Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancing)

"Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancin')", initially titled "Slow Dancing", is a song written by Jack Tempchin. Under the title "Slow Dancing", the song originally was a minor US hit in 1976 for the band Funky Kings (of which Tempchin was a member). The song became much better known as "Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancin')" in a 1977 cover version by Johnny Rivers, which became a top ten US hit. It was Rivers' last Top 40 hit in the United States, and became his second Gold record.

In 1979, Johnny Duncan covered the song under its original title "Slow Dancing", and had a top ten hit on the country charts with it in both the US and Canada.

Content[]

The song describes a young man slow dancing in the middle of the night with his girlfriend. Nothing needs to be done at the moment; the man tells his girlfriend that he wouldn't want to be anywhere else or be with anyone else.

First recordings[]

The first version of the song was made on the self-titled 1976 album by the Funky Kings whose membership included its composer Jack Tempchin: entitled "Slow Dancing", the track was issued as a single reaching #13 on the Easy Listening chart in Billboard crossing over to #61 on the Billboard Hot 100. Olivia Newton-John recorded "Slow Dancing" for her 1977 album release Making a Good Thing Better, with the lyrics changed from "my girl" to "my guy." A version of the song also appeared on the 1977 album release One More Tomorrow by the group Unicorn, fronted by Muff Winwood. The Unicorn version was issued as a single in 1977, with a 1978 re-release. "Slow Dancing" was also a single release for in the summer of 1977.

Johnny Rivers version[]

Rivers recording of the song originally known as "Slow Dancing" was released in the Los Angeles area on Rivers's own Soul City label; it was the company's first release following the label's reactivation in June 1977. The track was issued under the title "Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancin')" to avoid confusion with the current single release "Slow Dancing Don't Turn Me On" by the Addrisi Brothers. After gaining airplay and response from customers, Rivers decided to lease the record to Big Tree (which was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records) for national distribution.^[2]

Rivers's "Swayin' to the Music" had great chart success, reaching #10 on Billboard Hot 100, #8 on the US Adult Contemporary chart, #3 on Canada's chart, and #7 on Canada's Adult Contemporary chart. It is also Rivers's most successful song on iTunes.

Chart performance[]

Later versions[]

In September 1977 Mike Walsh Show regular covered "Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancin')" for the Australian market: Williams's single charted locally in Perth at #38 reaching a national chart peak of #80.^[11]

Johnny Duncan remade the song as "Slow Dancing" for his 1979 album "See You When the Sun Goes Down"; released as a single, the track afforded Duncan a #6 C&W hit.

Lisa Hartman recorded “Slow Dancing” for her 1979 album, “Hold On”. However it was eventually left off the final release. When Hold On was released on CD in 2011, “Slow Dancing“ was included as one of the bonus tracks.

"Slow Dancing" - so entitled - has also been recorded by Ian Gomm for his 1980 album release What a Blow from which it was taken for single release and also by Gloria Loring for her 2008 album release A Playlist.

Ray Stevens recorded the song as "Swaying to the Music (Slow Dancing)" in 2021 for his digital album release, Slow Dance.

References[]

External links[]

• Johnny Rivers - Official Website