Let's Dance! (Sharon, Lois & Bram album)

Let's Dance! is the 17th album by popular family entertainers Sharon, Lois & Bram, originally released in the fall of 1995. This was the first Sharon, Lois & Bram album to feature a different repertoire of carefully selected pop tunes spanning over four decades of music from the 40s to the 70s. Unlike other Sharon, Lois & Bram albums, Let's Dance! features a smaller collection of songs, although each song is lengthier than those songs found on other albums of the trio.

Let's Dance!
Studio album by
Sharon, Lois & Bram
ReleasedOctober 10th, 1995
GenreChildren's music
Length41:27
LabelElephant Records
Drive Entertainment
ProducerJamie Lawrence
Sharon, Lois & Bram chronology
Kid Bits Vol. 1, 2 & 3
(1995)		 Let's Dance!
(1995)		 Wild About Animals
(1997)

"Let's Dance! is all about tunes and grooves, moves and memories. It's music for tots and kiddos and parents and grandparents. It's songs you hum, steps you dance, connections you make, fun you have. It comes from our hearts to yours... to pass on to the children and to remind us once again that a really great song has the power to catch you and keep you. Then - now - and forevermore."[1]

The album "contains simple, upbeat renditions of pop favorites from the likes of The Beatles and Stevie Wonder".[2] The album also features songs by other famous artists such as Melanie Safka, Nat King Cole, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Barry Mann. The album was not meant to recreate the originals, but to "give them a kind of '90s, contemporary touch"[3]

The album was reviewed shortly after it was released and it was deemed "Sharon, Lois & Bram pull yet another one out of their trunk! Sharon, Lois & Bram's new release, Let's Dance! is a moving experience. Try to keep from dancing, Mom & Dad! Four decades of popular music are covered by this energetic, talented Canadian vocal trio...tight arrangements, great colors and up-front vocals. The producer is Emmy Award-winner Jamie Lawrence, whose producing bio includes Anita Baker, Michael Bolton, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Frank Sinatra. [The Album] is true to the original tunes, but uses the musical tools of the 90s...The album is great listening with nice dance grooves. So go buy it and Let's Dance!"[4]

Releases

Let's Dance! is available on CD and cassette released either under the American Drive Entertainment Inc., or in Canada under the trio's very own Elephant Records. Casablanca Kids Inc. (the current distributor of the trio's catalog) has yet to pick up the album and re-release it under their label.

Touring and promotions

To promote their album, Sharon, Lois & Bram embarked on a tour under the album's name to over "40 Canadian cities from coast to coast"[5] as well as to many U.S. cities. Their Let's Dance! Tour was deemed their "most ambitious tour ever"[6] quickly followed by their 1990 tour of Sing A to Z and their 1992 Great Big Tour promoting their Great Big Hits album. The tour lasted from the summer of 1995 to the spring of 1996. Their US section of the tour lasted for the first part of their tour, and then they returned to Canada to complete the remaining cities.

Directed by Brian Hill (author), the concerts featured songs from the album as well as many of the Sharon, Lois & Bram classic songs. Their sidekick, Elephant, toured with them and provided much entertainment throughout the concert. Promotional cassettes were produced with the re-release of their 1989/1990 Car Tunes Series (Volumes 1 through 4), partnered with Sears KidVantage program. They were available for $2.99 each.

Being ambassadors to Unicef, Sharon, Lois & Bram arranged so that with every purchase of a copy of the Let's Dance! album, part of the proceeds would be donated to Unicef to help "treat kids to immunization and health care services, adequate nutrition, basic education and safe water."[7]

Posters, t-shirts and other Sharon, Lois and Bram memorabilia were available for purchase at every Let's Dance! concert as well.

