Day 233 | John I’m Only Dancing (Again)

Aside from the refrain and part of its name, this song has very little in common with “John, I’m Only Dancing.” I’ve read that Bowie began performing it in 1974, during his shift from glam to disco, and when disco was new and counter-culture. Somewhere along the line he recorded it, but didn’t release it until 1979, which was really at the tail end of disco, after it had gone mainstream and Bowie had otherwise passed the genre by, having released his Berlin trilogy. I think this song was resurrected as a way to reconnect with the fans who made “Fame” and “Golden Years” hits. For me, it is comfortable and familiar because it appeared on the compilation album, ChangesTwoBowie, so It was a long time ago when I first heard it. But it is something of an oddball song. Shortly after this was released as a single, Bowie released Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), which is very much a departure from later followed up with Let’s Dance. That was less of a departure, but the songs on that album are shorter and their lyrics more complex and subtle. Nobody would guess wrong about which song came from the 1970s and which came from the 1980s. So in that this was Bowie’s last grasp on the decade.