Earworm

Published on 22/09/2024.

My Mother is a saint. Between my Father who loves to wind her up and two gremlin children in my Sister and me, it is safe to say she has the patience of one. Given my love for this very patient lady, and the fact I have already written a suggested music playlist for my Father and a playlist for my Sister, it seems only fitting that Julie should get the same treatment. As such, I am focusing this week on the songs that remind me of my Mama Brown. Let us see if the old saying holds true about music and that ‘Mother knows best’. I know she would certainly say she does!

Suggested Music Listening

1. Proud Mary – Ike and Tina Turner
2. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
3. Dancing in the Moonlight – Toploader
4. Dude (Looks Like a Lady) – Aerosmith
5. Dancing in the Street – Martha and the Vandellas

Proud Mary – Ike and Tina Turner

Rolling,
Rolling,
Rolling on the river!

My Mother loves a bit of a boogie to a pop or soul classic, and when the ‘nice and rough’ introduction of Ike and Tina’s Proud Mary starts to play, it is like a public service announcement that good ol’ Julie is about to start bopping her head like the diva herself.

To be fair, I can not blame her for her unbridled dancing. Even Creedence Clearwater Revival’s original Proud Mary has enough of a beat to make you start swaying, so with Tina’s brass section blaring, a little shimmy is inevitable. Furthermore, it would be a bit of a people-in-glass-houses-throwing-stones situation if I judged Julie for her Tina Turner impression: I once spent an evening till five in the morning trying to learn the line dance to Nutbush City Limits that the Aussies do at the rugby league. I would like to say I was much younger. That happened this year.

I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor

I am not sure when I first heard Ms Gaynor’s I Will Survive, but I do know that it was because of my Mother that I sat up and took notice of the song – quite literally. Some of the details may have become hazy over the years – I always assumed it happened in an Irish bar in Madeira, but my Father corrected me that it was in Florida – but I can picture her, clear as day, getting up to sing karaoke. What is more is that she had grabbed a white feather boa to twirl around her neck on her way to the stage.

Was she ‘at… first afraid’? Was she ‘petrified’? She was absolutely not. She was spinning around, waving around that feather boa like a woman possessed. In fact, my Father (who had nipped to the loo) seemed equally as perplexed as I was upon his return. Julie Brown had transformed from a karaoke-averse caterpillar into a songstress butterfly. The story is still told to this day!

Dancing in the Moonlight – Toploader

Toploader’s catchy cover of Dancing in the Moonlight is definitely a more modern number in my Mother’s musical repertoire. Nonetheless, it is a song over which we bonded on our car rides to school. I can not remember my exact age at the time, but I remember every day for two weeks on her way to drop me off at the infant educational factory in Chadsmoor, this gem of a song came on 100.7 Heart FM with Ed James and Helen Wheels. (That makes me feel old.)

I did not know what the lyrics meant at the time – especially not what the persona was ‘get[ting] every night’. What I did know, however, was that my Mum would sing the first ‘Here we go!’ of the remixed Stargate version and we would launch into the rest of Dancing in the Moonlight with the utmost passion. One morning, despite me being extremely late for school and her being late for work, she even let me stay in the car till the final notes had faded and we had finished our morning ritual. It was a real moment of mother-son love for me that I have treasured since.

Dude (Looks Like a Lady) – Aerosmith

My parents were very generous to take my Sister and me to Disneyland Paris when we were much younger. I think the idea was to take us before we grew too old and the magic was lost, but to be honest, I think some of the rollercoasters – nay, just Space bloody Mountain! – traumatised me for life. There was one saving grace, however, that came in the form of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

I believe the ride has now been scrapped in favour of some more fad-fabulous Avengers ride, but the Aerosmith spectacle used to be something else. After a bit of preamble in the form of a recorded video with the band, you stepped onto the rollercoaster and got flung around like rag dolls with Aerosmith’s songs blasting in your ears. I dare say it was the only ride for which I begged my parents to go again and again, and because the park was practically empty early in that year, I think I must have heard Dude (Looks Like a Lady) around 10 or 20 times in a row.

The strange thing about this experience was that it was actually my Mother that took the most liking to this song. She did not know the lyrics all too well, so Dude (Looks Like a Lady) ended up becoming Treat Me (Like a Lady) as she clapped and sang her way around the house. Nobody minded, however, and it ended up becoming a fun part of watching the Robin Williams film Mrs. Doubtfire – which was a lot many more times than you would think.

Dancing in the Street – Martha and the Vandellas

Speaking of films we would watch when my Mum would suddenly get up and dance, does anybody remember Sister Act 2? There is a scene when camera pans round to reveal Whoopi Goldberg and the gals raising money through a charity concert. It starts with a decent rendition of James Brown’s Get Up Offa That Thing, which would always get Julie’s foot tapping. Once Whoopi broke off a little Dancing in the Street, however, my Mother was out of her seat and getting down. ‘Great song,’ she would remark every single time, the usual rhythmic clapping not far behind.

I will give my Mother credit too: for what could be embarrassing mum moves, the lady actually has some dancing skills. The ’60s may well be 60 years behind us, but I think you can see a little bit of the leftover spirit in Julie when somebody sticks on Martha or Aretha.

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About the Author

Lewis Brown

Lewis is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Earworm. His deep passion for music is what inspired him to create Earworm as a music magazine for lovers of all genres.

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