE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cover by James &amp; Bobby Purify<\/a>\u260a fared only a little better. Then, in 1980, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Blues_Brothers_(film)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Blues Brothers movie<\/a> came out. Created in 1976 around comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd for the tv show <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Saturday_Night_Live\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Saturday Night Live<\/a>, the Blues Brothers band includes some seminal musicians, like Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn, part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stax_Records\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stax Records House Band<\/a>. The movie, the funny back story of the criminal\/musical duo, is partly narrated through performances by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Blues_Brothers_(film)#Casting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">legendary Soul and Rhythm&#8217;n&#8217;Blues artists<\/a>, including Ray Charles, who plays a music shop owner and performs <em>Shake A Tail Feather<\/em>. But his version is different: there are 24 extra bars at the end of the first chorus, where the song mutates into some kind of <em>Land Of A Thousand Dances<\/em>*:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Do the twist, Do the fly<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Do the swim, And do the bird<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Well do the duck, Aaah, and do the monkey<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Hey hey, watusi, And a what about the food<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Do the mashed potato, What about the boogaloo<\/em><br \/>\n<em> Oh, the Bony Moronie**, Come on let&#8217;s do the twist<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I don&#8217;t know who came up with the idea: Charles himself? Steve Cropper (a longtime Wilson Pickett sideman and arranger)?\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paul_Shaffer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paul Shaffer<\/a>, musical director of the band? Or <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_Landis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John Landis<\/a>, the film director? Whoever it was, it&#8217;s a great solution: the extra lyrics fit perfectly with the original, and Landis has the opportunity to stage a street musical scene, with dancers performing the moves. Here&#8217;s another chance to learn a few steps, although I&#8217;ll never be able to do the Bird as convincingly as this guy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe style=\"border: 1px solid #3a3a3a;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/qdbrIrFxas0?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/product\/B005ERRGG0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">buy from amazon<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/album\/blues-brothers-original-soundtrack\/id452584443\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">buy from itunes<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/play.spotify.com\/track\/0DrPYAMPDehDn2nN96RPPW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">play on spotify<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: small;\"><br \/>\n*If you google both songs together, the only result is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B0040MU3FQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">medley of the two songs<\/a> by trashy Rock&#8217;n&#8217;Swing outfit <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jive_Bunny_and_the_Mastermixers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers<\/a> (who specializes in Novelty Pop medleys of old hits).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: small;\">**Both previous songs mention <em>Bony Moronie<\/em> &#8211; the character of a 1957 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5725Xf1F090\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry Williams Rock&#8217;n&#8217;roll song<\/a>\u260a: &#8220;I got a girl named Bony Moronie, she&#8217;s as skinny as a stick of macaroni. Ought to see her rock and roll with her blue jeans on, she&#8217;s not very fat, just skin and bone.&#8221; Since then, she&#8217;s been often <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bony_Moronie#In_popular_culture\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">referenced to in Pop music<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"otw-sc-divider otw-text-left\" style=\"margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 30px;\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Bob &amp; Earl: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UMyFgOmu0w8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harlem Shuffle<\/a><\/strong>\u260a (1963)<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-337\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/bee.jpg\" alt=\"bob &amp; earl\" width=\"180\" height=\"194\" \/>At first, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Harlem_Shuffle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Harlem Shuffle<\/a> wasn&#8217;t a big hit in the US. It fared better in the UK, where it was released in 1969 and made it to the top ten. But this tune became huge with The Rolling Stones <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nAkMTu6q2pY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">chart-topping 1986 cover<\/a>\u267e, featuring <a title=\"Bobby Womack\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bobby_Womack\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bobby Womack<\/a> on vocals. Their version has an updated arrangement (and fantastic guitar parts, plus Charlie Watts in top shape) but follows the original structure very closely: it&#8217;s almost an homage to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bob_%26_Earl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bob &amp; Earl<\/a>&#8216;s unusual, but very effective, musical layout (a single chord change, used very sparingly, and no chorus). This song was also sampled by producer <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/DJ_Muggs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dj Muggs<\/a> in the Hip hop classic <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whosampled.com\/House-of-Pain\/Jump-Around\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jump Around<\/a>\u260a (by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/House_of_Pain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">House of Pain<\/a>, 1992), which also happens to have a (rather basic) dance move in the title\/hook. <em>Harlem Shuffle<\/em>&#8216;s lyrics are actually some sort of sexual\/dancing instructions, delivered with plenty of funk (in the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Talk%3AFunk#Original_meaning_of_word_funk\">original meaning of the word<\/a>).<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>You move it to the left, yeah, and you go for yourself. You move it to the right, yeah, if it takes all night. Now take it kinda slow, with a whole lot of soul. Don&#8217;t move it too fast. Just make it last. You know you scratch just like a monkey. Yeah you do, real cool.<\/em><br \/>\n(Full <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elyrics.net\/read\/b\/bob-&amp;-earl-lyrics\/harlem-shuffle-lyrics.