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OTIS REDDING DOCUMENTARY

pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
edited January 2008 in Strut Central
Some rock critic once theorized that Otis Redding's ballads were only minor hits (if at all) on the pop charts, simply because white teenagers didn't have the patience to sit through them. Well, I'm watching this Otis DVD, and sure enough here he is on Hollywood A-Go-Go (this '60s dance party show), lipsynching to "Just One More Day," and most of the kids are slow dancing except for these two couples doing the Frug (or whatever dance was "hep" that week)! I'm thinking, damn, this is a SLOW song, don't y'all want to GRIND or COP A FEEL or RUB UP AGAINST EACH OTHER like these other couples out here? You afraid the producers gonna crack your head open for dancing too close? Hell, just SIT DOWN! Bizarre! Other than that, I'm only halfway thru the doc at this point (he's now in a tux singing "I Can't Turn You Loose" on Upbeat), and so far, so good...

  Comments

  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    This phenomenon of dancing to a completely other beat is still well and alive on dancefloors today - lol. I am bummed no one around here over highschool dance age and under the age of 45 is interested in slow dancing when they go out...anyway.

    I always think the opposite in the old footage/shows like this, thinking the producers have planted the crazy dancers to show what a cool and rocking great time it is.

    What did s/he mean "patience"? I also wonder if it was a maturity thing when it came to his love and broken heart songs?
    (Pretty in Pink aside)
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    What did s/he mean "patience"? I also wonder if it was a maturity thing when it came to his love and broken heart songs?
    (Pretty in Pink aside)

    Well, at least the Otis song used in Pretty In Pink gradually worked its' way up to being fast.

    As far as the patience remark...

    I know of modern-day garage/punk fans who can only handle sixties soul if it's on some frantic, dancefloor "Land Of 1000 Dances" steez. If it's slow or even midtempo, then they hit the snooze button.

    That's what that Otis clip kinda reminded me of. You'd think those couples would have KILLED for the chance to rub bellies with each other, but NO, they just keep on stubbornly dancing, as if it were "Cool Jerk" or something. Weird. Even though the other couples were taking full advantage of the slow dances, these two couples just kept on showing off their flashy funky steps. Sure hope they were paid to do that.
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    What did s/he mean "patience"? I also wonder if it was a maturity thing when it came to his love and broken heart songs?
    (Pretty in Pink aside)

    Well, at least the Otis song used in Pretty In Pink gradually worked its' way up to being fast.

    As far as the patience remark...

    I know of modern-day garage/punk fans who can only handle sixties soul if it's on some frantic, dancefloor "Land Of 1000 Dances" steez. If it's slow or even midtempo, then they hit the snooze button.

    Even soul/r&b fans, I won't play more than one or two slow songs in a row for fear of that same snooze button...at the end of the night it works, but otherwise, I don't think it even occurs to folks now to ask someone to slow dance. Seriously! You've been looking a him/her all night - this is your opportunity to show him/her how classy you are, how good you are at taking your time! Ask him/her to slow dance and bask in his/her warmth!

    Did women's lib kill slow-dancing? Now that women don't have to go out accompanied by a dude after dark for fear of being called a sl*t, and can dance in their gaggles on the dancefloor in a large circle, spilling drinks and yelling out whoo-hoo?
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Before I was selling soul records to to people who only wanted drum breaks I was selling soul records to people who wouldn't buy anything with strings or horns. Some how that is relevant in the ballad discussion, but I'm not sure how.

    My current obsession is Aretha on Columbia. Shoop Shoop Song's got a marimba break.

    I want to see an Otis Documentary. Tomorrow night I'm gonna go see a Harry Smith doc.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    I don't think it even occurs to folks now to ask someone to slow dance. Seriously! You've been looking a him/her all night - this is your opportunity to show him/her how classy you are, how good you are at taking your time! Ask him/her to slow dance and bask in his/her warmth!

    Did women's lib kill slow-dancing? Now that women don't have to go out accompanied by a dude after dark for fear of being called a sl*t, and can dance in their gaggles on the dancefloor in a large circle, spilling drinks and yelling out whoo-hoo?

    THIS IS WHY GOD CREATED AL GREEN SONGS.
  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    My current obsession is Aretha on Columbia.




  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Before I was selling soul records to to people who only wanted drum breaks I was selling soul records to people who wouldn't buy anything with strings or horns.

    Hell, that maxes out a good 75% of classic soul right there. Even the rawest soul records ever made in the deep south had a horn section, at least.
  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    Outside of weddings, the only slow dancing I
    seem to see is the one-too-many lapdance grind.

    Not that there's anything wrong with that.

    But the sight of a couple just getting up and
    getting their romance on in the classic style just
    seems to have gone the way of zodiac signs on sweatshirts.


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