Reluctance to adopt a pop sound None of the band members particularly liked "Dance to the Music" when it was first recorded and released. The song, and the accompanying
Dance to the Music LP, were made at the insistence of CBS Records executive
Clive Davis, who wanted something more commercially viable than the band's 1967 LP,
A Whole New Thing. Bandleader
Sly Stone crafted a formula, blending the band's distinct
psychedelic rock leanings with a more
pop-friendly sound. The result was what
saxophonist Jerry Martini called "glorified
Motown beats. 'Dance to the Music' was such an unhip thing for us to do."
About the song However, "Dance to the Music" did what it was supposed to do: it launched Sly and the Family Stone into the pop consciousness. Even toned down for pop audiences, the band's radical sound caught many music fans and fellow recording artists completely off guard. "Dance to the Music" featured
four co-lead singers,
black musicians and
white musicians in the same band, and a distinct blend of instrumental sounds:
rock guitar riffs from Sly's brother
Freddie Stone, a funk
bassline from
Larry Graham,
Greg Errico's
syncopated drum track, Sly's
gospel-styled
organ playing, and Jerry Martini and
Cynthia Robinson on the
horns. An unabashed
party record, "Dance to the Music" opens with Robinson screaming to the audience, demanding that they "get on up...and dance to the music!" before the Stone brothers and Graham break into an
a cappella scat before the song's verses begin. The actual lyrics of the song are sparse and self-referential. The song serves as a Family Stone
theme song of sorts, introducing Errico, Robinson, and Martini by name. After calling on Robinson and Martini for their solo, Sly tells the audience that "Cynthia an' Jerry got a message that says...", which Robinson finishes: "All the
squares go home!" The Stone Brothers and Graham repeat the a cappella portion before the refrain of the repeated title is mentioned over and over with the sound of the instruments dropping out, except for the electric guitar, being played in the upper register, before the song's fade. The song mentions the line: "Ride, Sally, Ride", a lyric from the
Wilson Pickett hit song "
Mustang Sally" (1966).
Legacy "Dance to the Music" was one of the most influential songs of the late-1960s. The Sly and the Family Stone sound became the dominating sound in African-American pop music for the next three years, and many established artists, such as
The Temptations and their producer
Norman Whitfield,
Diana Ross & the Supremes,
The Impressions,
The Four Tops,
The 5th Dimension, and
War began turning out Family Stone-esque material. The Temptations' single "
Cloud Nine" was inspired by "Dance to the Music" and was a top ten hit, winning a
Grammy Award. "Dance to the Music" and the later Family Stone singles also helped lead to the development of
funk music. In 1998, "Dance to the Music" was admitted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame. == Certifications ==