“I don’t need no symphony. I hear music when you’re lovin’ me”

I offer for your re-consideration a classic dance track that is actually a song. Imagine? A melody and a lyric that together create something more than their respective parts. Like, wow!

The appropriate dance to this “beat” is the simple and elegant dance known in nightclubs from L.A. to New York as “Two Step.” If you need to learn about it and you are in L.A. just ask the best DJ in town, Victor Rodriguez. He is a master of the style and the current West Coast authority on the subject. He will love you forever for asking. If you are in New York then you should make your way over to Dino or Karen and they will fill you in on this simple yet sublime dance trend of yesteryear. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the steps. D and K  are both masters at it’s subtleties and their finesse with it’s variations do amaze. Watch them. Learn from them.

One, two, step. One, two, step.

The definition and origin of “Two Step” (AKA The Nightclub Two Step, NC2S, sometimes Disco Two Step or California Two Step) makes me glad there is a Wikipedia. CHECK IT HERE – God I love it when people get all technical about disco!~ Now listen to Minnie deliver her plea in signature style complete with those fifth octave acrobatics (but just a enough to remind you that, for a long while, it was only she that had this trick in her throat.) Did that sound dirty? I’m sorry – I didn’t mean for it to. I just get a little ( more ) highbrow when it comes to this particular genre of disco.  FYI – This song was co-written by Minnie and her husband, Richard Rudolph and in case you were wondering, this is a Stevie Wonder collaboration. Helleaux. Stevie. [did somebody just drop something? Did you just hear something drop? I thought I heard something hit the floor…] – Eyebrow up and a very soft disco snap before swirling onto the floor with an “I’m too happy” layback spin. We are now arriving in Disco Heaven with our angel Minnie as our guide…isn’t she pretty?

P.S. – To expound upon the tragedy of Minnie’s early death would be too heavy a vibe for this post but to not mention it would be wrong. It suffices to say that we all lost out on what surely would have been a lifetime of magical music when Minnie left us in 1979. Even her most joyous sounds are now enjoyed with a drop of sadness that is an honest sadness brought on by the remembrance of our own impermanence and how somethings so enduring and beautiful as her voice and her music seemed to be silenced way too soon. Disco dancing can be enlightening at times. One, Two, Step – Minnie’s heroic work for The American Cancer Society was righteous and is to be remembered with gratitude. Sadly she was fighting a losing battle with the disease at the time of this recording. She left behind two children, Marc Rudolph, a music engineer and Maya Rudolf, a much loved and greatly talented entertainer.

One, two, step, one two, step, rock together, rock to the side, one two step moving up now, through the passing clouds…

Rest in Bliss – Minnie Riperton – Perfect Angel on this Earth for a While                         The Magic she left behind, our gift forever.

Lord knows I love me some Minnie…and a good two step will always make me go up. When it’s in a close hold with a sexy partner it really takes me beyond… quite simply beyond.             ,,,swish!