"Dancing in the Street" is a song written by Marvin Gaye, William Stevenson, and Ivy Jo Hunter for Martha and the Vandellas in 1964, whose version reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks, behind "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" by Manfred Mann. It also peaked at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart following a rerelease in 1969. It is one of Motown's signature songs and is the group's premier signature song.

A 1966 cover by the Mamas & the Papas was a minor hit on the Hot 100, reaching No. 73. In 1982, the rock group Van Halen took their cover of "Dancing in the Street" to No. 38 on the Hot 100 chart and No. 15 in Canada on the RPM chart. A 1985 duet cover by David Bowie and Mick Jagger charted at No. 1 in the UK and reached No. 7 in the US. The song has been covered by many other artists, including the Kinks, Tages, Grateful Dead, Myra and Black Oak Arkansas.

Civil rights Anthem

"Motown records had a distinct role to play in the city's black community, and that community—as diverse as it was—articulated and promoted its own social, cultural, and political agendas. These local agendas, which reflected the unique concerns of African Americans living in the urban north, both responded to and reconfigured the national civil rights campaign" (Smith 227). The movement lent the song its secondary meaning and the song with its second meaning fanned the flames of unrest. This song (and others like it) and its associated political meanings did not exist in a vacuum. It was a partner with its social environment and they both played upon each other, creating meaning that could not have been brought on by one or the other alone. The song therefore became a call to reject peace for the chance that unified unrest could bring about the freedom that suppressed minorities all across the United States so craved.[2]

Editorial note: The video made for Bowie and Jagger’s version became one of the most ridiculed music videos of all time. In 2011, Family Guy ran the clip in full midway through an episode, with Peter Griffin commenting afterwards: "That happened, and we all let it happen." We at Double Dutch however love cringe and think it’s one of the most joyful things we’ve ever seen!