I Can't Dance

Infobox Single |
Name = I Can't Dance


Artist = Genesis
from Album = We Can't Dance
B-side = "On the Shoreline"
Released = July 1992
Format = CD maxi
7" single
12" maxi
Recorded = The Farm, Surrey; March 1991 — September 1991
Genre = Rock
Length = 4:01
Label = Atlantic (US)
Virgin
Writer = Tony Banks
Phil Collins
Mike Rutherford
Producer = Genesis
Nick Davis
Last single = "No Son of Mine"
(1991)
This single = "I Can't Dance"
(1992)
Next single = "Hold on My Heart"
(1992)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = We Can't Dance
Type = studio
prev_track = "Driving The Last Spike"
prev_no = Track 3
this_track = "I Can't Dance"
track_no = Track 4
next_track = "Never a Time"
next_no =

"I Can't Dance" is the fourth track from the Genesis album "We Can't Dance" and was the second single from the album ("No Son of Mine" being the first). The song peaked at #7 in both the U.S. and the UK Singles Chart.cite book |title= Rock N' Roll Gold Rush |last= Dean |first= Maury |authorlink= Maury Dean |coauthors= |year= 2003 |publisher= Algora |location= |isbn= 0-87586-207-1 |pages= p.317 |url= ]

Background

During one recording session, Mike Rutherford first created the main riff of the song he called "Heavy A Flat", to which Phil Collins suddenly improvised "I Can't Dance!" Originally the Band didn't think of it anything more than a joke, because the song was too simple, too bluesy and completely unlike Genesis' style. Tony Banks said in an interview "It was one of those bits you thought was going to go nowhere. It sounded fun, but wasn't really special" .Band interview, "The Way We Walk - Live in Concert" DVD (2001) - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWs-jajauMM YouTube Video Link] ]

It wasn't until Banks added the keyboard sound effects that the song took on a whole different feeling, with a slight edge of humor in it, which made the Band decide to record it.

Banks also said in an interview that it showed a kind of direction Genesis could have gone in. Opposite to what Genesis used to do in the past, taking an idea and turning it into a long or complex composition. Instead just taking an idea, and leaving it alone.

Music video

The video to this song is a humorous one, illustrating the artifice and fake glamour of television advertisements. Phil Collins himself said that the video was designed to make fun of the models in jeans commercials, and each verse refers to the things that the models in these commercials do. "Weird Al" Yankovic also created a separate version of the video in which he appears alongside the band. Mismatched lighting suggests his shots were separate from the others.

The song created the "I Can't Dance dance" (a series of stiff, stylized motions). Phil Collin's explained in an Interview that when he was at stage school, that he would see kids that would always use the same hand and the same foot when they were tap dancing, meaning they couldn't co-ordinate. So he copied their movements and the "dance" was born.

Release

Single releases contained an extended remix entitled the "Sex Mix". This was later released on the "" box set retitled as the "12" Mix". The remixers were brothers Howard Gray and Trevor Gray of Apollo 440.

The B-side, "On the Shoreline", was also included on "Genesis Archive 2: 1976-1992". The song features a sample of guitarist Mike Rutherford's guitar playing that was captured by keyboard player Tony Banks during a jam session. The peculiar sound (Called "elephantus" by the band) was also used in the song "No Son of Mine" (another song from "We Can't Dance"). It's also notable that a section of the song has the same chords as "Living Forever", another song from "We Can't Dance", so it may have been developed from "On the Shoreline".

Live performances

The song was played live during the "The Way We Walk" [ [http://www.genesis-movement.org/php/listtour.php?tourid=16&addcommentsall= The Way We Walk Tour Songs & Dates] ] , "Calling All Stations" [ [http://www.genesis-movement.org/php/listtour.php?tourid=17&addcommentsall= Calling All Stations Tour Songs & Dates] ] (with Ray Wilson on vocals), and "" [ [http://www.genesis-movement.org/php/listtour.php?tourid=18&addcommentsall= Turn it on again Tour Songs & Dates] ] tours. On the band's "Turn It on Again Tour", it was included as an encore, Albeit transposed down a key to account for the deepening of Phil Collins' voice over the years. Mike and Daryl accompanied Phil doing the walk across the stage.

A live version appears on their albums "", and "Live Over Europe 2007", as well as on their DVD's "The Way We Walk - Live in Concert" and "When in Rome 2007".

Ray Wilson continued to cover the song on his solo live album after his departure from Genesis. His version is a bluesier rendition, closer to the original.

Track listings

; CD maxi - Europe
# "I Can't Dance" — 4:02
# "On the Shoreline" — 4:47
# "In Too Deep" (live) — 5:28
# "That's All" (live) — 4:54

; CD maxi - U.S.
# "I Can't Dance" (LP version) — 4:00
# "On the Shoreline" — 4:45
# "In Too Deep" (live) — 5:28
# "That's All" (live) — 4:54
# "I Can't Dance" (sex mix) — 6:59

; 7" single
# "I Can't Dance" — 4:01
# "On the Shoreline" — 4:46

; 12" maxi
# "I Can't Dance" — 4:02
# "On the Shoreline" — 4:47
# "I Can't Dance" (sex mix) — 6:59

Certifications

References

* Fielder, Hugh (2000). "Genesis Archive #2: 1976—1992" [CD liner notes] . Gelring Ltd.
*

External links

* [http://www.vh1classic.com/view/artist/1077/58546/Genesis/I_Can_t_Dance/index.jhtml Music Video] at VH1 Classic
* [http://www.genesis-music.com/ Genesis official site]