B122: Dis Goes Her 'nd Dis Goes Dere

​In 1978, as we were leaving 6th class in the Presentation Convent, our teacher Sr. Pius allowed us to have a class party in school.  We were heading off to secondary school (high school), some to Greenhill and some to the Tech; so, we didn’t know if we’d be seeing each other ever again.  Twelve-year-old girls being twelve-year-old girls, I remember there being a lot of dramatic good-byes and heartfelt promises to always stay in touch. Forever. (For the most part we have!)

The "Disco Fever" cassette I had in 1978

​What I also remember vividly though, is the cassette tapes we were playing that day.  Tapes were what we had before CDs and you had to play one side and then turn around and reinsert to play the other.  If you wanted to hear a specific song you had to fast forward or rewind and hit stop and play wherever you guessed it was.   You also had to be careful to stop the tape quickly if it sounded like it was unravelling …. because it was a palaver to rewind the tape spools with a pencil.  Anyway, just before the party, I had bought the “Disco Fever” cassette which had many of the top hits of the day – Silver Lady (David Soul), Angelo (Brotherhood of Man) , So You Win Again (Hot Chocolate) and Telephone Man (Merl Wilson) were my favourites.  So, I was thrilled to bits to be allowed play it in the classroom.

"Disco Fever" Tracklist

​Disco was big in 1978!  John Travolta had his big hit film with “Saturday Night Fever” from March of that year in Ireland.  He played the part of Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man who spends his weekends dancing and drinking at a local discothèque while dealing with social tensions and disillusionment in his working-class ethnic neighbourhood in Brooklyn.  Most of the sexual innuendo in that film went over our innocent 12-year-old heads.  But the dance moves didn’t.  I remember we were all imitating the hand rolls and pointing actions of Travolta as we strutted our stuff around the classroom that day.  It didn’t matter that we were all girls!  Or that Sr. Pius was looking at us with a mixture of bemusement and horror!

"Saturday Night Fever" Poster

Night Fever Dance

Sure, we were all mini-Travoltas that day and couldn’t wait for his new film “Grease” which was coming out in Ireland in September of that year.  I only recently found out, when doing my family tree, that I am related by marriage to one of the guys who played Sonny one of the “T-Birds” in “Grease” all those years ago.  But no blood relation, so I can’t credit that for my moves that day. 😂

"Grease" Poster 1978

​Roller discos were also becoming a thing and I have a vague recollection of someone flying across the classroom parquet floor on roller skates ….. before crashing into the huge iron radiator….though that might have been another day.  In Carrick town, there were roller discos in the old Ormonde Hall.  I gave them a wide berth though; seeing as I have the balance and agility of a new-born giraffe!

So, in this week’s blog, I’ve chosen that “Disco Fever” cassette as one of my favourite albums and “Saturday Night Fever” as one of my favourite films.  In memory of the fun we had at that 6th class party, the patience of Sr. Pius that day (RIP) and the dancing girls with whom I had the privilege of being in primary school.  ❤️❤️

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Bucket List Items Ticked Off in the above Blog post 122
​Number 74(a) - Experiences - Pick 8 Favourite Films

• Saturday Night Fever

Number 74(b) - Experiences - Pick 80 Songs/ Pieces of Music

• Soundtrack of Disco Fever

​Other Blog Posts
Blog 11 - Sydney, Australia
Blog 12 - Hong Kong, China
Blog 17 - Beijing, Xi'an & Shanghai, China
Blog 19 - California, USA
Blog 27 - Scotland
Blog 28 - Barbados
Blog 29 - Canada

Do you have a favourite cassette?  Tell me about it in the comments section below.
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