"He's the Greatest Dancer" is a 1979 song by the American vocal group

Sister Sledge Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. ...

. Released on February 3, 1979, the song was written and composed by

Bernard Edwards Bernard Edwards (October 31, 1952 – April 18, 1996) was an American bass player and record producer, known primarily for his work in disco music with guitarist Nile Rodgers, with whom he co-founded Chic. In 2017, Edwards was selected as the ...

and

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and composer. The co-founder of Chic, Rodgers has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million ...

, and recorded for the group's successful 1979 album '' We Are Family''. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' named the song No. 66 on its list of "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time."

Background

The song was released as the lead single from the album at the beginning of 1979, crossing over from the clubs – its 12″ version was shared by the " We Are Family" and " Lost in Music" tracks – to R&B radio, giving Sister Sledge a number one hit on both Billboard's Dance and R&B charts in March 1979. The song reached number nine on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in May. It might have risen higher except that, in the same month, Atlantic Records, prompted by the overwhelming club response to "We Are Family," sent the last-named track to radio. The song was also a hit in Australia (No. 5), the Netherlands (No. 1) and the UK (No. 6). "He's the Greatest Dancer" was sampled by

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

in his 1997 number one hit single "

Gettin' Jiggy wit It "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" is a song by American rapper and actor Will Smith, released as the third single from his debut solo album, ''Big Willie Style'' (1997). The verse is based around a sample of "He's the Greatest Dancer" by Sister Sledge, an ...

," the first selection he released from his album ''

Big Willie Style ''Big Willie Style'' is the debut solo album by American rapper and actor Will Smith. It was released on November 25, 1997, by Columbia Records. The album was primarily produced by Poke & Tone, with other contributors including L.E.S. and Smith's ...

''. In 2000, DJ

Tony Touch Joseph Anthony Hernandez (born July 2, 1969), professionally known as Tony Touch, is an American hip hop break dancer, rapper, record producer and DJ of Puerto Rican descent. Career Tony Touch began as a B-boy during the rap music renaissance ...

recorded a version of the song, entitled "I Wonder Why? (He's the Greatest DJ)," whose lyrics were sung by Keisha Spivey and Pam Long of R&B girl group

Total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...

. The song was recorded and released by

Dannii Minogue Danielle Jane Minogue () is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. She initially gained recognition for her appearances on the television show ''Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988) and for her role as Emma Jackson on th ...

in 2007 and was an international Top 40 hit; it was also sampled by a Russian pop group Hi-Fi in their 1999 song "Pro Leto" (, translated as "About Summer").

Robert Hood Robert Hood (born 1965 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He is a founding member of the group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister of Information' with Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills. He is often conside ...

released a

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

track based on the hook of this song on his label M-Plant.

Nick Holder Nick Holder (born 1969) is an underground hip-hop and house music deejay and producer from Toronto, Ontario. Holder began DJing in the early 1980s, and soon became influenced by the Detroit techno scene and DJs such as Derrick May and Carl Crai ...

sampled the song on his 1997 album ''One Night in the Disco''.

Lyrics and music

The lyrics were written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers and contains rhymes such as: Nile Rodgers has speculated that this may have been the first occurrence of the later-widespread phenomenon of brands being mentioned in songs."Nile Rodgers interviewed by Peter Paphides"
Twentyfirstcenturymusic.blogspot.com. November 10, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2011. The recording features Rodgers on guitar, Edwards on bass, Tony Thompson on percussion, Raymond Jones on backing keyboards, and orchestration by

Gene Orloff Gene Orloff (June 14, 1921 – March 23, 2009) was an American violinist, concertmaster, arranger, contractor and session musician. Background The son of a Russian immigrant violin maker, Orloff would try and get his father's violin down from th ...

's Chic Strings.

