Play that Funky Music, Kittens...

          A few blogs ago I talked about impulse control, and I was thinking about that today when I was in a neighborhood store searching for a greeting card. It’s one of those stores with an excruciatingly groovy counter staff—everyone has at least one tasteful facial piercing (is that an oxymoron? "Tasteful facial piercing"??) and they all wear those big thick-framed black glasses through which they gaze at the customers in utter dispassion. The store merchandise is unique and arranged cleverly, and there isn’t much of it. T-shirts featuring clever little ironic messages, retro teapots, a few toys, exotic candles, some jewelry. There’s no real theme, unless it’s Stuff You Would Never, Ever Buy for Yourself Because It’s Too Expensive and You’re Not Even Sure What It’s For But It Makes a Great Gift if You're Desperate.

         They always have great cards, though.

          Anyway…so I was poking through the cards and milling about with a few other serious-looking adults all of whom no doubt also had gift-seeking objectives, when the song that was playing over the sound system when I entered the store—a strummy acoustic guitar, a sighing female vocal, barely a song at all— sort of ebbed away and then stopped.

         A moment of near total silence followed.

         And then suddenly, like a rain of hard superballs, the opening guitar lick of “Play that Funky Music, White Boy” bounced of out of the speakers.

           And it was hilarious. Because it’s nearly impossible to hear that song and not move at least a little. And all the solemn adults who were picking up teapots and sniffing candles around me started to sort of…twitch. One guy tapped his foot and seemed to be pretending he wasn’t doing it. But then he did it again…and again. A woman near me began to sort of furtively finger-drum her thigh. I noticed another woman almost gingerly bobbing her head to the music, carefully not meeting anyone’s eyes. And frankly, I was sort of dying to just burst out into a full-on funky dance. I’m willing to bet everyone in that store felt the same way. Our bodies, our reflexes were probably silently screaming, “What is the matter with you?? Dance, you fool, dance!” I mean, dancing would have made sense, from a reflex perspective. That’s what that particular song is for. We would have all done it in our homes, I’m betting. Instead, we were behaving in a civilized manner, and repressing all of our instincts.

        I amused myself by imagining grabbing the guy next to me and launching into The Bump, and then everyone else would just cut loose and we would all dance like maniacs in public, around the ironic t-shirts and teapots, for the duration of the song, and then resume our solemn gift searches. What if life was like that? Like an episode of Fame, or something??

           Of course, there are excellent reasons for impulse control, because it helps us tell the truly crazy from the not crazy. For example, I had a seat on a crowded bus one day when I noticed this guy standing in the aisle: tall, curly hair, nice fisherman’s sweater. Cute, I thought. I smiled a little…and he smiled a little…and then he abruptly reached up for the overhead bar with both hands and began swinging from it like a monkey while making loud trumpet noises with his mouth to the tune of the 1812 Overture. In other words, he was nutty as a fruitcake. There’s usually one genuinely nutty person per bus in San Francisco.

         Ah, well. I mostly confine my dancing to home these days, in my office, to the world's most random songs.

        Do any of you out there like to dance? Do you do it in public, at weddings, at a club, only at home, never?? What kind of stuff do you like to dance to? Is there a song that gets you going every single time?

Comments

[Haven Rich]

I like dancing to all sorts of music. Right now I'm addicted to Fergie's London Bridge. But certain songs by Black Eyed Peas really get the booty moving lol.

I was once a dancer (we won't go into that). But I shake it in public, home, where ever lol.

Anyhow, I love music. Addicted to it. I have my mp3 player with me all the time, filled with all sorts of music from Etta James/Otis Redding to Godsmack/Papa Roach and everything in between.

[Toni Blake]

Hey Julie - I'm baaaaaaccckkk! (That's my Jack Nicholson impression. Doesn't work in print, does it?)

