Surprise Finds, Dobie Gray and “Out On The Floor”

I think I’ve mentioned around here before that I now volunteer in a local charity shop. It’s only for one day a week but I’ve really come to enjoy my day in the shop, in amongst all those things people have found excess to requirements.

This week I was going through a trolley of things which had to be priced ready to go out on the shop floor and in amongst it all there were three 45rpm singles – the one at the top caught my eye. It was the song Out On The Floor by Dobie Gray. But of course Dobie wasn’t singing about anything going out on a shop floor, he was singing about dancing, and I knew this song was a big favourite with the Northern Soul faithful back in the early to mid 70s. Could you ever find lyrics more appropriate for people who regularly attended “all-nighters” in repurposed dancehalls in the North of England?

I’ve written about Northern Soul around here before (link to posts), as it fascinates me how a body of young northern men came to love dancing to obscure soul records from the mid 60s so much, but it wasn’t until I read this book by Stuart Cosgrove that I realised how little I knew about it all. Although Stuart is a Scot, back in the day he and his friends would travel south to attend the legendary all-nighters in places like Wigan Casino and in doing so he built up a vast knowledge of not only the records that were played but of the various characters best known on the circuit. It was all down to a handful of DJs really and where they went the crowds followed. What a time to have been alive.

If you are interested in the history of Northern Soul I would thoroughly recommend Stuart’s book. As for Dobie’s record in the shop, I didn’t buy it as it’s definitely not one of those really rare ones that change hands for lots of money, and I don’t think it was in very good condition, but it certainly drew me to a song that has become an earworm for the rest of the week. Thankfully a nice earworm.

Until next time…

Out On The Floor Lyrics
(Song by Fred Darian/Alfred V De Lory)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, babe’s it’s out of sight

Out on the floor each night, I’m really movin’
The band’s is wailin’ right I feel like groovin’
The chicks are out of sight and I am grooving
The crowd is in tonight beggin’ for more

I get my kicks out on the floor

I am on the floor tonight, I feel like singin
The beat is running right and guitars are ringin’
I’m really on tonight and everything swingin’
The room is packed out tight, light at the door

So I get my kicks out on the floor

Yeah, yeah, yeah, babe’s it’s out of sight

When I’m out on the floor, it makes me feel like a king
Everybody here, don’t you know what I mean
It makes me wanna move (makes me wanna move).
It makes me feel that groove (make me feel that groove).
I wanna twist and shout (makes me twist and shout).
Work it on out (make me work it on out)

When I feel that beat (feel that beat), I gotta move my feet

Out on the floor tonight, I feel like singin’
The beat is hot and bright, guitars are ringin’
The chicks are out of sight everything’s swingin’
The room is packed up tight, lined at the door, oh, yeah
So I’m gettin’ my kicks, out on the floor (I got some more)
Don’t you feel that beat, down in in your feet