1983 · Behind the Songs
A Chic groove, a Texas guitar and the song that filled stadiums.
“Let’s Dance” is the sound of David Bowie deciding, for once, to make the whole world move at the same time. The title track of his 1983 album, it paired him with Chic’s Nile Rodgers and a then-unknown Texas blues guitarist named Stevie Ray Vaughan — and became the biggest single of Bowie’s career.
Bowie recorded the album at the Power Station in New York in December 1982, with Rodgers producing. Rodgers built the track on a crisp, Chic-style groove; Vaughan, whom Bowie had seen play at the Montreux Jazz Festival that summer, added the stinging blues lead that cuts through the polish. It was a collision — disco precision against Texas fire — and it worked instantly.
Released as a single in March 1983, “Let’s Dance” went to number one in both America and Britain, and the album did the same in the UK. The Serious Moonlight tour that followed played to the largest audiences Bowie ever drew. For a few months in 1983, the art-rock chameleon was simply the biggest pop star on the planet.
What to listen for: Rodgers’ rhythm guitar, all clipped chords and space; Vaughan’s solo, blues phrasing dropped into the middle of a dance record; and Bowie’s vocal, half croon, half command. Put on your red shoes, indeed.