“Dancing in the Street” was recorded by the English rock singers Mick Jagger and David Bowie as a duo in 1985, to raise money for the Live Aid famine relief cause. The original plan was to perform a track together live, with Bowie performing at Wembley Stadium and Jagger at John F. Kennedy Stadium, until it was realized that the satellite link-up would cause a half-second delay that would make this impossible unless either Bowie or Jagger mimed their contribution, something neither artist was willing to do. In 1968, Jagger and Keith Richards had already “borrowed” a line from the song in “Street Fighting Man” – “‘Cause summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy.”
In June 1985, Bowie was recording his contributions to the Absolute Beginners soundtrack at Abbey Road Studios, and so Jagger arranged to fly in to record the track there. A rough mix of the track was completed in just four hours. Thirteen hours after the start of recording, the song and video was completed. Jagger arranged for some minor musical overdubs with Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero in New York.
Reception
The David Bowie and Mick Jagger recording of “Dancing in the Street” was issued as a single on EMI, with all profits going to the charity. The song topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks, and reached No. 7 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Bowie and Jagger would perform the song once more, at the Prince’s Trust Concert on June 20, 1986. The song has been featured since on several Bowie compilations. In a survey conducted by PRS for Music, the song was voted as the top song the British public would play at street parties in celebration of the 2011 Royal Wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William.
Music video
The pair went to London Docklands to film a video with director David Mallet. The music video was shown twice at the Live Aid event. It was also shown in movie theaters before showings of Ruthless People, for which Jagger had recorded the theme song.
Track listings
7″: EMI America / EA 204 United Kingdom
“Dancing in the Street” (Clearmountain Mix) – 3:07
“Dancing in the Street” (instrumental) – 3:17
12″: EMI America / 12EA 204 United Kingdom
“Dancing in the Street” (Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero Mix) – 4:40
“Dancing in the Street” (dub version) – 4:41
“Dancing in the Street” (edit) – 3:24
Personnel
Lead vocals: David Bowie and Mick Jagger
Guitar: Kevin Armstrong, G.E. Smith and Earl Slick
Bass: Matthew Seligman and John Regan
Drums: Neil Conti
Percussion: Pedro Ortiz and Jimmy Maclean
Trumpet: Mac Gollehon
Saxophone: Stan Harrison and Lenny Pickett
Keyboards: Steve Nieve
Backing vocals: Helena Springs and Tessa Niles
