Neutron Dance

Last updated

"Neutron Dance"
Pointer Sisters Neutron Dance single.png
Single by the Pointer Sisters
from the album Break Out
B-side "Telegraph Your Love"
ReleasedNovember 1984
Recorded1983
Genre Dance-pop
Length
  • 4:12 (album version)
  • 3:53 (7" version)
  • 4:59 (extended version)
Label Planet, RCA
Songwriter(s) Allee Willis, Danny Sembello
Producer(s) Richard Perry
The Pointer Sisters singles chronology
"I'm So Excited"
(1984)		"Neutron Dance"
(1984)		"Baby Come and Get It"
(1985)
Music video
"Neutron Dance" on YouTube

"Neutron Dance" is a song written by Allee Willis and Danny Sembello which was introduced by the Pointer Sisters on their 1983 album Break Out . The song became a Top Ten hit in 1985, its success augmented by being prominently featured on the soundtrack of the motion picture Beverly Hills Cop .

Contents

Background

According to Allee Willis, "Neutron Dance" was written in hopes of being placed on the soundtrack of the film Streets of Fire : "We were told that there was a scene on a bus that was leaving town after there had been this nuclear holocaust, and that a '50s doo-wop black group was going to be at the back of the bus that the lead couple was escaping on ... Danny Sembello and I just met that day ... I was very disinterested in songwriting at that point, and I'm writing with this kid who's never had a record before, and I just wanted to get him in and out". [1]

"He was a phenomenal keyboard player, and I just said: 'Play the most common sounding old fashioned '50s black music bass line that you can think of.' And he just started doing the [rhythm for "Neutron Dance"]. And I'm someone who could write a melody to a spoon falling on the table. So I literally sang that melody down. First time down, he just kind of followed and went to the right places. And then I said, Let's just write this quick lyric ... we're taking a half an hour on the lyric, and this thing's gonna get done." [1]

Willis adds that the lyric theme of "Neutron Dance" was due to "all this stuff going on in my life: I don't want to take it anymore, I'll just stay here locked behind the door. Just no time to stop and get away, because I work so hard to make it every day. Really a lyric about all these things falling apart in your life, and you know what, just get it together and change your life." [1]

According to Willis while working on the lyrics with Sembello she looked through a window and saw someone attempting to break into her car: while running outside to scare off the thief Willis called out to Sembello: "Someone stole my brand new Chevrolet", and the line was included in the song. [1]

Released at the height of the Cold War, "Neutron Dance" was misinterpreted by the Russian Government as a song about nuclear war. [2]

The Pointer Sisters version / Beverly Hills Cop

"Neutron Dance" featuring Ruth Pointer on lead vocal was introduced on the Pointer Sisters' October 1983 album release Break Out; Ruth Pointer would recall: "When I first heard 'Neutron Dance' I didn't want to sing it. I liked [its] rhythm and vigorous arrangement but to me the word 'neutron' had a violent connotation on account of the neutron bomb then so much in the news." Ruth Pointer recalls suggesting to Allee Willis that the song's lyric be modified: "she told me to quit overthinking it and just sing the damn song! Luckily I shut up and listened. I gave 'Neutron Dance' a gospel feel and nailed it in a few takes." [3]

Despite four singles being released from Break Out in its initial year of release "Neutron Dance" was issued as a single in November 1984, the major factor in the track's single release being the placement of the song on the soundtrack of the upcoming film Beverly Hills Cop which was released December 5, 1984. In Beverly Hills Cop, "Neutron Dance" was prominently featured during a key car chase sequence with whose action the song proved musically and lyrically compatible. [1]

Allee Willis described the experience of witnessing her composition featured in the film as "mind-boggling...on that line, 'someone stole my brand new Chevrolet,' this cigarette truck that Eddie Murphy is locked up in the back of, screaming through the streets of Detroit, slams into this Chevrolet. And 'I'm just burning, doing the Neutron Dance,' which to me meant someone could push the button tomorrow and we could all go up in smoke, so make your change now. On that line, a car explodes. I mean, I couldn't have written a better song for a movie scene if my life depended on it." [1]

According to Ruth Pointer, although "Neutron Dance" proved effective when utilized in the rough cut of the film's car chase sequence, the producers of Beverly Hills Cop were disinclined to retain the song, instead asking Richard Perry to create a new similarly styled track to score the car chase sequence in the completed film: however, Perry demurred opining that "Neutron Dance" was a "one in a million song." [3] "Neutron Dance" was used prominently in the trailers for Beverly Hills Cop, Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024).

Concurrent with the single's release, a video for "Neutron Dance" began airing on MTV. The music video stars the Pointer Sisters as discontented theatre ushers, and also features future Perfect Strangers star Bronson Pinchot as their boss and actor Gary Burghoff, best known from the M*A*S*H film and TV series, as the cinema operator; the setting was a cinema where Beverly Hills Cop was screening, allowing for the promotion of the movie via many clips from it being displayed in the video. Pinchot himself plays a minor role in the film as "Serge", a salesman in Jenny Summers' art gallery.

