We just finished another Boomer Dance party at the Allegro Ballroom in Richmond, CA. The Allegro Ballroom is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to dancing and dance instruction. They have several large rooms, the largest of which is used for both instruction and dance events that feature everything from Salsa, Bachata, Tango, Samba, and Cumbia to other ballroom and exhibition styles that include (but are not limited to) West-Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Jive, Nightclub Two-Step, Foxtrot, and two flavors of waltz. 

Nonetheless, the power of "The Twist" along with the Swim, the Pony, the Jerk, the Monkey, and yes, the Mashed Potato had the crowd up on their feet along with a generous helping of the best of the best slow songs of the 50s and 60s. This was a crowd that embraced "The Stranger on the Shore, Ooh Baby Baby, Forever, Smoke gets in Your Eyes, and the most beautiful song ever recorded (IMHO) Moon River," Henry Mancini's treasure in 3/4 time. What an afternoon! The kindest people you ever met!

We'll be back (count on it.)

If you are interested in getting instruction, I highly recommend the Allegro Ballroom.
Check out their schedule of classes at https://allegroballroom.com/schedule/   

What's to say? Between social distancing and restrictions on how many people can be in the same room at one time, dance parties and DJ-ing specifically have become a non-starter. 

I don't know when I will be able to resume the free dance party events at senior/assisted living facilities. We are all in the high-risk demographic, so even when they do manage to get the vaccines distributed, I suspect that there will be just enough people who utterly refuse to get vaccinated to keep the threat of transmission high enough to thwart all attempts to return to normalcy.

I remember getting my polio shot and sugar cube. School lunch cafeteria. We all lined up. There were no such things as "anti-vaxxers" back then. If any parent would have said "no, my kid is skipping the vaccine" the school would have simply said "fine...but your kid can't attend school."  Ah yes...good times.

I am working on a plan to stream "boomer dance parties" by internet. A little music. A little video. A little commentary. A trivia question or contest. Not at all like a real dance party...but much safer. For realism, you can dance around a spill a glass of red wine on the carpet. (Crap!  My Mom will kill me. How do we get the stain out?  Do you think bleach will work? hahahahahaha oh yes, good times.

Stay tuned. Stay healthy. Keep moving around. Take your meds on time. All of them...even that horse pill for blood pressure.

Sure, there are a lot of truly horrible songs recorded in the 1960s, but "Little Diane" by Dion stands apart from others for a few reasons.

First, it was recorded by Dion DiMucci, of "Dion and the Belmonts" fame Okay, it's true that he recorded "Runaround Sue" AFTER splitting with the Belmonts, and, to be honest, the musical style of the Belmonts was miles apart from the doo-wopping "Runaround Sue," but still, there is no excuse for a song that features a kazoo instead of say, a sax or guitar to carry the rhythm. A kazoo!  Aahhhhhhhh!  Was there a shortage of sax or guitar studio musicians in 1962?  

Second objection: Laughably bad lyrics. 

Proof: From the second and third stanzas (although the very first stanza is simply awwwwwwful as well) And while you can't appreciate the horrible phrasing by simply reading the lyrics, here they are:

Ya, I wanna pack and leave and slap your face
Bad girls like you are a disgrace
A way down deep inside I cry
Without you little Diane I'd die

I should drag you down 'cause you're no good
You're two-faced, your heart's made of wood
A way down deep inside I cry
Without you little Diane I'd die

Add annoying background vocals by the "Del-Satins," who backed up the more memorable "Runaround Sue, Ruby Baby, and others and you would wonder why one of these guys didn't interrupt the recording session and pojnt out that "this song is really terrible. Why? Why are we recording this? Please, someone kill me now!"

Listen to it HERE and see if you don't agree. Seriously, this was the group that gave us "The Wanderer" for crying out loud.

A kazoo!   A kazoo!   Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

​Some DJs like to end with a bang. I prefer to end with a slow song that stands out from the other slow songs of the evening. The best of these songs are those that have a defined ending rather than just a slow fade to silence. Why? I thought you'd never ask.

A song that ends with "a period" seems to trigger a romantic gesture. A kiss, maybe an extended embrace. Something whispered in his or her ear. A smile. I feel like when I end the dance party with a classic slow song the evening doesn't end there. 

