For an industry which is forever boasting about being worth more and more money each and every year, the dance music world can be hopelessly unprofessional at times. Even basic details are sometimes forgotten about, leaving a distinctly poor impression – regardless of any good intentions.
Take, for example, this clip which was shared by Strictly Rhythm’s Instagram page yesterday. It shows Marshall Jefferson talking about how his 1986 song “Move Your Body” started to gain traction in its early days. As one of the first house records to ever use a piano, it’s a story which is well worth telling.
Jefferson does a fine job of telling the story here – although it’s one which is worth spending significantly more than 30 seconds on…
The clip itself comes from a documentary by British TV station Channel 4, called The Story of When House Music Went Global. But Ears To The House cannot help but notice that the setting for this clip, where Jefferson narrates the history of one of his most famous records, doesn’t match the gravitas of the story at all.
Instead of being filmed in a grand setting or a swanky hotel lounge area, it appears to have been recorded from Jefferson’s hotel room. He’s even there sitting on his bed – and whilst this doesn’t diminish the fascinating story of the song’s development, it also doesn’t help convey any impression of seriousness.
They could at least have brought Jefferson to a quiet area of the hotel and given him a coffee, couldn’t they? Still, at least one person is likely not to care too much about all this.
In the American state of Ohio, a man has taken to TikTok to complain recently that a neighbour has been playing the song for hours and hours at a time on loop for nearly a month – something that even Jefferson himself has commented on…
If you are that neighbour who keeps playing the song, please get in touch – we’d love to know why…