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"Dancing in the Dark" is an 1984 song, written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. It was from, and released in advance of, his album Born in the U.S.A. Adding up-tempo synthesizer riffs and syncopation to his sound for the first time, it became his biggest hit and started Born in the U.S.A. to blockbuster status. A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short record, usually featuring one or two tracks as A-side, often accompanied by several B-sides, usually remixes or other songs. ...
Bruce Frederick Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American rock and folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. ...
Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1984 (see 1984 in music). ...
May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ...
1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
In music, a single is a short (usually ten minutes or less) record, usually featuring one or two tracks as A-sides, often accompanied by several B-sides—usually remixes or other songs. ...
The 12-inch [30 cm] single gramophone record gained popularity with the advent of disco music in the 1970s. ...
A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ...
Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Columbia Records is the oldest continually used brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888. ...
A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ...
In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ...
Jon Landau is an American music critic, manager, and record producer, most known for his association in all three capacities with Bruce Springsteen. ...
Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...
A record chart, also known as a music chart, is a method of ranking music according to popularity during a given period of time. ...
Bruce Frederick Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American rock and folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. ...
Atlantic City is a song written and recorded by rock musician Bruce Springsteen. ...
See also: 1983 in music, other events of 1984, 1985 in music, 1980s in music and the list of years in music // Events January 21 - Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart: it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top...
Bruce Frederick Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American rock and folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. ...
Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1984 (see 1984 in music). ...
A synthesizer (spelling var. ...
In music, syncopation is the stressing of a normally unstressed beat in a bar or the failure to sound a tone on an accented beat. ...
The song is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fames 500 songs (not ranked) that shaped Rock and Roll, based on the permanent exhibit of the same name (source available at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Website): Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I...
History
"Dancing in the Dark" was the last song written and recorded for Born in the U.S.A. Springsteen's producer and manager Jon Landau liked the album but wanted a sure-fire first single, one that was fresh and directly relevant to Springsteen's current state of mind (as much of Born in the U.S.A. had been written two years earlier). Landau and Springsteen got into an argument, but later that night Springsteen wrote "Dancing in the Dark", and his irked mood from the day's argument combined with the frustrations in his career in the last couple of years quickly poured out into the lyric. Jon Landau is an American music critic, manager, and record producer, most known for his association in all three capacities with Bruce Springsteen. ...
The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts in July 1984 (it was kept out of the #1 spot by that year's song of the summer, Prince's "When Doves Cry"). It was also the first of a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles to be released from Born in the U.S.A. The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. ...
1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ...
When Doves Cry is a 1984 song by Prince, and according to Billboard magazine, it was the top-selling single of the year. ...
In 1985 the recording won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male and well as the MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance. Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards), presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music...
The Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance has been awarded since 1980. ...
The following is a list of MTV Video Music Award winners for Best Stage Performance. ...
Music video The Brian DePalma-directed video included the part in which Springsteen sang "Hey, Baby!", and took Courteney Cox (who later went on to be one of the stars of NBC's hit comedy Friends) on stage. Brian De Palma (born September 11, 1940 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American film director. ...
Courteney Cox Arquette (born Courteney Bass Cox on June 15, 1964) is an American actress, best known for her role as Monica Geller in the long-running television series Friends. ...
NBC, (Formerly an acronym for the National Broadcasting Company until 2004), is an American television and radio network based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ...
Friends was one of the longest-running and most popular sitcoms in American television history while managing to instantly gain millions of fans all over the world. ...
The video was filmed on June 28 and June 29, 1984 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, before and during the initial show of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour. The completed video was first aired on MTV on July 10, 1984. June 28 is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 186 days remaining. ...
June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ...
1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
RiverCentre Arena (originally the St. ...
State capitol building in Saint Paul Saint Paul is the capital and second-largest city of the state of Minnesota in the United States of America. ...
MTV (Music Television) is a cable television network headquartered in New York City. ...
July 10 is the 191st day (192nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 174 days remaining. ...
1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Remixes In a first for Springsteen in an effort to gain dance and club play for his music, and more non-whites in his audience, remix maestro Arthur Baker created the 12-inch "Blaster Mix" of "Dancing in the Dark", wherein he completely reworked the album version. Overdubbed were tom-toms, dulcimers, glockenspiel, assortied backing vocals, bass and horn sythesizer parts, and gunshot sounds. Springsteen's vocal part was chopped up, double-tracked, echoed, and repeated, with certain lines such as "You sit around getting older" and "Heeey, baby!" made even more prominent. The remix was released on July 2, 1984. Arthur Baker (Born April 22, 1955, Boston, Massachusetts, USA) is a record producer and DJ best known for his work with hip-hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, and the British group New Order. ...
