"Shadow Dancing" is a disco song performed by English singer-songwriter

Andy Gibb Andrew Roy Gibb (5 March 1958 – 10 March 1988) was an English singer, songwriter, and actor. He was the younger brother of Barry, Robin and Maurice, who went on to form the Bee Gees. Gibb came to prominence in the late 1970s through th ...

. The song was released in April 1978 as the lead single from his second studio album of the same name. The song reached number one for seven weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1978. Albhy Galuten (who also produced this song) arranged the song with

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popula ...

. While Andy Gibb would have three more Top 10 hits in the U.S., this would be his final chart-topping hit in the United States. The song became a

platinum record Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

Song development

The song was written by Andy and his brothers ( Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb) in Los Angeles, while the trio of brothers were working on the film ''

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composi ...

''. "And one night," Andy would recall, "while we were relaxing, we sat down and we had to start getting tracks together for the album" (also titled '' Shadow Dancing'', which would eventually hit #7 on the U.S. album charts). "So we literally sat down and in ten minutes, we had a group going, (singing) the chorus part. As it says underneath the song, we all wrote it, the four of us."

Release

According to ''Billboard's Book Of Number One Hits'', Gibb became the first solo artist in the history of the U.S. pop charts to have his first three singles hit the number-one spot. It remained in the top spot for seven straight weeks from 17 June to 29 July 1978, keeping "

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

" by

Gerry Rafferty Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947– 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was "Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in th ...

from reaching the top spot. On 5 August it was replaced by

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

with their hit " Miss You." Additionally, "Shadow Dancing" was listed by Billboard as being the number one single of 1978. The song peaked at number eleven on the soul chart and sold 2.5 million copies in the United States alone. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' particularly praised the "solid

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orche ...

of strings, horns, nddisco-funk guitar work." The single had three different

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

. The US version's "Let It Be Me" and the European version's "Too Many Looks In Your Eyes" were both from Gibb's previous album ''

Flowing Rivers ''Flowing Rivers'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Andy Gibb. The album was produced by Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson, with Barry Gibb on two tracks. It was released in September 1977 on RSO. ''Flowing Rivers'' was re- ...

'', while the Italian release featured "Fool for a Night" from the '' Shadow Dancing'' album. In July that year, Gibb performed "Shadow Dancing" at the Jai-Alai Fronton Studios in Miami, when Barry,

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') ** Bush-robin **Forest r ...

and Maurice unexpectedly joined him on stage, and sang this song with him. It was the first time that all four brothers performed together in concert.

Personnel

—

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

and

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

— background and

harmony vocals Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical c ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

* John Sambataro — background and harmony vocals *Joey Murcia —

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

Tim Renwick Timothy John Pearson Renwick (born 7 August 1949) is an English guitarist. He is best known for his association with Al Stewart in his early career and for his long-standing role as lead guitarist for the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. His single ...

— electric guitar *Ron Zigler —

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

*George Bitzer — Fender Rhodes electric piano, Hohner clavinet *Harold Cowart —

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Joe Lala —

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Albhy Galuten — orchestral arrangement *Peter Graves — horns *Whit Sidener — horns *Ken Faulk — horns *Bill Purse — horns *Neil Bonsanti — horns *Stan Webb — horns

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Cover version

"Shadow Dancing" was included on the album '' Hail Satin'' released in 2021 by the Dee Gees (an alter ego of the

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) ...

). Lead vocals on this cover were sung by

Taylor Hawkins Oliver Taylor Hawkins (February 17, 1972 – March 25, 2022) was an American musician, best known as the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters, with whom he recorded eight studio albums between 1999 and 2021. Before joining the band in 1997, he ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadow Dancing (song) 1978 singles Songs written by Barry Gibb Songs written by Robin Gibb Songs written by Maurice Gibb Songs written by Andy Gibb Andy Gibb songs Song recordings produced by Barry Gibb Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles RSO Records singles Disco songs Song recordings produced by Albhy Galuten 1978 songs Songs about dancing