Dancer (Gino Soccio song)

"Dancer"
Single by Gino Soccio
from the album Outline
B-side"So Lonely"
Released1979
Recorded1979
GenreDisco
Length
  • 3:30 (single version)
  • 8:23 (album & 12" version)
LabelRFC/Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Gino Soccio
Producer(s)Mix Machine
Gino Soccio singles chronology
"The Visitors"
(1978) 		"Dancer"
(1979) 		"Dance To Dance"
(1979)

Dancer is a song by Gino Soccio. It was released as a single in 1979 from his album Outline.[1][2][3][4]

The song topped the Billboard Disco chart and remained on that spot for six weeks.[5] 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.[6]

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.”[7]


Chart performance

Chart (1979) Peak
position
Canada RPM Top Singles[8] 6
US Billboard Hot 100[9] 48
US Billboard Hot Soul Singles[9] 60
US Billboard Disco Top 80[9] 1
UK Singles[10] 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."[11]

The song was featured as background music in the club scene of the 1979 film "Suhaag".

References

  1. ^ "The 30 Best Disco Songs That Every Millennial Should Know". Spin. June 18, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  2. ^ Boles, Benjamin (April 29, 2016). "Junior Boys, Dinamo Azari, Skratch Bastid, and More Pick Their Essential Canadian Disco Songs". Vice. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  3. ^ Lawrence, Tim (February 2, 2004). Love Saves the Day. Duke University Press. ISBN 0822385112. Retrieved January 19, 2021 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Burke, Andrew (November 6, 2019). Hinterland Remixed. McGill-Queen's Press. p. 49. ISBN 9780773559714. Retrieved January 19, 2021 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 238.
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 538.
  7. ^ Stuffco, Jered (May 2013). "Invisible Man: The Gino Soccio Story". Wax Poetics.
  8. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - June 23, 1979" (PDF).
  9. ^ a b c "Dancer (US)". Music VF. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  10. ^ "Dancer (UK)". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  11. ^ Juzwiak, Rich (June 7, 2022). "69 of the Best Disco Songs of All Time, for Pride". Jezebel.