Young man, there's no need to feel down I said young man, pick yourself off the ground I said young man, 'cause you’re in a new town There's no need to be unhappy

Songs You Should Know

“YMCA”, The Village People (1978)

This disco song is now played at sporting events, and is a gay anthem; although it was not originally meant to be according to heterosexual Victor Willis. At face value, it is about his times at the Young Men’s Christian Association when he was young – playing basketball and swimming.

I was taught swimming at the YMCA. After not doing so well when I was 6 years old at the local pool, my Dad decided I was going to learn dammit! So I was given bus fare and a membership card he had purchased for me, and downtown I went by myself. I was scared spit-less. I was 10 years old.

When you can take the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave.

Quick Hit 

(Very apropos in this case!)

Kung-Fu Fighting, Carl Douglas, 1974

In the early seventies there was a fabulous series of Bruce Lee movies: The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Way of the Dragon, and then Enter the Dragon in 1970-1973. This started a resurgence of interest in martial arts that had not been seen since Elvis took karate.

Dance in the super market Dig it in the fast lane Listen to the countdown They're playing our song again

70's Pick of the Week

“Pop Muzic”, M (1979)

Somehow Brit Robin Scott thought this song bridged rock and roll and disco. He said he was deliberately trying to make a fusion of the sound of the previous 25 years. He was saying that rock and roll had created a generation gap, and he felt that disco was bringing people together. Somehow he ended up creating a very pure pop song – sort of imploding on itself. 

Scott had tried to create a persona for himself in 1978, “M”, when he released a song called “Moderne Man” which failed to chart. So he retrenched and tried again...

There lived a certain man in Russia long ago. He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow. Most people looked at him with terror and with fear but to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear

PIck of the Week

“Rasputin”, Boney M  (1978)

Les was the epitome of the rags to riches story. He came to Canada with the clothes on his back and through hard work and perseverance had run a successful campground on the shores of the Shuswap lakes in British Columbia for many years. He was an engineer by training who had left Hungary at the time of the revolution in the ‘50’s. We visited with him and his wife for many summers when I was a kid. It was always an adventure, as Les was a character for sure.

Flash forward to a beautiful day in the ‘80’s.  I was visiting them now at their lakeside house in British Columbia, Les now semi-retired. The sun reflected off the cathedral windows of his A-frame  house he had built as he used his winch that he had built in his boat house to lower his boat into the lake. Even though I get motion sickness in boats, somehow I had agreed to go out in his boat on the lake ‘for old times’ sake’. Mistake!

Go crazy is what I will do - If I can't have you, I don't want nobody baby

70's Pick of the Week

“I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and “If I Can’t Have You”, Yvonne Elliman, (1973/1977)

I was watching the new Hawaii Five-O the other day....ya don’t start with me, I know! Anyway, I was thinking that I had seen Yvonne Elliman in the old version of it. I seemed to recall a version of it with a singer. Sure enough, in checking it out, there was a 2-part episode that she starred in as a struggling singer.