Do You Want to Dance

San Francisco-born teenager Bobby Freeman had been a member of doo-wop groups the Romancers and the Vocaleers. When asked by a local DJ if he had written any songs, he wrote several and recorded them as solo demos. These included "Do You Want to Dance", which was heard by a visiting record label executive, Mortimer Palitz of Jubilee Records. He signed Freeman to the label, and had the original recording overdubbed in New York by session musicians including guitarist Billy Mure. Released on the Jubilee subsidiary label Josie, "Do You Want to Dance" quickly rose to number 5 on the pop chart and number 2 on the R&B chart in early 1958, when Freeman was still only 17.[http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/bobby_freeman.htm Dik de Heer, "Bobby Freeman biography", Black Cat Rockabilly, 2013]. Retrieved 31 January 2017[http://bestclassicbands.com/singer-bobby-freeman-obituary-1-30-17/ Jeff Tamarkin, "‘Do You Wanna Dance’ Singer Bobby Freeman Dies", BestClassicBands.com]. Retrieved 1 February 2017 Contrary to some reports, Jerry Garcia did not play on the record.

The song was included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=0899190251|chapter=A Basic Record Library: The Fifties and Sixties|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg70/basics.php|access-date=March 16, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com|title-link=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Do You Want to Dance

| cover = Do_you_want_to_dance_-_Im_looking_out_the_window.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Cover of the Danish edition

| type = single

| artist = Cliff Richard and the Shadows

| album =

| A-side = I'm Lookin' Out the Window

| released = {{Start date|1962|05|04|df=yes}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cliffrichard.org/biog/singles.cfm |title=The OFFICIAL Cliff Richard website: Discography - Singles |publisher=Cliffrichard.org |access-date=2014-02-09}}

| recorded = 19 December 1961

| studio = EMI, London

| venue =

| genre = Rock and roll

| length = 2:16

| label = Columbia

| writer = Bobby Freeman

| producer = Norrie Paramor

| prev_title = The Young Ones

| prev_year = 1962

| title = I'm Lookin' Out the Window

| title2 = Do You Want to Dance

| next_title = It'll Be Me

| next_year = 1962

}}

The Cliff Richard and the Shadows version{{discogs release|1737825|Cliff Richard and the Shadows: Do You Want to Dance}} also known as "Do You Wanna Dance" was released in the United Kingdom as the B-side of "I'm Lookin' Out the Window" in May 1962. However, like seven other Cliff Richard singles released between 1959 and 1963, the B-side received a good amount of airplay and made the New Musical Express UK singles chart in its own right. On this occasion, it became Richard's second highest charting B-side (after "Bachelor Boy"), making it to number 10 (while "I'm Lookin' Out the Window" reached number 2). The single reached number 2 on the other UK chart, the official UK Singles Chart, listing both tracks.{{cite book|title=The Complete Chronicle Cliff Richard|last1=Read|first1=Mike|author-link1=Mike Read|last2=Goodall|first2=Nigel|last3=Lewry|first3=Peter|publisher=Hamlyn, London |year=1993|page=303|isbn=0-600-57897-6}}

"Do You Want to Dance" went on to become the more successful charting track from the single in some countries, reaching number 1 in the Netherlands, Australia (based on the Sydney chart of the time, because an Australian nationwide chart had not yet started) and Flemish Belgium.{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FxcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16|date=28 July 1962|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|page=16|issn=0006-2510}}{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KBcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA34|date=11 August 1962|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|page=34|issn=0006-2510}}{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_QBcEAAAAMBAJ|date=18 August 1962|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_QBcEAAAAMBAJ/page/n23 22]|issn=0006-2510}} The single went on to sell over 1 million copies worldwide.{{cite book|title=The Ultimate Cliff|last1=Lewry|first1=Peter|last2=Goodall|first2=Nigel|publisher=Simon and Schuster Ltd, London|year=1996|isbn=0-684-81696-2|edition=1996 Updated|page=206}}

"Do You Want to Dance" was included on the EP Cliff’s Hits, released November 1962, and first appeared on LP with Richard's first compilation album Cliff's Hit Album, released July 1963. A live version appeared on Richard's double album Japan Tour 74 issued in 1975.

