Happy 4th of July! As you can see from this article, young people are coming from all over the country on Independence Day to help out in the Lower Ninth Ward. I'm a young person, and I'd intended to help out in the Lower Ninth Ward, but driving from Dallas took a little longer than expected. (Actually, it was getting up in the morning that took a lot longer than expected - curse you, spicy Dallas food!) I showed up in time to put a couple ladders back in a truck and high-five a couple people. I was thinking of doing good on the way there, so I helped create good vibes!

Speaking of vibes, I came to New Orleans to visit a very special place in my field of expertise. As you may know, I was a History of Disco major in school, and my advisor used to tell us about a club he worked at in New Orleans back in the day. Called "Too Much Heaven," the club was supposedly one of the few to proudly proclaim its disco influences through the "Disco in the wilderness" era that was the 80's and early 90's. It was able to do this because it was an underground club and proudly proclaimed its disco influences in private. There's a password and no song after about 1979 was allowed on the turntables.

After circling the rough area of the club for 45 minutes or so, I finally found the place and gave the password. (I can't post the password, but e-mail me if you want it) It really was like time had stopped. Loud jewelry, sequined vests, mirror balls and outfits that made me want to buy stock in a small polyester factory. The lights made it hard to be sure, but it sure looked like at least one member of the Sunshine Band was sitting in the back corner. The room was grooving to "Fly Robin Fly."

A tall woman came up and asked me to dance. This was not a good development - I am not a dancer by any stretch, and my interest in the club was purely scholarly. But she insisted, and we got out to the floor just as Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up" started. Moving as little as possible, I swayed to the rhythm. Soon I started feeling the beat (or maybe the lights were getting to me?) and entered into a dreamlike disco trance that bordered on magical, a transcendent bliss interrupted only slightly when I knocked to the floor by several large hairdos of people around me. Too Much Heaven indeed.

Now listening to: Silver Convention, "Fly Robin Fly"

(Photo by T Hall)