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 Cinco de Mayo parties are fairly predictable. Most clients request some appropriately latin- inspired music for attendees to enjoy while snacking on nachos and mini-tacos and slurping down margaritas and Pacificos. After dinner, it's dance time, so break out the dance music, and be sure to include the classics. La Bamba (of course,) Tequila (naturally,) Come a Little Bit Closer (okay) and El Paso (No. request all you want, but you can't dance to it.)
This last Cince de Mayo I made an interesting observation: Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass are awesome! You MUST include their music at your next Cinco de Mayo party. Holy crap...they had a dozen huge hits, and even if you play the B-side songs, it is all pure gold. Trust me, Boomers in attendance will look up, smile and say "God, I love that song (I haven't heard it in years!") Seriously, you never hear Herb Alpert on radio...even those "oldies" stations (because "oldies these days means "80's and 90's.") The bouncy upbeat stuff is immediately recognizable to everyone over 50. You remember "The Lonely Bull" and "Tijuana Taxi." But do you remember "Green Peppers?" ...or "Bittersweet Samba?" ...and what about "Peanuts?" You will find yourself doing a goofy dance and snapping your fingers...like your parents probably did. Mine did. Jesus, it was embarrassing! But the slow songs...madre de dios! These were MADE to dance to, so grab that someone and fall in love all over to "Ladyfingers." An achingly, hauntingly beautiful, solitary trumpet song, so sweet, so romantic... it is making my eyes well up even as I type this. This is the trumpet sibling of Santana's "Samba pa Ti." Even on a crowded dance floor, it is an intimate, soulful song that sets it apart from other "slow songs." I have added Ladyfingers to all of my playlists. By the way, someone will probably protest that Santana is the voice (well, guitar) of Baby Boomer music. Don't get me wrong, I worship Carlos Santana and his groundbreaking music from the 60's. The later stuff, with the Mahavishnu Orchestra...less so. Santana Abraxas...oh god yes! Santana at Montreux 2004? Um...no, a different Santana...a "Jazz" Santana. I don't really synch up with Santana again until "Supernatural." He is a boomer era legend, like Clapton, McCartney, and the Stones. But the stuff they record now doesn't have that young, lean & hungry, ass-kicking quality that their early stuff showcased. And yes, I will admit that even Herb Alpert's recent work is too jazzy for me to warm too. Such is life...or to quote a George Harrison album title, "All Things Must Pass." Keep Dancing, Rob  When I was in my teens and twenties, oldies were tunes from the fiftes. Bill Haley & the Comets. Elvis. Jerry Lee Lewis. Even back then,oldies were associated with poodle skirts, bobby-socks, and bouffant hairdos. "Oldies" was NOT the term used to describe the vocalists on Ed Sullivan at the end of the 50's until the venerable show was eventually was canceled. Bobby Darin, Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mathis, Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme, Tony Bennett, Patsy Cline, Goulet, Connie Francis, Sammy Davis Jr., ...in fact, the entire rat pack.
So oldies were pop artists and songs from roughly 10 to 20 years earlier, geared toward car radio that was decidedly youth oriented. My point, and somewhere in here I do have a point...is that people in their thirties and forties probably consider "oldies" to be roughly the early to late 80s. Fifties and poodle skirts for them is like "big band" music to boomers. It's great music. I could listen to it all day, but "it ain't my generation." (Which are the words used by a young guy in my office when I asked him if he was a Rolling Stones fan.) What was the 70's? Seriously...imagine a "seventies night" event...which would be the "fifties night" for generation X (which followed the Baby Boomer generation.) I'm guessing Disco. The biggest thing to happen musically in that decade. otherwise, the 70s is a lot of music for listening to, but not much for dancing. The amazing thing is that the big "acts" from the 70s are STILL touring and filling arenas. Aerosmith! The Eagles! Clapton! So if the 70's was disco, what would "eighties night" sound and look like? Madonna. New Wave. Glam rock (big hair!) Eighties are the new "oldies" for generation Y. Whoa...Janet Jackson, Madonna, and Paula Abdul....oldies acts! Man, does time fly. Confession: I have never danced the Watusi. But watching Wednesday Adams giving Lurch a lesson gives me hope. (For a big guy, he has some serious moves!)  How do you begin to compare the 1988 Rikki Lake version of "Hairspray" to the 2007 version with Nikki Blonsky? Aside from having essentially the same plot they are as different as...well, John Travolta and Divine.
Admit it...John Travolta in a fat suit and a dress was just a little creepy. And that regional accent! What was that? Texas? Oklahoma? (Hairspray takes place in Baltimore.) The 2007 version is a nice showcase for Christopher Walken, who is actually a talented dancer. But sheesh...the number he performs with Travolta was 2 clicks East of weirdville. And anytime a director out-weirds John Waters you are talking weeeeeeeeeeird. The best scenes of both films are, of course, the dance scenes. Personally, I think I would have had more fun at Motormouth Mabelle's record shop, but watching the kids dancing a "Madison" is like stumbling across something amazing in a museum basement. Keep your eyes peeled for cameos by Rick Ocasek (from the Cars) and Pia Zadora (from...Mars?) Advantage: 1988 version) I'm just glad that Disney didn't get their hands on the rights to this story and try to animate it. But I do have to say that both flicks get 2 thumbs up for great dance numbers, crazy characters, and evocative music.  This is an impossible choice to make. There are a thousand dimensions of slow song. The same songs that would have triggered a change in radio station 30 years ago now now make up the lion's share of my favorite slow song playlists. And of course, gender plays a big role in the selection. There are celebrations of love "found," and heart-wrenching odes to love "lost." Some songs are so personal and intimate it's hard to imagine dancing to them with anyone but your spouse/BF/GF. Stop snickering.
Here are a few favorites of mine: Love Lost, Slipping Away, or Gone Terribly Wrong: Brenda Lee's smoldering "I'm Sorry" or "Break It To Me Gently" Whistful (no other way to describe it): Jonathan King's "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" This is what they mean by the expression "haunting." Proof that no one does string arrangements like the Brits (used to.) The time signature makes it a little challenging (it's a 3/4) but if can waltz and you don't mind being the only couple on the dance floor. You will be rewarded. Pure, Unadulterated Love Song: The Casino's "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye." Always makes me a little misty. Runner-up? Chris Isaak's cover of Elvis Presley's classic "I Can't help Falling in Love With You." Very similar to Elvis' version, but where they are oh-so-slightly different...magic. Instrumental: Remember these? Nothing says "Sixties" like Frank Purcell's "Our Winter Love" except maybe a draft notice or bench (front) seats in cars. Those are my favorites. What are yours? |
Boomer DJBoomer DJ is a 60-something recently retired from the healthcare world...and not a minute too soon. Archives
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