dayraven --
The song you are looking for is, indeed, "Staying Alive" (usually
referred to as "Stayin' Alive"). Two contemporary 1980s reports of
Jean Frenette karate competitions refer to "Stayin' Alive" as the
music used in his "signature form."
The September 1986 issue of Black Belt Magazine reported about the
1986 Boston Nationals as follows:
"'Lee and Frenette battled it out for the grand championship. Frenette
added a few new moves to his signature form 'Staying Alive,' bringing
the house down and judges' scores up. He beat Lee, 49.4 to 49.l.
'Frenette was hot,' Lee conceded afterwards. 'I wanted to show the
judges a good, solid form. I just hope they appreciated traditional
kata.'"
Tournament Report, by William Groak
http://www.blackbeltmag.com/archives/kki/1986/sep86/results/results.html
(second paragraph from the bottom of the page)
In its May 1986 issue, the same magazine reported on Frenette's
disappointing loss in the grand championship finals of that year's
U.S. Open:
"… Frenette went first and did his signature form to the song 'Staying
Alive.' As usual, his timing was exact, and he drew loud applause from
the audience. Lee, who is studying to become a lawyer, followed with
his favorite form, which is performed to the theme from The Twilight
Zone. Lee, realizing a win here would wrap up a national title, went
all out and edged Frenette, 49.62 to 49.52. The crowd booed, but Lee
was all smiles."
Tournament Report, by William Groak
http://www.blackbeltmag.com/archives/kki/1986/may86/tourreport/tourreport.html
(a few paragraphs up from the bottom of the page)
Finally, a German karate website reports on a March 18, 2000 gala in
Dortmund, as follows:
Budo Gala in Dortmund am 18.03.2000
"Rueckblickend betracht war es ein netter Abend, aber auch nicht mehr.
Die Stimmung in der Halle war nur einmal richtig gut, als Jean
Frenette, "The Canadian Tornado," ein letztes Mal seine Musik-Kata zur
Musik "Staying alive" vortrug und danach durch das Publikum lief und
die Zuschauer abklatschte."
http://www.shitoryu.de/wiewars.htm
Roughly translated, the passage says that the mood in the hall was
very good as Jean Frenette, "the Canadian Tornado," performed for one
last time his kata to the song "Staying Alive" one last time and ran
through the room as the audience applauded.
You have not requested the identity of the performer of the version of
"Stayin' Alive" that Frenette used, but you state that it was not the
BeeGee's version and that it was instrumental. "Stayin' Alive" has
been recorded on at least 134 LPs or CDs, according to the All Music
Guide:
Albums with the song Stayin' Alive
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=HSTAYIN'|ALIVE
There is at least one instrumental version by a well-known group that
satisfies your description. That version was released in 1978 by the
Salsoul Orchestra on a compilation, "Saturday Night Disco Party."
Here is a link to a description of that recording:
All Music Guide: Saturday Night Disco Party
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Aln8uak6khm3x
Unfortunately, that recording is out of print and no samples appear to
be available. However, samples of other dance recordings of the
Salsoul Orchestra dance can be found here:
Amazon.com: Salsoul Orchestra/Anthology
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002UHM/qid=1039296415/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-1096845-0182224?v=glance&s=music
Search Strategy:
Google search terms:
"jean frenette" kata OR katas music OR musik OR musicaux
://www.google.com/search?q=jean+frenette+kata+OR+katas+music+OR+musik+OR+musicaux&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&start=10&sa=N
"jean frenette" "stayin' alive"
://www.google.com/search?q=jean+frenette+%22Staying+OR+stayin%27+alive%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off
If any of the above information needs clarification, or if any of the
links don't work, please let me know.
markj-ga |