I have a small list of favorites that never fail.

At the top of my list is "Forever" recorded by "The Little Dippers." Released in 1960, this tune has grown on me over the past few years. Recorded by a veteran background singer named Anita Kerr and three other studio backup singers, it became a huge hit when Dick Clark heard it and wanted the "group" to perform on American Bandstand. Except...there wasn't really a group. No problem, the record company formed a group which toured and performed as "The Little Dippers" for several years. Don't cry for Anita...she did well performing as backup singer on most of the big hits that came out of Memphis in the early 60s.

Forever shares some of the essential characteristics of my favorite "Last Dance" tunes. The arrangement is sparse; like a Floyd Kramer tune. (Think "Last Dance") A bass, which does the heavy lifting for the rhythm-keeping,  minimal guitars, just a hint of soft drums, and a lean, but haunting piano melody. The tempo is perfect for swaying together with arms around your partner...nothing fancy...no over-complicated exhibition "Dancing With the C-Level Stars" here...this is the "slow dance tune" of slow dance tunes.

But really, it's the vocals that makes this song. Not especially passionate, nor clever. In fact, there is only one verse, repeated twice. The song doesn't build to some Nelson Riddle, Billy May, or Perez Prado crescendo of strings and/or horns. No, not at all. 
Not that kind of song.
​
​Hold me, kiss me, 
Whisper sweetly 
That you love me 
Forever.

That's it. And it's just perfect.  See if you don't agree HERE.

​

Let me cut to the chase....I am planning on doing some boomer dance parties on a regular basis (um, quarterly, at least until I retire) for...wait for it...FREE at some venues around the East Bay. That doesn't mean the the event will necessarily be free. There are costs to be covered at some of the nicer venues, but I am hoping to keep the "ticket" prices below $10. 

I love retirement parties and wedding anniversaries, but those are private events, not open to the public. The yacht club/marina gigs have been fun, but they aren't inclusive enough. Recently I was Googling clubs and other music dancing venues in the East bay, and ho-lee crap. Things are worse than ever. There aren't many places with boomer-oriented music AND a dance floor any more. Armando's in Martinez is great for music, and anytime "Sunday Papers" plays a gig you can count on great music, but they aren't really a dance venues, although I love that their music starts early on Sundays. I also highly recommend the Half Moon Bay Brewing company when they have a good Boomer band. The music starts early in the afternoon on Saturdays, and the dance floor is packed...but, Half Moon Bay (Princeton to be precise) is a hell of a drive. Any place you can hear Chrome Deluxe is worth the drive, but they are mostly a South bay band. Rats!

So for most Boomers, opportunities to hear Boomer classics (and dance!) are few and far between. it's worth it to me to drop my fee if I can find public venues in and around Alameda. I have a 'day job" and am more interested in preserving the experience of a classic boomer dance party than making a little dough. I find the money less attractive than seeing my wife and our friends out shaking that cake on the dance floor. 

Some limitations: These are Boomer Dance Parties, not club gigs, so they don't go from 8 to bar-closing hours. A two hour boomer dance party will leave you exhausted and sweaty enough. Trust me. I'm looking for public venues, not "member-only" places, and the charge at the door needs to stay below $10. We just want to pay for the location and maybe a custodian to make sure the restrooms are clean and well-stocked during the duration. A cash bar is great, but a caterer raises the ticket price, so that needs to be watched. Dance parties are about the music, the fun, and the laughter, not clearing a profit.

Watch for updates as this project moves forward...and dust off those dancin' shoes.

Continuing on my low-level rant about why the present-day pop music world can't hold a candle to the Boomer era...I offer, as further evidence...the absence of Instrumentals. If you were born after say, 1970 you may not even know what those are. 

Instrumentals are musical pieces that do not feature a vocalist. In fact they may have no lyrics at all, just a beautiful melody, perhaps an orchestral backing, and possibly a few background singers contributing "ooooooo" or "aaaaaaahhhh." They are not all slow tunes either. You DO remember "Tequila" by the Champs? How about the other mega-hit by the Champs...the one you recognize when you hear it but can't recall the title OR that it was recorded by the Champs?  Yes...THAT one: Train to Nowhere. 

