12/10/80 TAXI episode. Alex dances at gay bar to this song:

**Discovery** · March 22nd, 2003, 04:53 AM

The 12/10/80 Emmy Award winning disco episode of the U.S. television situation comedy "TAXI" was titled "Elaine's Strange Triangle", and is still shown in reruns.

"Episode #50: "Elaine's Strange Triangle" December 10th, 1980: Elaine's latest romance has just gone sour, so the cabbies try to cheer her up one day at Mario's. Kirk, a handsome stranger, approaches Elaine and Tony at the bar. Tony and Alex pressure Kirk to ask Elaine out. After a few dates, Elaine becomes quite interested in Kirk, but Kirk reveals to Tony that he is bisexual and actually likes Tony. Note: This episode features a classic disco-dancing scene and won an Emmy® Award for its writer David Lloyd."

At the end of the episode Alex Rieger (Judd Hirsch) dances at a gay bar to this "Do the Boogaloo" disco song...
It is not "Shake it up (Do the boogaloo)" by ROD. But it is:

- 100% disco
- 1979ish sounding
- hi-hats
- Female vocalist singing about dancing with a chorus of:

"Do the Do the Do the Do the"
"Boogaloo"
"Boogaloo"
"Boogaloo"

"Boogaloo"
"Boogaloo"
"Boogaloo"

Any ideas?

**Rab** · March 22nd, 2003, 05:26 PM

Hmm..I wonder if this song was written just for the show, to avoid paying any royalties?? Doesn't sound familiar

**Discovery** · March 22nd, 2003, 10:45 PM

I don't think it was written just for the show because this very catchy, classic disco "Do the boogaloo" gem of a song has reappeared several times in other places over the years.

It appeared in the 1983 movie "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" playing on a car radio of a Winnebago motor home that drives into town. Sadly, the song was not included in the film's soundtrack album, or listed in the credits at the end of the movie.

It was most recently used in a television commercial for the BEST BUY Electronics department store chain of stores.

And also in a lengthy segment of a 30-minute infomercial for the "Abdomenizer" exercise equipment where all the models abdomenize together to this very catchy, classic disco "Do the Boogaloo" song

Any guesses?

**Discovery** · March 27th, 2003, 02:44 AM

If anyone has a video of "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" (1983), you can clearly hear the "Do the Boogaloo" disco song playing on the radio of the Winnebago RV motor home that drives into town, and maybe identify it?

**Discovery** · April 4th, 2003, 02:14 AM

Taxi debuted on ABC on September 12, 1978 and ended its run on NBC on July 27, 1983. Though it garnered many Emmy® Awards and nominations, it was never a consistent ratings success.

A decidedly adult situation comedy, Taxi focuses on the lives of a small group of New York City cab drivers who are searching for a better way to make a living. Bobby Wheeler is the would-be actor. Elaine Nardo, an attractive divorced mother of two, would rather be in the art business full time. Tony Banta is a prize fighter without a fight. The only driver who considers himself a career cabbie is Alex Rieger, the most down-to-earth of the bunch and the one everybody turns to for wisdom and advice.

Though this show celebrated the optimism of dreamers with warmth and biting humor, it distinguished itself by having in its ensemble cast a memorable array of outcasts, losers and eccentrics. Characters like tyrannical, self-loathing Louie DePalma, spaced-out drug casualty Reverend Jim, and immigrant from another planet Latka Gravas had no predecessors in TV Land, and they probably won't be heard from again anytime soon.

Following in the tradition of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the emphasis in Taxi was on expertly written, three-dimensional characters brought to life by gifted actors. Many of these actors became great stars, especially Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Judd Hirsch, Tony Danza, and the late Andy Kaufman. Taxi was a comedy that was not afraid of exploring the seedy, unwashed underbelly of urban life. The show often balanced poignant human emotion with highly stylized farce. In its structure and writing style, Taxi can be seen as the forerunner of the long-running series, Cheers.

**BLAME-MY-PECS** · April 4th, 2003, 11:25 PM

WHAT'S YOUR POINT?????????????????/ :P

**Discovery** · April 10th, 2003, 04:11 AM

...Just sharing an interesting article.

