Dancing in the Street (1964) – Martha Reeves & the Vandellas

Martha Reeves, lead singer of the Vandellas, was responsible for reshaping the song from its early form. She felt it was too repetitive and recalled Marvin Gaye singing it as though serenading a lover. Reeves, instead, envisioned block parties and Mardi Gras, and asked the producers to let her interpret it her way. The result was captured in just two takes.

If this Motown song is good enough for David Gilmour’s Desert Island Discs list, then it’s certainly good enough for my Music Library Project. Dancing in the Street has to be one of the best “get-up-and-go” starters to kick off the day on the right foot. It’s effervescent, jubilant, and communal—binding music lovers’ hearts together like links in a beautiful golden chain. Despite the song starting with the lyrics ‘Calling out around the world‘ the remainder of the song only names U.S. cities. Of course its spirit extends far beyond, and exalts how music’s rhythm and dance can create one universal, animated force among us.

Most of the following was abridged from the Wikipedia reference below:
Dancing in the Street is a song written by Marvin Gaye, William Stevenson, and Ivy Jo Hunter for Martha and the Vandellas in 1964, whose version reached No. 2 on the Billboard chart for two weeks, behind Do Wah Diddy Diddy by Manfred Mann. Dancing in the Street is one of Motown’s signature songs and is the group’s premier song. Marvin Gaye was on drums for this banger too.

I was also familiar with the 1985 duet cover by David Bowie and Mick Jagger which charted at No. 1 in the UK and No. 7 in the US and their version starts with Tokyo, South America, Australia, France, Germany, UK, Africa. Other versions by the Mamas & the Papas and Van Halen were minor hits as well.

Martha and the Vandellas’ version of Dancing in the Street was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2006, this version was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. 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“.

[Verse 1]
Calling out around the world
Are you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer’s here and the time is right
For dancing in the street
They’re dancing in Chicago (Dancing in the street)
Down in New Orleans (Dancing in the street)
In New York City (Dancing in the street)

[Pre-Chorus]
All we need is music, sweet music
(Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet music)
There’ll be music everywhere (Everywhere)
There’ll be swinging, swaying
And records playing
Dancing in the street, oh

[Chorus]
It doesn’t matter what you wear
Just as long as you are there
So come on, every guy, grab a girl
Everywhere around the world
They’ll be dancing (Dancing in the street)
They’re dancing in the street
(Dancing in the street)

[Verse 2]
This is just an invitation across the nation
A chance for folks to meet
There’ll be laughing, singing, and music swinging
Dancing in the street
Philadelphia, PA (Dancing in the street)
Baltimore and D.C., now (Dancing in the street)
Can’t forget the Motor City (Dancing in the street)

[Outro]
Way down in L.A., every day (Dancing in the street)
They’re dancing in the street (Dancing in the street)
They form a big strong line, get in time (Dancing in the street)
We’re dancing in the street (Dancing in the street)
Across the ocean blue, me and you (Dancing in the street)
We’re dancing in the street, yeah (Dancing in the street)…

References:
1. Dancing in the Street – Wikipedia