Ok. I want you to think back to the time you last danced to a club track. Specifically one you wouldn't admit to in broad daylight. Maybe it was a Vengaboys hit in a bar in Honolulu, or a Scooter anthem in a backpackers in Athens. Or that generic EDM remix you were listening to and loving at your friend's wedding in Bali. It doesn't matter, we're not going to judge. The real question remains: what does it all mean?
Advertisement
How can we reconcile the fact we think we have taste in music, but then turn around (Bright Eyes) and joyfully bust moves to a continuous playlist of '90s dance tracks when we're away from home, vulnerable? What magic spell do these club bangers cast on our minds and feet? We need answers.The University of Wollongong's Dr Andrew Whealan knows his fair share of dance hits. Among his areas of research are Ethnography, Popular Music, Subcultures. There's nothing about So Fresh compilations on his contact page, but we're going to assume that he's got a healthy stash of them from the dawn of the millennium for educational purposes. For an academic who looks at youth culture and subcultures, let's spare a thought for a man who's made the pop Top 40 his research area for years.
THUMP: Hi Andrew. What was your last guilty pleasure?
Andrew: I wouldn't really quite use the term, 'guilty pleasure' because my musical tastes are already destroyed, but I always had a soft spot for the Vengaboys, especially anything from The Party Album.Why do you say that your music taste is destroyed?
It's in the nature of my research to listen to an awful lot of horrible music, so I guess also I'm thinking about what's good or bad, why people might say that, and what kind of music that would mean for people, socially. So my taste is just a smudge now.So if we're talking floor fillers, if somebody chucks on Deee-Lite's "Groove is in the Heart" why is it that people suddenly hit the floor for no apparent reason?
Ok, for "Groove is in the Heart", or anything by ABBA, these things become tacky in the right way, almost kitsch. Others just become garbage. In the cycle of cultural production, some things are allowed to become constant, like certain types of fashion items in a wardrobe. "Groove is in the Heart" may be one of those things. But of course there was lots of other music around the same time that nobody can remember. It's just waste, it's garbage, it's deleted; they're old CDs sitting in a pile now. So some things must be more amenable to tackiness over others. There's got to be two things happening simultaneously, or maybe more than two. We can do things together, ironic stuff about our culture by saying "I know this is supposed to be crap and we're not supposed to like it", but because you're literate you're allowed to have fun with it. That can be a fun thing that draws people in. So these tracks are a draw between people, but they also make people do stuff. When there's an opportunity to get wasted, and it's multi-generational, they often seem to invite these tracks, like at weddings or other special events. They're like a carnival of things that allow you to do the things that you're normally not allowed to do, like dance to ABBA.
Andrew: I wouldn't really quite use the term, 'guilty pleasure' because my musical tastes are already destroyed, but I always had a soft spot for the Vengaboys, especially anything from The Party Album.Why do you say that your music taste is destroyed?
It's in the nature of my research to listen to an awful lot of horrible music, so I guess also I'm thinking about what's good or bad, why people might say that, and what kind of music that would mean for people, socially. So my taste is just a smudge now.So if we're talking floor fillers, if somebody chucks on Deee-Lite's "Groove is in the Heart" why is it that people suddenly hit the floor for no apparent reason?
Ok, for "Groove is in the Heart", or anything by ABBA, these things become tacky in the right way, almost kitsch. Others just become garbage. In the cycle of cultural production, some things are allowed to become constant, like certain types of fashion items in a wardrobe. "Groove is in the Heart" may be one of those things. But of course there was lots of other music around the same time that nobody can remember. It's just waste, it's garbage, it's deleted; they're old CDs sitting in a pile now. So some things must be more amenable to tackiness over others. There's got to be two things happening simultaneously, or maybe more than two. We can do things together, ironic stuff about our culture by saying "I know this is supposed to be crap and we're not supposed to like it", but because you're literate you're allowed to have fun with it. That can be a fun thing that draws people in. So these tracks are a draw between people, but they also make people do stuff. When there's an opportunity to get wasted, and it's multi-generational, they often seem to invite these tracks, like at weddings or other special events. They're like a carnival of things that allow you to do the things that you're normally not allowed to do, like dance to ABBA.
Advertisement
So why does something like "Groove is in the Heart" keep being resurrected? You know, do they have any inherent qualities that act as people's "get out of jail free" cards?
For some reason the Vengaboys is a really good example to me. I think that there has to be a few different things going on, but your mileage might vary. It's got to be saccharine. When these tracks were released they must've been kitschy at the time, but they're definitely kitschy now. So there are male and female vocals and they're definitely upbeat. There are different canons of musical nostalgia that do different types of things, and mark occasions in different types of ways.So you think that nostalgia's always going to be a part of it?
I think so. It has to be from a past, in a way, it has to be able to imagine our own past, in a particular kind of way. When Deee-Lite were around, I sort've noticed it, but I didn't think it was going to be the coolest thing ever. I actually thought that the band called MARRS was cooler, but they don't seem to play that one like they do with "Groove is in the Heart". Or like Salt n Pepa, but you won't hear other hip-hop stuff of the same era. Some things are valorised for that sort of 'work'.Underneath all of this, these situations predicate themselves on a socially mediated space where you leave taste at the door. Is it just easier to play floor fillers? Or is it a weird cultural ritual?
