Another rate discovery for
@berserkboi bites the dust!
The Nolans have surprisingly never been on my radar ever before! Not in Mauritius, not in Australia, not even my fascination with UK Pop brought them to my attention. This made
I’m In The Mood For Dancing quite the fun number to discover with its hearty lyrics celebrating a good time and the charming sisters singing in their exuberant tone about their good mood.
The Nolans were always one of the highest placing 70s acts here, at any random point of the voting period. They were even soundly beating
The Emotions for a few weeks - how shocking! The fun quality of the track does lend itself well to a discovery, so if many of you heard it for the first time like I did, I am not surprised you rated it highly. The ones who knew
I’m In The Mood For Dancing before the rate probably have fond memories attached, as myself and a few others did with
B*Witched and their nostalgia may have caused a higher score than usual, I would hazard a guess.
I’m In The Mood For Dancing was released in November 1979 (just making the cut off for inclusion here) and reached its peak of #3 in the UK charts in 1980. The girls had another top 40 hit prior to this track called
Spirit, Body and Soul which did not qualify them for the rate.
I’m In The Mood For Dancing was written by
Ben Findon,
Mike Myers and
Bob Puzey, and featured lead vocals by
Bernie Nolan. Although
Coleen features in the video – she wasn’t part of the band yet, she became one soon after the song’s release as the girls changed their name from
The Nolan Sisters to
The Nolans.
I’m In The Mood For Dancing accomplished a rare feat for its time in reaching the top spot in Japan, something English songs seldom achieved then. This prompted
The Nolans to record a version in Japanese which would be translated back to
Dancing Sister(s). The girls would go on to have a further 2 #1 hits in Japan even when their luck turned in Europe.
The Nolans are a family band of sisters, five of which
Anne, Denise, Maureen, Linda &
Bernie were regular guest performers on numerous TV shows in the UK, they also supported Frank Sinatra on his 1975 European tour. Between 1979 and 1982, they had seven UK hits, and in 1981 they won the Tokyo Music Festival with “
Sexy Music”.
The girls have had various line-ups including the sisters and their own daughters with a few trying for a solo career over the years in various areas of the entertainment industry. Some of the girls did embark on a reunion tour in 2009 but the exclusion of others drew a rift between the girls.
Bernie Nolan passed away in 2013 of a breast cancer resurgence (which led to the other sisters reconciling). When asked to tour again in 2014,
Coleen stated it was still too soon.
What was PopJustice in the mood for when citing for The Nolans?
Zar-Unity (7)
thinks The Nolans are worthy of his favourite score - Wow, pretty catchy and clever lyrics! Great voices! Tech: 4 Taste: 3 = 7 points.
Kermit_The_Frog (3)
taps into his Bea Arthur persona for this one - I simply cannot be objective about this song - this is the music that “basic” as an adjective was invented for. Barely competent at any component of being a popstar, they get a bonus point for giving us “Jim Carson’s Dressing Room” and another bonus point for “how many different names can we give Colleen in the CBB thread”. Disclaimer: it is entirely possible that neither Linda nor Colleen was even in The Nolans at this point in their career. And as I type that, Colleen appears in the video struggling with stepping back and forward in time to music, making her “hardly a dancer” sisters look like Oti Mabuse in comparison.
ComeOnGloria (8.8)
is more fond of it than his predecessors - Just so catchy!
Saviodxl (8.9)
rates this his favourite of the 70s - Best breakthrough of their decade! I'm in the mood too!
Spillett (9)
agrees with the sentiment - (oh yes... you'd have to dance to this if it came on.)
Filippa (10)
isn’t such a villain after all - I didn’t know the group, didn’t know the song but I instantly loved it. This is such a lovely happy pop song. An Irish band? I’m glad I listened to it.
Trouble In Paradise (10)
thinks this song fits his mood perfectly - I have a soft spot for straight ahead disco songs about dance and romance with fun piping backing vocals and this one does it perfectly.
Empty Shoebox (10)
is a big fan! - I love the disco era. You can tell that by the fact that I haven't even marked this song down for the unnecessary key change.
Sprockrooster (5)
is not here for the more questionable vocals - A bit screechy at times.
Londonrain (6)
only has one word for it! - A bop.
DominoDancing (8)
thinks the opposite of Empty Shoebox, hello #EmptyDominoBox - Super, super catchy. The key changes really make it work and keep this from becoming too repetitive.
Iheartpoptarts (10)
finally reaches into her OhNostalgia too - Happy and fun and at least two of them look a lot like old pictures of my Mom.
Ufint (8.5)
thinks this hits all the right spots! - Lovely sound and lead vocals are awesome.
Unnameable (8)
feels no shame dancing to this still!- still worth dancing to.
DJHazey (10)
thinks there is more to it than first meets the eye - Such a feel good tune here, with varied vocal registers and runs throughout keeping me guessing. Not just the basic bop it probably seems like at first glance.