Dance Hall Days

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"Dance Hall Days"
Single by Wang Chung
from the album Points on the Curve
B-side "There Is a Nation"
Released 14 January 1984
Format CD, LP, cassette
Recorded Abbey Road Studios, 1983
Genre Pop rock, new wave[1]
Length 3:58
Label Geffen Records
Writer(s) Jack Hues
Wang Chung singles chronology

"China"
(1982)		 "Dance Hall Days"
(1984)		 "Don't Let Go"
(1984)

Points on the Curve track listing
— "Dance Hall Days"
(1)		 "Wait"
(2)
The Best of Wang Chung track listing
"Everybody Have Fun Tonight"
(1)		 "Dance Hall Days"
(2)		 "Don't Let Go"
(3)
Music sample
"Dance Hall Days"

"Dance Hall Days" is one of Wang Chung's most popular and best known hit singles. It was released in 1984 on the album Points on the Curve. This was their only song to make the Top 75 charts in the UK, narrowly missing the Top 20. In the US, it peaked at number 16 on the Hot 100 and went all the way to number one on the Dance/Disco chart, their highest showing on the latest chart.

Music videos

Two versions of a music video were made. The first version of the video, directed by Derek Jarman, is a collection of home movies with the majority of the archive footage consisting of a stage show with swimmers and fountains, and other World War II-era material. Apparently, the footage is courtesy of the director's father, who was one of the very first people ever to use a colour home movie camera. The toddler in the home movie footage is the director himself as a child. The home movies are interspersed amid footage of Jack, Nick, and Darren, lip-synching and playing the violin. The band are also dressed up as characters from The Wizard of Oz at the end of the video, with Jack Hues as The Tin Man, Nick Feldman as The Scarecrow, and Darren Costin as The Lion.

The second version of the video is the most well-known, and received heavy rotation airplay at MTV. It is a magical fantasy concept video set in the 1940s, the heyday of dance halls. The video begins in black-and-white with Jack Hues picking up and reading a flyer outside the dance hall. The next scene, which is filmed in colour, features the band performing at the dance hall as couples dance. Later in the video, there are scenes of a disco ball lowering on the dance floor and the emergence of a disco-ball creature sprouting from its egg. The video ends in black-and-white with Jack Hues leaving the dance hall onto the street, and a suitcase with legs following him. This version was nominated for Best New Artist at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, losing to "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics.

"Dance Hall Days" in popular culture

  • A remix version can be heard during the frat party scene in The Sure Thing.
  • In the commercial, the animated Lincecum character is chastised for listening to the song. The actual Lincecum intones, "and we don't listen to that", as they are driving and listening to music.[2][3]
  • The song is briefly heard playing during a party in the Breaking Bad episode "Over", apparently a reference to the 80's crime dramas such as Scarface and To Live and Die in L.A. which the series ironically recalls.
  • The Psychemagik's Leg Warmer Edit of the song plays in the montage of Ryan and Wilfred practicing their dance routine on an episode of Wilfred.

Track listing

7": Geffen / A3837 (UK)

  1. "Dance Hall Days"
  2. "There Is a Nation"

7": Geffen / 7-29310 (US)

  1. "Dance Hall Days"
  2. "Ornamental Elephant"

12": Geffen / TA3837 (UK)

  1. "Dance Hall Days [Remix]" (8:02)
  2. "There Is a Nation"

12": Geffen / 0-20194 (US)

  1. "Dance Hall Days [Remix]" (8:02)
  2. "Don't Let Go [Remix]" (7:12)

12": Geffen / GEF65T (UK)

  1. "Dance Hall Days Revisited [Extended Version]"
  2. "Dance Hall Days Revisited [Dub Version]"
  3. "Dance Hall Days [Original Version]"

