Under the Moonlight: Best Version of "Do You Want to Dance" (reposted)

It's interesting how this song evolves melodically. There's a melody you hear on the refrain words at the end of the verse that starts on the fourth scale degree and goes down. For me, that's become such a characteristic part of the song, but it's not in the Bobby Freeman version. He usually sings that line starting on the tonic and going up to either a flat third blue note or the diatonic third.

The framing on that line on the fourth scale degree has always been a big part of the Beach Boys and Ramones versions for me. Curiously, it seems from the timeline that it might start with the Del Shannon version. Wonder if the Beach Boys got it from Del.

All I messed up this time was were the italics in La Lechera's post. It's getting better all the time--the list is correct.

There's a story in the title similar to Dave Marsh trying to confirm whether it's "Louie, Louie" or "Louie Louie." Everything from Bobby Freeman's original up to Del Shannon is "Do You Want to Dance"; the Beach Boys call it "Do You Wanna Dance," and it pretty much stays that way thereafter. The question mark comes and goes.

What about The Photos, off the "Blackmail Tapes" album?

A cover more recent than anything above by Jessie Baylin (SoundCloud embed towards the bottom). The piece identifies it as a Bette Midler cover, which is atrocious in one sense, true in another.

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/jessie-baylin-do-you-want-to-dance-bette-midler-cover/?_r=0

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

The Photos version medleys a MOR version into something like a Ramones version. I always thought the first part was after Carole King, but it seems she never did it. No idea who its meant to be..

I went to check on Carole King and turned up this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3lhiR2asmY

Seems like Bobby Freeman has been obliterated from memory and most every new cover version is Bette Midler-torchy.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

wow. no votes for the Johnny Rivers version

I found that "Do You Wanna Dance '70" by Freeman I talked about on the rolling obit thread...it's on Kent's Double Shot of Soul, a collection of singles released on the Double Shot and Whiz labels. It's a nice set, all obscurities chronicling the transition from Soul to Funk in LA, with several Bobby Freeman sides showing him making the jump with due aplomb. In the liner notes, Alec Palao describes DYWD70 as the song recast in the Sly Stone mold, which is a pretty apt description.

I've also since found the song on youtube, for those who don't want to take the plunge on the comp (which can be found cheaply--I got a new copy fulfilled by Amazon for $8):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPD3pNOo60s