Anyhoo, I HAD to respond to this for numerous reasons. I LOVE to dance and, as I get older, I have less and less opportunities to do so. AND it just so happens that Play That Funky Music is my VERY fave dance song of all time. Because you're so right - you HAVE to dance to it. I have it on multiple dance hit compilation CDs : )

That impulse control thing - interesting. Reminded me of this time in my youth (was so tempted to just type "yout" as a My Cousin, Vinny reference, but maybe not everyone would get it?) when I was out with friends at Zantigo (no longer around, but could be classified as an upscale Taco Bell) and some song I loved came on the radio as we were getting out of the car. A guy in the group knew I loved to dance to that song, and he was something of a free spirit, so suggested that we turn it up and dance in the parking lot before we went for our burritos. So we did. And people stared. But I recall it being amazingly freeing.

So impulse control is important - but losing it occasionally may be a good thing. Depending on the circumstances.

A sad note: As time passes, I become a worse dancer. Every time I have occasion to dance, I become aware of this. I think I'm more "conscious" of my moves these days or something - like I'm "thinking about it" and not just doing it. So note to self: on next dance occasion, don't think, just dance.

[Julie Anne Long]

Haven, you can't say intriquing things like, "I was once a dancer," and not expound. LOL. You've left us in suspense!! The Black-Eyed Peas are a gift to dance music. LOL. Really fun to dance to. As for dancing, I took tap and ballet when I was little, and though I'm passionate about ballet now (not dancing it—watching it), I liked tap a little better back then, because it was more rhythmic, and you could make noise with your FEET. Which was fun. And me and my friend Dana Salsedo used to make up dances when we were little and then charge the neighborhood kids a nickel to watch. :) Actually, making up dances was a very earnest pasttime throughout my "yout' " (you cracked me up with that, Toni).

And I love that image of everyone dancing in parking lot, Toni! (Toni's always trying to get me to dance at RWA conferences and RT, etc.. LOL). Spontaneous expressions of joy can't hurt now and again, right? Does anyone remember that movie with...Winonna Ryder and Ethan Hawke?? What was that called? Where they all started suddenly dancing to "My Sharona" in a 7-11 type store?? (My Sharona is another of those irresistible songs.)

What are some other irresistible songs?? "What I like ABout You," is one of them for me. (The Romantics.)

[Toni Blake]

Ah, you're taking me back to my "yout" again, Julie ; ) I, too, danced many a time to My Sharona and What I Like About You. In fact, I'm probably the only freak who actually saw The Romantics in concert something like 4 times. Seriously. (Wasn't that I loved them so much, but my friends kept buying tickets when they came to town.)

And, I, too, did the whole tap/ballet thing. For 8 years. Quit because I was too tall to get up "on toe" and had waited too long to make the transition. Heartbreaking at the time, but hey, I became a writer, so it all worked out.

I will not even BEGIN trying to think of good dance songs, because there are just too many and I could be here all day with a question like that when I have books to write and deadlines to meet ... so farewell for now to Julie's kittens and to Benji, if he's still around.

Is he, like, a regular here? Does he come to stalk the kittens?

[Toni Blake]

Oh, and I almost forgot - it was Reality Bites ...

[Kathy K]

Oh, boy... the visuals are awesome! I could just hear and see the store with the abrupt shock of going from quiet, classy music to outrageous dance music! And the people moving, but not appearing to do so... it's sad that as we "grow up" we lose the ability to just take the moment and go with it. Freeing, yes!
I love music, love to dance; the better the rhythm, the harder it is NOT to move. My favourites span a couple or three decades; everything from the music I loved watching "Happy Days" to the 70's and 80's (teens and early 20's for me) to the music that my kids like. I'm a music-eclectic person (if there is such a thing). "Play that funky music" is such a wonderful, gotta move-to-it piece of music; "Maniac" by Michael Sembello (sp?) from "Flashdance"; anything from "Dirty Dancing" and yes, "Saturday Night Live"... I have to admit loving the disco music, 'cause you could M-O-V-E to it. As for dancing, I used to dance a LOT when my kids were younger, to anything that came on the radio - they liked it then. When my third child graduated from High School (2005), my husband and I were at the dance; my daughter's boyfriend's mother and I danced quite a bit as I hate to sit when there's music playing. I'm not sure whether Meagan (daughter) was freaked, embarassed or totally disbelieving, but I had a blast!
Those were the days!

