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TL;DR:

  • The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger referenced a Motown hit in one of his band’s songs.
  • A Motown singer said Jagger should be “ashamed.”
  • The Motown song in question was a big hit.
The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger near a door
The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger | Doug McKenzie / Contributor

The Rolling Stones‘ Mick Jagger referenced a Motown hit in one of his band’s songs. The lead singer of the Motown track felt Jagger “should be ashamed of himself.” In addition, she said her hit was controversial.

A Motown singer didn’t like 1 of her most famous songs at 1st

During a 2016 interview with The Guardian, Motown record producer Ivy Jo Hunter discussed the origin of “Dancing in the Street” (1964). “I’d wanted to write a melancholy song, but when Marvin [Gaye] heard it, he said: ‘That’s not a sad song. That sounds more like dancing in the street.’ That became the title and half an hour later the song was finished.”

Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas discussed her reaction to the song. “At first, I didn’t like it,” she remembered. “But then I thought about my neighborhood and how we’d stay up all night, dancing in the street. The vocal is the second take — when I first sang it, they didn’t have the tape running.”

Martha Reeves hated when The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger referenced ‘Dancing in the Street’ in 1 of his band’s songs

Reeves revealed “Dancing in the Street” caused controversy. “The song caused me all kinds of trouble,” she revealed. “It was the civil rights era and there’d been riots in Detroit, so the British press thought it was about rioting. How can ‘Every guy grab a girl’ be about anything but dancing in the street?”

Reeves was upset when The Rolling Stones paid homage to the track. “The Rolling Stones referenced the lyrics in ‘Street Fighting Man‘ (1968) but changed it to: ‘Summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street,'” she said. “Mick Jagger should be ashamed of himself!”

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How Martha and the Vandellas’ ‘Dancing in the Street’ and The Rolling Stones’ ‘Street Fighting Man’ performed on the charts

According to The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, “Dancing in the Street” was very popular in the United States. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would have reached the top of the chart if not for Manfred Mann’s “Do Wah Diddy Diddy.”

“Street Fighting Man” became a more modest hit in the United States. The tune peaked at No. 48 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for six weeks. The Rolling Stones included the track on the album Beggars Banquet, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 32 weeks.

“Street Fighting Man” shows “Dancing in the Street” had an impact on music even if Reeves wasn’t a fan of the former.

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