John, I’m Only Dancing
Posted by Moonage | Filed under Interpretations
One of my favorite songs ever made by anyone, because of RCA’s decision in 1972 to NOT include it on Ziggy Stardust, it’s teetered on the edge of obscurity even though it was a monster hit in Europe, Peaking at #12. Not too shabby for a song with no album to support it. Of all the bone-headed decisions major record labels made during this era, dropping this song from Ziggy strikes me as being one of the Top 10. It’s a hell of song, and fun to sing as well:
Well, Annie’s pretty neat, she always eats her meat
Joe is awful strong, bet your life he’s putting us on
Oh lordy! oh lordy! You know I need some loving
I’m moving, touch me!
John, I’m only dancing
She turns me on, but I’m only dancing
She turns me on, don’t get me wrong
I’m only dancing
Oh shadow love was quick and clean, life’s a well thumbed machine
I saw you watching from the stairs, you’re everyone that ever cared
Oh lordy, oh lordy, you know I need some loving
I’m moving, touch me!
John, I’m only dancing She turns me on, but I’m only dancing
She turns me on, don’t get me wrong
I’m only dancing
John, I’m only dancing
She turns me on, but I’m only dancing
She turns me on, don’t get me wrong
I’m only dancing Dancing
won’t someone dance with me?
Touch me!
Ohhh!
Now, I really don’t think I need to interpret this one too much. It seems to be quite clear in its intent. This was not a terribly typical Bowie song in that respect. It’s probably just as deceptive as any Bowie song could be, but he came across more sincere than usual. However, the interpretation of this song got it banned in the US for quite some time.
Now, John I’m Only Dancing managed to get banned nearly a decade before MTV existed. However, promotional short movies were used before MTV existed, and Bowie was the forefront of pushing it to the limits. As silly as the lyrics were, and as lively as the music was, Bowie put this oddly Gothic video to it. It’s downright disturbing:
The video marked one of the original collaborations between Mick Rock and Bowie. The “scary monsters” were Bowie’s backup singers at the time. The footage is actually a Bowie performance. Oddly enough, this video was only shown in the US, but effectively banned in England. An alternate version of the video was produced for England, much against Bowie’s desires. So, you could see the song in the US, but not listen to it on the radio. You could listen to the song on the radio in England, but not see the video. And, you could buy the album, but not get the song. And, to top it off, if you bought the original ChangesOneBowie early enough, you got a different version than if you bought the same album later. And, to make things even more confusing, Bowie re-made it as a disco song during the recording of Young Americans, but didn’t put it on that album either. So, “John, I’m Only Dancing” is possibly the only song in history to be recorded multiple times and never put on an album. It is on many greatest hits though. Later, if you bought the Rhino Ryko”Ziggy Stardust”, they put it on that as a bonus track, but it’s a different version than the other FOUR. And, for bootleg officiandos such as myself, there is the demo “lazy” version as well which is quite enjoyable. My personal favorite was the ChangesOneBowie version. It was tightest, crispest, and just sounded like a fun rock song. Bowie is often called a chameleon. That trait has passed on to many of his songs. “John, I’m Only Dancing” probably being the most chameleon like. It’s had about as many personalities as Bowie himself.
UPDATE: January 6, 2007: Finally found a most excellent midi of John I’m Only Dancing. So, I remixed it and had a little fun with it!
Tags: david bowie, Interpretations, john-im-only-dancing, mick-rock, Ziggy-Stardust
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19 Squawks to “John, I’m Only Dancing”
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Mary Squawked:
July 19th, 2006 at 12:43 amThis is one of my favorite songs too.I had not seen the film before thanks for bringing it to our attention. If they put
it out today and didn’t say who it was
some of the teen girls would think they had a new heart throb. It’s just as fitting in todays music as it was then. -
Moonage 
Squawked:
July 19th, 2006 at 8:58 amGood point. I was discussing it with Mrs. Moon and made the claim that this clip was very possibly the very first truly Goth video made. Although a few bands were toying with the Goth sound at the time, none visualized it. As you noted, you could take this video and stick it on MTV and other than odd looking hair, no one would know it was nearly 35 years old.
And to think yesterday some kid was claiming I had no clue what Goth was. I told him I’ve known Goth since way before he was born. This video is one of the reasons why I feel comfortable making that claim.
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Londonboy Squawked:
July 21st, 2006 at 6:34 pmMoon
u have justed posted myself a post it note to come back to your blog more often. You post such good links.videos. Thank you.JIOD is a great favoutite of mine. It was dancing and singing along to it before I relaised 10 years after its release that is was a ‘gay; song’ and I was gay myself. The video is ground beaking and I love the very rare footage of Lindsay Kemp and the asrtonettes at his famous rainbow gig in London. Yes your right Goth is born as well as a star/Ziggy. Bowie invented ’snow white tans’. I get very confused with all the differnt versions (except soul one of course) but I think my fave is the sax version from Changesonebowie (vynil)
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Moonage Squawked:
July 21st, 2006 at 9:55 pmI’ve gotten so many “favorite versions” via email and such that I think a poll might be in order. I had a version that apparently no one else much has heard. It was a demo version that was mostly accoustic and Bowie sings it about an octave lower with a very tired intonation. I had it on a CD I burned but I can not get the silly thing to play. I was going to put it up here since it’s obviously OOP ( not that I’m sure it ever was ). It’s interesting, but I doubt it would have been anyone’s favorite version. The campier versions are my favorites by far with the ChangesOneBowie I think being the best as well. I never did like the Again version much at all. I most likely heard it first when ChangesOne was released. Exposure to alternative music was to say the least, incredibly limited in rural Kentucky in the mid 70’s.
