In 1975, a romantic invitation to hit the dance floor gave Orleans its first Top 40 hit, but one of the people behind the song would eventually pursue a career far removed from soft rock.
“Dance With Me” was co-written by Orleans co-founder John Hall and his then-wife Johanna Hall. John was just 25 when the song was recorded, decades before he would go on to serve two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Long before politics came calling, however, Hall was making music with Orleans, the band he co-founded in New York in 1972.
“Dance With Me” became the group’s breakthrough, eventually reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1975. It also peaked at No. 6 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart and No. 5 on the Cash Box Top 100.
More than 50 years later, its gentle invitation to “dance with me” remains one of the most recognizable soft-rock sounds of the era.
And the song began rather simply: with Hall playing guitar at home.
The Story Behind Orleans’ ‘Dance With Me’
Hall recalled that he was having a solo jam session in his living room when the music that would become “Dance With Me” emerged.
“The whole song…the verses, the bridge, the ending…was all complete, coming out of my acoustic guitar,” he told NJ101.5 FM.
Johanna, listening from another room, thought she knew exactly what the song should be called: “Dance With Me.” Her husband wasn’t immediately convinced.
“Can’t we come up with something a little bit more unusual than that?” he remembered responding.
But Johanna kept coming back to the simple title. The lyrics finally came together months later while the couple was driving home from a show in Ithaca, N.Y.
Johanna suddenly came up with the phrase “Pick the beat up, and kick your feet up!” and began scribbling ideas on the back of an envelope. The couple bounced lyrics back and forth during the drive and had finished the words by the time they arrived home.
The finished recording also featured an unusual instrument: a melodica solo played by Orleans member Larry Hoppen.
Ironically, the song that became the band’s breakthrough had already appeared on an album that its record label didn’t believe contained a hit.
Orleans originally included “Dance With Me” on its 1974 album Orleans II, but ABC-Dunhill limited the album’s release and withheld it from distribution in the United States.
The band subsequently signed with Elektra-Asylum and re-recorded “Dance With Me” for its 1975 album Let There Be Music. Released as a single in July 1975, the song began climbing the charts.
Record World likened the song to The Eagles’ hit “Best of My Love” and called it a “mellow invitation” that “should receive positive, multi-format responses.”
Billboard praised the group’s “soft vocal harmonies” and acoustic backing for creating a “sweet summer sound” and singled out the song’s title as an “infectious hook.” That was particularly fitting considering Hall initially thought “Dance With Me” wasn’t an unusual enough title.
The song ultimately climbed to No. 6 on the Hot 100, proving the band’s former label spectacularly wrong.
“Everybody at ABC who said it wasn’t a hit got to eat their words, and I was happy about it all,” Hall later said.
“Dance With Me” was only the beginning for Orleans. The band followed it with another enduring hit, “Still the One,” which reached No. 5 on the Hot 100 in 1976. “Love Takes Time” followed in 1979, peaking at No. 11.
Hall eventually left Orleans in 1977 and became increasingly involved in environmental activism. His path ultimately took him into electoral politics, and he represented New York’s 19th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011.
But decades before Congressman John Hall headed to Washington, D.C., 25-year-old musician John Hall was sitting at home with an acoustic guitar, playing a melody his wife thought needed a very simple invitation.
“Dance With Me” turned out to be exactly the right one.
Related: Classic Rock Band Announces Final Tour After 54 Years
Leave a Reply