To give you an idea of the level of mind
behind all of this, I can tell you I picked this one up solely because that
cover made me laugh. Mick Hucknall and Joan Sims dressed up like Christmas cakes
on shocking pink background - I don't think I've seen anything so camp that
wasn't deliberately setting out to be camp. The fact that this was probably
aiming for an air of some kind of sophistication and was not trying to be camp
at all just makes it all the funnier. To me anyway. As I say, that's the level
of mind behind all this.
As to what it is, well I didn't know what 'Old Time Dancing' was so I looked it up, and it turns out it's "a form of dance in which a preset pattern of movements is followed, usually to music which is also predetermined. Sequence dancing may include dances of many different styles. The term may include ballroom dances which move round the floor as well as line, square and circle dances". I see. The Jeet Kune Do* of dancing then.
On that basis, I see this as almost a kind of Ur Jane Fonda Workout Record; 'Old Time Dancing' would appear to be something you're meant to interact with rather than passively listen to. And that's ok, but whilst Jane always gave you instructions on exactly how to interact and then yell out her 'feel the burn' encouragement from the grooves, this goes to no such lengths to get the listener involved. Or any lengths at all really - in fact, the back cover text is upfront in going in exactly the opposite direction: "The selection he presents here is not categorised into specific dances because, as Sydney says, it is possible to adapt the step of more than one dance to these tunes and as always on a Sydney Thompson record each item is presented with a four bar introduction and sixteen bars of regular movement to facilitate instruction and practice". Well cheers for that people, best just get on with it then.
Which does kind of bring me to the crux of my problem with this - an album full of instrumental versions of popular light classics is all so much grist to the mill for these charity shop records. This one could have been packaged under any number of different titles with any number of different covers without any discernible detriment or benefit whatsoever (it's not a million miles removed in tone and content from the recent "Woodhouse In Vienna" record). Instrumental versions of 'The Lonely Goatherd' 'Edelweiss' or 'A Walk In The Black Forest' don't (to my mind) have any hardwired link to old time dancing and so could be enjoyed in their own right (if you enjoy that sort of thing) without wrapping them up in some DIY dance agenda.
The problem is though is that's exactly what they have done, and they've done it in such a way that the music is all recorded at more or less the same pace and in the same key with the result being that in its listening it becomes a relentless stream of overly busy, overly samey orchestrated sound where the tunes blend and bleed into each other to become the dull murk of a rainy sky in winter. If you're listening out for the beat to mark your next move then fine, but for anyone not cutting a rug then listening to this becomes akin to watching someone playing a very dull and boring video game, and not playing it well either. An odd affair all 'round really.
* Being a hybrid philosophy of mixed martial arts that was heavily influenced by the personal philosophy and experiences of Bruce Lee. Then again, maybe not.
As to what it is, well I didn't know what 'Old Time Dancing' was so I looked it up, and it turns out it's "a form of dance in which a preset pattern of movements is followed, usually to music which is also predetermined. Sequence dancing may include dances of many different styles. The term may include ballroom dances which move round the floor as well as line, square and circle dances". I see. The Jeet Kune Do* of dancing then.
On that basis, I see this as almost a kind of Ur Jane Fonda Workout Record; 'Old Time Dancing' would appear to be something you're meant to interact with rather than passively listen to. And that's ok, but whilst Jane always gave you instructions on exactly how to interact and then yell out her 'feel the burn' encouragement from the grooves, this goes to no such lengths to get the listener involved. Or any lengths at all really - in fact, the back cover text is upfront in going in exactly the opposite direction: "The selection he presents here is not categorised into specific dances because, as Sydney says, it is possible to adapt the step of more than one dance to these tunes and as always on a Sydney Thompson record each item is presented with a four bar introduction and sixteen bars of regular movement to facilitate instruction and practice". Well cheers for that people, best just get on with it then.
Which does kind of bring me to the crux of my problem with this - an album full of instrumental versions of popular light classics is all so much grist to the mill for these charity shop records. This one could have been packaged under any number of different titles with any number of different covers without any discernible detriment or benefit whatsoever (it's not a million miles removed in tone and content from the recent "Woodhouse In Vienna" record). Instrumental versions of 'The Lonely Goatherd' 'Edelweiss' or 'A Walk In The Black Forest' don't (to my mind) have any hardwired link to old time dancing and so could be enjoyed in their own right (if you enjoy that sort of thing) without wrapping them up in some DIY dance agenda.
The problem is though is that's exactly what they have done, and they've done it in such a way that the music is all recorded at more or less the same pace and in the same key with the result being that in its listening it becomes a relentless stream of overly busy, overly samey orchestrated sound where the tunes blend and bleed into each other to become the dull murk of a rainy sky in winter. If you're listening out for the beat to mark your next move then fine, but for anyone not cutting a rug then listening to this becomes akin to watching someone playing a very dull and boring video game, and not playing it well either. An odd affair all 'round really.
* Being a hybrid philosophy of mixed martial arts that was heavily influenced by the personal philosophy and experiences of Bruce Lee. Then again, maybe not.
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