Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)

Last updated
"Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)"
Dancin' (on a Saturday Night) - Barry Blue.jpg
Single by Barry Blue
from the album Barry Blue
B-side "New Day"
Released1973
Genre Glam rock
Length3:10
Label Bell Records
Songwriter(s) Lynsey de Paul and Barry Blue

"Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Blue, that was recorded by Blue and released as a single in 1973 on Bell Records. Blue's backing band of session musicians were well known in the industry and one year later the drummer, John Richardson, joined the Rubettes.

Contents

Barry Blue's song reached the number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, [1] (and number 1 on the Melody Maker top 30), [2] number 2 on the Australian Kent Music chart, [3] number 3 on the Austrian singles chart, [4] number 4 on the Irish Singles Chart, number 9 on the German singles chart, [5] and number 11 on the Dutch singles chart. [6]

The song ranked the 18th best selling single in Australia in 1973, [7] and 23rd best selling single in the UK in 1973. [8]

Barry Blue's version of the song has also appeared on the soundtrack to the films Anita and Me , and American Swing . A remixed version of the original Barry Blue song was released in 1989, reaching number 86 on the UK Singles Chart. [1] It also is featured in the film The Long Good Friday . The song has become a line dance classic. [9]

Chart performance

Chart (1973)Peak
position
Austria3
Australia2
Belgium13
Denmark5
Germany9
Ireland4
Netherlands11
Rhodesia10
Singapore6
Spain19
UK2

Cover versions

Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids released their version of the song as a single in 1974 and it became a U.S. hit, reaching number 79 on the Cashbox singles charts and number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also charted in Sweden and reached number 7 on the Swedish charts. [10] [11] It also appeared as the lead track on their 1974 album, There's No Face Like Chrome. [12]

The Hiltonaires recorded a version as track 4 on the B side of their album Made in England 7. [13]

In Canada, a version recorded by the Canadian band Bond in 1975 reached number 12 on the CHUM Chart, [14] and was included in the RPM Canadian Top 20 Albums Chart that year. [15] The song was also included on their self-named album, [16] as well as the K-Tel album Canada Gold, both released in 1975. [17]

The Danish band, Clear Sound, also recorded a version with Danish lyrics by Finn Reiner which charted at number 17 in the Danish Hitlister. [18] It was also covered by co-writer Lynsey de Paul on her 1974 album, Taste Me... Don't Waste Me .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynsey de Paul</span> English singer-songwriter

Lynsey de Paul was an English singer-songwriter and producer. After initially writing hits for others, she had her own chart hits in the UK and Europe in the 1970s, starting with UK top 10 single "Sugar Me", and became the first British female artist to achieve a number one with a self-written song. She represented the UK in the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, scoring another chart-topping hit in Switzerland and had a successful career as a two-time Ivor Novello Award-winning composer, record producer, actress and television celebrity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Blue</span> English singer, producer and songwriter

Barry Blue is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist, he is best known for his hit songs "Dancin' " and "Do You Wanna Dance".

Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids, now known as Flash Cadillac, is an American retro rock 'n' roll band known for their appearance as the band "Herby and the Heartbeats" in the 1973 film American Graffiti and a 1975 episode of Happy Days as the band "Johnny Fish & the Fins". During scenes at a high school dance, the band played cover versions of "At the Hop" and "Louie, Louie" as well as their original composition, "She's So Fine". Their version of "At the Hop" was released as a single in 1973. Flash Cadillac had chart hits in the 1970s with "Dancin' ", written by Lynsey De Paul and Barry Blue, "Good Times, Rock and Roll" and "Did You Boogie ". "Dancin' " was listed in the Swedish top 10 in 1974. In 1977, the band released a cover version of Wizzard's "See My Baby Jive" written by Roy Wood. Their cover of Susie Q was featured in the film Apocalypse Now.

Ronald Ernest Alfred Roker is an English songwriter, singer and record producer.

"Won't Somebody Dance with Me" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul in 1973, which was awarded an Ivor Novello Award in 1974. Her original version of the ballad made the UK, Irish and Dutch Top 20s, and the song was featured in Michael Winner's remake of the film The Big Sleep, The Muppet Show, and the 1970s version of the New Mickey Mouse Club.

