Won't Somebody Dance with Me

"Won't Somebody Dance with Me" is a song written by Lynsey de Paul in 1973,[1] which was awarded an Ivor Novello Award in 1974.[2] Her original version of the ballad made the UK, Irish and Dutch Top 20s, and the song was featured in Michael Winner's remake of the film The Big Sleep, The Muppet Show, and the 1970s version of the New Mickey Mouse Club (performed on that show by Lisa Whelchel).

This autobiographical song, inspired by an event from de Paul's teenage years, included some spoken dialogue by a male voice; on the original single it was by the BBC Radio 1 DJ Ed Stewart.[3] It was her last single released on the MAM record label. The recording was produced by de Paul and the strings were arranged by Christopher Gunning.[4] It received positive reviews from the music press with British music critic Ian MacDonald of the NME writing "a perfect pop record and a certain smash hit".[5]

The single reached number 14 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1973, where it spent seven weeks on the chart,[6] number 9 in the Irish Singles Chart,[7] number 4 on the Israeli chart, number 17 on the Netherlands singles chart,[8] and number 3 on the Radio Northsea International Top 30.[9] The song was re-released as the B-side to "Sugar Me" on the MAM record label in 1977,[10] presumably to tie in with de Paul's "Rock Bottom" which was her entry for that year's Eurovision Song Contest and was in the UK Singles Chart at the same time.

An alternative recording of the song by de Paul was featured as the second track on the album The Wicked Die Young. It was compiled by the film director Nicolas Winding Refn and chosen as one of songs that inspired his horror film The Neon Demon. Rob Wacey reviewed the album for AllMusic and rated the track as one of the highlights of the album.[11] De Paul also re-recorded the song for her 1994 CD album, Just a Little Time. This version reflected maturity and featured additional text about waiting for love and destiny,[12] with strings being replaced by a saxophone.[13]

The track has been covered by Bruce Johnston, Petula Clark, Alan Tew Orchestra, Sounds Orchestral, Peter North (aka Piet Noordijk), Jeannie, Denis King, Lena Zavaroni and S. Sebber.[14] A French version ("Je voudrais tant danser") was recorded by Martine Tourreil featuring male vocals by Sacha Distel.[15] A Danish version "Hvem danser en dans med mig" was released by Maria Stenz med Jesper Klein in 1974 and reached number 8 in the Danish chart.[16] A comedic version with different lyrics was released by George Jones and Tommy Thomas on their 1982 album, Up Ulster.[17]