Production

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology ''Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictiona ...

members Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, who produced the ''We Are Family'' album for Sister Sledge, originally formulated all its songs with the group in mind, envisioning the title selection as the lead single. When

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

wanted a more overtly disco song Edwards and Rodgers gave Sister Sledge "He's The Greatest Dancer," which they had originally intended for

. Nile Rodgers recalled the Sister Sledge members being "furious" at being asked to sing the lyric "My crème de la crème please take me home" – "to them that

ine INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Instituto Nacional de Estadística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional de Estatística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional Elec ...

made them seem like loose women" – and that they suggested a lyric adjustment to "My crème de la crème, please don't go home." Rodgers says he and Edwards refused to change the lyric "because we knew the world that we were writing about obviously more than ister Sledgedid because they had never even been in a disco...He ain't going to go home because e ''is''the greatest dancer...he's gonna stay there longer than you." Rodgers later described his and Edwards's approach with Sister Sledge as one of "sing this," and admitted to "misrepresenting" them because Rodgers and Edwards had not even met Sister Sledge before the sessions. Kathy Sledge performed lead vocals on the single.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Dannii Minogue version

“He's the Greatest Dancer” is a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the Sister Sledge song performed by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n singer

. In November 2006, Minogue performed the song on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

's '' Children in Need''

telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...

. Later that month a studio version of the song, remixed by Fugitive, appeared on the dance compilation ''Clubland 10.'' Though the selection was recorded as the charity single for that year's '' Children in Need,'' it was dropped when Minogue pulled out of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'' to work on rival TV show ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

.'' The single was replaced in favour of a cover of "

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

" former Spice Girl

Emma Bunton Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English singer, songwriter, actress, and media personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice. With over 100 million recor ...

had performed. In December 2006, the track was released to

dance clubs A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was commercially released in Australia by Central Station Records on April 14, 2007.

Chart performance

"He's the Greatest Dancer" reached number one on the UK Upfront Club Chart in December 2006 and became Minogue's eleventh club number one in the country. The track also reached number one on the Commercial Pop Chart.""He's The Greatest Dancer" Release Advertisement"
Central Station Records. Retrieved February 16, 2007. In Australia, "He's The Greatest Dancer" entered the

singles chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

on April 29, 2007 at number thirty-seven, and remained on the chart for two weeks."Discography Dannii Minogue"
Australian-Charts.com. Retrieved November 21, 2007. The track was more successful in Spain, where it reached number nine fourteen weeks after its debut."Spanish Top 20 Singles Chart"
ProMusicAE.org. Retrieved November 21, 2007.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "He's the Greatest Dancer". Australian CD single
(CSRCD50532; Released April 14, 2007) #"He's the Greatest Dancer" ( LMC edit) – 3:05 #"He's the Greatest Dancer" (LMC extended) – 5:55 #"He's the Greatest Dancer" (

Chris Lake Chris Lake (born 8 August 1982) is a British electronic music producer and DJ. He rose to fame in 2006 with his hit single, "Changes", featuring Laura V. Musical career Lake first became recognized for his bootleg remixes of the Prodigy's "Cli ...

remix) – 6:29 #"He's the Greatest Dancer" (

Shapeshifters In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ...

remix) – 5:41 #"He's the Greatest Dancer" (Kenny Hayes Dub Addiction remix) – 5:49 #"He's the Greatest Dancer" (Riffs & Rays mix) – 8:19 #"He's the Greatest Dancer" (Sebastien Leger Electro Vocal mix) – 8:51 #"He's the Greatest Dancer" (Fugitive Club mix) – 5:20 Official remixes"He's The Greatest Dancer Remixes"
DanniiMusic.com. Retrieved November 30, 2007. #"He's the Greatest Dancer" (Sebastien Leger Electro Dub mix)

Charts

Notes

References

*Ed Hogan. * * {{authority control 1979 singles 2006 singles 2007 singles All Around the World Productions singles Cotillion Records singles Funk songs Disco songs Rhythm and blues songs Soul songs Sister Sledge songs Dannii Minogue songs Eurodance songs Songs written by Bernard Edwards Songs written by Nile Rodgers Song recordings produced by Nile Rodgers Song recordings produced by Bernard Edwards 1978 songs Songs about dancing