Dancing in the Street

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“Dancing in the Street”
“Dancing in the Street” cover
single cover
Single by Martha and the Vandellas
from the album Dance Party
B-side "There He Is (At My Door)"
Released July 21, 1964 (U.S.)
Format vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
Recorded Hitsville USA (Studio A); 1964
Genre Soul
Length 2:40
Label Gordy
G 7033
Writer(s) Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter
Producer William "Mickey" Stevenson
Martha and the Vandellas singles chronology
"In My Lonely Room"
(1964)		 "Dancing in the Street"
(1964)		 "Wild One"
(1964)
“Dancing in the Street”
“Dancing in the Street” cover
Single by David Bowie and Mick Jagger
Released August 1985
Format 7"/12" single
Recorded Abbey Road Studios, London; June 1985
Genre Rock
Length 3:14
Label EMI
EA204
Writer(s) Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter
Producer Alan Winstanley, Clive Langer
David Bowie and Mick Jagger singles chronology
Bowie: "Loving the Alien"
(1985)
Jagger: "Just Another Night"
(1985)		 "Dancing in the Street"
(1985)		 "Absolute Beginners"
(1986)
"Lucky in Love"
(1985)
“Dancing in the Street”
“Dancing in the Street” cover
Single by Nikki Webster
from the album Let's Dance
Released September 2003
Format CD Single
Recorded Australia 2003
Genre Pop
Length 3:52
Label BMG
Writer(s) Marvin Gaye
William "Mickey" Stevenson
Ivy Jo Hunter
Producer Chong Lim
Nikki Webster singles chronology
"24/7 (Crazy 'Bout Your Smile)
(2002)		 "Dancing in the Street"
(2003)		 "Let's Dance"
(2004)

"Dancing in the Street" is a 1964 song first recorded by Martha and the Vandellas. It is one of Motown's signature songs and is the group's premier signature song.

Contents

[edit] Martha and the Vandellas original

Produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson and written by Stevenson and Marvin Gaye, the song highlighted the concept of having a good time in whatever city the listener lived. The song was conceived by Stevenson who was showing a rough draft of the lyrics to Gaye disguised as a ballad. When Gaye read the original lyrics, however, he said the song sounded more danceable. With Gaye and Stevenson collaborating, the duo composed the single with Kim Weston in mind to record the song. Weston passed on the song and when Martha Reeves came to Motown's Hitsville USA studios, the duo presented the song to Reeves. Hearing Gaye's demo of it, Reeves asked if she could arrange her own vocals to fit the song's message?

Gaye and Stevenson agreed and including new Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter adding in musical composition, the song was recorded in two takes. The interesting loud beat of the drums in its instrumentation can be attributed to Hunter, who banged on a crowbar to add to the drum beat led by Benny Benjamin.

While produced as an innocent dance single (it became the precursor to the disco movement of the 1970s), the song took on a different meaning when riots in inner-city America led to many young black demonstrators citing the song as a civil rights anthem to social change which also led to some radio stations taking the song off its play list because certain black advocates such as H. Rap Brown began playing the song while organizing demonstrations.

"Dancing in the Street" peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles chart when it was originally released as the group's third album Dance Party's first single in 1964 (see 1964 in music), with "There He Is (at My Door)" included as a B-side. The song also reached the top 5 on the UK pop charts peaking at #4 in a 1969 release after initially peaking at #28 on the chart and helped to revive the Vandellas' success in England.

On April 12, 2006, it was announced that Martha and the Vandellas' version of "Dancing in the Street" would be one of 50 sound recordings preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry. Lead singer Martha Reeves said she was thrilled about the song's perseverance, saying "It's a song that just makes you want to get up and dance".

This version was #40 on the list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone.

[edit] Jagger-Bowie version

A second hit version was done by Mick Jagger and David Bowie as a duo in 1985, as part of the Live Aid charity movement. The original plan was to perform a track together live, with Bowie performing at Wembley Stadium and Jagger at the JFK Stadium, until it was realized that the satellite link-up would cause a half-second delay that would make this impossible.

Instead, the pair decided to cover "Dancing in the Street" (having rejected an earlier possibility, "One Love" by Bob Marley). In June 1985, Bowie was recording his contributions to the Absolute Beginners soundtrack at Abbey Road Studios, and so Jagger arranged to fly in to record the track there. A rough mix of the track was completed in just four hours, at which point the pair went straight out to London Docklands to film a video with director David Mallet. Thirteen hours after the start of recording, this also was completed. Jagger arranged for some minor musical overdubs in New York.

