"You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" is a song credited to British-Australian singer

Leo Sayer Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer, 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingd ...

, taken from his 1976 album '' Endless Flight''. Ray Parker Jr. claims that the song was stolen from him, after he played it in a studio for an executive who promised he would get credit. Parker received no royalties and no credit for that song. "It's not Leo's fault," he told '' Variety''. "He tried to cut six or seven more of my songs just because he felt so bad." "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" reached No. 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, making it his first top single in the United States, and reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 13 song of 1977. Credited songwriters Sayer and Vini Poncia won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for the song in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

in Best R&B Song. Parker has stated that he was the original songwriter and that when he gave the tune as a demo his accreditation as such was missed. Like other Sayer songs from that time, it features extensive use of the singer's

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

voice, a very popular vocal register in disco-era songs. Sayer performed the song in the thirteenth episode of the second season of "

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

" and the second episode of season 3 of '' The Muppet Show''.

Personnel

– vocals *John Barnes – electric piano, clavinet * Larry Carlton, Ray Parker Jr. – guitar * Steve Gadd – drums * Jeff Porcaro – drums (verse 3 onwards) * Clydie King, Becky Louis, Sherlie Matthews – background vocals * Chuck Rainey – bass * Gene Page – string arrangements

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Cover versions

* Lee Ritenour brought back drummer Steve Gadd among other session stars to add this cover to his 1979 album, Feel the Night. * DTV, in 1984, set the song to '' The Grasshopper and the Ants''. * A

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed version of "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" credited to ''Groove Generation featuring Leo Sayer'' charted on the UK Singles Chart in 1998, peaking at No.32. * In 2008,

the Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce (entertainer), John Pearce, Caterina Mete ...

sang the song as the title work of their DVD '' You Make Me Feel Like Dancing'', with Leo Sayer guest starring.

References

{{Authority control 1976 singles 1976 songs Leo Sayer songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Vini Poncia Songs written by Leo Sayer Song recordings produced by Richard Perry Chrysalis Records singles Warner Records singles Songs about dancing