Thanks for the memories! and the resulting smiles; great way to perk up a drab, dreary Canadian autumn day!

Kathy

[Julie Anne Long]

Kathy, we're having a dreary day here, too -- I mean, it might as well be winter!! Windy, gray, cold. Sigh. Where's our Indian summer?? It *should* be warm right now in the City. Sigh. Anyway, it sounds like you guys have a blast dancing! And whether or not she was mortified at the time, later in life your daughter will *love* to tell the story about how you danced at her prom, I'm betting. LOL. Truthfully, "Stayin' Alive" to this day always gets me moving. "Disco Inferno" is another one. Another one that just popped into my head? "Been Caught Stealing," Jane's Addiction. A more recent one that went immediately on my "running on my trampoline" list: "Vertigo," U2. They run the gamut of genres, the really good dancing songs do. Anyone into Swing dancing?

[Ranurgis]

Yep, an oxymoron or anyway, a moron. I really don't see the attraction of piercing your body with big metal rings. Yesterday for the first time, I saw a girl with two in her lower lip spaced evenly and sort of dividing it into thirds. Yuck. If there's very little light, and it happens to fall on the rings, she probably looks as if she has fangs. Maybe that's the idea.

Anyway, to dancing. I think I've always been very inhibited in that. I'm not a very well-co-ordinated person. Mind and body often go off in different directions. But yes, there are occasions at home, mind you, where I'll just float more that make real dance moves. But those moments are very rare and usually cut short very abruptly by a stab in the hip or the back or a twist of the ankle. I've also stopped finger-dancing and drumming because the fingers hurt too much. Maybe because I comment too much.

But I would have loved to see everyone let loose in that store. You should be a writer because you really got that emotion and anticipation through to us.

Oh yeah, right. You *are* a writer and a very good one.

And I agree on that dreary Canadian autumn day bit, Kathy. It's been pouring off and on for the last couple of days. I don't know when I last saw the sun. I don't know where you are but I'm in Southwestern Ontario. I can never really wrap my mind around that one. To me western Ontario is the border to Manitoba which is some 1500? miles or kilometers away.

[Diana]

I don't like to dance at all, but I will do it if I have to. However, there are songs that get my feet tappin', my head bobbin', and and my mouth movin' along to the words. Two songs that come to mind are Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and The Go-Go's "Vacation." When I hear those songs, I just get in a mood. :D

Julie, I'm trying to figure out which store you're talking about in your blog. Is it Paper Source? There are so many hipsters in SF, it could be anywhere. ;) Your description of the guy on the bus cracked me up. Gotta love Muni.

Diana

[Estella]

I don't dance, but when Good Hearted Woman plays , I wish I did.

[Julie Anne Long]

I'm laughing now, because suddenly I'm dying to hold a party and invite all of you to come dancing. LOL. Ranurgis, you're not half-bad at description, either! You totally gave me the shivers describing those piercings. We're all glad you're saving the fingers for commenting, but make sure you do at least a little swaying to the beat while you're sitting there. That ought to make the day seem less gray.

And Diana...let's just say that store is somewhere between, oh, The Haight and the Beach. LOL. I don't want to say exactly where, because I"ll have to go in there again soon, I'm sure, and I don't want them all staring at me reproachfully (as if they all read my blog! LOL). And the Go Go's!! I think the Go Go's can cure the common cold. LOL. Well, I remember this one time many, many years ago: I had bronchitis, but I also had tickets to see the Go Go's at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. I was *really* sick—you know, that messy, feverish, obnoxious kind of sick—but when you're young, you tend to be a bit idiotic about those kinds of things, and my friends didn't care, so we went. And danced like crazy. I totally forgot I was sick, in fact. "Vacation," "Head Over Heels," all those good ones—the whole crowd danced really hard. And the next morning...I felt 100% better. :) I was cured! Pretty funny.

