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"Let's Dance"
Single by David Bowie
from the album Let's Dance
B-side	"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)"
Released	March 17, 1983 (1983-03-17)
Format	7"/12" single
Recorded	Power Station, New York, December 1982
Genre	Pop/Dance
Length	7:37 (Album version) 4:10 (Single edit)
Label	EMI America Records - EA152
Writer(s)	David Bowie
Producer	Nile Rodgers
Certification	Gold (RIAA & BPI)
David Bowie singles chronology
"Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" (1982) "Let's Dance" (1983) "China Girl" (1983)
Let's Dance track listing "China Girl" (2) "Let's Dance" (3) "Without You" (4)

"Let’s Dance" is the title album track on David Bowie's album Let's Dance. It was also released as the first single from that album in 1983, and went on to become one of his biggest-selling tracks.

The single was one of Bowie’s fastest selling to date, entering the UK singles chart at number five on its first week of release, and deposing Duran Duran’s “Is There Something I Should Know?” two weeks later, staying at the top of the charts for three weeks. Soon afterwards, the single would top the Billboard Hot 100, Bowie’s only single to reach number one on both sides of the Atlantic. It narrowly missed topping the Australian charts, peaking at number two. Let's Dance is the fourth best-selling single of 1983 in the UK, selling over 500,000 copies.

“Let’s Dance” would introduce Bowie to a new younger audience oblivious to his former career in the '70s. The track was a regular on the Serious Moonlight Tour (the name derived from a lyric in “Let’s Dance”), the 1987 Glass Spider Tour and the 1990 Sound + Vision Tour, and was then reworked for the 2000 tour. Most recently a remix version of it appears on a commercial for the March 22nd 2010 season of the ABC television show Dancing With The Stars.

Composition

Heavily influenced by producer Nile Rodgers’ work with his band Chic, “Let’s Dance" features a thumping bassline, and was arguably Bowie’s most commercial record up to that point. While the lyrics are ostensibly just those of a dance song, there is some discord struck by lines such as “Let’s dance, for fear tonight is all”. The 7:38 album version was heavily edited for single release, though the 12” single retained the full length.

This loneliness and desperation seeps into the music video, made with David Mallet on location in Australia including Sydney Harbour, which features Bowie watching an Aboriginal couple’s struggles against metaphors of Western cultural imperialism impassively while playing with his band.

Bowie featured blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan on the track. Vaughan was asked to go on tour with Bowie, but declined so he could continue to play with his band Double Trouble. Reportedly, Vaughan, who was still driving a delivery truck to support himself, was furious when he saw Bowie pantomiming over Vaughan's guitar solo in the video.^{[citation needed]}

Charts

Track listing

7": EMI America / EA 152 (UK)

1. "Let's Dance" (Single Version) (Bowie) – 4:07
2. "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" (Bowie, Moroder) – 5:09

12": EMI America / 12EA 152 (UK)

1. "Let's Dance" (Bowie) – 7:38
2. "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" (Bowie, Moroder) – 5:09

Production credits

• Producers:
  • Nile Rodgers

• Musicians:
  • David Bowie: Vocals
  • Stevie Ray Vaughan: Guitar
  • Nile Rodgers: Guitar
  • Carmine Rojas: Bass
  • Omar Hakim, Tony Thompson: Drums
  • Rob Sabino: Keyboards
  • Mac Gollehon: Trumpet
  • Robert Aaron, Stan Harrison, Steve Elson: Saxophone
  • Sam Figueroa: Percussion

Other releases

• It appeared on the following compilations:
  • Changesbowie (1990)
  • Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993 (1993)
  • The Singles Collection (1993)
  • Best of Bowie (2002)
  • Mashed 5 (2009)

Covers

• Kex - 12-inch single (1983)
• Falco - Junge Roemer (1984)
• Tina Turner - Tina Live in Europe (duet with David Bowie) (1988)
• Overdose - Ashes to Ashes: A Tribute to David Bowie (1998)
• The Heroes - Access All Areas (1999)
• La Pieta - Let's Dance (1999)
• Second Skin - Goth Oddity 2000: A Tribute to David Bowie (2000)
• Mýa - Shall We Dance? Soundtrack (2004)
• A cover version by Delaney Wolff appears in the music game Elite Beat Agents on the Nintendo DS (2006–07).
• Craig David - Hot Stuff (Let's Dance) (2007)
• Paula Flynn (2007)
• Hi-Tack (2007)
• Porro y Los Bobos - Hero: The Main Man Records Tribute to David Bowie (2007)
• It was covered live by Sophie Ellis-Bextor in 2007.
• Adam Lambert uses the song as part of a medley in the American Idols Live 2009 Tour.
• Chic - Chic Freak and More Treats
• Angèle Dubeau
• E-Male - Single
• Dokkumer Lokaatsje
• Rabbit in the Moon
• The Rockridge Synthesiser Orchestra - Plays David Bowie Classic Trax
• The Smashing Pumpkins covered "Let's Dance" during their live "Transmission" jam.
• The Futureheads covered the song for an 80s compilation for Q Magazine.
• M. Ward covers the song on his album "Transfiguration of Vincent".
• Rob Thomas has performed the song several times during his live shows

Samples

• Puff Daddy sampled " Let's Dance" on his 1997 single "Been Around the World", featuring The Notorious B.I.G and Mase.
• Craig David sampled this song for his single "Hot Stuff"
• Collie Buddz samples this song for his song My Everything
• UK Drum & Bass musician Dom and Roland sampled this for his single 'Can't Punish Me' on the record label Moving Shadow

Cultural references to the song

• The song is referenced in the Bret Easton Ellis novel The Informers when a character is said to have looked like Bowie himself by a girl, and whispers as she walks away, "I should have hummed a few notes to 'Let's Dance'".
• Bowie himself appears in the film Zoolander to the accompaniment of this song.
• The original song and music video appear on the PlayStation 2 game, Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA.
• This song is featured in some promotional spots for the 2007 version of Hairspray.
• Gnarls Barkley "appears" in the Let's Dance video in their music video for "Smiley Faces".
• In the indie film Eagle vs Shark, the character Lily sings part of the song incorrectly to herself and is corrected by her lover Jarrod.
• In the movie, Charlie Wilson's War, the original song is heard on the jukebox in the bar scene where Charlie Wilson finds out his charges for cocaine use have been dropped.
• Appears as a playable song for the Nintendo DS game "Elite Beat Agents".
• In the film Private Parts (1997 film), the song is played as Howard Stern drives into New York after being hired by WNNNNNBC.
• In the film The Boat That Rocked, the track is played at the end of the film as various album covers are displayed to celebrate 40 years of radio Rock and Pop broadcasting.
• Appear in the skateboarding film Yeah Right! as the song for the Chocolate Montage.
• The song appears in Bollywood movie Page3, mixed with a Punjabi beat.
• The song appears in both Band Hero and Lego Rock Band, two music video games.
• The song, by Mya, appears in the credits of the 2004 film "Shall We Dance". Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon.

References

• Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5
• Mojo Bowie, EMAP Performance Network ltd, 2004