#25: A Strange Bout of Saturday Night Fever

Growing up, was there any music that seeped into your DNA while your back was turned; a song (or six) from your childhood that's strongly influenced the adult you’ve become?

For instance, the movie Saturday Night Fever came out in 1978 – when I was five – and I’ve been a huge fan of the Bee Gees (who, of course, famously created/sang the soundtrack) ever since.

Well, it’s a little more than that, to be honest. I actually burst into an uncanny rendition of Staying Alive, any time the iconic track comes on the radio or sound system (you’d think Barry Gibb was in the same room).

Or whenever the phrase ‘Staying Alive’ is mentioned in a sentence (which can be somewhat inappropriate whenever I’m part of a group stranded on a desert island, and those words are part of a rallying speech for survival. “Hah-hah-hah-hah-stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive…” ~ "Awfully sorry about that. As you were.").

And I do this while simultaneously dancing like Travolta; the Grandmaster Grooveshaker, with his dazzling white suit and pulsating hip-swivelling/Pink Panther arm-pointing.

The first public incident occurred one Saturday afternoon in the mid-1980's, at a Dixon’s (kinda like North America’s Best Buy) in Gloucester, England. One minute I was feigning interest in buying a new JVC stereo; the next, being escorted from the store by a security guard.

I have no control over this affliction; and it’s as if I’ve been hypnotized once the song wraps – as I never have any recollection of my performance. I only find out when I’m tapped on the shoulder by said security guard, and informed of my indiscretion. Or given the news by family or friends, after embarrassing myself at a wedding or similar function.

The best example of the latter was at a wedding disco in Derbyshire a few years’ back – after a family member whose name I won’t mention… (Mum!) told the DJ I was a big fan of the Brothers Gibb (AKA the Bee Gees).

Within five minutes, Staying Alive miraculously began booming out of the jukebox, and...

To read the rest of this column, check out BC Johnny's upcoming book: Chilled Almonds.