Let’s Dance

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Jim Adams invites us to share a song that is the title track of an album. I have chosen “Let’s Dance” written and performed by David Bowie. Most of the songs on Lets Dance have a driving beat ideal for dancing.The album was Bowie’s 15th studio album and was recorded in December 1982 and co-produced by David Bowie and Nike Rogers. The sessions featured players from Roger’s band Chic and the then-unknown blues guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughn. The album has been described as post-disco dance rock. The album skyrocketed to Number 1 in numerous countries, turned Bowie into a major superstar and remains his best selling album.

David Bowie, David Robert Jones, was born in 1947 in Brixton, London. He was described as a gifted and singe-minded child and a defiant brawler. Bowie was largely an unknown until the release of his album Space Oddity, released in 1969. He later re-emerged as the alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust, and his single “Starman” and the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars won him widespread popularity. From there he changed his style to what he called “plastic soul” and in 1975 released the album Young Americans containing the single “Fame.” Bowie followed this with the Berlin Era, the New Romantic and Pop Era, Tin Machine, Electronic Period, and finally the Neoclassicist Era according to Wikipedia. Bowie’s style was constantly in flux, and his final album which Bowie said would be his “swan song” and his final gift to his fans, Blackstar was released two days before his death in 2016.

David Bowie appeared in numerous films including Labrinth and The Prestige. Bowie wrote the song “All the Young Dudes” for the band Mott the Hoople when he was told they were going to break up, in order to revive their band.

I have always enjoyed most of David Bowie’s music, even when the style was not something I would typically enjoy. I thought he was a little strange with his painted face and red mullet as Ziggy Stardust, but I loved the music of that period and he was amazing, he sold it with everything he had. I fell immediately in love with “Let’s Dance.” I loved the old movie Hollywood glamour of the lyrics, “Lets sway through the crowd to an empty space” and “if you should fall into my arms and tremble like a flower” and “under the moonlight, the serious moonlight.” So poetic, so cool, so perfect.

Title Track
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Published by lisaapaul

Iā€™m a paralegal, a widow, mother and grandmother.

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17 thoughts on “Let’s Dance”

  3. Great choice, Lisa this is such a fun song to listen to.Ā  Letā€™s Dance was a major commercial success for David Bowie, introducing him to a new, younger audience and becoming a signature song for him.Ā  Bowie was renowned for his constant reinvention of his image and persona throughout his career. Ā He embraced a philosophy of perpetual change, both musically and aesthetically, making him a true ā€œchameleon of rock.ā€Ā 

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  5. Lisa, Bowie is up there in my top layers of favorite creative geniuses. I know he wrote about spacemen, and I still wonder if he came from the stars. Excellent choice for this week’s prompt.

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  7. I had the chance to meet Bowie ages ago, while I was working at a Venue in London. I’ve never been starstruck by anyone, but a fist pump from the legend made me feel good for a while after.

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  8. I don’t know how I missed this Lisa- but here I am. David Bowie is a legend unto himself. Like you I didn’t always agree with his musical choices but he remained true to himself and in an entertainment industry that means he valued the art over the money. Excellent choice!

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