Dancing in the Street

Wow, what a complete game changer, I had no idea that this song wasn't written by David Bowie, Mick Jagger or Eddie Van Halen, all of which did a cover of this song. This is Dancing in the Street, by Martha and the Vandellas. This song was released as a single of theirs in 1965, but was originally written by William "Mickey" Stevenson and Marvin Gaye, who's version I was unable to locate. This song was apparently thought of when Mickey was watching children cool off in Detroit (Rock City) in an open fire hydrant, and to him, they seemed to be dancing, Dancing in the Street. Though the song was meant to be nothing more than an innocent dance anthem, many protesters for the civil rights movement took it as being written for them, to invoke change in the nation. Many radio stations actually banned the playing of this song because many civil rights' demonstrators were playing it to form the crowds into a cohesive entity. Martha Reeves, the lead for Martha and the Vandellas  was interviewed on the subject, and officially stated that it meant nothing of the sorts, but that didn't stop them. It's a tossup for which of these versions I like best, I love the vocal work in Bowie and Jagger's, but Eddie's guitar, what can I say.