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All She Wants to Do Is Dance
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Wikipedia article
"'All She Wants to Do Is Dance'" is a song written by Danny Kortchmar and performed by Don Henley, co-lead vocalist and drummer for Eagles. It was released as the second single from Henley's second studio solo album, 'Building the Perfect Beast', and was Henley's sixth solo single overall. It was one of Henley's most commercially successful singles, peaking at No. 9 on 'Billboard' Hot 100 and also became his third song to top the Top Rock Tracks chart.Whitburn, Joel (2004). 'The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 282.
History
The song critiques the US intervention in Central America, particularly in the then-ongoing Contra War, in which the Reagan administration funded the Contras to overthrow the left-wing Sandinista government in Nicaragua.
Background vocals for the song was provided by Patty Smyth of the group Scandal, and Martha Davis, lead singer of the Motels.
When Kortchmar was asked about the song, he said, "I had the groove and the music going. That record was made back when the technology had just started to really take over in music. I had one of the first Yamaha DX7s, which was a keyboard that was used a ton in the '80s, but we ended up luckily getting one of the first ones in the United States. It's a synthesizer keyboard, and I used it to get that sound that you hear the record starting with."
The commercial U.S. 7" vinyl version has a slightly different intro than the LP version from 'Building the Perfect Beast'.
Critical reception
John Leland from 'Spin' magazine wrote about the 12" single version of the song saying "...this mother whomps from the git with punchy electronic drums and a mix that keeps one foot off the ground for a full seven-and-a-half minutes. Henley's post-hedonist vision of apocalypse is twisted."
Personnel
* Don Henley lead and harmony vocals, drums
* David Paich synthesizers
* Steve Porcaro programming
* Danny Kortchmar guitars
* Martha Davis harmony vocals
* Patty Smyth harmony vocals
Chart performance
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Chart (1985)
! Peak
position
|-
|Australian (Kent Music Report)||22
|-
| Canadian 'RPM' Top Singles
| align="center"| 13
|-
| U.S. 'Billboard' Hot 100
| align="center"| 9
|-
| U.S. 'Billboard' Hot Dance Club Play
| align="center"| 10
|-
| U.S. 'Billboard' Top Rock Tracks
| align="center"| 1
|-
| U.S. 'Billboard' Hot R&B Singles
| align="center"| 65
|}
Other versions
The single "All She Wanna Do is Dance" by David Guetta and Niles Mason uses samples of this song.
See also
*List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)
*Ronald Reagan in music
References
Category:1985 singles
Category:Don Henley songs
Category:Songs written by Danny Kortchmar
Category:1984 songs
Category:Geffen Records singles
Category:Songs about dancing
Category:Song recordings produced by Danny Kortchmar
Category:Ronald Reagan
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