"Do You Want to Dance" was recorded on December 19, 1961 at EMI's Abbey Road Studios. The session, engineered by Malcolm Addy and produced by EMI's A&R man Norrie Paramor, featured new drummer Brian Bennett and Jet Harris on bass, soon to leave the Shadows in 1962.{{cite book

| first1= Peter

| last1= Lewry

| first2= Nigel

| last2= Goodall

| year= 1991

| title= Cliff Richard The Complete Recording Sessions 1958-1990

| publisher= Blandford

| location= London

| isbn= 0-7137-2242-8

| page= 40}}

Chart entries as "Do You Want to Dance" or "Do You Want to Dance"/"I'm Looking Out the Window":

Chart entries as "I'm Looking Out the Window"/"Do You Want to Dance":

{{Infobox song

| name = Do You Wanna Dance?

| cover = Beach Boys - Do You Wanna Dance?.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = the Beach Boys

| album = The Beach Boys Today!

| B-side = Please Let Me Wonder

| released = February 15, 1965

| recorded = January 11, 1965

| studio = Gold Star, Hollywood, California

| venue =

| genre = Rock and roll{{cite book|first=Colin|last=Larkin|title=All-Time Top 1000 Albums|url=https://archive.org/details/alltimetop1000al0000lark_d7o0/page/179/mode/1up|archive-url=https://archive.org/details/alltimetop1000al0000lark_d7o0/mode/1up|date=1999|archive-date= October 8, 2021|publisher=Virgin Books|isbn=0-7535-0354-9|page=85}}

| length = 2:21

| label = Capitol

| writer = Bobby Freeman

| producer = Brian Wilson

| prev_title = The Man with All the Toys

| prev_year = 1964

| next_title = Help Me, Rhonda

| next_year = 1965

| misc = {{Audio sample

| type = single

| file = Do You Wanna Dance - Beach Boys.ogg

| description = "Do You Wanna Dance?"

}}

}}

The Beach Boys' version of "Do You Wanna Dance?" was released as a single in February 1965, and served as the opening track to their album The Beach Boys Today! the following month. It is distinguished from the original through its lush orchestration, three-part vocal arrangement, and instrumental bridge key change.{{cite web |last1=Interrante |first1=Scott |title=When I Grow Up: The Beach Boys – "Do You Wanna Dance?" |url=https://www.popmatters.com/180577-when-i-grow-up-the-beach-boys-do-you-wanna-dance-2495670243.html |website=PopMatters |date=April 7, 2014}} Dillon speculated that the rendition may have been inspired by the version by Del Shannon, who had recently recorded the song, although the Beach Boys' version bears a "closer resemblance" to an earlier version by Cliff Richard and the Shadows.{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=46}} It was the first song the group recorded at Gold Star, Spector's favorite studio, and their second song that employed a timpani.{{sfn|O'Regan|2014|pp=179–180}}{{refn|group=nb|"Pom, Pom Play Girl" was the first.{{sfn|O'Regan|2014|pp=179–180}}}}

"Do You Wanna Dance?" was recorded on January 11, 1965 at Gold Star Studios and was produced, arranged and conducted by Brian Wilson. Take 3 of the song was used as the master. It was the Beach Boys' first single to feature session musicians playing most of the backing track while the group overdubbed vocals, an arrangement Wilson would maintain for the next two years. Additionally, "Do You Wanna Dance?" marked the first single released by the group following Wilson's nervous breakdown the previous year.

File:Dennis Wilson 1966.jpg sang lead on the song, marking his first lead vocal on a Beach Boys single]]

The band's drummer Dennis Wilson sang lead on the song. This came at a time in the band's history when Brian began giving more leads to Dennis. On The Beach Boys Today!, Dennis sang the first and last songs of the album ("Do You Wanna Dance?" and "In the Back of My Mind").{{sfn|Dillon|2012|p=45}} This was because Brian had felt that Dennis "never really had a chance to sing very much", and so he gave him more leads on the album.{{sfn|Wilson|Greenman|2016|p=173}}

"Do You Wanna Dance?" was released as a single through Capitol Records on February 15, 1965. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the highest charting Beach Boys song to feature Dennis Wilson on lead vocals. According to the contemporary United Press International (UPI) chart published by newspapers across the United States it was number eight in April 1965. It did best in regional playlists in the Twin Cities, Baltimore and San Jose, where it was number two; Dallas, Seattle and San Diego to number three; Portland to number four; and Chicago, Washington DC, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Hartford, Tulsa and Lincoln, number five. The B-side of the single was "Please Let Me Wonder". The song was later released as the opening track of the group's 1965 album The Beach Boys Today!.

