The hill I will die on: That stone-cold classic you love isn’t a party starter – it’s a party destroyer | Nels Abbey

Cameo’s Candy is one of the all-time great funk records, but after a six-minute dance formation everyone is heading for the door

It’s that moment at a Black party you either love or hate. Cameo’s Candy, one of the all-time great funk records, comes on and everyone lines up to do the dance. Maybe you throw yourself into it, maybe you are a white friend who looks around in confusion, or maybe, like me, you just sigh in resignation.

The dance is a US import, beginning life as the electric slide in the mid-70s, and eventually becoming the Candy in Britain, thanks to its appearance at the end of the 1999 movie The Best Man. Since then, be it birthdays, christenings, Christmas, NYE – even funerals – you’re certain to see the dancefloor immediately fill and get into formation once the initial few chords are played.