I have compiled a list of some of my favorites below. These are an essential part of the Baby Boomer life soundtrack. You don't hear them anymore because the so-called "oldies" radio stations don't play them...their playlists are soooooo limited. Good luck finding a regular DJ who has them in his/her library.

Some of these are slow, simmering pieces, potentially precipitating the administration of  Viagra/Sildenafil. They may be that perfect moment in a dance party after a series of uptempo tunes ( i.e. empty dance floor + subdued lighting...or just moonlight.) Others in the list are classic dance-monster, high cardio tunes that get everyone gyrating.

If you see a glaring omission in my list, send it along in the field at the bottom of this blog entry.


1. Tequila / The Champs  -   1958 Well of course, this IS the king of all uptempo instrumentals!

2.  Our Winter Love / Bill Pursell  -  1963 This song is proof that the British are the undisputed kings of the  hauntingly beautiful string / piano arrangement. Didn't really get traction in the US.  Too bad, because it is soooooo beautiful. Click THIS and see if you don't  agree.

3. Wonderland by Night / Bert Kaempfert - 1961 This tune spent 3 weeks at #1 on the charts and established Bert Kaempfert as the king of pop trumpet until Herb Alpert exploded on the scene. What can you say but "wow."  Click THIS and take a listen.

4. The Happy Organ / Dave "Baby" Cortez -1959  I just love this tune! Dave Cortez was a Detroit R&B organist who recorded this cheerful little tune that went on to become the first organ instrumental to hit #1 on the charts. Dave followed this tune with another #1 hit "Rinky Dink" which you dance-skated to if you went to any roller skating rink in the US in the early sixties. (By the way, Rinky Dink is almost note-for-note the same as substantial portions of 1957's hit "Love is Strange" by Mickey and Sylvia...right down to the guitar riff. How did lawyers not jump all over this? Lawyers, bah!)  Click HERE for "The Happy Organ" and HERE for "Rinky Dink." 

5. Maria Elena / Los Indios Tabajaras  - 1958 This one takes a little 'splaining." The song was originally composed by a Mexican songwriter in 1938. It was dedicated to the wife of the wife of the President of Mexico at the time. It was picked up by American arrangers, English lyrics were added, and it was a hit for the great Bob Eberly and the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra. The version I like is the spartan guitar arrangement recorded by Los Indios Tabajaras in 1958. It is very exotic. Very sexy. I play this later in the evening, after a series of uptempo pieces. It always brings out at least one couple who then "own the dance floor" while other couples look on enviously.  This is one of those tunes whose name and artist escape you...but you remember it well.  Give it a listen HERE.


6. The Lonely Surfer / Jack Nitzsche - 1963  Jack Nitzsche was all over the 60s and 70s. A musician, arranger, producer, songwriter, and film score composer, Nitzsche was a fixture in the recording of many of the hits by the Stones, the Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young & Crazyhorse, and was an associate of Phil Spector. The Lonely Surfer isn't really a dance tune, but I play it in the wind-up to the kickoff of dance parties because it is just so frickin' cool. You never hear it anymore. Well, hear it now by clicking HERE. (Now you know what cooooool sounded like in 1963. Must be all those french horns, or that totally bitchin' bass line)


7. Last Night / The Mar-Keys - 1961   Man, I don't even know where to start with this monster hit and the legends that recorded it. Last Night is the official theme of all Boomer Dance Parties. It is just so awesome, so totally bitchin' that it is amazing that people don't just explode in flames when they hear it. It kicks your ass and drags you out to the dance floor where you make a complete fool of yourself. Amen.  You say you never heard of the Mark-Keys? They were session musicians at Stax records in Memphis Tennessee. Yes, THAT Stax records. Maybe these names ring a bell: Lewie Steinberg. Steve Cropper. Booker T (who was replaced by Isaac Hayes) Packy Axton. Wayne Jackson.  Oh yeah...the band that evolved into Booker T. and the MGs. Damn! They could have their own "Instrumentals" blog article.  Put your drink down, loosen your tie, and listen to THIS:  Oh hell yes.

