Rachel, you remember the Shindig! video? Wasn't it great? I was watching something not too long ago and they talked about Shindig! and its importance in bringing R&B acts into white America's homes, and how artists were discovered, Motown boomed, etc., and I got so tickled remembering how I tried to imitate the "Dancing In the Streets" montage.
Anyways, Mags and I find our little nuggets these days, stuff that cracks us up, that we enjoy watching. Our latest discovery is Soul Line TV. In this tri-state area - PA, NJ & DE - you can meet up at area Holiday Inns and what-have-yous and tear up some parquet flooring to some re-recorded jams, both old and new.
The first time we saw it, both of us just watched it for about 15 minutes solid, silent, not exactly in awe, but in partial disbelief and part "Can you believe they got this?". Y'all, they done made a TV show out of black folks (and a couple of our lighter-skinned siblin's) electric slidin' to all sorts of songs.
No, no, they're not playing that original electric slide song -- you know the one.
E
e
e
electric
sliiiiiiiiiiiiiide.
You gotta move it. IT'S ELECTRIC! Sumpin' sumpin' sumpin' IT'S ELECTRIC! (Boogie oogie oogie) Some kinda lyric IT'S ELECTRIC!
asddkablodfoasiduablu boomshakalalakaka askdlfajosdifnasdfadfakdj You got ta move it! (Or whatever.)
Because after the regular electric slide - the one I think we can all do... Four steps this way, four steps that way, four steps back, lean forward, no, lean back, lean forward and swing that leg around and back to the four steps. Somebody cut the steps in half to do the two-steppin' e-slide. Then there was like the cha-cha slide, and here's where the e-slide started getting a little more nuanced and quicker with the steps. At a few weddings and family gatherings I saw some more spinnin' in between steppin', great use of pausing for effect, hand motions started showing up, a whole lot of hip gyratin' and then one cousin of mine incorporated the Tootsie Roll and the Butterfly into her slide. Then R. Kelly came out with the whole steppers to the floor scene with "Step In the Name of Love" and "Happy People" (two songs that never fail to get Mags to cut up a piece of some rug), and since then, folks take pride in perfectin' their two-step.
The beauty of this show, and the places where shows like this take place, is that you see all kinds of folk. There are the typical bustas ... those old playas with round, almost bulbous guts who lean a lot (on walls, against walls, on car hoods, on bar stools) that will tell you that it don't matter what who say, but the Cadillac Deville is the greatest car ever made, and if you cain't afford no 'lac, then there ain't no shame atall in pushin' that Caprice Classic or a Cutlass. Lord have mercy. I know some folks still pushin' both of those.
There are the so-called ghetto sistas who right now are rockin' some ponytails hard core. Long - and I mean long - my-little-pony lookin' ones, orange ones, crimped ones, bushy wild curlytails, tightly braided pinned on chignons ... you name it, you pick any color out of your Crayola box and somebody is rockin' the heck out of that Yaki Yaki hair. These girls love Lycra. If it stretches, has come cut outs, is asymmetrical in any way and is brightly colored. They will put that on.
Pimps love these places, too. They have the typical teeth fixin's, and these players keep it real. Ain't no new age pimps here. These got pinky rangs. Hats that always remind me of the zoot suit era. Kinda fattish hats with wide brims and a thick black shiny ribbon. Gold teefus. Platinum teef are for these new age boys that don't know nothin' 'bout runnin' no bidness. Pimpin' ain't a game, issa bidness. They wear their shades indoors, will bump into you because they can't see, but will play it off as if they were just tryin' to get close to you, pretty lady.
There are your older gentleman. You know, they pushin' 70. Always real skinny wearing some funky colored, busy print silk shirt with some pressed khakis. They wear straw-type hats with wide brims. Their eyeglasses are tinted. And they, by and large, are breast men. They just want some woman to keep them "wohm." Not warm. "Wohm." If Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the Stylistics, the Ohio Players or the Spinners comes on, they will ask you to dance.
White people are welcome and the ones you meet there will tell you firstly who you need to know. And yes, there are always white people in these situations. Now on Soul Line, I have to tell you, some of them mens can cut up some rug, you hear me? Can't tell them jokahs nothing. They defy any and all claims that white people don't have rhythm. If you ever lose the beat tryin' to throw in an extra spin, they'll help you find it. How? Because they are countin' that shit out - they keep time the way we keep some beat. They make buddies, and they know what to order in case you want to eat.
Now Soul Line I don't believe has any age limits. I mean, I imagine you need to be 18+. However, I've been to some of these places and you needs to be 25 or older. Strictly for the grown and the sexy. And be prepared to come cleant. No jeans or casual shoes, no t-shirts, no baseball caps or jerseys.
You see us twenty-something's up in there. The young ladies loving the attention that the older gentlemen pay - they will buy you a drink in a hurry; every young buck makin' like Ashton Kutcher.
Overall it's a friendly atmosphere. Everyone is just there to dance and socialize, sip a li'l sumpin', eat some hot wings or enjoy the fried fish sammiches. The music is always good for those of us who don't really know what the hell they're playing on the radio. You know they'll put on some "When Doves Cry" and "I Feel For You;" send you some forget-me-nots to help you to remember the time when you fell in love, and love, it takes a fool to learn that love don't hurt nobody. And everyone is dancing non-stop.
And don't try to be cute and act like you don't sweat. Don't try to act like you care that you are sweating. It is always hot in these places, and the music is so good for so long that you're not going to stop dancing - you dance in line waitin' for the bathroom. And there is always a line. (Why do the most popular places only have, like, one bathroom?)
But this Soul Line TV, they play a li'l Marc Anthony, some Eric Benet, Motown classics, some Isaac Hayes, and some "hole in the wall," sweaty-smelling, ol' kooter tryin' to push up on some young gal jook joint classic. Tonight y'all, they played Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)."
And I know describing it is kinda boring and all, but I'mma do it anyway. Chi'ren, everytime there was a "watch out" or a "look out," the steppers put out a hand in the stop sign sort of way, their necks snapped stop, they paused and waited for the next look out. And then they got right back to hustlin'. It was fun to watch. We chair danced.
Neither one of us knows where the R. Kelly CD is and that's upsetting. Nothin' like a little "Happy People." They keep the world turnin', you know, happy people. They keep the world dancin' y'all.
So, as the weekend draws near and some of us wonder if we's gonna make it, I say, keep on steppin' chi'ren -- side-to-side, front-to-back, spinnin' 'round, slidin', shufflin', doin' whatever you have to do. Join the happy people :)