"Dance Music For Old People"
Today’s blog entry is brought to you by the letter “D”.
To continue on with yesterday’s ‘Inspirational Blog Title’, today I’m going to reflect on my first junior high dance, and the music that began my passion for music in most forms.
It’s the year 1983, and I’m in grade 8. I can remember standing in the darkened gymnasium with my girlfriends, stealing glances across the room at ‘the guys’ who were doing the same thing back in our direction. I can even remember what I was wearing: A pair of ripped jeans that I’d snuck out of the house in, because my mother would have had a fit if she’d seen me go out wearing them, a low cut white t-shirt, and a jean jacket that was worn in just the way I liked it. I wasn’t a girly girl back then… Not at all. I prefered comfort over style, and never left the house with a curl showing in my long hair.
At first, my friends and I didn’t really notice the music playing — None of us were really music connoisseurs back then… At least, not until something strange happened. Maybe it was the flashing lights vibrating in time with the beats, or perhaps it was the energy in the room, but suddenly, we all stopped talking and were captured by our surroundings. “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie was blaring out of the radio station’s on-site speakers (CFUN was on location to provide the entertainment for the evening) — And we all started singing at the top of our lungs to the tune.
We couldn’t help it, and before we knew it, we didn’t care what anyone else (read: the guys) thought of our dancing inabilities… We were dancing and belting out the lyrics like it was us giving the performance. It was a changing moment for me. It was right then that I learned how to get swept away by a moment, dive into the energy and let all my troubles drop away.
It was a magical moment. I’ve had many, many more since — I relate and remember a lot of things in my life to the music that was I was listening to at the time. “Romeo” by Basement Jaxx, “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, “One” by Aimee Mann, “I Love LA” by Randy Newman, “Live From The Ministry of Sound” by Paul Oakenfold…
Do you relate your life to music? Are there particular songs/DJs/bands that when you hear them, bring you right back to a moment in time?
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Well, I’m married to a professional sax player, so yeah, music is important in our house. (bet you didn’t know he did that too!)
But your post made me think about my first jr. high dance. A boy named Nathan asked me to dance and I was so freaked out that I ran and hid in the girls’ locker room. For the rest of the night.
So sad though…. that same boy was killed by a drunk driver 5 years later, right before high school graduation. I know, I just buzzkilled my own story, but that’s a pretty strong memory for me…
Tanya, your post reminded me of an expert from Naomi Wolf’s book: “Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle for Womanhood.” where young girls would secretly walk blocks away from their houses, only to hook up with their friends, (who drove cars) and then dress up along the way. One of the scenes describes the dance (circa 1973)… how the song “Stairway to Heaven” would play, and the introduction part was only reserved for those couples who were serious: because is was the slow dance.
1983—– I remember that my high-school (Terrace, BC) had made a big deal toward Ozzy, AC/DC and Lead Zeppelin being played at my Grade Ten dance. The right-wing, evangelical religious nut that we had for a principle took sick that year, and at the graduation dace, for the first time, under-ground rock n’ roll music was played. I will never forget that night!
Hey atpanda, My hubby’s a sax player around town too. He knows quite a few of the local musicians.. I wonder if he knows your hubby? Wouldn’t that be a small world…. He mostly plays with big bands, quartets, military bands, and a few dance bands when needed.
Music often triggers memory for me; it is so much part of the culture. Especially the old tunes.
Thanks for visiting via Michele!
“Laid” by James. Always brings me back to first year university when my best friend and I were just getting to know each other through swapping boy stories and playing air drums in my dorm room memorizing the lyrics to this gem.
Even now the song comes on and something happens to my hands – they just start playing the drums – especially in the lead up to “YOU THINK YOU’RE SO PRETTEEEEEEEEE!”
Hey, its me Brad, (still a relatively new friend of MJ’s)… my first comment here. I just had to comment to this topic. I truly agree with this… and have been blogging about this often (I have a temp blog on my dot mac account until I get my site5 account up and running)… I call it “music in my head”….and as I say there.. Music can trigger memory and take you back in time… music is universal, its beautiful and an inspiration…Our lives are captured by song…
This reminds me of one of my favorite songwriters/musicians… Neil Peart. He wrote a travel essay on this subject (Traveling Music: Soundtrack to My Life and Times). A MUST read. Rush is one of my all-time favorite bands and I have many fond memories of Rush songs going all the way back to my first Rush concert. Funny you should mention David Bowie too. Another of my first (and favorite – I’m using this word a lot today…) concerts; full of vivid memories. Going to my first Rush concert, I can remember WMMR playing blocks of Rush and while crossing the bridge into Philadelphia, the guy in the car next to me was air-drumming (perfectly) to Tom Sawyer and all of us couldn’t help but try to keep up with him… Still do it today…
Aaaaahhhhh…
Chaz…