After the Dance

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This article is about the 1976 song. For the Terence Rattigan play see After the Dance

"After the Dance" was a modest hit and quiet storm classic for American soul legend Marvin Gaye in 1976 and was written by Gaye and Leon Ware, the co-producer behind Gaye's I Want You.

Originally released as a double-A side to "I Want You" off the album of the same name where it peaked at #10 on Billboard's Club Singles chart, the song eventually found enough airplay to give itself a solo berth on the charts where it peaked at #74 on the pop singles charts (Gaye's lowest charted single on the pop singles chart to date in 11 years since 1963's "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby", the b-side of "Can I Get a Witness" peaked at #77 on the chart) and #14 on the R&B singles chart.

It has since been covered by a legion of jazz vocalists and groups including 4Play, who covered the song with longtime Gaye admirer, R&B singer El DeBarge, in 1992. Their version was released as a single that year and re-introduced newer listeners to Gaye's original.

During her "Girlie Show" concert in 1993, Madonna resung the opening lyric of the song, "Dance with me/c'mon, dance with me, baby", while performing "Everybody". It has also been sampled by hip hop artists, including Snoop Dogg, who brought in sampled archival vocals from Gaye and recorded the song, "Dance with Me", featured on one of the rapper's mixtapes in 2004. The song was also sampled by De La Soul on the track "With Me" from their Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump album and by Nas on the track "Play On Playa" from his 2006 album Hip Hop is Dead.