Dancing with Myself


"Dancing with Myself" is a rock song first commercially released in the United Kingdom in October 1980 by the New Wave band Gen X, where it reached #62 in the Singles Chart. It was re-mixed and re-released by the band's singer/frontman Billy Idol as a solo artist in the United States in 1981, where the song reached #27 in the U.S. Billboard's Hot Dance Play Chart.

Theme

The inspiration for the song occurred during a tour of Japan by the English post-punk band Generation X in mid-1979, when its vocalist/frontman Billy Idol and its bassist Tony James were struck by the sight of the young crowd in a Tokyo discotheque dancing with their own reflections in walled mirrors rather than with one another.

Production

The song was written and first recorded by Generation X during demo sessions in mid-1979 at Olympic Studios in West London. After that band had split later in that year Billy Idol and Tony James re-branded the act as 'Gen X', and in production sessions with Keith Forsey for a new long-player at AIR Studios in London in mid-1980 the song was re-recorded for commercial release as a single. The guitar parts of the song were a mix of the playing of three guitarists with distinctively differing styles, viz. Steve New playing the lead, Steve Jones playing rhythm, with another layer being added by Danny Kustow. On commercial sale in October 1980 as a pre-release single from the new band's forthcoming long-player Kiss Me Deadly, 'Dancing with Myself' was a retail failure, reaching only #62 in the UK Singles Chart.
In late 1981 Idol, now a solo artist after Gen X had broken up, had Forsey remix the record for its release as a single in the United States, fading down the guitar and bass tracks from their dominance in the 1980 U.K. release and accentuating the vocal and percussion tracks to produce a more rhythmic sound for the American commercial market. It became his first hit single in the United States and launched his career there, two versions being issued: the 3:20 single version and the 4:50 extended version that appeared on Idol's Don't Stop EP.

Music video

For the 1981 United States single release a music video for use on the newly launched MTV was made, directed by Tobe Hooper, with Billy Idol in a scenario drawn from the 1971 cinema film The Omega Man playing a lone figure in a post-apocalyptic cityscape besieged upon a skyscraper rooftop by partying mutant street-waifs.

Cover art

The portrait image of Billy Idol on the cover of the 1980 release was photographed by Iain McKell.

Formats and track listings

Gen X release

7": Chrysalis - CHS 2444 (UK)

  1. "Dancing with Myself"
  2. "Ugly Rash"

    12": Chrysalis - CHS 12 2444 (UK)

  3. "Dancing with Myself"
  4. "Loopy Dub"
  5. "Ugly Dub"

    Billy Idol release

7": Chrysalis - IDOL 1 (UK)

  1. "Dancing with Myself"
  2. "Love Calling "

    12": Chrysalis - IDOLX 1 (UK)

  3. "Dancing with Myself"
  4. "Love Calling "
  5. "White Wedding"
  6. "Hot in the City"

Gen X version

Billy Idol version

Appearances in popular culture