23 September 2018

The glitter rubs right off & you're nowhere

One of my favourite ever tracks is this George Benson number from his 1978 live album 'Weekend in LA', and for me it sums up the sound of the late '70s. I watched Bob Fosse's All That Jazz for the first time last night, and Benson's version of the song that first became a hit for the Drifters in 1963 is the soundtrack to the superb opening scene. It's masterful filmmaking, dialogue-free but highly successful in introducing the setting of a stressful Broadway audition, illustrating most of the main characters including Roy Scheider's ruthless choreographer Gideon, and placing the film firmly in its New York stage context - one that would be rendered ubiquitous by the success of the film and TV version of Fame a few years later. (There's also an icily splendid live new wave version by Gary Numan from 1979).

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