Dance Hall Days

"Dance Hall Days"
Song

"Dance Hall Days" is one of Wang Chung's most popular and well known hit singles. It was released in 1984 on the album, Points on the Curve. Despite them being from the United Kingdom, this was their only hit in the UK. It can be heard playing in the background during the strip club scene in To Live and Die in L.A., for which Wang Chung also composed and performed the original soundtrack, and was later featured in the movies GOTTI (1996) and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997). It can also be heard on the Flash FM radio station in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto:Vice City.

Two versions of the music video were made. The first version of the video is a collection of home movies is shown with the majority of the archive footage consisting of a stage show with swimmers and fountains, and other World War II era material. Apparently, the footage is courtesy of the director's Derek Jarman father, who was one of the very first people ever to use a color home movie camera. The toddler in the home movie footage is the director himself as a child. The home movies are interspersed amid footage of Jack, Nick, and Darren, lip-synching and playing the violin. The guys are also dressed up as characters from The Wizard of Oz at the end of the video, with Jack Hues as the Tin Man, Nick Feldman as the Scarecrow, and Darren Costin as the Lion. The second version of the video is the most aired and well known music video. It is a concept of a magical fantasy about a dance hall in the 1940s, the heyday of dance halls. The video begins in black and white with Jack Hues picking up and reading a flyer outside the dance hall. The next scene, which is filmed in color features the band performing at the dance hall with the couples dancing. Later in the video, a disco-ball lowering on the dance floor and the emergence of a disco ball creature sprouting from its egg. The video ends in black and white with Jack Hues leaving the dance hall on the street and a suitcase with legs following him.

Track Listing

7": Geffen / A3837 (UK)

1. "Dance Hall Days"
2. "There Is A Nation"

7": Geffen / 7-29310 (US)

1. "Dance Hall Days"
2. "Ornamental Elephant"

12": Geffen / TA3837 (UK)

1. "Dance Hall Days [Remix]" (8:02)
2. "There Is A Nation"

12": Geffen / 0-20194 (US)

1. "Dance Hall Days [Remix]" (8:02)
2. "Don't Let Go [Remix]" (7:12)

12": Geffen / GEF65T (UK)

1. "Dance Hall Days Revisited [Extended Version]"
2. "Dance Hall Days Revisited [Dub Version]"
3. "Dance Hall Days [Original Version]"

12": Geffen / GEF 12-22301 (US)

1. "Dance Hall Days [Flashing Back To Happiness 12" Mix]"
2. "Dance Hall Days [Darren Costin Remix]"
3. "Dance Hall Days [Richie Warburton Remix]"
4. "Dance Hall Days [Flashing Back To Happiness 7" Mix]"
5. "Let's Go! [Shep's Mix]"

• Released in 1997 to coincide with the band's "Best Of" release