Dancing in the Street
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Dancing in the Street" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| 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); June 19, 1964 | ||||
| Genre | Pop, 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 | |||||
|
|||||
"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 idea for dancing came to Stevenson from watching people on the streets of Detroit cool off in the summer in water from opened fire hydrants. They appeared to be dancing in the water. [1] 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 Gaye, who was often a drummer on many of Motown's earliest hits.
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] Grateful Dead version
Dancing In The Street was performed more than a hundred times by the Grateful Dead. The first performance was in July 1966. It was then performed a handful of times in each of the following 3 years. In 1970 the song was played over 20 times but then, apart from a single outing on New Years Eve 1971, it was dropped from the repertoire. The song, with a different arrangement, returned to the repertoire in June 1976 and was played regularly through the rest of the 1970's. Performances in the 1980's were less common and it was played for the last time in April 1987.
The correct title, as originally recorded by Martha and The Vandellas and as used on the majority of other recordings, is Dancing In The Street. On Terrapin Station the song is listed as Dancin' In The Streets and this title became the accepted title on Grateful Dead related set lists and tape labels. On live Grateful Dead releases the title is usually Dancing In The Streets or Dancin' In The Streets. However in 2007 the Dancing In The Street title was finally used on a Grateful Dead release - Road Trips: Vol 1, Number 1: Fall 1979.
According to William Stevenson the song was inspired by the sight of a group of multi-racial kids playing in the spray from a fire hydrant on hot summer evening in Detroit in the Summer of 1964 - "All the hatred and prejudice in the world, and these kids had no concept of it.".
[edit] Jagger-Bowie version
| "Dancing in the Street" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| 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 singles chronology | |||||
|
|||||
| Mick Jagger singles chronology | |||||
|
|||||
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 unless either Bowie or Jagger mimed their contribution, something neither artist was willing to do.
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 Prince's 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.
[edit] Track Listing
[edit] 7": EMI America / EA 204 
- "Dancing In The Street (Clearmountain Mix)" - 3:07
- "Dancing In The Street (Instrumental)" - 3:17
[edit] 12": EMI America / 12EA 204
- "Dancing In The Street (Steve Thompson Mix)" - 4:40
- "Dancing In The Street (Dub Version)" - 4:41
- "Dancing In The Street (Edit)" - 3:24
[edit] Charts Jagger-Bowie Version
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 7 |
| U.K. Singles Chart | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Australian Kent Report Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 9 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 6 |
| French Singles Chart | 34 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 4 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 3 |
| German Singles Chart | 6 |
Mallet's video was also shown in movie theaters as part of the normal block of trailers. Although it was a natural progression because most music videos of the day were actually shot on film, it was the first time the strategy had been used. The video was normally shown before Ruthless People, for which Jagger had performed the theme song.
[edit] Nikki Webster version
| "Dancing in the Street" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| 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 | |||||
|
|||||
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, 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.
American singer-songwriter Laura Nyro recorded song as a medley of this track and Monkey Time, on her cover album Gonna Take a Miracle, with Labelle as backing vocals.
On 14 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.
The Trap, headed by Glen Cross, made dub remix of "Dancing in the Street", first performed at the Drake Hotel in Toronto.
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.
A german version, entitled Tanzen Übern Kiez, was published in 2007 by the german soul singer Stefan Gwildis.
[edit] Appearances on TV
The original version was the title music for the 1995 BBC documentary series of the same name about the history of 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.
[edit] Chart performance
[edit] Martha and the Vandellas
| Country | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK | 4 |
| US | 2 |
[edit] Credits
[edit] Martha and the Vandellas
- Lead vocals by Martha Reeves
- Background vocals by Betty Kelly and Rosalind Ashford
- Additional background vocals by William "Mickey" Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter
- Produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson
- Written by Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson, and Ivy Jo Hunter
- Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
- Marvin Gaye: drums
- James Jamerson: bass guitar
- Jack Ashford: percussion
- Ivy Jo Hunter: percussion (crowbar)
- Henry Cosby: saxophone
- Thomas "Beans" Bowles: saxophone
- Russ Conway: trumpet
- Herbert Williams: trumpet
- Paul Riser: trombone
- George Bohannon: trombone
- Robert White: guitar
- Eddie "Chank" Willis: guitar
- Joe Messina: guitar
[edit] Live Aid
- Produced by Alan Winstanley and Clive Langer
- Lead vocals: David Bowie and Mick Jagger
- Guitar: Kevin Armstrong, G.E. Smith and Earl Slick
- Bass: Matthew Seligman and John Regan
- Drums: Neil Conti
- Percussion: Pedro Ortiz and Jimmy Maclean
- Trumpet: Mac Gollehon
- Saxophone: Stan Harrison and Lenny Pickett
- Keyboards: Steve Nieve
- Backing vocals: Helena Springs and Tessa Niles
[edit] Track listings
[edit] Live Aid version
[edit] 7": EMI / EA 204 (UK)
- "Dancing in the Street" (Gaye, Stevenson, Hunter) — 3:14
- "Dancing in the Street" (instrumental) (Gaye, Stevenson, Hunter) — 3:14
[edit] 12": EMI / EA 204 (UK)
- "Dancing in the Street" (Steve Thompson mix) — 4:40
- "Dancing in the Street" (dub version) — 4:41
- "Dancing in the Street" — 3:14
- also released on download in 2007
[edit] Nikki Webster version
- "Dancing in the Street" (radio edit) — 3:52
- "Dancing in the Street" (Movin' Drivin' Shakin' remix) — 3:57
- "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.
| 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 |
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
