Artists have no control over what songs of theirs will (or won’t) take off with the public. Many times, the songs that turn out to be the biggest hits don’t quite represent the bulk of the act’s work. That certainly proved the case for Loggins And Messina. The duo’s “Your Mama Don’t Dance” cultivated a retro 50s vibe, a far cry from the earnest folk they usually played. Yet the song hit the Top 10 in 1972.
The Unexpected Duo
Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina didn’t plan at the beginning on becoming one of the biggest duos of the 70s. Messina wanted to step away from performing in the early 70s after playing with seminal acts Buffalo Springfield and Poco. When he met Kenny Loggins, an aspiring singer-songwriter, Messina signed on to produce his work.
That changed when the two started working together. Clive Davis, then the musical head honcho at Columbia Records, suggested that Messina should become more hands-on. Following orders, Messina shared the songwriting and singing duties on the album Sittin’ In, the 1971 record that was supposed to be Loggins’ solo debut.
Instead, it acted as an introduction to Loggins and Messina as a dual act. Their second album was credited as such. And it included the song that brought the pair rocketing to the mainstream, even if they considered it a throwaway.
Oh “Mama”
Loggins and Messina wrote “Mama Don’t Dance” in about the time it took for them to perform it. They were hanging around the studio one day waiting for the other members of the band to show up and tossed it off as a lark.
Messina later explained that his stepfather’s lack of respect for rock and roll music factored into the song’s sentiment. “Mama Don’t Dance”, which playfully recalled comic classics by bands like The Coasters from the formative years of rock and roll, landed at No. 4 in 1972.
Although it might not have been representative of the duo’s usual work, the song called attention to them. That allowed them to put out a series of successful singles and albums in the first half of the 70s. They split in 1976 so that Loggins could set off on his massive solo career.
Behind the Lyrics of “Your Mama Don’t Dance”
“Your mama don’t dance/And your daddy don’t rock and roll,” Loggins and Messina exclaim in the refrain to start the song. In other words, that older generation can’t be trusted a bit. They suggest that the religious values of the parents are getting in the way of a good time: “If you’re out on a date/And you bring it home late it’s a sin.”
The second verse tells the story of a would-be romantic rendezvous at a drive-in movie. It gets interrupted by the cops, who barge in and break up the party: “Out of the car, longhair/Louie, you’re comin’ with me/The local police.”
“Your Mama Don’t Dance” reached a whole new audience in 1989 when glam metal stars Poison did a Top 10 cover version. Loggins and Messina might not have thought much of the song. But plenty of others have grooved to it in all the years since its release.
(Photo by Mark Sullivan/Getty Images)
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