I am getting slightly obsessed by this video. At first glance, you see a couple of fresh-faced student types standing on a small stage in the middle of what looks like a generic US campus. Armed only with a laptop and basic turntable, they appear to have come straight from a graduation ceremony and their sensible white shirts their mothers would have bought them are untucked, their hair unruly and their moves decidedly jerky and unbalanced. The kid with the mic punches the air goofily. There is a distinct lack of professionalism going on here.
But then the tune. It’s a mid-paced synth-led dance groove that’s punchy enough to get the small audience going, then the boy with the shaggy hair and the awkward dance moves sings. It’s perfect! Not just beautifully phrased but gliding effortlessly over the persuasive beats and the slightly baroque keyboard melody. It’s hard to know what the song’s about exactly but there’s a welcome hint of archness to the words he’s putting across. His sidekick, wearing a daft headband, knows this is good and simply can’t stop himself from grinning. Nothing, not even dodgy headgear, is going to stop him from joining in on the song’s unbeatable chorus: Control yourself, take only what you need from it…
Written on the boys’ faces is the pure joy of that often-elusive moment (experienced during any creative endeavour be it song writing, painting or photography) when you know you’ve got something. Once you’ve got it, you simply have to keep it going. I bet they don’t want this day to end.
Now the audience. It’s 2003 so none of them are holding up camera phones in order to film the moment – instead they are living entirely in it. They’re loving the spontaneity of the performance and are simply running with the script, happy to join in the uninhibited dancing and experience where the whole thing takes them. No one’s going to share it on TikTok, see it on their social media feed or make snide comments about the singer’s eccentric moves. Until now!
Dan Synge is the author of Whatever Happened to the Teenage Dream? Postcards from the edge of 80s pop, available from all good book stores
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