Can anyone think of any disco song with the word "boogaloo" in it?

**BLAME-MY-PECS** · April 10th, 2003, 01:29 PM

"Shake off bogaloo" by Donna Summer
"Bogaloo" by Baccara

**Discovery** · April 10th, 2003, 09:28 PM

Thank you. These are great guesses, but sadly, neither one is the mystery disco song in question.

Did you mean "Back off Boogaloo" instead of "Shake off Boogaloo"? I haven't heard of a "Shake off Boogaloo" song by Donna Summer.

Although the vocalist is female, the mystery disco song in question is definitely not anything from Donna Summer's discography.

It also is not "Boogaloo" by Baccara.

Try to name some more disco songs with the word "boogaloo" in the lyrics.

**Boodikka** · April 12th, 2003, 03:12 PM

Disccovery, if you go into the thread archives, you might find the answer. I believe someone identified this song last year.

**Discovery** · April 12th, 2003, 10:18 PM

Yes, I asked the same question in a different thread over a year ago. In that thread, Maarten guessed the song might be "Shake it up (Do the Boogaloo)" by Rod, but he was incorrect. No one else guessed on that thread. Was there a different thread with a different answer somewhere?

**Discovery** · April 15th, 2003, 09:44 PM

I received a message from another member which contained a forwarded email from a different person who was unable to post directly:

"Hi!
I just received an email by somebody I do not know - he asked me to ask you something about a disco song so i thought i'll forward the email to you:
here it is:

>>hi , do you speek english if you do can you kindly do me a favor , on discomusic message board have others help you identify your disco song there is a guy called discovery where he says in taxi tv show alex dances in gay bar he also says he doesn't who know who sings do the boogaloo disco in that ep maybe you can kindly tell him to email me since i love that song too i'm not allowed to go on message board so give him my email at XXXXXXX please<<

Peraps you can mail to him - btw: i don't know why he isn't allowed to post - if he did something against the forum rules in the past because i haven't visited the forums for a long time.

thanks"

It is great to hear that someone else is familiar with this song as well. I have emailed him, but have XXXXXed out the email address here for privacy. Maybe he can help identify the artist or title of the song.

**Discovery** · April 16th, 2003, 08:23 PM

Message from a different person unable to post directly:

"hi , thank you soo much for getting back to me , i'm sorry i can't id the song do the boogaloo but if you take out from your library an afterschool special called family of strangers with danny aiello from 1980 you can hear it good maybe they mention it in credits . i hope your not mad at me for not knowing it , you said it was used in a excercise commercial and best buys commercials do you have these on tape as well as the taxi episode , cause if you do can you kindly make me copies of it since i love disco big time ? i'm saying the song came out from sept 1980 . write XXXXXXXXX again please don't be mad at also where else have you heard this song used in any other movies or tv eps besides halloween 3?"

Thank you. I was not aware of the afterschool special with the song, so that is very interesting. Although I am not currently aware of any other places where the song is used in addition to the several ones mentioned previously, there could well be many more that I have just not noticed or been exposed to over the years. Do you know of any others? I don't have it on tape, but you can help if you could write out more of the lyrics to the song besides the chorus of:

Do the Do the Do the Do the Boogaloo
Boogaloo
Boogaloo

Boogaloo
Boogaloo
Boogaloo

...so others may identify it.

You should be able to post on the discomusic.com forum directly once you sign up with a user name. :)

**Discovery** · April 19th, 2003, 02:13 AM

Message from a different person:

"there is a guy who directed danny aiello in a family of strangers 1980 afterschool special you should email him at XXXXXXXXX saying you heard of the special where danny rollerskated to do the boogaloo song but don't the singer who sang the song in the special ? maybe he can help me you with it . I can't email him since I emailed him sooo many times."

What was the result of those emails? Please post more of the lyrics to the song, so others trying to identify it will have more to work with. In addition to the "Boogaloo" chorus, there are verses and a bridge.