12": Geffen / GEF 12-22301 (US)*

  1. "Dance Hall Days [Flashing Back To Happiness 12" Mix]"
  2. "Dance Hall Days [Darren Costin Remix]"
  3. "Dance Hall Days [Richie Warburton Remix]"
  4. "Dance Hall Days [Flashing Back To Happiness 7" Mix]"
  5. "Let's Go! [Shep's Mix]"

(* Released in 1997 to coincide with the band's "Best Of" release)

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1984) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 7
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[ 1] 3
Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[5] 3
Canada (CHUM)[6] 5
Canada (RPM 50 Singles)[7] 9
France (IFOP)[8] 25
Germany (Media Control AG)[ 1] 5
Ireland (IRMA)[9] 12
Italy (FIMI)[10] 2
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[ 1] 9
Netherlands (Mega Single Top 100)[ 1] 10
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[ 1] 6
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[ 1] 9
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[ 1] 5
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[ 1] 21
US Billboard Hot 100[11] 16
US Billboard Hot Dance/Disco[11] 1
US Cash Box[12] 17

Year-end charts

Chart (1984) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[13] 65
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[14] 53
Canada (RPM Top 100 Singles)[15] 65
Italy (FIMI)[10] 21
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[16] 85
US Billboard Hot 100[17] 74
US Top Dance Singles/Albums[18] 22

Preceded by
"Land of Hunger" by Earons		 Billboard Hot Dance/Disco number-one single
(with "Don't Let Go")
2 June 1984 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good to Be True)" by Jermaine Jackson and Michael Jackson

References

  1. ↑ Mason, Stewart. "Dance Hall Days – Song Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 4 February 2014. "In many ways, it's like a new wave version of Little River Band's earlier pre-rock nod "Reminiscing," a comparison that's (no kidding) intended as a compliment." 
  2. ↑ Schulman, Henry (24 March 2009). "Lincecum In Real Life". SFGate (Hearst Corporation). Retrieved 4 February 2014. 
  3. ↑ Parpis, Eletheria (3 March 2009). "MLB 2K9 "Pregame"". Adweek. Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2014. 
  4. ↑ "Billboard – Hits Of The World". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media) 96 (29): 62. 21 July 1984. ISSN 0006-2510. 
  5. ↑ "Dance Hall Days – WANG CHUNG". VRT (in Dutch). Top30-2.radio2.be. Retrieved 4 February 2014. "Hoogste notering in de top 30 : 3" 
  6. ↑ "CHART NUMBER 1432 – Saturday, June 09, 1984". CHUM. Archived from the original on 7 November 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2014. 
  7. ↑ "Top Singles – Volume 40, No. 16, June 23 1984". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 June 2013. 
  8. ↑ (French) "InfoDisc : Tous les Titres par Artiste". Dominic DURAND / InfoDisc. InfoDisc.fr. 17 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.  Select "Wang Chung" from the artist drop-down menu
  9. ↑ "The Irish Charts – All there is to know". IRMA. Retrieved 17 June 2013. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 (Italian) "I singoli più venduti del 1984". HitParadeItalia. Creative Commons. Retrieved 17 June 2013. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Wang Chung – Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 17 June 2013. 
  12. ↑ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JULY 21, 1984". Cash Box magazine. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2014. 
  13. ↑ BigKev. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2014. 
  14. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1984" (in Dutch). ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 4 February 2014. 
  15. ↑ "Top Singles – Volume 41, No. 17, January 05 1985". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 4 February 2014. 
  16. ↑ "Single Top 100 over 1984" (PDF) (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 1 February 2014. 
  17. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 – 1984". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 4 February 2014. 
  18. ↑ 't%20let%20go%22&f=false "Top Dance Singles/Albums". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media) 96 (51): 25. 22 December 1984. ISSN 0006-2510. 

Other reading

  • "Joel Whitburn's, Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003", 2004
Wang Chung
Studio albums
Compilations
Singles
Related articles
  • Discography
  • Of Hands and Hearts: Music for the Tsunami Disaster Fund
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