A tom-tom (not to be confused with a tamtam) is a cylindrical drum with no snare. ...
Dulcimer is the name given to two types of stringed musical instrument: The Appalachian dulcimer, a three-course, fretted, plucked instrument which is also referred to as a mountain dulcimer or just a dulcimer, and The Hammered dulcimer, which is a hammer-struck, trapezoid-shaped zither The instruments are quite...
Most orchestral glockenspiels are mounted in a case. ...
For the East End rap group, go to Gunshot (rappers). ...
July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining. ...
1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The result generated a lot of media buzz for Springsteen, as well as actual club play; the remix went to number 7 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. However many of Springsteen's hard-core rock fans, who had been suspicious of the new sound of "Dancing in the Dark" to begin with, really hated on the remix. Baker was subsequently quoted in angry response: "I got really offended. What is so different? It has a fucking glockenspiel, which Bruce has used before, background vocals ... it's no different. See, if any of those mixes had come out before, with no one knowing the other version, no one would have said a word." Billboard magazines Hot Dance Club Play chart (formerly known as Hot Dance Music/Club Play) is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs. ...
Track listings
7-inch single - Dancing in the Dark - 3:59
- Pink Cadillac - 3.33
The B-side of the single, "Pink Cadillac", was a comic rockabilly tale about the virtues (and vices) of a colorful Cadillac; in 1988 it became a #5 hit for Natalie Cole. 1950s Rockabilly book by Harlan Ellison Rockabilly is the earliest form of rock and roll as a distinct style of music. ...
Cadillac is a brand of luxury automobile, part of the General Motors Corporation, produced and mostly sold in the United States and Canada; outside of North America, they have been less successful. ...
Stephanie Natalie Maria Cole, known professionally as Natalie Cole (born February 6, 1950) is a Grammy Award-winning American singer and songwriter. ...
12-inch single - Dancing in the Dark - "Blaster Mix" - 6:09
- Dancing in the Dark - "Radio" edit - 4:50
- Dancing in the Dark - "Dub" edit - 5:30
Live performance history "Dancing in the Dark" was a featured song throughout the 1984-1985 Born in the U.S.A. Tour, usually being played as the second song of the second set. Echoing the music video, the song's outro would be extended while Springsteen searched the front rows of the audience for a (usually cute young) woman to pull up onstage and dance with. This became quite the prize for the female faithful, and considerable jostling for position with stage security and each other could take place. Once up, some fans danced well, others wanted hugs more than steps, and some just froze.
During the 1988 Tunnel of Love Express Tour, the song was usually the next-to-last song of the second set, but it was played much the same and the same pull-the-girl-on-stage routine took place. However, by the start of the 1992 "Other Band" Tour, the song was drastically reshaped as a slow, tired harangue on solo electric guitar with no fan and no dancing. This interpretation only lasted a dozen or so performances before it was dropped altogether from the set list. The Bruce Springsteen and the Other Band Tour was a concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and a new backing band, that took place from mid-1992 to mid-1993. ...
Set List by The Frames was recorded live in Dublin in November 2002. ...
That it was his biggest hit notwithstanding, "Dancing in the Dark" thus essentially disappeared from Springsteen concerts for a decade, until it resurfaced as a regular encores selection shortly after the start of the 2002-2003 Rising Tour. Now presented in a more rock-oriented arrangement, it was warmly received by fans and stayed in the show for the balance of the tour, after which it went back into retirement for Springsteen's subsequent not-rock-band tours. The Rising Tour was a lengthy, worldwide, top-grossing concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that took place in arenas and stadiums over 2002 and 2003. ...
Cover versions Pete Yorn did his take on the song on his 2002 album Musicforthemorningafter. Album Cover for Pete Yorns Musicforthemorningafter Peter Yorn (b. ...
Musicforthemorningafter is an album released by Pete Yorn on March 27, 2001 (Columbia Records). ...
In the fifth season of American Idol, eventual winner Taylor Hicks performed the song in the "final three" show, after Idol-related record executive Clive Davis personally asked Springsteen for permission to use it in the show. The winner of Season 5, Taylor Hicks. ...
Taylor Reuben Hicks[2] (born October 6, 1976[3]) is an American pop-soul singer, songwriter, musician, and winner of the fifth season of American Idol. ...
Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is the founder of Arista Records, and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. ...
References - Born in the U.S.A. Tour (tour booklet, 1984), Springsteen chronology.
- Born in the U.S.A. The World Tour (tour booklet, 1985), Tour chronology.
- Marsh, Dave. Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s. Pantheon Books, 1987. ISBN 0-394-54668-7.
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