**Discovery** · April 24th, 2003, 03:02 AM

In addition to the original episode #50: "Elaine's Strange Triangle" 12/10/80, the same famous scene is also included in episode #113: "A Taxi Celebration Part 1" 3/23/83. Both episode #50 and #113 are included in the syndicated rerun packages, so those of you watching have twice as many chances to see it during each run through. :)

**BrunoRepublic** · April 24th, 2003, 08:06 AM

It is entirely possible that this "track" was created as part of a generic music library, like the ones created for the film industry and TV/radio broadcasters. These are collections of original bits of music to suit any such need, particularly when only a few seconds of "period piece" or incidental music are required. Part of the reason they exist is so that the music can be reproduced without any hassles regarding publishing rights, royalties, etc. With one license, the content producer can reuse them over and over as they see fit.

**Discovery** · April 26th, 2003, 03:13 AM

I agree that is entirely possible, and would also explain why it is used over and over again, but I would like to post a soundclip from one of those examples, so others may listen, just in case it is identifiable. Since the song is of much higher quality and complexity than most made-for-tv tracks, I still hope it may be identified and acquired.

**Discovery** · April 29th, 2003, 08:29 PM

It looks like the person who does not post directly is mailing an audio tape of the song directly to Discomusic.com for analysis. If it is identifiable, perhaps Bernie might be able to identify it.

**Bernie** · May 2nd, 2003, 12:08 PM

Listened to the tape and I must say I have never heard this song before. After hearing how low budget it is I'd have to concur with Graham in that this is a stock song meant to be used in TV and film work and never released commercially.

**EP1340** · May 2nd, 2003, 10:46 PM

Try emailing Ron Gerber "The boogiemeister" at CRAPFROMTHEPAST.COM (Its not a plug)
He has a collection of obscure & rare music and album cuts that were never played much on ommercial radio. He is a DJ in the midwest somewhere and has a internet radio program.
He helped me find a son I was looking for for years. He even made 2 CDs for me and mailed it to me for $10.00

Good Luck

**Discovery** · May 4th, 2003, 03:11 AM

Many thanks to Bernie, Graham Start, EP1340, Rab, Blame-My-Pecs, Boodikka, and especially the user that does not post directly for mailing an audio tape sample to Bernie to listen. Sad to hear that it is most likely stock footage never released commercially as Graham suspected, but I'm glad Bernie got to actually hear it. (I think):

I think the tape Bernie heard was from the "Family of Strangers" Afterschool Special which I have never seen or heard, so I am not certain it was the same song, but assume it was since the person who does not post directly seemed to think it was the same song.

Clearer, higher budget examples are in the Best Buy commercial and the Abdomenizer 30-minute infomercial. These were shown over a year ago, and I don't think they are still shown today, but the Abdomenizer infomercial could always resurface.

During that amazing show, the song was used as an almost full-length music video. The only audio during the lengthy segment was the much beloved classic "Do The Boogaloo" disco song, while the video portion was of various models using their Abdomenizer exercise machines together. In this extended version, the crystal clear, fully vibrant audio of the "Do The Boogaloo video" was the highlight of the show.

**Discovery** · May 5th, 2003, 07:11 PM

Thanks EP1340. I have emailed Ron at crapfromthepast.com with a link to this thread in case he has any ideas.

**EP1340** · May 6th, 2003, 08:28 AM

Hey... You're welcome thats why we are all here.... 8)
If you search around that website, (Archives) CRAPFROMTHEPAST.COM I'm sure you might find other music of interest as well.
When I was looking for a song "Eugene" I was told by the DJ of my local radio station WKTU in NYC who lives near me, and used to play the song in the early 80's it was some other name than the original.
Ron immediatley identified the song and artist. If you have a chance listen to his internet radio on Fri nites depending where you live. He has alot of trivial knowledge about those song.
The above song I mentioned, he informed me that Ace Frehley from Kiss assisted Crazy Joe & the variable speed band in the making of that song. So I hope its a good source in addition to this site for the identification of our long lost songs we heard years ago but can't remember names.
My regards and thanks to all at this site who assisted and continue to assist me in my music searches.

8) 8)

**Discovery** · May 12th, 2003, 08:41 PM

I received a reply from Ron at crapfromthepast.com, but unfortunately he could not identify it either.

Meanwhile, the person who does not post directly might post the song online so we may listen. :P