The video was shown twice at the Live Aid event. Soon afterwards the track was issued as a single, with all profits going to the charity. "Dancing in the Street" topped the UK charts for four weeks, and reached number seven in the United States. Bowie and Jagger would perform the song once more, at the Princes' Trust Concert on June 20, 1986. It is the last UK number-one single to date for Bowie, and the only number-one success for Jagger in his native country as a solo artist. The song has since featured on several Bowie compilations.

Although a hit at the time of its release, the record (as well as the rushed video) is not particularly popular today among either Bowie or Jagger fans. Many Bowie, Jagger and rock fans in general often refer to this pairing as Ja-Bo (or JaBo) a derisive allusion to the saccharine media nick names for celebrity couples. The term Ja-Bo was first coined by the popular rock music discussion blog, Rock Town Hall who in 2007 named this video "Rock Crime of the Century".

[edit] Nikki Webster version

Chong Lim produced Nikki Webster's version of the song for her third album, Let's Dance. It was released as the album's first single in 2003 (see 2003 in music) and peaked at number nineteen on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart in October 2003. Its video was filmed at Movie World. The CD single included two remixes of the song: the "Movin' Drivin' Shakin'" remix and the Karaoke mix.

[edit] Van Halen version

A seemingly unlikely cover of "Dancing in the Street" is the version recorded by the hard rock band Van Halen for the group's Diver Down album. The group also released the song as a single, which reached #38 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #3 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

[edit] Other cover versions and allusions

From the beginning the song took on a life of its own, with cover versions from Dusty Springfield, The Mamas & The Papas, The Who, The Grateful Dead, The Kinks, Cilla Black, Myra, Atomic Kitten, Kids Incorporated, Girl Authority, Human Nature, Tim Curry and so on.

It is also alluded to directly or indirectly in other songs, most notably by The Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man" and Bruce Springsteen's "Racing in the Street".

The Carpenters played the song in 1968 on their first ever TV appearance on Your All American College Show, under the name Dick Carpenter Trio, which also featured Bill Sissyoev on bass. This show was a musical competition, which the trio won. The Carpenters later recorded the song in 1978 for their TV Special "Space Encounters", which aired that same year on the ABC-TV Network. The song was later released on the CD As Time Goes By released in 2001.

In literature, it is also mentioned in the graphic novel V for Vendetta.

On 14th October 2006 on the ITV programme The X Factor, Louis Walsh's group The Unconventionals sang a cover version of "Dancing in the Street"; they were eliminated that night.

Rockapella also performs an a cappella cover of the song.

Teen singer Myra covered the song for the 2001 movie Recess: School's Out.

This song is playable in the North American release of Donkey Konga.

In 2005, to celebrate the Nationwide launch of Macy's, they launched a commercial featuring a pop-version of the song

The ABC network used the tune for the song for the 2nd version of their Something's Happening on ABC campaign.

[edit] Appearances on TV

The original version was the title music for the 1995 BBC documentary series of the same name about the history or rock and roll. This song was used on ITV's Police, Camera, Action! on the episode Nicked! in 2002. It was also performed by The Unconventionals on the third series of The X Factor in 2006.

The Grateful Dead were also known to play this song live, including a performance atop a flatbed in the "HAIGHT-ASHBURY" district.

[edit] Chart performance

[edit] Martha and the Vandellas

Country Peak
position
UK 4
US 2

[edit] David Bowie and Mick Jagger

Country Peak
position
Australia 1
The Netherlands 1[1]
South Africa 10
UK 1
US 7

[edit] Credits

[edit] Martha and the Vandellas

[edit] Live Aid

[edit] Track listings

[edit] Live Aid version

[edit] 7": EMI / EA 204 (UK)

  1. "Dancing in the Street" (Gaye, Stevenson, Hunter) — 3:14
  2. "Dancing in the Street" (instrumental) (Gaye, Stevenson, Hunter) — 3:14

[edit] 12": EMI / EA 204 (UK)

  1. "Dancing in the Street" (Steve Thompson mix) — 4:40
  2. "Dancing in the Street" (dub version) — 4:41
  3. "Dancing in the Street" — 3:14
  • also released on download in 2007

[edit] Nikki Webster version

  1. "Dancing in the Street" (radio edit) — 3:52
  2. "Dancing in the Street" (Movin' Drivin' Shakin' remix) — 3:57
  3. "Dancing in the Street" (karaoke mix) — 3:51

[edit] References

  • Pegg, Nicholas. The Complete David Bowie (2000). Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-14-5.
  1. ^ De Nederlandse Top 40, week 41, 1985. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
Preceded by
"I Got You Babe" by UB40 and Chrissie Hynde		 UK number one single (Bowie & Jagger version)
September 1, 1985		 Succeeded by
"If I Was" by Midge Ure
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