DANCE CRAZE

Rip It Up, Issue 61, 1 August 1982, Page 26

DANCE CRAZE

When Ska emerged in 1980, black and white was the 2-Tone image, an image maintained for marketing purposes by Chrysalis Records with 2-Tone, Stiff with Madness and Arista with the Beat. Ska was so black and white in image from, album covers to clothes, 1 almost expected Dance Craze to be a black and white movie. No it's technicolour. Anway the clubs and live venues of Britain pictured in the movie are neither colourful or comfortable. Dance Craze gives you a view of act and audience,

almost always from the side of the stage, there's little backstage information or talk, just non-stop live ska, some of which you may have already sampled on Chrysalis' single album soundtrack. The record has 14 tracks while the film has 26 songs performed. Like all movements of style and attitude in music, the magic is greatest when acts are on their way up, working hard to win fans and of course sell records. For those months, the musicians are accessible, the dividing line between audience and band least clear. Dance Craze captures that excitement, from the diffidence of the Beat, Dave Wakelin appears the least confident frontperson, while the Specials are all energy, with the exception of Terry Hall, mock fights and all, the Specials

do the jumping round and dancing, while the audience shuffle, packed standing up. They paid at the door for a glance not a dance. But no one is complaining and you can see it all from the safety of your theatre seat ice cream in hand, peanuts in pocket or potato chips all over your trousers. From my seat, Pauline Black was the biggest suprise, she along with Selector delivered the goods with punch, stylish in white trew and she's easily the best vocalist in UK ska-ville. I still can't take Bad Manners seriously or in jest, 1 just can't stand bad manners. Bodysnatchers are one point where audience and musicians become confused, they really are just a garage band, yet that's part of their charm, and why ska was a popular movement in music, it was credible in the garage, in a way Gary Numan or Police ain't. NME's Paul Du Noyer described Dance Craze as primarily suited for "card carrying fan of 2-Tone-ism in all its forms", yet for a New Zealand audience it offers more not just the only chance to see ska acts live (with the exception of Madness, a better band on record that on stage where vaudeville dissipates their energy) but also the opportunity to see the UK venues, audiences and whether we miss much by seeing rock stars as tourists' at the local town hall or whatever. My impression was that Mainstreet is better set up for audience, band and PAs, than at least two of the venues Dance Craze was filmed in.

One Paul Du Noyer concluded that, "the trouble is that stuck on film, it leaves the rest of us outside looking in." Yes, it's ska for voyeurs. Sit in your comfy seat and see some live UK music, one of the most positive expressions to emerge in recent years. Note that Dance Craze opens September 4 in Dolby stereo theatres, for voyeurs with two ears. Murray Cammick