You may not be aware that Fancy (born Manfred Alois Perilano), was a popular Euro-dance, Synth-Dance artiste in the mid-to-late 80s. You may not be aware that Euro-dance, Synth-Dance were once popular forms of musical expression. I certainly wasn’t until my eyes were assaulted by this cover and I just had to know if it was a hoax or not.
Not. This is from Fancy’s 1987 single, “Raving Queen”. (This is the ‘turbo dancer remix”, which caused at least a dozen pelvic explosions at the 1987 Euro-Dance and Eyeliner Expo, held in the UK for the first time, at Tightee-on-Whity, Kent.)
By all accounts, Fancy had a very successful music career in the 80s, topping the dance billboard charts with such hits as “Slice Me Nice”, “China Blue”, and of course, “Raving Queen” (not to be confused with his 1986 single, “Mincing Pansy.”)
This all came to a screeching halt when he tried to export his trademark rhythms and sound to the NFL in a stupendously misjudged cross-promotion he organized with the Detroit Lions. (Which were 1-6 in the mid-point of the season, and desperate for any kind of boost in fan interest.) Fancy played as a wide receiver for an astonishing 25 seconds in the first quarter. (Vegas bookies were giving 5-1 odds that he would be killed in his first play.)
In his second play, he managed to get open, and catch the ball. Unfortunately, he could not hold onto it when safety Bill Bates tackled him, breaking Fancy into several pieces. The fans were electrified! And the Detroit Lions went on to win the game 27-17.
Fancy’s pieces were surgically reattached, but alas, the equipment never worked the same; he did, however, recover his muse late in 1988, leading him to write “Fools Cry”, “All My Loving/Running Man” and “Limp Noodle.”
The Louvin Brothers are best known as the brotherly Bible-thumpers who made close harmony acceptable. Prior to the creation of their breakthrough sound (think Everly Brothers with Grand Ole Opry-style gospel music), close harmony singers were routinely burned at the stake for “unnatural” love.