So I was at a wedding a couple of weekends ago and – old fogey alert! – when the music started it was like a rave had broken out. The DJ segued one record into another ad infinitum, all with the same monotonous robo-beat while the bridal party – were nine bridesmaids really necessary? – bounced up and down, not exactly with each other. He never took a break, either, and as the second hour elapsed the father of the bride said, “I wish they’d play just one Motown song we could dance to!” That started a spirited discussion at the old fogey table: Which one?
If you could coax the DJ into playing just one Motown song so the Boomers could dance, which one would it be? “September,” someone suggested, but while it’s a fine dance number, Earth, Wind & Fire didn’t record for Motown. “Heat Wave” was invoked, but it seemed wrong for an October occasion. Trying to think of something so infectious it would make people dance, I proposed “I Want You Back.”
My nominee was rejected by the table because the song’s premise – the singer is wooing a girl he once rejected – was inappropriate for a wedding. My response: Harumph! You want something you can dance to? Just look at the video! All five Jacksons are dancing! And though only a few of us at the wedding were old old enough to experience it, this was the song that set off Jacksonmania back in 1969, the first of a string of four No. 1 hits.
The table discussion petered out under the DJ’s onslaught, but I’m open to suggestions: If you could pick just one Motown song for such an occasion, which one would it be?