The song is the kind of person that everyone wants to be and wants everyone else to be as well. A strong member in NYC's early 1980's avant-garde downtown scene (think Basquiat, Zorn, Glass, etc.), cellist Arthur Russell was the one in the advanced classes not wanting to rest on the accomplishments that landed him there but wanted to use his talent to bridge out. Doing so, he took on the bane of the music world – disco. He wanted to take it, grafting music theory and the free form spontaneity of jazz improvisation to it, and give it back to the masses and the academics so that they could all dance and think together. This song is one of his many attempts to do that, it is not surprising that so few have heard of it. The song title and chorus, “Is it all over my face,” more innocent than salacious, refers to the pleasure of being caught dancing, just enjoying rhythm and endless possibilities of each note.

We love to see this song at the beginning of the night, right when we hand over our ID and make through the crowd and for the bar, there it is, illuminated by its own halo of self-contentment. Our friends stare with us, quipping that nobody dances in this bar or to this song or at this early in the night and who dances alone and like that, but we know who does. In our mind, it is us, dancing like this little disco song, trying to lead the way for others to follow or possibly just watch and enjoy.