#135 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Saturday September 4)
Good morning and Happy Weekend!
Last week I shared a great selection of dances from musical theatre, courtesy Mark Greenfield. I figured it might be fun to share some other “dance moves” related to music.
A fun subcategory of pop music is songs about dances. There are those that remind us of iconic dance moves by the singer but which did not become dance crazes. Some of these include:
“Thriller” by Michael Jackson (but you could pick “Billie Jean” or almost any other MJ dance move)
“Put a Ring on It” by Beyonce
“Gangnam Style” by Psy (who can forget his “riding the horse” move?).
But the focus of this Musing is on dance crazes (real and imagined by the song’s lyrics). I still can’t believe I learned The Hustle with my then-girlfriend or that I have suffered through the Macarena at a few bar mitzvahs. Here they are:
“The Twist,” sung by Chubby Checker
“The Hustle,” sung by Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony
“The Macarena,” sung by Los del Rio
“The Loco-motion,” by Grand Funk Railroad (originally sung by Little Eva and later covered by Kylie Minogue)
“The Time Warp,” The Rocky Horror Show (later the Rocky Horror Picture Show). One of my all-time favorites, combining musical theatre, comedy, and kitsch.
“Crocodile Rock,” sung by Elton John. I’m not exactly sure whether people later danced to it but Elton sure did…
“YMCA,” sung by the Village People (unintentionally giving rise to the now famous “dancing letters,” which has become something of a gay anthem and a feature at nearly every bar mitzvah)
Then there are Tragedy, the Stanky Leg, Waka Waka, Party Rock Anthem (LMFAO), and the Cha Cha Slide, among others. I’m sure you have your favorites.
MEMORIES OF THE TIME WARP
It was back in college and I met a girl at a party. We talked about any number of things, including musical theatre, which we found was a common love of ours. Since I’d seen everything at the Music Center already, I was looking for something different to share with this woman. A friend suggested The Rocky Horror Show, playing at the Roxy. I had no idea about the play, thinking it was a “straight play” that perhaps had some element of suspense or horror. We took our seats, ordered our drinks, the lights dimmed and out pranced “Professor Frankenfurter” in fishnet stockings and high heels, singing “I’m just a sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania.” As I sunk in my seat with embarrassment I could only think “what must this woman think of me?” And “what kind of lowlife would bring a woman to a pornographic show?” Once I got over the initial shock, it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable evenings of theatre I’d had for some time. She must have enjoyed it too because, yes, there was a second date.
Here are the relevant lyrics of the Time Warp, dictating the dance moves that began showing up at parties:
It’s just a jump to the left
And then a step to the right
With your hands on your hips
You bring your knees in tight
But it’s the pelvic thrust
That really drives you insane
Let’s do the Time Warp again…
POETRY
One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII
By Pablo Neruda
I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as one loves certain obscure things,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries
the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,
and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose
from the earth lives dimly in my body.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you directly without problems or pride:
I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,
except in this form in which I am not nor are you,
so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,
so close that your eyes close with my dreams.
Have a great weekend,
Glenn
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