"She Wants to Dance with Me" is a song written and recorded by

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song "Ne ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. It is the lead single from his second studio album, '' Hold Me in Your Arms''. The song was released in

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 ...

on September 20, 1988; it entered the chart at the number 16 and its highest chart position was number 6; it stayed 11 weeks in 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 ...

. On the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, it also reached number 6. Astley kicked off

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreograph ...

's " Straight Up", and stayed at number one for two weeks in Canada. It was an international success. "She Wants to Dance with Me" was Astley's first self-composed single that he released. Astley performed the song at the 1989

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s, and he changed the lyrics to: In 2019, Astley recorded and released a 'Reimagined' version of the song for his album The Best of Me.

Composition

Astley was given the go-ahead to compose the first single from his second album, after rejecting producers

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considered ...

's intended lead track, "Nothing Can Divide Us" — which was then given to

Jason Donovan Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 mi ...

. The singer composed the track in the style of

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

's hit, "

I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" is a song recorded by American singer Whitney Houston for her second studio album, ''Whitney'' (1987). It was released as the lead single from the album on May 2, 1987, by Arista Records. It was produ ...

" in an effort to win the confidence of

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterm ...

, who was a huge fan of Houston's song. The original recording of this song is performed in the key of F# major in a moderate tempo of 117 beats per minute. The song features simple synth riffs accompanied by a sparse drum machine pattern. The lyrics are about an unknown woman who is uninterested in “wild romance” and simply wants to dance with the narrator.

Music video

The video was shot at Rumours at 33 Wellington St, London, UK. As of June 2020, the location is a Byron Hamburgers restaurant.

Track listing

;7" single # "She Wants to Dance with Me" – 3:24 # "She Wants to Dance with Me" (Instrumental) – 4:03 ;7" (USA) and Mini CD single # "She Wants to Dance with Me" (Watermix) – 3:14 # "She Wants to Dance with Me" (Instrumental) – 4:03 ;12" maxi, CD and maxi cassette single # "She Wants to Dance with Me" (Extended Mix) – 7:14 # "

It Would Take a Strong Strong Man "It Would Take a Strong Strong Man" is a 1987 song by Rick Astley. Written by Stock Aitken Waterman, tt was released as the fifth single from Astley's debut album ''Whenever You Need Somebody''. It was mainly intended for the American market whe ...

" (Matt's Jazzy Guitar Mix) – 7:46 # "She Wants to Dance with Me" (Instrumental) – 4:03 ;12" single – Night & Day Remixes # "She Wants to Dance with Me" (Bordering On A Collie Mix) – 6:04 # "She Wants to Dance with Me" (Remix) – 5:42 ;12" promo # "She Wants to Dance with Me" (Bordering On A Collie Mix) – 6:05 # "She Wants to Dance with Me" (Album version) – 3:42

Personnel

* Rick Astley – lead vocals * Ian Curnow – keyboards, Fairlight programming * Robert Ahwai – guitars * Phil Todd – saxophone * Shirley Lewis – backing vocals * Mae McKenna – backing vocals * Leroy Osborne – backing vocals * Mike Stock – backing vocals

Chart performance

Year-end charts

References

1988 singles Rick Astley songs Dance-pop songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Rick Astley Song recordings produced by Phil Harding (producer) RCA Records singles 1988 songs Songs about dancing {{1980s-single-stub