‘Dance Hall Days’ is a song by the English new wave band Wang Chung. It was originally released as a single in 1982 when the band was called Huang Chung, then it was re-recorded and released a year later in 1983 for the studio album Points on the Curve. It was the band's only single to make the top 40 in the UK. In the US, it peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went to number one on the Dance Club Songs chart.
Jack Hues of Wang Chung told Eric Greenberg on the Just My Show podcast: "It begins quite innocent: 'take your baby by the hand,' and then the last verse with 'take your baby by the wrist, and in her mouth an amethyst,' it's all a bit more hallucinogenic in a way, how things that start off simple get complex. My dad was a musician, and he had a band that played in an old-fashioned dance hall. I used to play with him in that band, so maybe there's sort of the nostalgia that's in the track. It's all quite real, actually, as far as experiences that I had when I was first starting out playing, and playing in public.
He continued, “Musically, it's that sort of rhythm and that kind of shuffly beat. Technically it's sort of like three against two [laughs], but we're not gonna talk about all that. It's a particular feel that was sort of unusual at the time, I suppose. It was partly inspired by one of the Adam and the Ants tracks, and that's part of the thinking of using Chris Hughes, who produced Adam's Kings of The Wild Frontier album. I think the record company were keen that we sort of met up with him, and Chris and I have been friends ever since that time - Chris works with me on my jazz records that I've made in the last couple of years. It's been one of the most important friendships of my life."
Even though they are British, this was Wang Chung's only hit in the UK. After it proved to be a bigger hit in the US and was featured in the film To Live and Die In LA, they decided to ignore the UK market and concentrate on the US. This proved an astute decision as they recorded two more American Top 10 hits, ‘Everybody Have Fun Tonight’ (#2 in 1986) and ‘Let's Go!’ (#9 in 1987), whilst not even recording a minor chart placing in the UK.
Label – Geffen
Songwriter – Jack Hues
Producers – Wang Chung, Chris Hughes, Ross Cullum
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Take your baby by the hand
And make her do a high handstand
And take your baby by the heel
And do the next thing that you feel
[Pre-Chorus]
We were so in phase
In our dance hall days
We were cool on craze
When I, you, and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true
Oh, I said
[Chorus]
Dance hall days, love
[Verse 2]
Take your baby by the hair
And pull her close and there, there, there
And take your baby by the ears
And play upon her darkest fears
[Pre-Chorus]
We were so in phase
In our dance hall days
We were cool on craze
When I, you, and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true
Oh, I said
[Chorus]
Dance hall days, love
Dance hall days
Dance hall days, love
[Verse 3]
Take your baby by the wrist
And in her mouth, an amethyst
And in her eye, two sapphires blue
And you need her, and she needs you
[Refrain]
And you need her, and she needs you
And you need her, and she needs you
And you need her, and she needs you
And you need her
And she needs you
[Pre-Chorus]
We were so in phase
In our dance hall days
We were cool on craze
When I, you, and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true
Oh, I said
[Chorus]
Dance hall days, love
[Outro]
Dance hall days, love
Dance hall days
Dance hall days, love
Dance hall days
Dance hall days, love
Dance hall days
Dance hall days, love