Rocky Road

Real McCoy, "One More Time"

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At the top, requests for dance music are neck-and-neck with thrash metal. Obviously, in our little audiophile world, there is a sickening dearth of dance music. But when I dig deeper into why the requesters persistently demand dance music, their most frequent answer is that, on account of age, they missed out on dance music. Dance music didn't come out, until they were well into adulthood. Yet, the requesters weren't old enough, that their kids were in high school, when the dance music took over in the 80s.

Another strong reason was that, back in the 90s, whenever you played dance music, some lame SA gave the stinkeye, threw a hissy fit, and talked shit. Unfortunately, if you were running a show, event, or store, those lame SAs were your main customer base. But now it's 2017, and one by one, the lame SAs drop out. They've been replaced with audiophiles who, though late to the party, have a thirst for dance music.

The new audiophiles don't want you merely to list a song. They want you to say something about it. Give some background info. Where and with whom were you, when the song came out? Did it move you, or were you totally unaware of its existence? Who's still listening to it today? Does it present a challenge for audio products?

Most people have forgotten, or don't realize, that Eurodance act Real McCoy are more than just "Another Night." 20 years ago, I transitioned from one girlfriend, ACS, to another, KJ. And that's when Real McCoy came out with the catchy "One More Time." You initially heard it at clubs [yeah, yeah, audiophiles typically did not go clubbing in the 90s]. And then, if your urban market had a dance music radio station, it would play "One More Time."

In 1997, I played softball and bowled in leagues and tournaments. Because the Japantown Bowl contingent had a boatload of high school and college kids, "One More Time" was enormously popular, as we bowled at home, and traveled to alleys throughout Central CA and even to Reno and Vegas. Also, my brother was on the UC Davis bowling team. As the colleges competed against each other, the real fun took place at night, when the kids went partying, dancing, and clubbing. Bopping along to "One More Time," they'd forget about how well or poorly they bowled. You don't have to have a fertile imagination, to understand what happened after the dances.

Back at home, we got the Real McCoy album on LP. Alas, I had what has to be, hands-down, the worst-sounding high-end audio product I've ever had [and that's saying a lot!], the Sumiko Pro-Ject 6. It was so bad, KJ lopped off her long hair, and got a boy's haircut.

We replaced the Pro-Ject 6 with the better-sounding Rega P3, but even then, the LP was no great shakes. The CD sounded much better, but alas, it exposed the fat and bloated sound of my Theta/Classe'/Thiel/Kimber system.

Yeah, yeah, the audiophiles tell me that the above was completely foreign to them. But that's why they find those times interesting. To them, these places, people, activities, and music are new. They can't get enough, and keep begging for more.

For the rest of us, when we are able to break free from the kids, dance music such as "One More Time" brings us back 20 years, and we're once again young adults.

-Lummy The Loch Monster
One More Time (Open in New Window)

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