"Sexy Dancer" is a song by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

, released in the UK as the second single from his

self-titled An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

second album. It was the first Prince single released outside the United States that was not released as a single stateside. The

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

number has few lyrics but contains prominent

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, grunts and screams. It also has elements of rock and R&B. The

12" single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

was Prince's first non-album extended version to be released and because it was only ever released in the UK, a near mint 12" (UK Warner Brothers K 17590 T) copy can and has sold for over £100. It includes extended bass and guitar solos, as well as more repeats of the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music">poetry.html" ;"title="Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeat ...

. Listening to the extended version as compared to the album and Japanese 7" track, it appears likely they are in fact edited down. So perhaps it is more accurate to describe the 12" version as the "original", the LP and 7" being the shortened version. "Sexy Dancer" was a popular number performed live, often giving other band members the opportunity to perform instrumental solos. The song has been modified over the years during live performances, often segueing into or out of other tracks, most recently during Prince's 2007, Earth Tour, where the music to the song is accompanied by completely different lyrics, including parts of the disco classic "

Le Freak "Le Freak" is a funk-disco song by American disco band Chic, released in September 1978 by Atlantic Records as the first single from their second album, '' C'est Chic'' (1978). It was written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, a ...

". The

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of the track was the album track rocker, "

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...

" in the UK and " Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In the premiere episode of the first season of ''

The Golden Bachelor ''The Golden Bachelor'' is an American dating reality television series that premiered September 28, 2023 on ABC. A spin-off of '' The Bachelor'', it features seniors as contestants. History In January 2020, a casting call was issued by the p ...

'', contestant Leslie Fhima claims that "Sexy Dancer" was written about her after a fling with Prince.

Personnel

Information taken from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud. *

– lead and backing vocals, electric guitars,

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

, Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano,

Polymoog The Polymoog is a hybrid polyphonic analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on divide-down oscillator technology similar to electronic organs and string synthesizers of the time. Histor ...

ARP String Ensemble The Solina String Ensemble, also marketed as the ARP String Ensemble, is a fully polyphonic multi-orchestral string synthesizer with a 49-key keyboard, produced by Eminent BV (known for their ''Solina'' brand). It was distributed in the United ...

, bass guitar, drums,

Pollard Syndrum The Pollard Syndrum is the first commercially available electronic drum, invented by Joe Pollard and Mark Barton in 1976. There were 3 major types: The Syndrum 1, the Syndrum TwinDrum, and the Syndrum Quad, the last being the most famous. At the ...

s, handclaps

References

{{Authority control Prince (musician) songs Songs written by Prince (musician) 1980 singles American disco songs Warner Records singles Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) Songs about dancing 1979 songs