On February 28, the band (with Brian) appeared on the television show Shindig! performing "Do You Wanna Dance?" and a truncated version of "Please Let Me Wonder".{{sfn|Badman|2004|p=90}}

In 2008, the Beach Boys compilation U.S. Singles Collection: The Capitol Years 1962-1965 featured an instrumental mix of "Do You Wanna Dance?"{{Citation |title=The Beach Boys - U.S. Singles Collection: The Capitol Years 1962-1965 Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/us-singles-collection-the-capitol-years-1962-1965-mw0000788750 |access-date=2023-06-28 |language=en}} A stereo remix of the song was released in 2012 on the stereo remaster of The Beach Boys Today!.

{{cite web |title=MONOSTEREO |first=Andrew G. |last=Doe |year=2012 |access-date=October 26, 2012 |url=http://www.esquarterly.com/bellagio/monostereo.html|publisher=Esquarterly.com}} A live version recorded in March 1965 was released in 2015 for the archival live album Live in Chicago 1965.{{Citation |title=The Beach Boys - Live in Chicago, 1965 Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-in-chicago-1965-mw0002905168 |access-date=2023-06-28 |language=en}}

Cash Box described it as having "an infectious neo-surfln’ style complete with rapidly-changing, danceable riffs."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=February 20, 1965 |page=12 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1965/CB-1965-02-20.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}}

Retrospectively, commentators have noted "Do You Wanna Dance?" as emblematic of the growing complexity in Wilson's work on The Beach Boys Today?. Musicologist Philip Lambert described "Do You Wanna Dance?" as an example of a song that "highlights the difference between ‘a song covered by the Beach Boys’ and an existing song transformed into ‘a Beach Boys song".{{Cite journal |date=2007 |title=Produced by Brian Wilson |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781501330599.ch-005 |journal=Inside the Music of Brian Wilson |pages=75–100 |doi=10.5040/9781501330599.ch-005|isbn=9781501330599 |url-access=subscription }} Journalist Scott Iterrante praised "Do You Wanna Dance?" as a "sophisticated reinterpretation" by Wilson of the original song, additionally saying "Wilson proves that he can be just as harmonically and structurally inventive with catchy dance songs as he can with emotional ballads."{{cite magazine|last1=Interrante|first1=Scott|title=When I Grow Up: 'The Beach Boys Today!'|url=http://www.popmatters.com/post/180342-when-i-grow-up-the-beach-boys-today/|magazine=PopMatters|date=March 31, 2014}}

Sourced from Musician's Union AFM contract sheets and surviving session audio, documented by Craig Slowinski.{{cite web |url=http://www.tiptopwebsite.com/custommusic2/craigslowinskicom.pdf |title= The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys Today! |last= Slowinski|first= Craig|year=2007 |access-date=October 27, 2012}}

;The Beach Boys

• Al Jardine – harmony and backing vocals
• Mike Love – harmony and backing vocals
• Brian Wilson – harmony and backing vocals; acoustic grand piano
• Carl Wilson – harmony and backing vocals; electric lead and rhythm guitar
• Dennis Wilson – lead vocals

;Additional musicians and production staff

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|

• Hal Blaine – drums, wood blocks, claves
• Chuck Britz – sound engineer
• Steve Douglas – tenor saxophone
• Plas Johnson – tenor saxophone
• Larry Knechtel – bass guitar
• Larry Levine – sound engineer
• Jay Migliori – baritone saxophone
• Bill Pitman – acoustic and electric rhythm guitar
• Leon Russell – Hammond B-3 organ
• Billy Strange – electric mandolin
• Tommy Tedesco – baritone guitar, mandolin
• Julius Wechter – tambourine, timpani
• Marilyn Wilson – harmony and backing vocals

}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Do You Want to Dance?

| cover = Bette Midler Do You Want to Dance single cover.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Portuguese picture sleeve

| type = single

| artist = Bette Midler

| album = The Divine Miss M

| B-side = Superstar

| released = 1972

| recorded = 1972

| studio = Atlantic Recording Studios (New York, NY){{AllMusic|class=album|id=r24152|first=Bryan|last=Buss}}

| venue =

| genre = Pop

| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=44}}

| label = Atlantic

| writer = Bobby Freeman

| producer = {{hlist|Barry Manilow|Geoffrey Haslam|Ahmet Ertegun}}

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title = Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

| next_year = 1972

}}

Bette Midler included the song—with the original title restored, "Do You Want to Dance"—on her 1972 debut album The Divine Miss M as its opening track. In contrast to the Bobby Freeman, Cliff Richard, and Beach Boys versions, which are uptempo rock and roll songs, Midler slowed the tempo of the song down to a soulful sultry-sounding ballad. Midler's version was her first single release, reaching #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1973 and the top 10 of the Go-Set National Charts in Australia during April 1973. The song was #76 on Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1973.

