By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@ Blogfinger.net. BF re-post from 2013.
Tony Martin was a handsome crooner who always performed in a tux. He was married to a gorgeous dancer, Cyd Charisse. I was with my parents in New York City when we spotted Tony and Cyd. Mom made me go over and get her autograph (Tony was in a phone booth). I should have asked her to dance, but I was ten.
The ’50’s and ’60’s were a time when ballroom dancing was popular. People took lessons and learned fancy dances like the merengue and the mambo, but ultimately, at its core, dancing was about sex; let’s face it–especially the slow numbers. So it’s not surprising that the song below became very popular. It’s interesting that most of the recordings were by men, except for the sultry Peggy Lee.
I had forgotten about this tune until Sunday night when the provocative HBO show “Girls” closed its latest episode with this old song. Of course it was a new version of that old song. The lyric bore some resemblance to the plot line, although there was no dancing in the script.
I tried to find a version that was a little different than those tired old recordings and I found this one by Stuffy Shmitt, a contemporary performer who likes to cross over from one era to another.
“When we are dancing
And you’re dangerously near me
I get ideas, I get ideas”