<i>Taste Me... Dont Waste Me</i> 1974 studio album by Lynsey de Paul

Taste Me...Don't Waste Me is the third album by the English singer-songwriter Lynsey de Paul but the second album of completely new material and de Paul also was the producer for all of the songs. It was released in the UK in November 1974 and was the first album on Don Arden's then new label, Jet Records, and initially distributed by Polydor, although Island Records was soon contracted by Arden to take over distribution and this confusion may have negatively affected sales. Releases in all other countries, such as Spain, Germany, Australia, Japan and South America, were on the Polydor label in early 1975. The album was generally well received by music critics from leading magazines of the day. AllMusic journalist Craig Harris stated that "one of the first successful female singer-songwriters in England, de Paul has had an illustrious career" and lists this as one of her best albums. It was also de Paul's personal favourite album and she wrote on her music store website some years later "The Taste Me... Don't Waste Me album was a romantic collection of songs that I wrote and recorded as a relaxing, late night album", echoing earlier comments to the music press. The LP was listed as one of the best album releases of 1975 by journalist Judith Simons. It has stood the test of time in that it is listed as one of the top albums released in 1974 by online site "Best ever albums", as well as one of the top 1000 albums released in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storm in a Teacup (The Fortunes song)</span> 1972 single by The Fortunes

"Storm in a Teacup" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Ron Roker, recorded by the British group The Fortunes and released as a single in 1972.

"Ooh I Do" is the fifth single released by Lynsey de Paul on 17 May 1974 and her only single released on the Warner Bros. label, after moving there from MAM Records. Co-written by de Paul and Barry Blue, this Phil Spector-ish song with a nod to the style of the Roy Wood/Wizzard sound, conveys the angst about parents not believing in a teenage love affair represented a change of style for de Paul, who also produced the recording. De Paul performed the song on TV shows in Spain and Germany, however, her only UK performance was for Top of the Pops, but this was never shown because of industrial action at the BBC. De Paul re-recorded the song for this episode and this version was released on the BBC Transcription Services album, Top Of The Pops-495, which also featured an interview conducted by Brian Matthews.

"My Man and Me" is a song written, recorded and produced by the British female singer-songwriter Lynsey de Paul for her second album, Taste Me... Don't Waste Me, and released as a single backed with de Paul's smoochy version of "Dancing on a Saturday Night" on 21 February 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Get Dancin'</span> 1974 single by Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes

"Get Dancin'" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan and performed by Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes, led by Monti Rock III. The song was produced by Bob Crewe and arranged by Bruce Miller. The song was featured on their 1975 album, Disco Tex & His Sex-O-Lettes Review.

"School Love" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Blue, which was recorded by Blue and released as his third single on Bell Records in 1974. It reached No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 3 on the Danish charts, No. 9 on the Rhodesian charts No. 24 on the Australian GoSet chart and No. 31 in the Australian Kent Music Report chart, making it Blue's last international hit, although he would go on to have another two UK hit singles later that year. It also reached No. 4 on the Radio Northsea Toppers 20 on 15 March 1974 and No. 5 on the Hessische Rundfunk Hitparade International chart.

Bond was a Canadian rock band in the 1970s, most noted for garnering a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Group at the Juno Awards of 1976. The band released just one album during its lifetime, and had singles with "Dancin' " and "When You're Up" in 1975, but never released another album or had another hit single before breaking up in 1979.

<i>Surprise</i> (Lynsey de Paul album) 1973 studio album by Lynsey de Paul

Surprise is the first album released by Lynsey de Paul on the MAM record label in 1973. In Australia, the album name was changed to Sugar Me, after de Paul's first hit single. All of the songs on the album were written or co-written by de Paul, who was accompanied by some of the UK's leading session musicians including Terry Cox, Ralph McTell, Ray Cooper, Jeff Daly, John Gustafson, Chris Rae, Danny Thompson, Gary Boyle, Barry de Souza, Dick Katz, Robert Kirby, Francis Monkman, John Richardson and violinist Johnny Van Derrick. The album front cover is a portrait photo of de Paul photographed by Clive Arrowsmith, and a gatefold sleeve with illustrations provided by de Paul, a nod to her previous career of designing album sleeves and song lyrics.

"Sugar Me" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Green. The first version of this song to be released was recorded by de Paul as her first single on MAM Records in 1972. It was produced by Gordon Mills and the B-side was de Paul's version of "Storm in a Teacup", a song she had co-written and had been a hit for the Fortunes earlier that year.