Nominations & Awards-Gold

Tour dates

1995
  • May 7 - Albany, NY - Palace Theater
  • June 3 - Easton, PA - Easton State Theater
  • July 8 - Pittsburgh, PA - I.C. Light Amphitheater
  • July 9 - Pittsburgh, PA - I.C. Light Amphitheater
  • July 26 - Detroit, MI - Meadow Brook Music Festival
  • October 14 – St. John’s, NF – Arts + Culture Center
  • October 15 – St. John’s, NF – Arts + Culture Center
  • October 17 – Sydney, NS – Center 200
  • October 18 – Halifax, NS – Metro Center
  • October 19 – Moncton, NB – Moncton Coliseum
  • October 20 – Saint John, NB – Harbor Station
  • November 4 – Montreal, QC – St. Denis Theater
  • November 5 – Ottawa, ON – National Arts Center
  • November 8 – Victoria, BC – University Center Auditorium
  • November 9 – New Westminster, BC – Massey Theater
  • November 10 – Kelowna, BC – Memorial Arena
  • November 12 – Kamloops, BC – Riverside Coliseum
  • November 13 – Edmonton, AB – Jubilee Auditorium
  • November 14 – Edmonton, AB – Jubilee Auditorium
  • November 16 – Calgary, AB – Jubilee Auditorium
  • November 17 – Calgary, AB – Jubilee Auditorium
  • November 18 – Red Deer, AB – Centrium
  • November 19 – Grande Prairie, AB – Canada Games Arena
  • November 20 - :Prince George, BC – Prince George Arena
  • November 23 – Regina, SK – Center of the Arts
  • November 24 – Saskatoon, SK – Centennial Auditorium
  • November 25 – Brandon, MB – Keystone Center
  • November 27 – Winnipeg, MB – Centennial Concert Hall
  • November 29 – Thunder Bay, ON – Community Auditorium
  • December 8 – Toronto, ON – Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
  • December 9 – Toronto, ON – Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
  • December 10 – Toronto, ON – Sony Centre for the Performing Arts

1996
  • March 8 – Sault Ste. Marie, ON – White Pines Auditorium
  • March 9 – Sudbury, ON – Grand Theater
  • March 10 – North Bay, ON – Arts Center
  • March 12 – Brockville, ON – Arts Center
  • March 13 – Cornwall, ON – Aultsville Theater
  • March 14 – Kingston, ON – Grand Theater
  • March 15 – Belleville, ON – Centennial Auditorium
  • March 16 – Oshawa, ON – Civic Center
  • March 17 – London, ON – Alumni Hall
  • March 22 – Lindsay, ON – The Academy
  • March 23 – Hamilton, ON – Hamilton Place
  • March 24 – Windsor, ON – Cleary Auditorium
  • March 29 – Barrie, ON – Gryphon Theater
  • March 30 – Brantford, ON – Sanderson Theater
  • March 31 – Kitchener, ON – Center in the Square

Track listing
  1. "At the Hop" (Arthur Singer/John Medora/David White)
  2. "Simon Says" (Elliot Chiprut)
  3. "Sh-Boom" (Fester/Keyse/McCrae/Edwards)
  4. "When I'm Sixty-Four" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
  5. "Our House (CSNY song)" (Graham Nash)
  6. "Lollipop (1958 song)" (E. Butler/J. Dixon)
  7. "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (Gus Kahn/Fabian Andre/Wilbur Schwandt)
  8. "Elephant Party Jam" (James Elliot Lawrence)
  9. "Ngiculela – Es Una Historia – I Am Singing" (Stevie Wonder)
  10. "Brand New Key" (Melanie Safka)
  11. "Good Morning Starshine" (Rado/Ragni/MacDermot)
  12. "Straighten Up and Fly Right" (Nat King Cole)
  13. "Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)" (Gerry Goffin/Barry Mann)

References
  1. Let's Dance! Album artwork. Introduction from Sharon, Lois & Bram. 1995.
  2. Maclean's Magazine November 6, 1995. Vol. 108, Iss. 45; pg. 72. "Let's Dance by Sharon, Lois & Bram". Chisholm, Patricia.
  3. Pittsburgh Post Gazette July 7th, 1995. pg 2. "Kidding Around". McCoy, Adrian
  4. Let's Dance! Review - November 1995. KidsMusic.com
  5. Archived October 16, 2002, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Parents Magazine. November 1995; 70. pg. 248. Meet Sharon, Lois & Bram". Graber, Laurel.
  7. Car Tunes Cassette
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