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Londonboy Squawked:
July 22nd, 2006 at 12:56 pmThought you might be intresested in this if you havent seen heard this
before. I discovered this on Bowiewonderworld. An elcectronic version of JIOD. I
think its very daring song to cover in this genre.‘hello fine people, i’m new here, and i haven’t contributed to any threads
yet, but i’ve just recently finished a cover song version of “John, I’m Only
Dancing” and i figured i would give it a test spin here on the message boards,
i’m looking for “constructive” critisism only please, i don’t need anyone saying
“you stink” or the like… if you don’t like it, say why you don’t like it, how
could it be better? thanks for your time… and please let me know what you
think.you can find the song at:
http://home.comcast.net/~tim1722/cock/dir.html
it’s the last file on the page.for more info, along with original songs check:
http://www.myspace.com/cockmusicagain thank you for your time, and i look forward to your replys.
-Ujn’
Brave guy I think. Do you remeber the Stray Cats did a rockibilly cover of JIOD
in the 1980s? I not sure if it was ever released in the US as they were a pretty
obscure band even for the UK at the time.. It was a top 20 hit in the UK. I dont
have a copy tho. Its a very good version.Out of curiousity is Mrs Moon a Bowie fan? I have never truly converted my other
half to Bowie tho he loves Hunky Dory very much.
When I used to be on Boiwenet (its not worth the money to be honest) I met this
fantistic couple here in the UK called Spdiey anad Don. They met each other when
they were about 13 yrs old during Ziggy erat through their love of Bowie. They
are still happily married and still follow Bowie together. I just think thats
really sweet. And they are such lovely people. -
Moonage Squawked:
July 22nd, 2006 at 11:17 pmThat is a very fun interpretation of JIOD! Loved hearing it. I edited your post slightly so it’s a hot link now ( everyone needs to give it a try! ).
I’m not familiar with the Stray Cats version although I think I remember someone mentioning it before. It’s such a fun song I would imagine a lot of people have played it. I’ll look for some remakes later.
Mrs. Moon is a tepid Bowie fan. She’s a huge U2 fan, so she covers them and I cover Bowie. She ALMOST got to see U2 do The Jean Genie, but they dropped on their last leg of the tour last year.
Spidley and Don must be two very unique people. I’m not sure two people that “get” Bowie usually could survive living in the same house. At least one needs to be grounded in reality
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Londonboy Squawked:
July 23rd, 2006 at 6:05 pmActaully it was the Pole Cats not the Stray Cats sorry about that. As for Mrs Moon at least she has good taste. I like U2 and their Irish like me. God I would love them to sing Jean genie and hear it. I saw them live in Manchester when i was at Uni. I didn’t think much of them at the time to be honest with you as I was heavily into eclectronic music during that period and U” where so rock’n roll. My brother in law is as much a hardcore U2 fan as I am a Bowie fan tho I think they need to stop doing such massive stadium gigs. I find that sorta gig too impersonal.
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Moonage Squawked:
January 6th, 2007 at 9:00 amUpdated the post to add my own version of JIOD. I can’t believe I finally found a decent midi of this song!
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moonage Squawked:
January 26th, 2007 at 8:54 am[..YouTube..] Considering the competition at the time was the Osmonds, which would you rather see? Bowie’s early videos totally rocked the world’s idea of what a music video should be. Production wise, you have to understand this is 10 years before MTV, and about 15 or so before video cameras. I agree by today’s standards it’s a little rough. But, you wouldn’t have today’s standards if it weren’t for the Bowie’s of the early 70’s.
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fearsomestmoocow Squawked:
January 26th, 2007 at 6:14 pm[..YouTube..] Oh, I totally respect that but in fairness, the man’s music ages a lot better than his image. Ofcourse this is around Pop art’s zenith where everything was a bit tacky.
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moonage Squawked:
January 26th, 2007 at 9:56 pm[..YouTube..] It wasn’t pop art, it was glam rock. Pop art was the Osmonds. Glam rock was a much more diverse musical style that tossed in conceptual art along with the music. Think Bohemian Rhapsody vs Puppy Love. The technology has definitely changed a lot since then tho.
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stu57stu Squawked:
February 8th, 2007 at 6:25 pm[..YouTube..] Oh yes i was very much in to Bowie at this time and glam rock was very much in at the time here in UK , I may add in no small part due to David Bowie.
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marlboroman1985 Squawked:
February 9th, 2007 at 8:01 pm[..YouTube..] Love that jacket with the oversized collar. Faboulous. That didn’t sound gay did it?
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mrtyles Squawked:
March 30th, 2007 at 12:18 am[..YouTube..] why does everything sound a bit deeper? i swear, it sounds deeper! the same was true for the life on mars by mick rock vid.
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moonage Squawked:
March 30th, 2007 at 8:40 am[..YouTube..] It sounds deeper because at that time, tv only had these very crappy 3 inch speakers for the most part. None were in stereo. To make the sound on tv’s more rock’ish, you filled in the midrange and toned down the high and low ends. So, the effect on John, I’m on Dancing was a lot less peppy sound and more of a heavier sound. In a lot of ways, I liked these mixes the best.
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MistakenMantis Squawked:
April 25th, 2007 at 3:28 pm[..YouTube..] Yes it did. It’s a good thing.
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corby1978 Squawked:
June 1st, 2007 at 7:06 pm[..YouTube..] best outro ever
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jmc8197 Squawked:
June 17th, 2007 at 8:26 pm[..YouTube..] Fantastic track with a bit of Gary Glitter about it.
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Moonage Squawked:
November 10th, 2007 at 8:01 pmI replaced the Youtube video with Imeem. Sorry I took so long. It plays GREAT now!
