THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS - DANCING IN THE STREET

DANCING IN THE STREET

THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS

SONGWRITERS: WILLIAM STEVENSON & MARVIN GAYE

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: DANCING IN THE STREET

LABEL: RCA VICTOR

GENRE: FOLK ROCK

YEAR: 1966

 

          The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group was composed of Americans John Phillips, Cass Elliot, and Michelle Phillips and Canadian Denny Doherty. Their sound was based on vocal harmonies arranged by John Phillips, the songwriter, musician, and leader of the group, who adapted folk to the new beat style of the early 1960s.

        The Mamas & the Papas released five studio albums and 17 singles over four years, six of which made the Billboard top 10, and have sold close to 40 million records worldwide. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 for its contributions to the music industry. The band reunited briefly to record the album People Like Us in 1971 but had ceased touring and performing by that time. Some of their most popular singles include "California Dreamin'", "Monday, Monday", and "Creeque Alley".

         “Dancing In The Street” is a song co-written by Marvin Gaye and William Stevenson. Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. was born in Washington D.C. in 1939. He was part of an R&B group that backed Bo Diddley in the mid-50s. He also sang as a session musician on a couple of recordings by Chuck Berry late in the decade. He changed his surname by adding an “e” in 1961. Gaye penned “Beachwood 4-5678” for the Marvelettes, a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962. He became a solo artist with hits that included “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)”, “Ain’t That Peculiar”, “I Heard It Though The Grapevine”, “What’s Going On”, “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”, “Let’s Get It On”, “Trouble Man”, “Got To Give It Up” and “Sexual Healing” among his string of Top Ten hits between 1963 and 1982. He died at the age of 44 in 1984, after his father fatally shot him with two bullets.

        William “Mickey” Stevenson was born in Detroit in 1937. In addition to cowriting “Dancing In The Street”, he also wrote “It Takes Two” for Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston, “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted” for Jimmy Ruffin, “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” for Stevie Wonder and “Devil With A Blue Dress On”, a hit for Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. He has spent many decades in management positions in the recording industry. “Dancing In The Street” was a #2 hit for Martha & The Vandellas in 1964 on the Billboard Hot 100. It became a civil rights anthem with the opening line “calling out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat.”

          “Dancing In The Street” is a song inviting people all around to dance in the streets because “summer’s here and the time is right…” The song also lets people know “it doesn’t matter what you wear.” Societal norms for dress codes are cast aside in this song. This was a matter of counter-culture urgency, where young Americans were now wearing blue jeans, tie-dye t-shirts and rejecting the conservative styles of their parents generation. In the Mamas & the Papas version of “Dancing In The Street” the following cities are listed by name: Chicago, New Orleans, Detroit (“the Motor City”), New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Los Angeles (“way down in LA”), Amherst (the name of a town in twelve states and Nova Scotia, Canada, where Denny Doherty was born), Boyle Heights (California), Alexandria and Falls Church (Virginia).

Callin' out around the world

Are you ready for a brand new beat?

Summer's here and the time is right

For dancin' in the streets

They're dancin' in Chicago

Down in New Orleans

Up in New York City

 

All we need is music, sweet music

There'll be music everywhere

There'll be swingin', swayin' and records playin'

And dancin' in the streets

 

Oh, it doesn't matter what you wear

Just as long as you are there

So come on, every guy grab a girl

Everywhere around the world

There'll be dancin'

They're dancin' in the street

 

This is an invitation

Across the nation

A chance for the folks to meet

There'll be laughin' and singin' and music swingin'

And dancin' in the streets

 

Philadelphia, P.A. (Philadelphia, P.A.)

Baltimore and DC now (Baltimore and DC now)

Yeah don't forget the Motor City (can't forget the Motor City)

 

All we need is music, sweet music

There'll be music everywhere

There'll be swingin', swayin' and records playin'

And dancin' in the street, yeah

 

------ electric piano ------

 

Oh, it doesn't matter what you wear

Just as long as you are there

So come on, every guy grasp a girl

Everywhere around the world

There'll be dancin'

They're dancin' in the streets

 

Philadelphia, P.A. (Philadelphia, P.A.)

Baltimore and DC now (Baltimore and DC now)

Yeah don't forget the Motor City (can't forget the Motor City)

All the way down in L.A. California

Not to mention Halifax Nova Scotia

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Manchester

Alexandria, Virginia, Virginia

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