Carnival Imagination - Thursday September 10TH 2009
That’s me and The Captain of the Carnival Imagination. The shot was taken up on the bridge as part of the very exclusive 3½-hour ‘behind-the-fun’ tour of the non-public areas of the ship during the final full day at sea.
This week on the ‘Retro’ it’s the second most-played song of the fun ship cruise that I heard in the Dynasty Lounge before and after the various games and shows in there. It’s the current worldwide pop and dance radio smash from European sensation Cascada. Here’s “Evacuate The Dancefloor”:
I used to hang out at a quaint little place called ‘8-Trax’ at the former incarnation of Downtown Disney Pleasure Island (1989-2008) at Walt Disney World near Orlando Florida. Other than there and on various cruise ships there haven’t been too many other opportunities to dance like it’s 1979. Another place that I can recall enjoying the Disco experience is the Illusions Disco aboard the Carnival Imagination. I’ve got some good memories in that jumpin’ joint from Labor Day Weekend in 1999 and Memorial Day Weekend in 2003. I’m lookin’ forward to returning to an old home, for I’ve been resting up so that I can maximize some of my classic dance moves – as well as a few new ones. I’ll be ready to tear up the dance floor and get my groove on. Sho You Right !
Let us now flashback 34 years to the hot Summer of 1975. That’s when 35-year-old Van McCoy took “The Hustle” straight to # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a gold pop, soul, and disco Grammy award winning smash. Many from the time would argue that it’s one of the first great Disco songs of the era. I agree.
I’ve got a lot of great memories when it comes to my Grandmom. While much of my early childhood was forgettable and not so happy virtually all of my time with my Grandmom is memorable to this day and very happy.
When I think of music from the 1970s (not particularly Disco – but all other forms of music) I think of listening to it on my Grandmom’s record player and FM stereo system in her living room. That system got a lot of usage out of me and my cousin John John. We played our favourite TOP 40 songs at the time, and my Grandmom played her occasional Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Lou Rawls records. Me and my cousin knew what to do if Grandmom wasn’t feeling too good. Throw on the Engelbert and be done with it.
My Grandmom also had this nice little music box that sat on her bedroom bureau. Lift it up, and it played soothing music. She loved it, and it was one of her favourite show-and-tell items whenever her grandchildren came over for a visit.
Back in 1979 during the absolute pinnacle of the Disco music era a Canadian guy by the name of Frank Mills who was a pianist, composer, producer, and arranger released an all-instrumental song that shocked the entire nation, stormed onto the hit music charts, became a TOP 3 smash at pop radio, and went gold at retail. It was so huge that over 30 years later he is still known as ‘Mr. Music Box Dancer’.
There have been many different remakes of the original “Music Box Dancer” from 1979, but this is probably my favourite of them all. It’s a 2007 techno version of the classic that remakes it but maintains its original integrity. It’s also got a cool modern music video to boot. Check it out – “Music Box Dancer” – 2007 style !
I dedicate this edition of the ‘Saturday Night Retro’ to my Grandmom:
CountUp 