Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Lend us your jump suit for the briar

I can barely post here without laughing. I was sent one of those Facebook funwall videos by Manuel from Well Done Fillet and it is a classic. You have a free-style disco dancing competition from 1981, you have Sheeba, you have Margot (who was appearing in the Abercorn - LOL), some bloke looking very out of place from Trust House Forte as well as an Ulster Disco Dnacing champ. What more ingredients for You Tube magic do you need?

As I watched I laughed more and more at the antics and shape-throwing until contestant number eight came on, 20-year-old Ronan 'Crazy Legs' Lawlor, representing the Greenan Lodge Hotel, then I snorted. That is where we cut our own dancing feet as teenagers in the 1980s, thankfully those few years made all the difference. No offence Ronan. I don't know whether to admire his crazy leg moves or what... I decided on what.



It is bad to admit I was disappointed not to see who got through in the end, it must have been a hard decision for the judging panel.

By the way the name of the post is a little in-joke for anyone who grew up in Belfast and probably more west Belfast in the 1980s; this is especially for you, enjoy and cringe.

9 comments:

Manuel said...

the green briar?

the second part of the video is on you tube....

The disco names were tremendous, a whole lot of "NiteKlubs"

brilliant stuff

Red Mum said...

The only one Manuel. Located here http://url.ie/hqp

When I was about 11 it used to have a roller disco and I have vague memories of it (the briar not the roller disco). But when I was a little older 'lend us you [insert as appropriate] for the briar' was a general term of abuse. Though you may already know that!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely hysterical! Still laughing. But who wins??? The suspense...

Manuel said...

quality....

in other news it appears you know my brother in law....small world.....

Red Mum said...

I spotted a familiar name on your facebook alright and I guess it is himself who is your bro-in-law! I was just talking to a pal of ours last night saying that i thought you knew him, it is a bloody small world!

I've just felt the blogosphere get a bit smaller too :)

Anonymous said...

Oh LOL, brilliant. God that takes me back.

Nick McGivney said...

If only I was young enough to say I wasn't there. Surely there's some enterprising young documentarist who can do a Justin Lee Collins on this and bring them all back together. Maxi would definitely provide the cabaret for it. I have a feeling I'll be washing my hair though.

Nick

Anonymous said...

Love it, love it! I was only in the Briar a few times - too rough for us Gransha folk!

Anonymous said...

I know how you can figure out who won this if you care -- just look up the videos associated with the 1981 UK Disco Dancing Finals, hosted by the same person who hosts this video. Part One comes with a minor audio glitch but by parts two or three you'll be able to figure out which one won this particular regional final. And if you'll stick around through to the end of what the user has you might even get to see how well {s}he does.

BTW, I was rooting for anyone from Mandy McClintock on. The one I was particularly stunned by was Hugh Moore. That white boy's got some *moves* on him!