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"John, I’m Only Dancing"
Single by David Bowie
B-side	"Hang on to Yourself"
Released	1 September 1972
Format	7" single
Recorded	Olympic Studios, London 26 June 1972
Genre	Glam Rock
Length	2:43
Label	RCA Records 2263
Writer(s)	David Bowie
Producer	David Bowie, Ken Scott
David Bowie singles chronology
"Starman" (1972) "John, I’m Only Dancing" (1972) "The Jean Genie" (1972)

"John, I’m Only Dancing" is a single by David Bowie, released in September 1972. The song was widely believed to be concerned with a homosexual relationship, the narrator informing his boyfriend not to worry about the girl he's with because he's "only dancing" with her.^{[1][2 ]} Bowie had been 'out' since an interview with Melody Maker in January 1972, and the subject matter did not affect the single's radio airplay in the UK, where it became his first back-to-back hit, following "Starman" earlier in the year. However, the original video directed by Mick Rock, featuring androgynous dancers from Lindsay Kemp's mime troupe, was banned by Top of the Pops.^[1]

The single was not released in America, being judged too risqué by RCA^[3] (though according to NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray, "it did just great on import in Memphis, Tennessee")^{[2 ]} and did not officially appear stateside until it was finally issued on the compilation ChangesOneBowie in 1976. While the hook ("John, I'm only dancing / She turns me on / But I'm only dancing") has long been considered a gay tease, author Nicholas Pegg asserts that the song's narrator "could just as easily be a straight man reassuring the girl's lover".^[3]

Musically in a light R&B style, the track was re-recorded on 20 January 1973 during the Aladdin Sane sessions, in a slightly different arrangement featuring Ken Fordham on saxophone. Often called the "sax version", this was issued as a single in April 1973 with exactly the same catalogue number as the first release, creating a collector's nightmare.^[3] Generally held to be superior to the original cut,^{[2 ][4 ]} the sax reworking also appeared on early pressings of ChangesOneBowie before it was replaced with the original single version. In 1974, a completely reworked funk-influenced version was recorded as "John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)".

Track listing

1. "John, I’m Only Dancing" (Bowie) – 2:43
2. "Hang on to Yourself" (Bowie) – 2:38

Production credits

• Producers:
  • David Bowie, Ken Scott
• Musicians:
  • David Bowie: vocals, guitar
  • Mick Ronson: guitar
  • Trevor Bolder: bass
  • Mick Woodmansey: drums

Live versions

• A previously unreleased live version from Boston Music Hall 1 October 1972 was released on the Sound and Vision box set.
• A live version recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on 20 October 1972 was released on Santa Monica '72. The same track was also issued on the bonus disc of the Aladdin Sane - 30th Anniversary Edition in 2003.
• A recording from the 1974 tour was released on the semi-legal A Portrait in Flesh.

Other releases

• The Portugal release of the single "Starman" from September 1972 had "John, I'm Only Dancing" as the B-side.
• In November 1972 it was released as the B-side of the single "The Jean Genie" in Japan.
• It appeared on yet another B-side in June 1973, this time the "Cracked Actor" single in Eastern Europe.
• The UK release of "John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)" in December 1979 had the original version as the B-side. In the US the original version for this 1979 release was an A-side.
• A previously-unreleased mix of the song was released as a bonus track on the Rykodisc CD release of Ziggy Stardust in 1990.
• The "sax version" was released on the bonus disc of the 30th Anniversary Edition of Aladdin Sane in 2003.
• It was released as a picture disc in the RCA Life Time picture disc set.
• It has appeared on the following compilations:
  • ChangesOneBowie (1976) – the first 1000 copies of the album included the "sax version", the remainder featured the original cut^{[2 ][4 ]}
  • The Best of Bowie (1980) – sax version
  • Sound and Vision (1989) – sax version
  • Changesbowie (1990)
  • The Singles Collection (1993)
  • The Best of 1969/1974 (1997) – sax version
  • The Best Glam Rock Album in the World...Ever (various artists)

Cover versions

• Ask the Dust - BowieMania: Mania, une collection obsessionelle de Beatrice Ardisson (2007)
• The Brides - .2 Contamination: A Tribute to David Bowie (2006)
• The Chameleons - Strange Times (1986)
• The Deltas - Psycho Killers (various artists) (1998)
• The Glam Rock Allstars - Glamtastic 70's Megamix
• The Hormones - Only Bowie (1995)
• Mime - Loving The Alien: Athens Georgia Salutes David Bowie
• The Polecats - Polecats Are Go! and single release; it also appeared on David Bowie Songbook and on Starman: Rare and Exclusive Versions of 18 Classic David Bowie Songs, CD premium from the March 2003 issue of Uncut magazine.

Notes

References

Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5