In 1985, Ula Hedwig, a Bette Midler-soundalike and former backup singer, sang the song emulating Bette Midler's version for a Mercury Sable television commercial after Midler refused to sing in the commercial herself. Midler sued Ford Motor Company in response in the now-memorable case Midler v. Ford Motor Co. in which she argued that utilizing a voice impersonator without her permission constituted appropriation of her personality rights. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Midler and made Ford pull the advertisement.{{Cite news |last=Rothenberg |first=Randall |date=1988-09-12 |title=THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Suit Deters Ad Jingles That Mimic Singers |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/12/business/the-media-business-suit-deters-ad-jingles-that-mimic-singers.html |access-date=2022-07-28 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |title=Bette Midler owns her own voice |url=https://jwa.org/thisweek/oct/31/1989/this-week-in-history-bette-midler-owns-her-own-voice |access-date=2022-07-28 |website=Jewish Women's Archive |language=en}}

Bobby Fuller & the Fanatics recorded a version, probably in 1964, in the Fuller home recording studio in El Paso.

Del Shannon had a version in 1963 that reached #43 on the US charts.

The Mamas and the Papas included a version of the song on their debut album If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears in 1966.

John Lennon included a version of the song on his album Rock 'n' Roll released in 1975.

The Ramones' released a version of "Do You Wanna Dance?" in their album Rocket to Russia released in 1977. It was used in the film Rock 'n' Roll High School, and in a television advertisement for the release of Wall-E on DVD. Record World said that the Ramones' treatment "is brief, rough and to the point."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=April 1, 1978|accessdate=2023-02-15|title=Hits of the Week|page=1|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/78/Record-World-1978-04-01.pdf}}

Neil Young performed the song live on tour in 1983 with his rockabilly backing band The Shocking Pinks. One performance in Dayton, Ohio was captured for the 1984 Hal Ashby concert film Solo Trans from the tour of the same same.

• The original Bobby Freeman recording features in the comedy-drama film American Graffiti (1973).
• Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia is rumored to have recorded the guitar on the original Bobby Freeman version. However, there is no definitive documentation of this.{{cite web|url=http://www.whitegum.com/songfile/DO1YOUWA.HTM |title=Do You Wanna Dance |publisher=Whitegum.com |access-date=2014-02-09}}
• D-TV set the original Bobby Freeman recording to Flowers and Trees and the Nutcracker Suite segment (Chinese Dance) from Fantasia.

Notes

{{reflist|group=nb}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Badman |first=Keith |title=The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, on Stage and in the Studio |url=https://archive.org/details/beachboysdefinit0000badm |url-access=registration |year=2004 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-0-87930-818-6 }}
• {{cite book|last=Dillon|first=Mark|title=Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys: The Songs That Tell Their Story|url=https://archive.org/details/fiftysidesofbeac0000dill/|year=2012|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-77090-198-8|url-access=registration}}
• {{cite thesis |last1=O'Regan |first1=Jadey |title=When I Grow Up: The Development of the Beach Boys' Sound (1962-1966) |date=2014 |doi=10.25904/1912/2556 |url=https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/367243/O%27Regan_2014_02Thesis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |publisher=Queensland Conservatorium}}
• {{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Brian|author-link1=Brian Wilson|last2=Greenman|first2=Ben|author-link2=Ben Greenman|title=I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9CmiBQAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-82307-7}}

{{Cliff Richard}}

{{Cliff Richard singles}}

{{Today!}}

{{The Beach Boys singles}}

{{Bette Midler singles}}

{{Dave Edmunds}}

{{Del Shannon}}

{{authority control}}

Category:1958 songs

Category:1958 debut singles

Category:1965 singles

Category:1972 debut singles

Category:Bobby Freeman songs

Category:The Beach Boys songs

Category:Jan and Dean songs

Category:Cliff Richard songs

Category:Del Shannon songs

Category:The Mamas and the Papas songs

Category:We Five songs

Category:Bette Midler songs

Category:Dave Edmunds songs

Category:Ramones songs

Category:Songs about dancing

Category:Song recordings produced by Brian Wilson

Category:Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements

Category:Capitol Records singles

Category:Atlantic Records singles

Category:Columbia Graphophone Company singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor