"I Don't Wanna Dance" is a 1982 single by Guyanese-British singer-songwriter

Eddy Grant Edmond Montague Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a Guyanese in the United Kingdom, Guyanese-British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his genre-blending sound and socially conscious lyrics; his music has blended elements of p ...

. It went to number one on the UK Singles Chart and held there for three weeks in November 1982. It was later released in the United States, but only reached No. 53 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in late 1983. It was later reissued as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of Grant's " Electric Avenue". The song expresses Eddy's farewell to Britain being a land of class and colour divisions. Grant explained to the Daily Telegraph on 27 June 2008: "I Don't Wanna Dance can mean that you don't want to go out on the dancefloor or it could mean that you don't want to go along with an idea. That's how I try to write: you take it how you want, but I am basically a writer of protest." In a 1988 interview for Yugoslav ''RTV Revija'', Grant said: "I Don't Wanna Dance was created during a tour. I was sitting in the dressing room, waiting for my concert to begin. Suddenly I put together the chords and, tone by tone, the outline of the song was born. Since I'm not an exclusively reggae, rock or pop musician, I'm not limited in my songwriting." Written and produced by Grant, it was the most successful of his solo singles in the United Kingdom, and his first number one since " Baby Come Back" by

The Equals The Equals are an English rock band. They are best remembered for their million-selling chart-topper " Baby, Come Back", though they had several other chart hits in the UK and Europe. Drummer John Hall founded the group with Eddy Grant, Pat L ...

in 1968.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control Eddy Grant songs 1982 singles UK singles chart number-one singles Number-one singles in South Africa Number-one singles in Switzerland Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Songs about dancing 1982 songs Number-one singles in Belgium Number-one singles in New Zealand Songs written by Eddy Grant

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

See also

References