John, I'm Only Dancing

The song is widely believed to be concerned with a gay relationship, the narrator informing his boyfriend not to worry about the girl he's with because he's "only dancing" with her.[2][3] Bowie had been 'out' as bisexual since an interview with Melody Maker in January 1972, and the subject matter did not affect the single's radio airplay in the UK, where it and the earlier "Starman" became his first back-to-back hits. However, the original video directed by Mick Rock, featuring androgynous dancers from Lindsay Kemp's mime troupe, was banned by Top of the Pops.[2]

The single was not released in America, being judged too risqué by RCA,[3][4] and did not officially appear stateside until it was finally issued on the compilation Changesonebowie in 1976. While the hook ("John, I'm only dancing / She turns me on / But I'm only dancing") has long been considered a gay tease, author Nicholas Pegg asserts that the song's narrator "could just as easily be a straight man reassuring the girl's lover".[4] Alternatively, it has been suggested that Bowie wrote the song in response to a derogatory comment made by John Lennon about Bowie's cross-dressing.[5]

Musically in a light R&B style, the track was recorded on 26 June 1972,[6][7] released as a single, and then re-recorded on 20 January 1973[8] during the Aladdin Sane sessions, in a slightly different arrangement featuring Ken Fordham on saxophone. Often called the "sax version", the second recording was issued as a single in April 1973 with exactly the same catalogue number as the first release, causing difficulties for collectors.[4] Generally held to be superior to the original cut,[3][9] the sax reworking also appeared on early pressings of Changesonebowie before it was replaced with the original single version.

In 1974, a completely reworked funk-influenced version was recorded as "John, I’m Only Dancing (Again)"; this song is described in detail below.

All songs written by David Bowie.[10][11]

1. "John, I’m Only Dancing" – 2:43
2. "Hang On to Yourself" – 2:38

• Producers:
  • David Bowie, Ken Scott
• Musicians:
  • David Bowie – vocals, acoustic guitar, saxophone (sax version)
  • Mick Ronson – lead guitar
  • Lou Reed – rhythm guitar
  • Trevor Bolder – bass guitar
  • Mick Woodmansey – drums
  • Ken Fordham – saxophone (sax version)

• A previously unreleased live version from Boston Music Hall, recorded on 1 October 1972, was released in 1989 on the original Sound + Vision box set, but was not included in subsequent versions of this compilation. The same track, however, was issued on the bonus disc of the Aladdin Sane – 30th Anniversary Edition in 2003.
• A live version recorded at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on 20 October 1972 has been released on Santa Monica '72 and Live Santa Monica '72.

• The Portugal release of the single "Starman" from September 1972 had "John, I'm Only Dancing" as the B-side.
• In November 1972 it was released as the B-side of the single "The Jean Genie" in Japan.
• It appeared on the B-side of the "Cracked Actor" single in Eastern Europe in June 1973.
• In 1979, a remix of the 1972 version of the song was released on various UK and US singles, either as an A-side or as the B-side to "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)". This version was included as a bonus track on the Rykodisc CD release of Ziggy Stardust in 1990.
• The song has appeared in the following compilations:
  • Changesonebowie (1976) – the first 1000 copies of the album included the sax version of the single; the remainder featured the original single version[3][9]
  • The Best of Bowie (1980) – sax version
  • Sound + Vision (1989) – sax version
  • Changesbowie (1990) – original version
  • The Singles Collection (1993) – original version
  • The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974 (1997) – sax version
  • Best of Bowie (2002) – original version
• The sax version was released on the bonus disc of the 30th Anniversary Edition of Aladdin Sane in 2003.
• Both the 1972 original and the sax version were included on Re:Call 1, part of the Five Years (1969–1973) boxed set, in 2015.
• The song was released as a picture disc in the RCA Life Time picture disc set.

"John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)"
Single by David Bowie
B-side	"John, I'm Only Dancing"
Released	7 December 1979
Format	7"/12" single
Recorded	August & November 1974
Studio	Sigma Sound, Philadelphia
Genre	Disco
Length	6:57 (12" version) 3:26 (single version)
Label	RCA
Songwriter(s)	David Bowie
Producer(s)	David Bowie, Tony Visconti
David Bowie singles chronology
"Look Back in Anger" (1979) "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)" (1979) "Alabama Song" (1980)

"John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)" is a re-recording of "John, I'm Only Dancing", made in 1974 during the sessions for the album Young Americans.

Released in December 1979, the re-recording featured a much more funk-influenced take on the track, and has some similarities with the song "Stay" recorded for the Station to Station album in 1976. Originally running at 6:57, the track was cut for a 7" single release, but the full version was issued on 12" vinyl – the first Bowie single to have a regular 12" release in the UK. For the B-side, the original version of "John, I'm Only Dancing" was remixed. After the relative disappointment of the singles from Lodger on the charts, the single gave Bowie some greater degree of mainstream exposure during a period when his work was increasingly being perceived as esoteric and experimental. The long 12" version was included as a bonus track on the 1991 Rykodisk/EMI remaster CD of Young Americans, on the 2007 collectors edition of the album, and on The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979. The 7" single version was not released on CD until 2016's Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976).

The reworking of "John, I'm Only Dancing" drops the original verses, only leaving the chorus' lyrics intact, perhaps because of the supposed homosexual nature of the original piece. The new lyrics were simply an embrace of the dance floor and the spirit of disco. The chorus is delivered more slowly and unswung with dance beats instead of the rather retro blues beats of the original, giving time for Bowie to demonstrate vocal virtuosity. The changes were considered somewhat strange given the original's context, especially the transformation into the "overlong" dance track, given the 12" version's extended mix, in which half of the song is a repetitive riff consisting of the lyrics "dancing, dancing, dancing, woo woo woo-oo".

Sources

• Buckley, David (1999). Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-1-85227-784-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Cann, Kevin (2010). Any Day Now – David Bowie: The London Years: 1947–1974. Adelita. ISBN 978-0-95520-177-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Carr, Roy; Murray, Charles Shaar (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record. Eel Pie Publishing. ISBN 978-0-38077-966-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Pegg, Nicholas, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2000, ISBN 1-903111-14-5

• Full lyrics of this song at Metrolyrics