Estella, if you came to my dance party, we'd get you dancing, somehow. :)

[Kevin]

Since about 1989, my favorite song to dance to has been "Love Shack" by the B-52s. I love to get out there on the dance floor and get down and get groovin'. I can't help it. This song gets me every time. At weddings. At company Christmas parties. In the car, my fingers start tappin' away. Now, whether what I do is called dancing is another story. But, I do my best when this song comes on. Guess it's something about the tin roof.... rusted.

[Julie Anne Long]

Oh yeah, Kevin, the B52's are old favorites of mine, too. Particularly "Rock Lobster." Who could resist deathless lyrics like the enthusiastically shouted, "Here comes a NARWHAL!!!" LOL. If you're a guy, and you're even attempting to dance, you get points. :) Not too many guys are eager to hit the dance floor in general, in my experience.

[Diana]

Speaking of the Haight, I was there today. I hadn't been out there in a while. I had a gift certificate to Amoeba and picked up a few CDs. I love it when I don't have to pay for stuff. :P

Julie, who knew that the Go-Go's could cure illnesses? I've only been to one concert at the Greek Theater. It was to see the punk band Rancid. I had a lot of fun, but afterwards, when I blew my nose, there was dirt and stuff (from the dirt in the mosh pit, I assume). Sorry if that description grossed anyone out. LOL.

Diana

[Kevin]

Dear Julie Julie Julie.. ooh, points for dancing? And just cuz I'm a guy? Us guys like to shake our booties, too! And when we've had a few martinis, hey, anything goes!!

[Julie Anne Long]

Ah, Diana, never fear. I doubt anyone reading this blog is quite THAT squeamish. LOL. I've never actually been to a full-on punk show (but I've been to the Greek a lot!), but I do remember moshing at my Senior ball..and i was wearing seafoam green taffeta, and my date was wearing a tux with tails. LOL. We look happy and disheveled in the prom photos. Needless to say, my corsage didn't survive the activity.

[Diana]

I was never into moshing--just observed more than anything. However, I have crowd-surfed/stage-dived in the past. Now when I think back, I can't believe I did that--jumping off the stage like that and trusting that people will catch me and pass me along without groping me. LOL. Nowadays, I would never do that.

Diana

[Toni Blake]

Note to Kevin: Julie's right - points for dancing! I met my husband on the dance floor and this fooled me into thinking he was a dancer. I later came to understand he was only dancing because he was extremely intoxicated at the time. Which is pretty much when he dances, now, too ; ) Sadly, that's not often. Perhaps I should begin plying him with alcohol ...

Note to Julie: If you hadn't gone rushing off from the Harlequin party, you could have danced with me to Rock Lobster. Live and learn, my friend.

[Julie Anne Long]

I know a couple of guys who are into Country & Western dancing...specifically clogging...and one of them loves "The Orange Blossom Special." I've never really learned to country & western dance! Anyone know out there know how to do it??

And Diana...you reminded me....someday I might blog about the INSANE things we did as kids that could have either gotten us killed or maimed but didn't...but which were also a blast at the time. :) As an adult, I look back at a few things I did as a teenager/young adult and I'm astounded I could ever have been *quite* that brainless. LOL.

And Toni...there's always next year, I suppose. Maybe we can get them to dedicate it to me. ;)

[Sherrie Holmes]

I love love love to dance. When it's rainy and I can't go outside to take the dog for our exercise at the dog park, I get my exercise by dancing at home. I live on a farm by myself, so I can crank up the music and boogy like a middle-aged fool. I like to watch my reflection in the slider, working out new moves and perfecting old ones, and then I miss a beat and suddenly I'm out of rhythm. I realize I'm looking at an overweight woman whose body keeps jiggling long after I've stopped dancing. Then I get embarrassed and stop. And then 5 minutes later I'm washing dishes and I start drumming on the counter with the wooden spoon, and my feet are pattering around on the floor beneath me, and suddenly my whole body is in motion again. I can't stand still when there's fun music playing.