Everybody Dance Now!

Everybody dance now! It’s been three, going on four, decades since you may have put on your boogie shoes, gone to funkytown to dance the night away. It was usually a case of Friday or Saturday night fever that made you feel like you were hot stuff and you knew you were born to be alive!

As they would dim all the lights, glitter from a disco ball would get you in the mood to put on your boogie shoes to boogie oogie oogie in boogie wonderland – all night long.
A few too many drinks and you’d be dancing on the ceiling.

For the guys, visions of being a John Travolta would lead to some jive talkin’ and the hustle had to be played out because of a bad case of boogie fever. They were looking for more, more, more because they were ready to get down tonight, stayin’ alive to keep it coming, love. One or more studs might not want to rock the boat, but they might very well turn the beat around and rock your baby.

On ladies night, the girls aimed to shake your booty or shake your groove thing – anything to show that she is more than a woman – she’s a dancin’ machine! She felt like dancin’ in heaven – not ready for a rockin’ chair. For the love of money, she’d swear to god she wanted more, more, more as she proclaimed, I love the nightlife! She may not have needed nights on Broadway but she still wanted to be able to say, Oh what a night!

I was a little shy back then but when the music played, I admitted that I got to give it up and, if necessary, find me dancin’ with myself. Besides, it was a night of celebration at the best disco in town.

When ABBA was played, everybody was a dancin’ queen, feeling that ‘we are family’ and ‘that’s the way I like it’ – you got to make it real. There was no shame to take your time - do it right, because you wre meant to shake your groove thing ‘til the very last dance.

Disco days and disco balls were happier times for many of us. When friends come over, the collection of CDs overwhelms them with songs and singers they rarely think of any more. But it’s the party songs of the 70s that conjure up the most unique period in our lives. Younger or older, people still can’t keep from singing along or, at the least, do a bit of tap-dancing, bopping their heads and swaying with the music.

For the most part, they were good times. People reminisce with me and, although our ages may be somewhat distant, yearn for another day, another night of dancing as they have done in the past. Conversations invariably turn to disappointment and a little resentment that there is nothing to do in Spring Hill. There’s always a hint toward a desire to move because, among other things, the distance, cost and a perception of traveling to Tampa is risky pleasure. It kind of dulls the anticipation of having a really good time.

People want access to entertainment, exercise, and social mingling. Dancing provides all three without spending an hour to get there... another hour to get back home. And people would have a reason to get out of their mole home and stay out awhile after dark. A keen businessman might give consideration of such an investment opportunity. Some people would be content to sit and sip and watch the crowd and still have a good time while others would like to spike their hair, loosen up their buttons and get the party started!