"Miss Hit and Run" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Blue. Blue released the single in 1974 as a follow-up single to "School Love" on Bell Records in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain and on the Barclay label in France and recorded it with a "Beach Boys" type of arrangement. The single sided acetate label of the single reveals that the original title was "Little Miss Hit and Run", confirming what was reported in the music press at the time. The song was Blue's fourth consecutive hit, reaching number 26 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1974. It also reached number 9 on Capitol Radio's "Capitol Countdown" chart, and spent three weeks on the Dutch Tipparade. It was also a track on the K-Tel album, Music Explosion and the Polydor LP "20 Super Power Hits".

"Tip of My Tongue" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and Barry Blue. It was first released as the fifth single by Brotherly Love with the song "I Love Everything About You" as the flip side on CBS Records on 27 April 1973. and was produced by Phil Wainman. According to music journalist James Craig, de Paul was in the audience for a Brotherly Love performance at Gulliver's and was so impressed with them that she co-penned "Tip of My Tongue" for them. The trio performed the song on the Granada TV programme Lift Off With Ayshea on 22 June 1973. The song received positive reviews from the British music press, and the brothers were interviewed about the single It made the UK chart breakers on 23 May 1973 but did not manage to enter the UK Singles Chart. Barry Blue was credited as "Barry Green" on this release.

<i>Love Bomb</i> (Lynsey de Paul album) 1975 studio album by Lynsey de Paul

Love Bomb is the fourth album released in 1975 by the British singer-songwriter Lynsey de Paul, and her second album released on Jet Records in the UK and Polydor in Germany, Australia and Japan. In the US and Canada, it was released in January 1976 on Mercury Records. The album was recorded at the Marquee Studios, London, England, produced by de Paul and arranged by Tony Hymas, with Terry Cox playing drums, John Dean percussion, Chris Rea guitar and Frank McDonald bass. The striking sleeve cover photo of de Paul in U.S. military style clothing was taken by Brian Aris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Was Made for Dancin'</span> 1978 single by Leif Garrett

"I Was Made for Dancin'" is a song written by Michael Lloyd and performed by Leif Garrett. It reached #4 on the UK Singles Chart, #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #38 on the US adult contemporary chart. It also reached #2 in Australia, #10 in Germany, and #12 in Japan. The song, produced by Lloyd and arranged by John D'Andrea, was featured on his 1978 album, Feel the Need.

Just a Little Time is an album by Lynsey de Paul. It was originally released on 30 September 1994 on the Music Deluxe label but has since been released on the Tring International PLC label and on Arc Records/The Magic Collection. All of the songs on the album are written or co-written by de Paul.

"Hot Shot" is a song written by Barry Blue and Lynsey de Paul, that was released as a single on 2 September 1974 on the Bell Record label by Barry Blue. It was Blue's last chart entry with an original song, reaching no. 23 on the UK Singles Chart. Despite this, it is considered as one of Blue's best songs. The song was also his biggest hit in Sweden where it reached no. 1 on the Poporama singles chart, and in Zimbabwe where it peaked at no. 3. "Hot Shot" also reached no. 8 on the Hessischer Rundfunk Hitparade, and spent three weeks on the Dutch Tipparade in 1975.

References

  1. 1 2 "dancing+on+a+saturday+night | full Official Chart History". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  2. 15 September 1973, Melody Maker Top 30
  3. "Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  4. "BARRY BLUE - DANCIN' (ON A SATURDAY NIGHT)". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  5. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Offiziellecharts.de. 1973-04-13. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  6. Steffen Hung. "Barry Blue - Dancin' (On A Saturday Night)". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  7. "Australian Singles Chart for 1973". Australian Music History. 2008-03-18. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  8. "Top Selling Singles for 1973". Sounds. London, England: Spotlight Publications: 4. 5 January 1974
  9. "Line Dance Charts TOP 50 | Everything Line Dance". Everythinglinedance.com. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  10. "Darin, Bobby - Gärdestad, Ted". Tio-i-topp.000webhostapp.com. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  11. page 62, Billboard 3 Aug 1974
  12. "Flash Cadillac And The Continental Kids - There's No Face Like Chrome". Discogs.com. 1974. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  13. "Made in England 7 - The Hiltonaires". Discogs.com. 1975. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  14. Hall, Ron (1984). The Chum Chart Book. Rexdale (Toronto): Stardust Productions. ISBN   0920325157
  15. "Top Singles". RPM - Volume 23, No. 1, Mar 01, 1975
  16. "Bond - Bond". Discogs.com. 1975. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  17. "Various - Canada Gold". Discogs.com. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  18. "Danse Hele Natten Lang". Danskehitlister.dk. Retrieved 2016-10-25.