Dance, Dance, Dance!

MORE Today in Music History: September 7

Music and dance...they just go together, like peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, peas and carrots, cookies and milk, apple pie and ice cream, baseball and hot dogs, sugar and spice. It is hard to have one without the other. Music just naturally brings on the toe-tapping, hand-clapping rhythms that are only a part of the natural body movements accompanying music. Let's step back in time to three 'dance' hits of September 7 but, of course, in different years.

1976 Abba were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Dancing Queen', the group's fourth UK No.1 single and their only US No.1 chart topper. The song was a No.1 hit in over a dozen countries and stayed at the top of the Swedish charts for 14 weeks. According to the BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, when this song was played at a Windsor Castle event, Queen Elizabeth said: "I always try to dance when this song comes on because I am the Queen and I like to dance."

 

1985 David Bowie and Mick Jagger were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of the Martha Reeves and The Vandellas 1964 hit 'Dancing In The Street'. The song had been recorded as part of the Live Aid charity appeal. 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 realised that the satellite link-up would cause a half-second delay that would make this impossible.

 

1997 Fleetwood Mac went to No.1 on the US album chart with The Dance. The album became the fifth best-selling live album of all time in the United States, selling a million copies within eight weeks, spending more than seven months within the top 40, and eventually selling over 5 million copies. The album, The Dance, spawned two singles, 'Landslide' and 'Silver Springs'.

 

 And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...