8. Ladyfingers / Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - 1965  Herb Alpert redefined instrumental music in the mid 60s. He started out recording himself on trumpet, then overdubbing himself with slight key differences to create the "Tijuana Brass" sound. It was only when his recordings took off due to airplay on LA radio stations that he hired a team of crack session men so he could play live performances and boom...Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass was born. Album after album of wickedly fun, artistically brilliant arrangements. Herb Alpert took mariachi-inspired trumpet music and created his own genre of pop music that stands alone. His discography is what genius sounds like. I love EVERYTHING he recorded, but when I need a slow, sultry romantic sure-thing, Ladyfingers is IT.  Listen HERE.


9. Moon River / Henry Mancini -  1961   Okay, Moon river is not technically an instrumental. With gorgeous lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Moon River was written specially by Mancini for Audrey Hepburn to sing in "Breakfast at Tiffany's. (He wrote it because he needed a song that was not beyond the limited singing skill of Hepburn.) A masterpiece of  emotion that flows from the marriage of wistful lyrics and evocative melody, there is no question that this treasure in waltz time is part of the heart and soul of the baby boomer experience. Just writing about this song makes my eyes tear up. I don't know why. Maybe it's the harmonica. Maybe I have lived too long and seen too much.  So many memories. For now, just enjoy THIS. Thank you Henry.


9. 

There is a certain look that musicians and lucky, observant DJs see from time to time. It is so rare, so incredibly special that it eludes only the most talented photographers. I have seen it a half-dozen times over the years, and would love to capture it in a photo or video, but to do so would spoil the moment, and it would be gone. If you have ever found yourself sitting outdoors when a curious hummingbird floats in the air an arm's reach away just...well, checking you out, you know what I mean by rare, scarce, and fleeting. If you move to grab your smart phone to snap a picture of the encounter...ziiiip, the hummingbird is gone.

Yeah, it's just like that.


What is "the look?" It's the momentary eye-contact you make with one of the partners dancing to a slow song that says, in a way that transcends words:

                    "This is...so perfect. Thank you..."  

The conditions that set the stage for "the look" are not so unusual that they can't be re-created at every event, the better to have the camera standing by. But to try and capture it would display an appalling lack of appreciation for the intimate nature of the encounter. It's like encountering a deer on a hiking trail. Enjoy the moment, but you can't preserve it. So I can play a certain select playlist, lower the lighting levels, and hope that the music and ambiance moves someone. "The Look" doesn't belong on Facebook, or Instagram.

There is one song that has evoked the look more often than any other. "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin" by Gerry & The Pacemakers. Don't know why. I have more romantic tunes to be sure, but there is something about this one...maybe it's the oboe. I have a theory that because this song is associated with some macro-level event that links the tune to the dancer's deeply embedded memories on an unconscious level. The tune came out in 1964, so JFK's assassination was a recent event from the previous year. The Tonkin Gulf Incident took place in 1964, leading to an enormous increase in US troops being sent to Viet Nam. Civil Rights unrest reached a new level culminating in the murder of three civil rights activists in Mississippi. 

Most of "the looks" come from men, and nearly always they are in their 60s or older. They are dancing with someone their age, and I am guessing the dance partners are married, and have been so for a long, long time. I can almost picture them dancing to a slow song at college, or many high school prom. Maybe he has received his draft notice, or is climbing on a bus for boot camp the next morning. Maybe she is going off to college and this is possibly the last dance they both believe they will ever share. It's easy to romanticize the backstory behind "the look" because we have seen the story countless times in our boomer lifespan. On the silver screen. Television. Popular music. So, what's to say that my theory isn't accurate.

Want to make a DJ's night? Wait for a slow song, later in the evening when the dance floor is nearly empty. Find that special someone and put your arms around them on the dance floor. Keep your eye on the DJ....wait for it...

                        "This is...so perfect. Thank you..."  

My friend Nick contacted me and said he had a spare ticket to see the Moody Blues performing in San Jose. "Great seats. Interested?"

Hell yes. I had seen promos for the MBs on public television. ("Moody Blues at Redrocks" which I passed on as I do virtually everything public television trots out for pledge purposes.) I haven't bought an album by them since the mid-seventies and by the end of the seventies their unique progressive sound was...well...dated. In the late seventies I was busy getting my disco on and doing my best to cast my wild oats as often and as wildly as possible. 

