Slow Dances at the end of the night in a club. Ahhh memories! Do they have them these days?

They used to be the great opportunity to make a move on the girl you had your eye on all night. Then, when she said no, it became like a weird game of musical chairs in which you rushed around trying to get a dance with the best looking girl you could. The standard of girls you went for dropped alarmingly within seconds of the first "smoochie track" playing and after about a minute it wasn't so much choosing a girl as being a choice between sitting it out or asking one the "remainders".

Of course sitting it out pretty much meant you were a "remainder" yourself, but you could always comfort yourself that there were plenty of girls who would have danced with you, you just didn't get to ask them before the guys they ended up dancing with

I heard 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" today, which brought it all back to me. Surely that has to be one of the best smoochie songs ever. But the one that always sticks in my mind is Sad Cafe's "Every Day" as that was the song I had my first great smooch to, the time when I got the girl I'd had my eye on. Never got very far in relationship terms, but the moment is a treasured memory forever

So come on...what's your favourite smoochie song?

I'll get the venerable DJ at the Cana Bar to stick on the best one at tomorrow night's (wednesday's) drink

Tim, make sure you save a dance for me! Hoping to pop into Cana bar after the football! Just for clarification, it's just a dance right....I don't have to kiss you do I as I don't think your wife would be too happy????

Hmmm favourite smoochie song....

Unchained Melody is up there as a def fave! (The original version and not the crap attempt by Robson and Jerome... whatever happened to them??)

I like the term "remainders", although in my teens my social circle and I referred to them as "Tentertwo's", because they were the girls you would only ask for a dance at 10 to 2 when the place was about to close

Sadly from the responses it seems I was basically a "tentertwo" myself, ah well such is life

The preferred "slow" track of the day was "I Had The Time Of My Life" from "Dirty Dancing", I was gutted when that got replaced by Frank Sinatra's "My Way". Try smooching your chosen "tentertwo" whilst the rest of the dancefloor have linked arms in a vast loop and are high-kicking to the crescendo, it's not easy ah tell thee...

Jemma...you'll have to clarify what you mean here. The classic and best version of the song is credited to the Righteous Brothers (though only one of them actually sung it).

But to call that the "original" is like calling Westlife's "Seasons in The Sun" an original ( but I'm aware of people who think it is an original of theirs )

Unchained Melody was written over ten years before Phil Spector produced that version, and had been sung by such illuminaries as Liberace and especially Jimmy Young, who got to number one with it and went on to become a renowned Radio 2 DJ.

In fact I've heard a little whisper that Jimmy Young was inspired to change his career by seeing the DJ perform at the Cana Bar back in the fifties

Sexual Healing.

dave

It has to be 'Nights in White Satin' - oh my God am I really that old??

It was an end of an era when they stopped the slowies, my husband always reminishes about his 'tentotwoers' with tear in his eye (more from fear than anything else!)

I however, had my moments as one of the 'remainders' on a few occasions. I liked it best when a guy would ask your friend to dance, she say no, then he ask every other friend in order of 'fitness'!

Oh happy memories, I think the sun always shone then too!

"Wanna dance luv ?"
"Naw I'm wi' me maatesss!"
(looking round realising there are no mates to be seen, decides she needs to visit the ladies right at that point, or discourages further questions by staring fixedly at a point on the horizon).

Any of you experts out there that have done this before will advise: chat up the ugly mate first. When there are merely ten minutes in which to comply, it obviously becomes a high-pressure performance.

dave

the 1st song that comes to my head is "Stairway to Heaven"
I remember b/c that song was so freakin long and it never failed that you'd end up dancing with someone you really didn't want to.

in which case, the song really did feel as long as a Stairway to Heaven

Oh yes...I remember being 'trapped' with some sweaty, too keena a 10 2 2er by that one!

What about when the lights went on at 2.00! I still have nightmares. Why oh why did they ever do that!!!

cherish - Kool and the Gang. Those were the civilised days where you could banter with the lads laa night and then make an arse of yourself at tentertwo.

Boston; More than a feeling,

Chicago;If you leave me now,

Engelbert Humperdink; After the loving (and I don't CARE if you all boo me for that!!)

God!! Dr Hook's,Love you a little bit more,,,

Abba, practically all of them!! ( I care even less what you think of that opening out of mine!!)

To be honest, the 70's music was the best for "canoodling"

Yeah, I do miss those types of songs, those were good times....

So what's the answer to Tim's original question - Do they still do this in clubs?

Not to my knowledge and in the clubs I go to... I've not heard the expression "10 2 2" before, but hey at least I know 10cc's "I'm not in love"!

The best advice is "Go ugly early, beat the rush"
Why wait until tentertwo?

Beegees "how deep is your love" ahhh

There is one that has just come to me on a flashback: the lyrics are something like "..celebrate my love for yeeewwww...". Its a duet. It sounds like lionel Richie, but I can't be sure.

dave

Tonight I celebrate my love for you - Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack

Tim,

Many thanks for the clarification on Unchained Melody and setting me right... maybe I'm just too young to be aware of other versions!!!

Yup I meant the Righteous Brothers song.... its quite versatile as you can smooch to it and its also a great song to murder at karaoke, can anyone actually reach those high bits!!!

As for Westlife... do they sing anything other than cover versions??

It's doesn't reflect well on my age knowing it, does it

I felt very old the other week when I discovered that quite a few of you younger types didn't realise that Madonna's "Hung Up" featured quite a lot of Abba's "Gimme Gimme Gimme"

oh yeh, gets me going