SWINGING WITH NANCY: MY SECRET DESIRE TO BE A MALE GO GO DANCER
 

One of the things I have been doing lately has been downloading vintage music performances from the sixties from such shows as Ed Sullivan, Shin-Dig, Hullabaloo and the Smother Brothers. I've been getting a real kick out of watching early performances by such acts as the Doors, the Beatles, the Who, the Bee Gees and the Rolling Stones as well as vintage footage of smaller bands like the Turtles, the Brooklyn Bridge, Peter and Gordon and Spanky and Our Gang. Anyhow, today I downloaded a fairly interesting video clip of Nancy Sinatra, possibly one of her earliest performances.

Now Nancy Sinatra was a player in my sexual and musical development. When I was in the seventh grade I saw Nancy's "These Boots Are Made for Walking" video featuring her and a chorus of go-go dancers in leather boots shaking and wiggling away. It was one of the most erotic things I had seen up to that point in my life and I instantly became a Nancy Sinatra fan. That year I received a Nancy Sinatra album from my Aunt Grace. As I grew older, Nancy lost both her sex appeal and musical appeal. My tastes in women changed and I also realized that Nancy's music wasn't really all that great, though it had its place when it came to kitschy fun. Nancy's influence in my life faded fast, but I still have a soft spot for her music. Furthermore, I did receive a very kind email from Nancy about five years ago when I wrote to Frank Sinatra when he was very ill. I'll always be eternally grateful to Nancy for her kindness during that period.

Anyhow, back to the video clip...

The clip was Nancy singing her first hit single, "So Long Babe," on an episode of Hullabaloo, probably my favourite of the music programs of the 1960s. Hullabaloo featured the most mod go-go dancers and the oddest celebrity pairings. Where else could you see Sammy Davis Jr. singing with Eric Burdon and the Animals? Michael Landon singing to Jackie DeShannon while the Byrds look on in amusement? Dionne Warwick, Richard Chamberlain, Sam and Dave and Eric Burdon and the Animals joining in unison to sing Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind?" Go-go dancers doing an interpretive dance while Barry McGuire sings "Eve of Destruction"? Go-go dancers jumping out of empty bathtubs and doing the monkey while the Mamas and the Papas sing "California Dreaming"? Beatles' manager Brian Epstein's segment from London introducing America to "new" British acts like the Moody Blues and Marianne Faithful? The only place you could find these odd gems was on Hullabaloo. If you ever get a chance to see this program, never ever hesitate to do so.

Anyways, back to Nancy Sinatra and "So Long Babe". "So Long Babe" preceded "These Boots Are Made for Walking" and cracked the top 40, although it was a bigger hit in Europe than North America. Although never the hit that "Boots" was, which went all the way to number one on the billboard charts, "So Long Babe" was the song that got Nancy's music career off the ground: a feat Nancy had been trying to do since the early sixties. This early Nancy Sinatra performance was very odd, as Nancy was still a brunette in the video clip - not the bleach blonde that we later knew her to be. She also was dressed very conservatively - no mini skirts or go-go boots. Nancy sang her song, mugged seductively for the camera, and was rather charming, but clearly hadn't developed her shtick yet.

However, what fascinated me the most about this performance was the four Mexican male go-go dancers dancing to Nancy's song. That’s right - MALE go-go dancers! They looked rather smart in their dark cardigan sweaters, white turtlenecks with matching slacks and white shoes. They came complete with a swinging dance routine that went with the mellow sound of Nancy's "So Long Babe".  I marveled at their movements and realized that there was nothing in this world I would want to be more than a male go-go dancer for Nancy Sinatra. I truly think that could be one of the greatest things in the world to be. It seemed so eternally blissful, and I would have loved to look back at my life and eventually tell my grandchildren that I danced for Nancy Sinatra.

Don't laugh. I'm being serious here.

However it got me to thinking. What ever happened to all the go-go dancers that shook there thing in go-go clubs up and down the Sunset strip and on the shows like Shin-Dig and Hullabaloo? Where are these girls today and why don't we hear of their memoirs? Why have none of these girls (or guys as the case might be) written a book about dancing for Sonny and Cher, the night that Graham Nash tried to pick them up when the Hollies were playing on "Happening '66", or the time Mark Lindsey got into a fight with Paul Revere at some go-go club in Venice Beach? The go-go dancer is the unsung and forgotten hero of the 1960s. Where did they go? Is there some valley of the Go-Go Dancers somewhere hidden in Shangri-La where the go-go dancers dance for eternity? Well if there is one, my friends, that is where I want to be. That is where I belong.

Of course, the fact that I can't dance is going to be a bit of a set back...

 

All content copyright Sam Tweedle 2006.