I had low expectations going in to the performance venue. It looked like a AARP convention. Anyone without gray hair and a lifetime of wrinkles on their face was assumed to be the adult child of someone who probably pledged a membership to public television and was being dragged along. I rarely feel young when I go to any venue but in this place I was positively a youngster.

To cut to the chase, the show was awesome, and I have spent many happy hours since then digging out my MB albums and downloading tunes I have lost over the years.  They opened with "The Voice" which was eh...decent opening tune, but not a legendary hit. Those were to come. Yay. The opening tune gave the audience the chance to observe that...cheese and crackers!...these guys are old. Really old. There are only three members touring these days. I learned later on that ray Thomas (you know...mustache...flute playing Moody) was diagnosed with Prostate cancer and has "retired."  A shame. He was, for me, the face of the Moody Blues. I wish him the best.

Justin Heywood (guitar) is too damn good looking for a guy his age. He is the ultimate boomer sex symbol...still sounds great. Carries the guitar work all by himself on stage folks. Trim. I want his hair.

John Lodge is looking well past his sell-by date. Here is this much older looking face (looks like a homeless guy down on his luck) but atop his head is what I imagine must be a hairpiece. It is nothing short of right out of the glamrock days of the 80s! Hysterical. "Scorpion" from the forehead up, years of girls, drugs, booze, and their inevitable effects from the forehead down.

But he still ROCKS that bass guitar. And if you know your Moody Blues tunes, you know the bass line in "Story in Your Eyes" could leave younger bass players crouched in a heap whimpering "oh...the pain...the pain!" as they look upon their throbbing fingers. Lodge never missed a beat the entire night. 

That leaves Graeme Edge (drummer) who looked like he was channeling Colonel Sanders (of fried chicken fame) with his head of pure white hair and pointed goatee. He had a younger back up drummer handling the heavy drum tasks, but still played along and it was great to see him. About halfway into the show edge came down from his drums to a mike placed upstage for him. He thanked everyone for attending then announced 1) he had just celebrated his 74th birthday (holy shit!!!!) and 2) the Moody Blues were coming up on their 50th anniversary. (double holy shit!!!)

Imagine the crowd going wild. No...imagine WILDER.

They did an awesome set, playing the big hits...hits that sounded as great as wee remembered them in the sixties. The three youngish musicians (flute, sax/keyboard, keyboard) did a great job of reproducing a sound that was at least 20 years older than any one of them. At 35 minutes the band abruptly laid down their instruments, bowed, and scooted off stage. I thought.."Wow, that's it? No encore?"  My friend leaned over and said "intermission."

Intermission!  Holy crap!  I have seen younger, bigger acts that would have called it a night at the end of the first set.

Inter-frickin'-mission!!!  yeah!!!!!!

The second half started with a poignant version of "Isn't Life Strange" made all the cooler and stranger by Lodge's hairpiece.
With a couple of minor exceptions, every tune was cooked to perfection. The classics: Question. Ride My Seesaw. Story in Your Eyes. You and Me. Wildest Dreams. I'm Just a Player in a Rock and Roll Band. Say it With Love. Higher and Higher. 

...and yes. Nights in White Satin. And it was perfect. Even without the strings at the end. Graeme Edge rose from his drums and delivered the "Lament" poem at the end. There is a point, which all good boomers know by heart, where the poem goes" senior citizens wish they were young." As he delivered that line, Edge paused ever so slightly and made a sort of "nah, not really" facial expression and the whole audience picked it up and laughed.

From our vantage point in row 7 I could see literally everyone...EVERYONE in the seats around us was standing, their lips moving as they recited the Lament along with Edge. I raised my camera to capture this phenomenon, and it was only then that I noticed EVERYONE had either teary eyes, or the tears were trickling down their cheeks. I lowered my camera.

I am haunted by that moment. Probably hundreds of baby boomers in tears as the most perfect poem of their youth was recited. One can only imagine how many children were conceived to Nights in White Satin, and now, with the lion's share of their lives behind them, these words, this group has reconnected an entire performing arts center of aging fans with a happy memory of happier, simpler times. The applause at the end went on and on and on...

Oh, that you could have been there to see it...to hear it. it was quite honestly a perfect moment.