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lyrics here<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t sound like a 1963 teenage party (and this could explain why it didn&#8217;t quite work, back then). It&#8217;s a sort of demonic instructional song, that also names <em>Shake A Tail Feather<\/em>, the Limbo and the mysterious <em>Monkey Shine<\/em> (<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Monkey_Shines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">see also<\/a>).<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-259-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/behs.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/behs.mp3\">http:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/behs.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/product\/B001N3VRYG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">buy from amazon<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/album\/harlem-shuffle-original-45\/id853052342?i=853054918\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">buy from itunes<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/play.spotify.com\/track\/5wdvDMtlHtNwcDNCwafp8t\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">play on spotify<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"otw-sc-divider otw-text-left\" style=\"margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 30px;\"><\/div>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Claudio_Cecchetto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Claudio Cecchetto<\/a>: Gioca Jouer<\/strong> (1981)<\/p>\n<p>The 1980s were truly ugly times, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SWLl5ejQY5c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gioca Jouer<\/a>\u267e is a great example. This little\u00a0dumb italian tune features instructions for little\u00a0dumb moves like sneezing, sleeping, the ok sign, spray deodorant or skiing. Obviously it was a big hit, and in 1983 an equally demented english version, entitled <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Superman_%28Black_Lace_song%29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Superman<\/a>, (and performed by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Black_Lace_%28band%29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Black Lace<\/a>) was released. You can enjoy every bit of it, thanks to this magnificent instructional video.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe style=\"border: 1px solid #3a3a3a;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/9MyGC_YiBDY?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: small;\">Superman Dance routine steps from Emporium Parties Children entertainers in Kent &amp; Sussex<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The instructor forewarns us: &#8220;This is the <em>Superman<\/em> song, ideal for age 4 to 8 years old&#8221;. So, if you happen to like it and you&#8217;re not in that age bracket, go see a doctor. in 2007 an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1cGXbG4EI14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">updated german version<\/a>\u267e was released, further evidence of that nation&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/results?search_query=schlager\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">atrocious musical tastes<\/a>\u260a. Some people miss the 1980s: they also should seek immediate medical help.<\/p>\n<div class=\"otw-sc-divider otw-text-left\" style=\"margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 30px;\"><\/div>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">Runner ups<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sam Cooke: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=87dEJ0IV-90\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha<\/a><\/strong>\u260a (1959) This pretty Sam Cooke hit single (with its own <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Everybody_Loves_to_Cha_Cha_Cha\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikipedia page<\/a>) belongs to a very tiny but exquisite little family: teenage songs about dance related problems with a happy end (The Larks&#8217; 1964 hit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LZLpZtcMAoU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Jerk<\/a>\u267e, that also launched <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jerk_%28dance%29\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the eponymous dance<\/a>, is another fine example). There&#8217;s a slower, breezy cover of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rDXUKYzxDyQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha by James Taylor<\/a>\u260a in his 1991 <em>New Moon Shine<\/em> album.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Beyonce: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=k4YRWT_Aldo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">7\/11<\/a><\/strong>\u267e (2013) Here&#8217;s an interesting instructional dance song for the YouTube generation: shoulders sideways, legs movin&#8217; side to side, wave your hands side to side, clap, clap, clap like you don&#8217;t care. For visual cues there&#8217;s the official clip, apparently shot with a smartphone. She tried it at home: why shouldn&#8217;t you?<\/p>\n<div class=\"otw-sc-divider otw-text-left\" style=\"margin-top: 30px; margin-bottom: 30px;\"><\/div>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 130%;\">Resources<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The very informative <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Novelty_and_fad_dances\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Novelty and Fad dances<\/a> Wikipedia page.<\/p>\n<p>The way too slim (but full of links) <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/African-American_dance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">African-American dance<\/a> Wikipedia page.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.shawntrautman.com\/linedancesonglist.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Line Dance Song List<\/a>: All you need to know about <em>Line Dance<\/em>, including all the steps (<em>Cotton Eyed Joe<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Watermelon Crawl<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Swamp Thang<\/em> and a million more) and musical suggestions for each dance. On YouTube there are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/results?search_query=line+dance+instructions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hundreds of Line Dance Tutorials<\/a>. In <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Square_dance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Square dance<\/a> (the older version of Line dance), the singer\/MC often sang dance instructions, as you can see in this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JHqS1bOOLVc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lovely home video<\/a>\u267e.<\/p>\n<p>The website Flavorwire has a video compilation: <a href=\"http:\/\/flavorwire.com\/147128\/instructional-dance-crazes-of-the-2000s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instructional dance crazes of the 2000s<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As you probably know, there are a multitude of songs that are also new dances, sometimes very successful: Gangnam Style was first and foremost a dance move, and so was The Oak Tree\u267e by Morris Day &#8211; not as popular, but much more fun. The similar category, songs with popular dances in the title, is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21,31,32,18,27,17],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/dncs3.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s72xuL-dances","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":942,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions\/942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sergiomessina.com\/moss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}