Friday, 27 May 2016

Pop

A long time ago, I had the idea for using pop tunes for ceilidh dances. This file on my PC was dated 2004. Don't judge me for my music.

Jigs

  • Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex (Rachel Stevens)
  • Practically anything by Mark Bolan
  • Panic (The Smiths)

Hornpipes

  • Lost Weekend (Lloyd Cole)
  • Sheila Take a Bow (The Smiths)
  • Spirit in the Sky (Doctor and the Medics)

Rants

  • The Safety Dance (Men Without Hats) [1]

Schottisches

  • The Chauffeur / Blue Silver (Duran Duran)

Reels

  • You Spin Me Round (Dead or Alive)
  • Don't You Want Me Baby (Thomson Twins)
  • Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division)
  • Lay All Your Love On Me (Abba)
  • L'Amour (Erasure)
  • Road to Nowhere (Talking Heads)

Polkas

  • Half a Person (The Smiths)
  • Torn (Ednaswap, covered by Natalie Imbruglia) [2]

Mazurka

  • Asleep (The Smiths)

Some of those rhythms have to be squished or stretched a bit to fit the beat properly. Also I haven't considered tune lengths at all. So for English dances you'd have to pick the dance carefully, or alter the arrangement.


[1] Credit where it's due: doing a rant to Safety Dance was Rhodri's idea. If memory serves, he claims to have taught himself to dance a rant step on the platform of Piccadilly station while listening to that song on his Walkman — a kind of primitive personal music player, kids.

[2] Torn is perhaps more of a 2-time bourrée I think?

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