"Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul and

Barry Blue Barry Blue (born Barry Ian Green, 4 December 1950) is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist, he is best known for his hit songs "Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" and "Do You Wanna Dance" (both 1973). Blue has also been a pro ...

, that was recorded by Blue and released as a single in 1973 on

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

. Blue's backing band of session musicians were well known in the industry and one year later the drummer, John Richardson, joined

the Rubettes The Rubettes are an English pop/glam rock band put together in 1974 after the release of "Sugar Baby Love", a recording assembled of studio session musicians in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor R ...

. Barry Blue's song reached the number 2 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, (and number 1 on the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' top 30), number 2 on the Australian Kent Music chart, number 3 on the Austrian singles chart, number 4 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, number 9 on the German singles chart, and number 11 on the Dutch singles chart. The song ranked the 18th best selling single in Australia in 1973, and 23rd best selling single in the UK in 1973. Barry Blue's version of the song has also appeared on the soundtrack to the films ''

Anita and Me ''Anita and Me'' is Meera Syal's debut novel, and was first published in 1996. It is a semi-autobiographical novel, based on Syal's childhood in the mining village of Essington, Staffordshire, which won the Betty Trask Award. The story revolves ...

'', and '' American Swing''. A remixed version of the original Barry Blue song was released in 1989, reaching number 86 on the UK Singles Chart. It also is featured in the film ''

The Long Good Friday ''The Long Good Friday'' is a 1980 British gangster film directed by John Mackenzie from a screenplay by Barrie Keeffe, starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. Set in London, the storyline weaves together events and concerns of the late 1970s, ...

''. The song has become a line dance classic.

Chart performance

Cover versions

Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids released their version of the song as a single in 1974 and it became a U.S. hit, reaching number 79 on the Cashbox singles charts and number 93 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. It also charted in Sweden and reached number 7 on the Swedish charts. It also appeared as the lead track on their 1974 album, ''There's No Face Like Chrome''. The Hiltonaires recorded a version as track 4 on the B side of their album Made in England 7. In Canada, a version recorded by the Canadian band

Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...

in 1975 reached number 12 on the

CHUM Chart The CHUM Chart was a ranking of top 30 (and, until August 1968, the top 50) songs on Toronto, Ontario radio station CHUM AM, from 1957 to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in the world produced by an individual radio station. On Janua ...

, and was included in the RPM Canadian Top 20 Albums Chart that year. The song was also included on their self-named album, as well as the K-Tel album ''Canada Gold'', both released in 1975. The Danish band, Clear Sound, also recorded a version with Danish text by Finn Reiner which charted at number 17 in the Danish Hitlister. It was also covered by co-writer Lynsey de Paul on her 1974 album, '' Taste Me... Don't Waste Me''.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1973 songs 1973 singles 1974 singles Songs written by Lynsey de Paul Songs written by Barry Blue Bell Records singles