In March 1985 "Neutron Dance" became the fourth Top Ten single issued from the Break Out album rising as high as #6. It was the career zenith of the Pointer Sisters who prior to the success of "Jump (For My Love)" subsequent to that of "Automatic" – the second and third singles from Break Out – had never had back-to-back Top 20 singles. "Neutron Dance" proved to be the group's final Top Ten hit: after a sixth single release from Break Out: "Baby Come & Get It", fell short of the Top 40, "Dare Me", the lead single from the follow-up album to Break Out.

Contact , stalled at #11 and the group's sole further Top 40 charting: "Goldmine" (1986), rose no higher than #33. The Pointer Sisters just missed the Top 40 with "Be There", a track in the vein of "Neutron Dance" – co-written by Allee Willis with Franne Golde and featuring Ruth Pointer on lead – for the soundtrack of Beverly Hills Cop II , "Be There"'s peak being #42.

Personnel

Musicians

Track listings

7" single

  1. Neutron Dance 3:53
  2. Telegraph Your Love 4:02

Chart performance

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pointer Sisters</span> American family R&B vocal group

The Pointer Sisters are an American girl group from Oakland, California, who achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as R&B, pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blues, soul, funk, dance, country, and rock. The Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. The group had 13 US top 20 hits between 1973 and 1985.

<i>Beverly Hills Cop II</i> 1987 buddy cop film directed by Tony Scott

Beverly Hills Cop II is a 1987 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Tony Scott, written by Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren, and starring Eddie Murphy. It is the sequel to the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop and the second installment in the Beverly Hills Cop film series. Murphy returns as Detroit police detective Axel Foley, who reunites with Beverly Hills detectives Billy Rosewood and John Taggart to stop a criminal organization after Captain Andrew Bogomil is shot and seriously wounded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axel F</span> 1984 single by Harold Faltermeyer

"Axel F" is an electronic instrumental track by German musician Harold Faltermeyer. It served as the theme for the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop, starring Eddie Murphy, and became an international number one hit in 1985. The track reached number one in Ireland as well as on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Additionally, it was a number two hit in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, and West Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jump (For My Love)</span> 1984 single by the Pointer Sisters

"Jump (For My Love)" is an electro-pop song by American girl group the Pointer Sisters, released on April 11, 1984, as the third single from their tenth studio album, Break Out (1983). The song hit the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100, R&B, and Dance charts, and it was the best-selling American dance single of 1984, sold as a trio of songs including "I Need You" and "Automatic". The song features June Pointer on lead vocals and scored global chart success.

Alta Sherral "Allee" Willis was an American songwriter and art director. Willis co-wrote hit songs including "September" and "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth, Wind & Fire, "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" by Pet Shop Boys featuring Dusty Springfield. She won two Grammy Awards for Beverly Hills Cop and The Color Purple, the latter of which was also nominated for a Tony Award. She was also nominated for an Emmy Award for "I'll Be There for You", which was used as the theme song for the sitcom Friends. Her compositions sold over 60 million records and she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June Pointer</span> American singer (1953–2006)

June Antoinette Pointer was an American singer, best known as the youngest of the founding members of the vocal group the Pointer Sisters.

Daniel Sembello was an American songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Pointer</span> American singer (born 1946)

Ruth Esther Pointer is an American singer best known as the eldest and last surviving original member of the family vocal group the Pointer Sisters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Pointer</span> American singer and songwriter (1948–2022)

Anita Marie Pointer was an American singer and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the vocal group the Pointer Sisters. She co-wrote and was the lead singer on their hit song "Fairytale", which garnered them their first Grammy Award in 1975. She was also the lead singer on many of their other hits, including "Yes We Can Can", "Fire", "Slow Hand", and "I'm So Excited".

"Fire" is a song written by Bruce Springsteen in 1977 which had its highest profile as a 1978 single release by the Pointer Sisters. The song was also released by Robert Gordon and Springsteen himself.

<i>Break Out</i> (Pointer Sisters album) 1983 studio album by the Pointer Sisters

Break Out is the tenth studio album by American female vocal group the Pointer Sisters, released on November 1, 1983, on Planet Records, distributed by RCA Records. It is the Pointer Sisters' most successful album to date, peaking at number eight on the Billboard 200 and being certified triple-platinum by the RIAA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm So Excited</span> 1982 single by the Pointer Sisters

"I'm So Excited" is a song by American girl group the Pointer Sisters. Jointly written and composed by the sisters in collaboration with Trevor Lawrence, it was originally released in September 1982, reaching number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100. This was followed by a remixed re-release in July 1984, reaching number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. Billboard named the song number 23 on their list of "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs Of All Time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stir It Up (Patti LaBelle song)</span> 1985 single by Patti LaBelle

