“I’ll take you up to the highest heights, let’s spread our wings and fly away. Surround you with love that’s pure delight, release your spirits, set you free. Come and feel my energy, let’s be as one in soul and mind. I’ll fill your world with ecstasy, touch all your dreams deep down in side.”
Baby D
Oh, one of favourite songs of all time…
The first lockdown seems such a long time ago and although it was difficult at the start, my friends and family soon got into a pattern of connecting via Zoom etc, we met up in each other’s gardens and eventually returned to the pubs for small gatherings. Friday afternoon shopping took on a new meaning for me and my husband soon caught on that my intentions were to go for a few cocktails after a spot of retail therapy— apparently it was my make-up that gave it away. Before we had a chance to put on our dancing shoes, the country went into another lockdown and here’s where we are today. It feels as if I’ve either gone into hibernation or this is a practise run for retirement, although I would like to add, retirement is a few years away for me.
When I was growing up, my mum would never go out on a girls’ night out. She enjoyed dancing but would only get the opportunity to do so at a family wedding or birthday party. Times have changed and girls’ nights out are a popular choice for recreation.
In my teens, I was sneaking out and underage drinking in pubs, my twenties were all about partying until I met my hubby, and my thirties were spent raising my children.
My forties became the new twenties and my fifties…well, once I got over the shock of turning fifty, I soon carried on arranging girls’ nights outs. However, this break in my routine has given me time to think.
In a Balancing Kind of Love, the sequel to Love is Crystal Clear, I have introduced two new characters, Margot & Ernest. They are both in their late 60’s and have just discovered the joys of house music at a nightclub.
Here’s an excerpt:
Margot gave him a gentle slap on the arm. ‘Stop teasing, people will gossip. We went into town for a few drinks and ended up in a nightclub. It was full of youngsters—the music was so loud—we couldn’t hear each other talk, so we ended up on the dancefloor. Ernest bought me a glow-stick bracelet, look here it is.’ Margot said and held out her wrist.
I laughed. ‘Well, I never, as soon as I turn my back, you turn into a pair of ravers.’
It got me thinking…
Am I too old to go clubbing and should I put my dancing shoes into retirement?
When I say clubbing, I mean drinking and dancing in my favourite cocktail bar. You see, I’ve always felt at home there. The Social Chill Bar opens its doors to an eclectic variety of people in their twenties right through to retirement age. It’s a venue where I’ll happily go with my friends and not feel out of place. There are certain clubs in my hometown where I am under strict instructions from my children to avoid; they go there with their friends and apparently, I would feel out of place. This doesn’t bother me in the slightest and I am quite happy to buy them a few drinks and pay for the cab home when they join me on my night out.
The one thing that unites all ages at The Social Chill Bar is the music.
Back in the late 80’s, early nineties, the rave culture hit the UK and I was introduced to it by some friends we met in Tenerife. I have memories of sitting in a car waiting for an address of where a rave was taking place or being thrown out of a sports hall at an illegal rave. For me, this was only a brief period of time as I met the love of my life who preferred drinks at our local pub where we first met.
So many of my friends continued to connect through this genre of music. To this day, it shows no sign of going out of fashion.
Throughout this lockdown, I have been entertained by the likes of Centreforce883 Radio and Gok Wan’s Isolation Nation. This music always has the ability to lift my spirit, and on many occasions, I’ve enjoyed bopping around the kitchen in my slippers or whilst gardening. More recently, a wonderful group has been set up on Facebook called The Vinyl Countdown, one that is growing from strength to strength in a matter of weeks. They describe themselves as a group that share tunes & mixes between friends & house music lovers. This explains what the group is all about, but I was curious to find out why it was created. I contacted co-founder Spencer and his answer pretty much sums it up.
We formed the Vinyl Countdown group to reconnect everyone over lockdown & to reignite the passion in people that we feel through the music that we all enjoyed in those hedonistic days of the late 80s & early 90s. I formed lifelong friendships in those times & feel that the music is what we were all there for. The scene was new, exciting & anarchic. There will never be that time again, but the music will be with us forever
From that answer, I deduce that perhaps I shouldn’t box up my dancing shoes just yet and maybe I’ll end up like Margot and Ernest, in my late 60’s and still bopping around on the dancefloor…
Have a wonderful weekend.
Much Love
Joanna 💜