Saturday, January 13, 2007

"The What Tron What?"

I got an e-mail request for a bit on an old song from back in the Skateland/Middle School Dance days. The song requested was "The New Tron Dance". I can't say that I'm familiar with such a song. My guess would be that that was a lesser known follow up ditty by Buckner and Garcia trying to cash in on the 1982 video game movie TRON staring Jeff Bridges.

However, I think what we are looking for here is The Pointer Sisters' smash-hit song "Neutron Dance" which shot all the way up to #6 on the charts back in 1984. The song was one of a string of hits for The Pointer Sisters. Some of their other biggies included "Jump (For My Love)" and "I'm So Excited." But it was "Neutron Dance" that captured the hearts of movie goers in 1984 when it was featured in the hit motion picture BEVERLY HILLS COP.

For some, the song brings back memories of disco ball filled afternoons at Skateland, or perhaps dancing uncomfortably with one of your friends at a middle school dance. For me, I'll always remember that song from a play I was in when I was 12 years old. The play: THE ELECTRIC SUNSHINE MAN, a musical adaptation of Thomas Edison's life. I played Telegraph Worker #2, thank you very much! For some bizarre reason, the director decided to throw "Neutron Dance" into the show. I don't remember how it fit in to Mr. Edison's life, but I'm sure he would have been proud!

So, sit back...grab an Elio's Pizza Square and enjoy a little Pointer Sisters with us...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Classic! Our grade school band won regionals every freaking year with the New Tron Dance. They played it before they went, at the competition, then when they returned and showed off the new trophy...for like 8 years in a row!

For the record, I think "regionals" were closed to schools located in Ilchester, MD.

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