One of the loveliest things about having a blog, is that you just never know when a particular post from your archive is going to go viral, but that’s just what’s happened around here over the last couple of days because of a particular drinks advert. If like us you’ve been trying to avoid all the political programming on telly (we already know who we’re going to vote for and just feel depressed whenever we see the runners and riders in action), you might have caught some of the popular prime time shows that still attract a fair few million viewers of an evening. They’re not for everyone I know, but with no guests in the holiday hideaway and no-one ordering Christmas gifts from Mr WIAA’s website, we seem to have more time on our hands than is realistically good for us, and they do offer a bit of light relief of an evening.
The other night, in between watching celebrity campmates do things no human should ever have to do (eating kangaroo anus for entertainment comes to mind) we were treated to multiple showings of one particular seasonal advert, and it leapt out of the screen at us because it featured the Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons song, The Night. A couple of years ago I had written a post about that very song after watching the film Northern Soul (link here) and it seems I was not alone in enjoying the ad, as later that evening my “viewing stats” for the post really started to ramp up and it looks as if it will continue that way for the duration of the campaign. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to share such things around here but if you haven’t yet caught it, here is that very stylish ad.
The Night by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons:
Always pleased when I find myself at the top of a search engine results page after the YouTube clip and the wiki entry, as I often experience “blogger’s guilt”, feeling I should be spending my time working on something more lucrative. Finding your blog in amongst the big boys makes me realise, like many others around here, I have quietly and anonymously built up quite a database of “stories and songs”, way beyond anything achieved at college or in the world of work.
You will notice there are a fair few party-goers dancing “Northern Soul style” in the ad. Despite not charting first time around, The Night became one of the most popular tracks on the northern soul circuit, becoming a hit in the UK in 1975. As often happens around here, a strange coincidence has occurred, as even before the ad aired I had already been revisiting my original post to remind myself just how great some of these lesser known American soul records from the mid ’60s were, and all because of another popular Saturday night telly show.
It’s apparently been running for 17 years and along with the various X-Factor formats and the crazy jungle show, I’ve kind of forgotten what people used to watch before they came along. It’s a show that really seems to draw in the viewers though and although we have never been fervent devotees of Strictly Come Dancing, if you have the telly on whilst you’re preparing Saturday night’s dinner, it’s inevitable you will catch some of the performances.
The other week I think the “celebrities” had to pick a song or style of dancing which was personal to them and Kelvin Fletcher (a soap star and fantastic dancer as it turns out) picked Northern Soul, as his dad had been a fervent devotee back in the day. Since becoming fascinated by the movement a couple of years ago, my ears pricked up, and the song they danced to, Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) by Frank Wilson formed an earworm for the following week.
Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) by Frank Wilson:
This song was new to me so of course I had to find out more. Although it became popular at Wigan Casino and the like in the mid 1970s, it was originally recorded in 1965 on the Motown subsidiary label Soul. But here is the really interesting bit, it was Frank Wilson’s only Motown single and is a prized item amongst collectors as all but 5 of the original 250 demo singles were destroyed. Berry Gordy had apparently given the vocals a lukewarm reception and Frank himself decided he would rather focus on production, which has led to the crazy scenario where some of these original copies are changing hands for over £25,000 each.
Every time I hear about the phenomenon that was Northern Soul, I regret not having been in the right place at the right time, as the dancing would have been perfect for me. In the mid ’70s we only had our local youth club’s disco, but it was there I discovered my passion and was never, ever to be seen dancing round my handbag. Oh no, we had the space so I made full use of it and watching the genuine afionadas of Northern Soul (the dance above was more a stylised version for the show), I reckon I could have given them a run for their money. As a form of exercise, it looks as if it would be much more fun than a workout at the gym. Time to look out the talc, some very wide trousers and get practicing.
Until next time….
Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) Lyrics
(Song by Frank Wilson)
Here I am on bended knees
I lay my heart down at your feet
Now do I love you
All you have to do is ask
I’ll give until there’s nothing left
do I love you
As long as there is life in me
Your happiness is guaranteed
I’ll fill your heart with ecstasy, forever darling
Do I love you?
Do I love you?
Do I love you?
Indeed I do Indeed I do
The very thing that I want most
Is just to have and hold you close
Do I love you?
From early morning until late at night
You fill my heart with pure delight
Do I love you?
whenever I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord your soul to keep
And bring you home safe to me, for ever darling
Do I love you?
Do I love you?
Do I love you?
Indeed I do, sweet darling, indeed I do
Now whenever I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord your soul to keep
And bring you home safe to me
for ever darling
Do I love you?
Do I love you?
Do I love you?
Indeed I do, little darling, indeed I do
What's It All About? 