B-side "There Is a Nation" Format CDLPcassette Length 3:58 | Released 1984 | |
"Dance Hall Days" is a song by English band Wang Chung, released as a single in 1984. It was the band's only single to make the Top 75 charts in the UK, narrowly missing the Top 20. In the US, it peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went all the way to number one on the Dance/Disco chart, their highest showing on the latest chart.
Contents
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 stopping in front of a closed-down hall, setting down the suitcase he carries, and picking up a flyer. The scene shifts to colour, featuring the band performing in the packed hall with the backing of a big band as couples dance (played by heavily made-up children from a local dancing school). Later, a disco ball descends to the floor and breaks open, allowing a mirror-covered humanoid creature to emerge and dance. The video ends in black-and-white, with Hues walking past the hall and down the street; he leaves his suitcase behind, but it sprouts legs and hurries off after 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
Track listing
- "Dance Hall Days"
- "There Is a Nation"
- "Dance Hall Days"
- "Ornamental Elephant"
- "Dance Hall Days [Remix]" (8:02)
- "There Is a Nation"
- "Dance Hall Days [Victor Flores Remix]" (8:02)
- "Don't Let Go [Remix]" (7:12)
- "Dance Hall Days Revisited [Extended Version]"
- "Dance Hall Days Revisited [Dub Version]"
- "Dance Hall Days [Original Version]"
- "Dance Hall Days [Flashing Back To Happiness 12" Mix]"
- "Dance Hall Days [Darren Costin Remix]"
- "Dance Hall Days [Richie Warburton Remix]"
- "Dance Hall Days [Flashing Back To Happiness 7" Mix]"
- "Let's Go! [Shep's Mix]"
(* Released in 1997 to coincide with the band's "Best Of" release)