Dancer (Gino Soccio song)
{{Infobox song
| name = Dancer
| cover =
| type = single
| artist = Gino Soccio
| album = Outline
| B-side = So Lonely
| released = 1979
| recorded = 1979
| studio =
| genre = Disco
| length = {{ubl|3:30 (single version)|8:23 (album & 12" version)}}
| label = RFC/Warner Bros.
| writer = Gino Soccio
| producer = Mix Machine
| prev_title = The Visitors
| prev_year = 1978
| next_title = Dance To Dance
| next_year = 1979
}}
Dancer is a song by Gino Soccio. It was released as a single in 1979 from his album Outline.{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/featured/best-disco-songs-of-all-time/|title=The 30 Best Disco Songs That Every Millennial Should Know|website=Spin|date=June 18, 2019|access-date=January 19, 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/yp4b4m/canadian-disco-junior-boys-azari-skratch-bastid|last=Boles|first=Benjamin|title=Junior Boys, Dinamo Azari, Skratch Bastid, and More Pick Their Essential Canadian Disco Songs|website=Vice|date=April 29, 2016|access-date=January 19, 2021}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qIdH2yR41bIC|last=Lawrence|first=Tim|title=Love Saves the Day|date=February 2, 2004|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=0822385112|access-date=January 19, 2021|via=Google Books}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LPuzDwAAQBAJ|last=Burke|first=Andrew|title=Hinterland Remixed|pages=49|date=November 6, 2019|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|isbn=9780773559714|access-date=January 19, 2021|via=Google Books}}
The song topped the Billboard Disco chart and remained on that spot for six weeks.{{cite book |title= Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=238}} It was also Soccio's only Billboard Hot 100 entry, peaking at No. 48, and his only Top 10 hit on his home country's RPM Top Singles chart, peaking at No. 6.{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=538}}
Background
The song was part of the playlist at New York City disco Paradise Garage, in an extended mix by DJ Larry Levan. “They would play that song three times in a row sometimes, and it was already an eight-minute song," Soccio told Wax Poetics in a 2013 career retrospective interview. "It was twenty-four minutes of ‘Dancer,’ and people just would not get enough of it. It really was something. It blew me away.”{{Cite web |last=Stuffco |first=Jered |date=May 2013 |title=Invisible Man: The Gino Soccio Story |url=https://www.waxpoetics.com/features/articles/invisible-man |url-status= |archive-url= |website=Wax Poetics}}
Chart performance
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1979)
! Peak |
|---|
| Canada RPM Top Singles{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4553a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - June 23, 1979}}
| style="text-align:center;"|6 |
| US Billboard Hot 100{{cite web|url=https://www.musicvf.com/Gino+Soccio.art|title=Dancer (US)|website=Music VF|access-date=January 19, 2021}}
| style="text-align:center;"|48 |
| US Billboard Hot Soul Singles
| style="text-align:center;"|60 |
| US Billboard Disco Top 80
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| UK Singles{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/17619/gino-soccio/|title=Dancer (UK)|website=Official Charts Company|access-date=January 19, 2021}}
| style="text-align:center;"|46 |
Legacy
During Pride Month 2022, "Dancer" was selected by Jezebel as #22 in their list of "69 of the Best Disco Songs of All Time."{{Cite web |last=Juzwiak |first=Rich |date=June 7, 2022 |title=69 of the Best Disco Songs of All Time, for Pride |url=https://jezebel.com/69-of-the-best-disco-songs-of-all-time-for-pride-1849025164/slides/23 |website=Jezebel}}
The song was featured as background music in the club scene of the 1979 film "Suhaag".
References
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