Thursday, July 11, 2013

Old is New Again

Styles come and go...and come and go again.  The same thing happens with music from time to time.  Back in the 1970s, there was a revival in 1950s music and rockabilly, popularized by TV shows like Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley, movies like Grease, and groups like Sha Na Na and the Stray Cats.

Disco music exploded in the late 1970s with the hugely popular Saturday Night Fever movie and album.  We tore up those lighted dance floors with copycat moves while trying to avoid hitting our heads on low-hanging disco balls.


I was really into disco when it happened.  Loved it.  LOVED it.  Forget Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and Tom Petty (all newly popular then), I wanted to hear Chic and Sister Sledge and Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall" album and dance like nobody's watching (though they most certainly were).  Even rock groups like The Rolling Stones did songs with disco beats, like "Miss You," and Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Under Foot," though die-hard fans would probably argue it wasn't intended that way.  We danced to them on the same lighted dance floor, is all I'm sayin'.

Then the tide turned—oh, did it turn—and disco crashed and came to (literally) a smashing end, and a New Wave came along.  I was all over that one too.  Let's Go!

So why the trip down memory lane?  Well, we were driving back from vacation last week and a new song came on the adult alternative station we usually listen to, and it sounded like...disco.

"Is disco coming back?" we both mused simultaneously out loud.

I certainly don't have my finger on the pulse of popular music anymore, so it's possible I missed the memo.  So I bopped along to the radio song and when I got home I checked it out on YouTube.  As you do.

Well, no wonder it sounded so familiar.  The bassist on Daft Punk's 2013 song "Get Lucky" is none other than Nile Rodgers of 1970s Chic fame, and many other collaborations.



But the best thing was finding this video where someone had synced the new song to old footage from Soul Train from back in the day.  I takes me back to Saturdays in the 1970s when we would watch American Bandstand and ST while either trying to avoid or actually doing our assigned housework chores.  The fashions are a blast from the past and the dance moves down the line are a total riot!

And then I saw this by Bruno Mars.  Check out the dance moves at 2:13.  And leopard print and red look fabulous together, don't they?



Yep.  Call it what you want, it's baaaack!

7 comments:

Lorna McMahon said...

Thanks for sharing that first video. Totally enjoyed seeing that! Unfortunately, I could not view the second one. It says the uploader has not made this video available in your country. Fun post!

Lorna:)

Anonymous said...

I learned the Hustle in 5th grade gym class, during the mandatory "dance" section. It was vastly better than learning to waltz or square dance. I taught my mom, and every time the song came on the radio we'd clear the living room floor and dance through the entire song. Our first line dance!

Pokey said...

What fun! I certainly enjoy your eclectic music selections, so often they are new to me, but also memories come that have me smilin'. Speaking of old becoming new, dd Lydia informed me that anything 'funk' makes her want to dance, lol...I have to agree ~
:-}pokey

kathy said...

The first time I heard Treasure, I told my son it sounded like Kool and the Gang!!! I had to play some for him because of course he had no idea what I was talking about. But, he did agree, and he wants to learn to play the song on his electric bass - score!

Shay said...

I missed Disco by only a couple of years . I think I was 12 or 13 when New Wave and the Romantic era hit so thats what I identify with best.

However I do have fuzzy childhood memories of my mother belting out some really bad Donna Summer disco tunes!

Elizabeth said...

I've had this open in my browser since you posted. I didn't have time to watch the videos at the time, but I like to watch what you post. You have great taste.

Love the groovy dance moves in that first one. Oh, and the clothes.

And, oh, yeah, that Bruno Mars song is definitely disco. Red & leopard print definitely look good together.

xo -E

Kevin the Quilter said...

LOVE! THIS! POST! Soul Train! That song by Bruno Mars was played during the evening gown competition at the pageant I was judging!