Cover Alert: Umphrey’s McGee – Dance Hall Days (Wang Chung)

Wang Chung might be best known to our readers for their self-referencing #2 hit from 1986 Everybody Have Fun Tonight, but the British new wave act weren’t a one hit wonder. They also scored commercial success with Let’s Go! in 1986, Hypnotize Me in 1987 and Dance Hall Days in 1984. Dance Hall Days was the rare track that charted high on both the dance/disco charts AND the mainstream rock charts making it the perfect cover candidate for another band that has elements of rock and dance/disco in their sound – Umphrey’s McGee backed by Mad Dog’s Filthy Little Secret Horns.

You can always count on UM to deliver a batch of killer covers on New Year’s Eve and the group alternates between material most fans are familiar with such as Chicago’s 25 or 6 to 4, Bruce Springsteen’s Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out and Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke with a bit more obscure covers including Tower of Power’s The Skunk, The Goose and The Fly, The Kinks’ Black Messiah and Herbie Mann’s Memphis Underground. In that spirit comes the sextet’s take on Dance Hall Days which they debuted in Atlanta on New Year’s Eve. As per usual, Umphrey’s delivered a spot-on rendition of the cover. Take a listen to Umphrey’s McGee’s version of Dance Hall Days…