"Stir It Up" is a song by American singer Patti LaBelle. It was written by Dan Sembello and Allee Willis and recorded by LaBelle for the motion picture soundtrack album for the 1984 action comedy film Beverly Hills Cop; production was helmed by Harold Faltermeyer and Keith Forsey. "Stir It Up" was the second of two songs she recorded for MCA Records immediately after signing her new contract with them. Her first full-length album for MCA, Winner in You, would follow the next year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Attitude (song)</span> 1984 single by Patti LaBelle

"New Attitude" is a song by American singer Patti LaBelle. It was written by Sharon Robinson, Jon Gilutin, and Bunny Hull and recorded by LaBelle for the motion picture soundtrack album to the 1984 action comedy film Beverly Hills Cop, while production was helmed by Rick Chudacoff, Howie Rice, and Peter Burnetta. Released as a single in December 1984, it helped launching LaBelle's solo career as a pop music singer after the singer had spent seven years without a crossover pop hit following the break-up of her band Labelle.

<i>Hot Together</i> 1986 studio album by Pointer Sisters

Hot Together is the title of the twelfth studio album by the Pointer Sisters released in October 1986 by RCA Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">He's So Shy</span> 1980 single by Pointer Sisters

"He's So Shy" is a song by the American girl group Pointer Sisters from their seventh studio album, Special Things (1980). Written, originally as "She's So Shy" and intended for Leo Sayer, in December 1979 by Tom Snow and Cynthia Weil, "He's So Shy" was released as the lead single from Special Things on July 23, 1980, through the Planet label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automatic (Pointer Sisters song)</span> 1984 song by the Pointer Sisters

"Automatic" is a song recorded by American vocal group the Pointer Sisters for their tenth studio album Break Out (1983). The song was released by the Planet label on January 13, 1984 as the second single from the album. It was written by Brock Walsh and Mark Goldenberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gettin' Over You</span> 2010 single by David Guetta and Chris Willis

"Gettin' Over You" is a song by French DJ David Guetta and American singer Chris Willis, from Guetta's fourth studio album, One Love. "Gettin' Over You" features additional vocals by Fergie and hip hop duo LMFAO, and was released as the lead single from One More Love on 12 April 2010.

<i>Beverly Hills Cop</i> (soundtrack) 1984 soundtrack album by various artists

Beverly Hills Cop: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1984 action comedy film Beverly Hills Cop. It was released in December 1984 by MCA Records. The soundtrack was mastered by Greg Fulginiti and features various artists whose tracks were included in the movie plus some other tracks not included in the movie but are similar in electronic style. The instrumental title tune, "Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer, became a worldwide hit single and has since been covered by numerous artists.

<i>Beverly Hills Cop II</i> (soundtrack) 1987 soundtrack album by various artists

Beverly Hills Cop II: The Motion Picture Soundtrack Album is the soundtrack to Tony Scott's 1987 action comedy film Beverly Hills Cop II. It was released in 1987 through MCA Records. Composed of eleven songs, production was handled by André Cymone, Giorgio Moroder, Keith Forsey, George Michael, Harold Faltermeyer, Howie Rice, Michael Verdick, Narada Michael Walden, Ready for the World and Stephen Bray.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Allee Willis: Boogie Wonderland, Friends theme". Songfacts.com. Retrieved July 4, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Neutron Dance Songfacts". Songfacts. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  3. 1 2 Pointer, Ruth; Terrill, Marshall (2016). Still So Excited!: my life as a Pointer Sister. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN   9781629371450.
  4. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 . St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  5. ↑ "Pointer Sisters – Neutron Dance" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  6. ↑ "Pointer Sisters – Neutron Dance" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  7. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0497." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  8. ↑ Danish Charts Archive. 29 March 1985.
  9. ↑ "Los Éxitos en Latinoamérica". UPI. June 10, 1985. p. 10. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  10. ↑ "irishcharts.ie search results" . Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Pointer Sisters – Neutron Dance" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  12. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Pointer Sisters" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  13. ↑ "Pointer Sisters – Neutron Dance". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  14. ↑ "Pointer Sisters – Neutron Dance". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  15. ↑ "Pointer Sisters – Neutron Dance". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  16. ↑ "officialcharts.com". Official Charts . Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  17. ↑ "The Pointer Sisters Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  18. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 465.
  19. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 195.
  20. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 205.
  21. ↑ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending March 9, 1985". Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Cash Box magazine.
  22. ↑ "Kent Music Report No 599 – 30 December 1985 > National Top 100 Singles for 1985". Kent Music Report . Retrieved January 23, 2023– via Imgur.
  23. ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – 1985". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  24. ↑ "RPM Magazine Year End Chart" (PDF). Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1985/Top 100 Songs of 1985". Music Outfitters. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles". Cash Box. December 28, 1985. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2018.

2. Referenced in P.M. Dawn's 1991 single Set Adrift On Memory Bliss

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.