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Fred Astaire goes disco with his cover of Carly Simon’s ‘Attitude Dancing,’ 1975
02.13.2015
11:16 am
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Fred Astaire may have been the most talented man ever to appear regularly on Hollywood screens. He was an extraordinary dancer and choreographer, certainly a decent enough comic actor, and (at least according to Mel Tormé, who knew a thing or two about singing) the greatest singer in the world as well. Part of what made Astaire such an effective singer is that his vocal instrument was not particularly good, so he had to compensate for that with technique and expression. The story has often been told of RKO’s early verdict on him (at the time he was doing very well on Broadway): “Can’t sing. Can’t act. Balding. Can dance a little.” Time would quickly prove that a preposterous judgment of Astaire’s skills.

None of that made it easier for Astaire to weather the 1970s, when he himself was in his seventies. He did, of course, appear in a palpable hit when he was one of the many luminaries to deal with a blazing skyscraper in 1974’s The Towering Inferno. The 1970s are littered with disco covers of seemingly everything, from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and the Star Wars theme to Pink Floyd, the theme from M*A*S*H, and Ethel Merman. To his credit, Astaire was on that train early, recording the entirety of Attitude Dancing (the album) in the summer of 1975.
 

 
The original song, which appeared on Carly Simon’s Playing Possum and hit #21 on the Billboard charts, was released in April 1975, so Fred was seeking to cover a song that was brand-new. It may have still been on the charts when he cut the track.

As cringeworthy disco covers by oldsters go, this one isn’t too bad. As soon as Fred’s vocals enter the track, one experiences that unmistakable sinking feeling of knowing that this is all wrong, but he does a pretty creditable job with the chorus, which helps salvage things. (His mastery of vocal technique came in handy but the basic inexpressiveness of his voice in his mid-seventies is insurmountable.) It’s unclear whether he was transfixed by the word dancing, but it probably wasn’t the best material to be undertaking—even the original is just “eh.”  Oh yeah: here’s the original:
 

Posted by Martin Schneider
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02.13.2015
11:16 am
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Is Carly Simon losing her mind?
02.03.2011
06:18 pm
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Don’t get me wrong, I love her dearly, but what the heck has gotten into Carly Simon’s cornflakes lately, huh?

Exhibit A: A plastic surgery skit:
 

 
Below, Simon explains how to apply make-up so that you look ten years older than you are:
 

 
More Carly Simon webcam zaniness after the jump!

READ ON
Posted by Richard Metzger
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02.03.2011
06:18 pm
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