At these kinds of events, it's somehow expected or anticipated, but it's not really clear where the expectation comes from. It seems like if you were a wedding DJ, you couldn't just play contemporary dubstep from South London for the entirety of the evening. That just doesn't happen. One of the reasons for that is to do with the mix of generations that are present at these events. If your Granny is there, something tacky is almost supposed to happen, and later on, when everybody is a bit too drunk, you and your grandmother can dance to something you both find completely horrific. Somehow this music's supposed to be a floppy gel or glue that will hold together a totally accidental aggregation of people. It's like the lowest common denominator that everyone can use.
For some reason the Vengaboys is a really good example to me. I think that there has to be a few different things going on, but your mileage might vary. It's got to be saccharine. When these tracks were released they must've been kitschy at the time, but they're definitely kitschy now. So there are male and female vocals and they're definitely upbeat. There are different canons of musical nostalgia that do different types of things, and mark occasions in different types of ways.So you think that nostalgia's always going to be a part of it?
I think so. It has to be from a past, in a way, it has to be able to imagine our own past, in a particular kind of way. When Deee-Lite were around, I sort've noticed it, but I didn't think it was going to be the coolest thing ever. I actually thought that the band called MARRS was cooler, but they don't seem to play that one like they do with "Groove is in the Heart". Or like Salt n Pepa, but you won't hear other hip-hop stuff of the same era. Some things are valorised for that sort of 'work'.Underneath all of this, these situations predicate themselves on a socially mediated space where you leave taste at the door. Is it just easier to play floor fillers? Or is it a weird cultural ritual?
At these kinds of events, it's somehow expected or anticipated, but it's not really clear where the expectation comes from. It seems like if you were a wedding DJ, you couldn't just play contemporary dubstep from South London for the entirety of the evening. That just doesn't happen. One of the reasons for that is to do with the mix of generations that are present at these events. If your Granny is there, something tacky is almost supposed to happen, and later on, when everybody is a bit too drunk, you and your grandmother can dance to something you both find completely horrific. Somehow this music's supposed to be a floppy gel or glue that will hold together a totally accidental aggregation of people. It's like the lowest common denominator that everyone can use.
Advertisement
So this feels like something sociology can answer. Is there a common thread of daggyness that's present in these situations, and where do you think it's come from?
As a person with a social-scientific approach or orientation, I would think about it as a game of taste, which is a game of social differentiation, alignment or affiliation. People can say "Oh do you know that thing", and then we can feel that we're sophisticates because we know the thing. This creates an out-group, who we imagine don't know the thing. So when on holiday, we need to have the exact opposite of that. It's kind of like the sacred and the profane. On the one hand, we've got the magical, special valorised music that is just coming out right now. And then you've got the profane, which is garbage mass culture doesn't go away. Think of John Travolta dancing with Olivia Newton-John. It's like an awful cultural memory that can't be erased somehow, which instils a feeling that it gave you a good time, at the time, so therefore it can be eternally resurrected. It's as if the music more broadly functions as a system for people to make themselves like each other, or dislike each other. This music functions in this magic counter-space, where we're all licenced to be ironically uncool.Ok, so we've talked about nostalgia, but what about people like Pitbull and other contemporaries who seem to be doused in daggyness from the get-go?
I fear Pitbull, and what he signifies for the collapse of civilisation, for exactly that reason. He's someone that might lurk into our future at weddings and stuff. It's a pretty dark vision. I think it would be good if somebody like Die Antwoord would get up, but I don't know what'd get up in future. To be honest, there's so much stuff going on, I would expect that there might be, as there are with one-hit wonders now, remixes of contemporary stuff that aren't authorised.
As a person with a social-scientific approach or orientation, I would think about it as a game of taste, which is a game of social differentiation, alignment or affiliation. People can say "Oh do you know that thing", and then we can feel that we're sophisticates because we know the thing. This creates an out-group, who we imagine don't know the thing. So when on holiday, we need to have the exact opposite of that. It's kind of like the sacred and the profane. On the one hand, we've got the magical, special valorised music that is just coming out right now. And then you've got the profane, which is garbage mass culture doesn't go away. Think of John Travolta dancing with Olivia Newton-John. It's like an awful cultural memory that can't be erased somehow, which instils a feeling that it gave you a good time, at the time, so therefore it can be eternally resurrected. It's as if the music more broadly functions as a system for people to make themselves like each other, or dislike each other. This music functions in this magic counter-space, where we're all licenced to be ironically uncool.Ok, so we've talked about nostalgia, but what about people like Pitbull and other contemporaries who seem to be doused in daggyness from the get-go?
I fear Pitbull, and what he signifies for the collapse of civilisation, for exactly that reason. He's someone that might lurk into our future at weddings and stuff. It's a pretty dark vision. I think it would be good if somebody like Die Antwoord would get up, but I don't know what'd get up in future. To be honest, there's so much stuff going on, I would expect that there might be, as there are with one-hit wonders now, remixes of contemporary stuff that aren't authorised.
The ghosts of playlists past.And there you have it. On the one hand the great uncontrollable mass of modern music: good and bad, legal and illegal. And on the other, our great uncontrollable urge to dance to all of it, under the right conditions. Even Scooter. Yes, even Pitbull.You can follow Alan on Twitter here.