Monday, January 30, 2012

1979: There are no words


No words, because this song is an instrumental.

It was only in the last year or so that I realised what it was after it turned up on a US compliation: Music Box Dancer by Frank Mills, a US Top Ten hit in 1979. It wasn't a hit here, but it's a tune we all know. Was it used in a TV series or something? Whatever, it always makes me feel rather emotional and I'm not sure why.

It's the kind of feeling I get when I think of ads for Atora suet, my grandma's living room, overcast autumn days in the 1970s. afternoon ITV from the same period, the song from the Gales honey ad that I haven't been able to find anywhere (think about the flowers, think about the trees, it goes) and One Man And His Dog.

A sort of rosy glow for times past that will never come again. A biting nostalgia for the times i think I felt most warm and secure. I'm welling up just thinking of this song. Indulge me.

5 comments:

  1. I'm no football fan, but enjoyed some of it around this era (mostly the Admiral outfits) - I believe this tune may have been related to World Cup 78 in some way.

    On the the theme of nostalgia ad's see also 'give 'em a lift with Cookeen' and the father and son chugging home through the post-footie rain and given Batchelors soup by mum

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  2. Oh God, I used to have this album. I loved the song when I was young (very young!) and my Grandma bought it for me. She probably also hoped that it would help turn me into a fan of the likes of Richard Clayderman rather than the 'noise' that I would go on to prefer. Yes, brings back cosy memories of Grandparents living rooms...

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  3. There is something very melancholy about it, you're right. Whereas the 'Gales, Gales, Gales, pass the honey please' still feels benign. I'm neutral on 'Atora...you're getting warmer (what makes a poly a whole lot rollier to eat?)'. But then suet is disgusting.

    That tune certainly embodies the late Seventies. I'm sure the sun never actually rose properly from 1977- 1980. It just always seemed to be getting dark.

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  4. Well done, ISBW. You know exactly the ads I'm talking about.

    And Cocktails, is there anything wrong with Richard Clayderman? (Actually, yes, there is).

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  5. Music Box Dancer - used as the theme for "Around With Allis". Growing up in a family with golfing mad grandfather, father & uncles, we were subjected to watching this programme. Also watched Ski Sunday for some reason (no-one in the family had ever been ski-ing).
    Evocative theme songs: Around With Allis, Ski Sunday and Test Match Cricket

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