We all know songs that without fail, can make us feel happy, whenever we hear them. For me, that list includes Bright Side of the Road and Brown Eyed Girl, by Irish singer, songwriter and musician, ‘Van the Man’ Morrison, Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves, Judy Garland’s The Trolley Song and My Girl, by The Temptations (to name a small handful).
Now I have a new one and what’s more, it’s by a contemporary Australian band. Even better, it features some fabulous older people doing wonderful, crazy things. And if you’re anything like me, once you’ve heard it, you’ll want to hear it again and again.
Skipping Girl Vinegar is the band and, as many Victorians will know, the name is a reference to the famous 1930s ‘Skipping Girl’ vinegar neon sign in Melbourne. It was Australia’s first animated neon sign and has similar iconic and nostalgic status for Melbournians as the old Coppertone neon sign in Surfers Paradise had for Queenslanders.
The song is called ‘Dance Again’ and it comes from the band’s recent album called The Great Wave . I didn’t know this band but someone I know through my writing about ageing issues recommended it. I am so very glad he did.
Watch the video clip for the full energetic, happiness-inspiring, nostalgic experience. You’ll want to share it!
Here’s what the band says about this song:
[Mark Lang is the ‘Mark’ being referred to here – he is the band’s lead guitarist, vocalist and writer.]
“A few months back, a group of friends loaned us a small aeroplane and made us some sparkly golden jumpsuits. Mark put his head over the back fence and somehow convinced a handful of extremely young at heart elderly neighbours to pile into the SGV van and head 10 minutes down the road, to the small coastal airport just outside of the town [Point Lonsdale] where the album was written and recorded.
We are so excited to finally show you what happened when we pushed the sparkly jumpsuits (as well as the people wearing them) and a bunch of camera equipment out of that perfectly good aeroplane 14,000 feet above the stunning Victorian coastline. The result was absolute magic and better than anything we could have hoped for.
(None of Mark’s neighbours were harmed in in the making of this clip!)
