There was a time about a million years ago when every junior high dance would feature the song “Dance With Me” by Orleans. 

It’s a sweet, gentle tune that encourages that first tentative slow dance without too much suggestive pressure. If you were the right age for that experience, that song can instantly pull old memories back from the data bank in your brain.

Those memories will flood Embassy Theatre on Friday, July 26, during Sail On: The Original Yacht Rock Tour with Orleans, Walter Egan, and Peter Beckett, the voice of Player. 

Catch-22 of creating theme song

Orleans will be playing a full set of their hits, before turning into the backing band for Egan of “Magnet and Steel” fame. They also provide the instrumentation for Beckett, best known for singing the No. 1 smash “Baby Come Back” by Player.

I caught up with founding Orleans bassist Lance Hoppen to talk about the tour. 

“We’re not really doing what I’d call touring,” he said. “We’re doing these one-off shows and sometimes two or three at a time. There’s gaps in between, so we take every opportunity to rehearse. We rehearse a lot. We’re still developing and trying new things. We’re learning new stuff for Peter and Walter, and it’s always good to refresh our skills on our own things.”

If you’re the right age for “Dance With Me,” you will probably also remember the year that ABC made Orleans’ “Still the One” the centerpiece of their marketing campaign. In the days of three commercial stations and no DVR, you heard that song incessantly. It was so successful that ABC used it two more seasons.

“The yin/yang of that is this: It certainly did a lot in terms of becoming part of Americana,” Hoppen said. “That song has an endless life. But when ABC used it for their theme song, it enabled (co-founding Orleans member) John Hall to make up his mind to leave the band. It was a writer’s deal. We weren’t on any of the soundalike recordings and snippets. He just felt like he should move on. That was a mistake in retrospect, for us and for John. But, so it goes.”

Following big brother

Playing bass for Orleans was Hoppen’s first job out of high school. He came from a musical family and started playing gigs at 14 while his older brother Larry was heading off to college. 

Larry’s college career ended early, and that changed Lance’s life.

“Larry went to college and he dropped out,” Hoppen said. “He actually dropped out twice. He didn’t want to be there. He didn’t want to be a teacher. He wanted to be a player. And I got that. So when I didn’t want to go to college, even though I could have, my parents didn’t make me go. 

“My dream was not to be rich or famous. It was to be a working professional musician, and hopefully do it with Larry. Lo and behold, that’s what happened.”

Larry founded Orleans with Hall, and once Lance graduated high school, he was given an audition and quickly joined the band. 

“Nepotism didn’t hurt,” he joked.

Producing hits

Orleans immediately started recording and self-produced their second album at legendary Bearsville Studios in New York. 

However, their label was not impressed.

“They didn’t like the record at all, so they didn’t release it,” Hoppen said. “The irony is that it had the first versions of both ‘Let There Be Music’ and ‘Dance With Me’ on it. And they just didn’t hear it. 

“When we got re-signed by Asylum, they heard what those songs could be if produced properly. It wasn’t the songs, it was the production, and those became a minor hit and a big hit.”

Orleans is more than just a first job to Hoppen. Maintaining the heritage is important.

 “This quintet, that I am the leader of now with John having retired from the road, carries on the legacy,” he said. “The thread of the music is still intact. Even though it’s not the ’70s version or the ’90s version or whatever, it’s this version of Orleans and people are responding really, really well to it. 

“I’m really confident and pleased with how this band performs these songs, so we’ll be bringing that to Fort Wayne.”