Today’s song is “Dance to the Music” by Sly and the Family Stone. An overstated organ, feisty trumpets, and raspy vocals are served family-style in this 1967 hit by the sibling trio and their friends.

You know just what to do when this jam comes on!

Fun Facts: 

• Sly and the Family Stone was a band consisting of Sly Stone, his siblings, Rose and Freddie, and a rotating cast of other musicians throughout the mid-1960s to the early 1980s.
• Sly and the Family Stone was the first mainstream racially integrated and co-ed rock band.
• “Dance to the Music” was recorded and released in 1967 for Epic Records.
• At the time, none of the band members cared for the song. Instead, it was label executive Clive Davis who insisted the band release it to broaden their commercial appeal.
• Rolling Stone Magazine ranked “Dance to the Music” number 223 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
• The song peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Pop Singles Top 10.
• “Dance to the Music” has been included in a number of films, such as Shrek and Semi-Pro.
• The song makes a reference to the Wilson Pickett classic, “Mustang Sally,” with the lyrics, “Ride, Sally, Ride.”

Lyrics:

 (LyricFind)

Sing, get on up and dance to the music

Get on up and dance to the music

Dance to the Music, dance to the music

Dance to the Music, dance to the music

All we need is a drummer

For people who only need a beat, yeah

I’m gonna add a little guitar

And make it easy to move your feet

I’m gonna add some bottom

So that the dancers just won’t hide

You might like to hear my organ

I said ride Sally ride, now

(Cynthia, what? Gerry, what?)

If I could hear the horns blow

Cynthia on the throne, yeah

Listen to me

Cynthia and Jerry got a message that’s sayin’

All the squares, go home, yeah-yeah

Listen to the voices

Dance to the Music, dance to the music

Dance to the Music, dance to the music