Thanks to my friend Nick for bring me along. It was amazing. I have seen some of the biggest names in entertainment...from Sinatra, Martin, and Davis at the Sands, to Tim Curry performing a spot-on karaoke performance of Billie Holiday singing "God Bless The Child" in a dive pub in Soho in the 90s.

But this night was really, sincerely, something special.

Had a couple requests for this tune at the Valentine's Day party the other night. It's been out for a while, as evidenced by the number of parodies on Youtube. It's really a Bruno Mars tune, although the credit on the title is Mark Ronson. Ronson is a recording artist, DJ, and producer in the UK. If you watch the video he is in just about every scene with Bruno Mars but you can't figure out why. Oh wait...it's HIS tune, even though Bruno Mars is the lead vocal and main video personality.

It's not bad. I like it. Funky. Bouncy. 


But...


Baby boomers who remember the 70's and 80's will feel like they have heard this tune before. They have. It borrows liberally, if unapologetically, from Morris Day and the Time's "Jungle Love", Rick James "Give it to me Baby", and in general, the keyboards are right off on Prince's work from the early 80's. Don't believe me? (Just watch....the video, then get out your Jungle Love LP.)

I will add it to my library in case I get a request at a party, but seriously, you will enjoy Rick James and The Time more. Trust me.

You're welcome.
 

Don't be alarmed. He's still dead. But his music? Not just alive and well, it seems to be taking on a life of its own.

I am speaking of the continuing trend of not just remastering older tunes, but hipping them up so that they are as dance-able as anything you might hear today on radio or whatever device you use to hear music these days.

Take Elvis for example. I am not a huge Elvis fan. He is slightly before my time, but over the years I have developed an appreciation of his library. Jailhouse Rock, I Can't Help Falling in Love With You, Hound Dog...all still pack the dance floor every time. But with increasing frequency, when you search the various music services for "Elvis" you are going to see remixes by various music producers and DJs available along side the original title. 

This is not exactly new. The tune  "A Little less Conversation" that gained popularity again when it was used as the title song for the "Las Vegas" TV show on the air from 2003 to 2008. That title was remixed and hipped up with funkier rhythm, sampled bits, and....wait for it....more cow bell! Listed on iTunes as "A Little Less Conversation (Elvis vs. JXL) [JXL Radio Edit Remix]  it retains, good or bad, a decidedly 70's sound, but it's fun, recognizable, and does justice to the original tune. All of this means: it can now be used as the music background for commercials on TV that are aimed at boomers. I see the folks at the Cache Creek Casino in Northern CA have begun using it already. 

BUT, while preparing for a recent gig (with instructions to go heavy on Elvis) I ran across a some remixed versions that were so awesome that they have become part of my core playlist.  You will find them on an album called "Bossa Nova Baby: The Ultimate Elvis Presley Party Album" on iTunes. 

Some of the tunes appear unchanged and aside from being digitally remastered are indistinguishable from the original. "Viva Las Vegas" and "Let's Have a Party" are two examples. They are classics in the Elvis style, and stand on their own. But on this 15 track album there are a few that have "Viva Mix" appended to the name. Among these "King Creole" and "Bossa Nova Baby" stand apart as simply amazing, infectious dance tunes that you have to hear to appreciate. yes...King Creole, from the cheesy B-movie stage of Elvis' career. Never saw it? Me neither. 

When I played it for the first time I wasn't sure what I was listening to. There are two versions of this title, and the longer one (at 4:22) includes the narration from a trailer for the movie. Interesting, but a dance floor-clearer. Once the actual remixed tune begins it takes off like an f***ing rocket. Holy shit...."what have you done to my Elvis?" From the pounding percussion and trombones at the beginning to the addition of female backup singers and very updated guitar solo, you will know you are not in Memphis anymore. 
The same treatment is given to Bossa Nova Baby (Viva Mix.) It rocks. No, I mean it REALLY rocks. My wife loses all control over her hips when she hears either of these tunes, and has spent way too many hours shaking it around the house to the King Creole track. 

There's a man in New Orleans plays rock n roll,
A guitar man a with a great big soul.
He lays down a beat like a ton of coal
He goes by the name of King Creole

chorus
You know he's gone, gone, gone,
Jumpin like a catfish on a pole
Yeah he's gone, gone, gone...
- Hip-shakin' King Creole


oh yeah...check it out.