Let’s Dance

Cover artwork

The photography was by Greg Gorman, with sleeve design by Mick Haggerty.

The back cover and inner sleeve artwork featured illustrations by Derek Boshier, who had previously designed Bowie’s 1979 album Lodger. Boshier continued the pugilistic theme with an illustration of a boxer, standing under the moonlight, in a style not dissimilar to that of street artist Keith Haring.

Derek Boshier worked on the set design for the Serious Moonlight tour, while Mick Haggerty worked on the cover for Bowie’s follow-up to Let’s Dance, 1984’s Tonight. Haggerty and Gorman additionally worked on 1987’s Never Let Me Down.

Signing to EMI

Let’s Dance was recorded without Bowie having a recording contract. Although it left him responsible for the upfront costs, it allowed him both artistic freedom and leverage when it came to signing a new deal.

EMI America had piqued Bowie’s interest since his July 1981 recording session with Queen, which resulting in the single ‘Under Pressure’. In January 1983 he entered into negotiations with the label, armed with his new, commercially-friendly recordings with Nile Rodgers.

In contrast to his previous engagements with labels, which had been handled by managers such as Ken Pitt and Tony Defries, Bowie negotiated with EMI himself. He reportedly secured the deal based on the backing tracks for Let’s Dance alone.

The five year contract with EMI America, said to be worth just under $17 million, was signed on 27 January 1983. Although such a huge advance was a considerable risk for the label, it paid dividends once Let’s Dance became a global success.

You know how deals are constructed. That figure would depend on a lot of clauses. But it was a superstar deal – when maybe David’s sales so far wouldn’t warrant it. [However,] if you were to say to any record company they could have that deal again, you would have a line of people around the block.

The deal was announced during a press conference held at Claridges hotel in London on 17 March. A tanned Bowie, wearing an immaculate grey suit and sporting an impressive blonde quiff, looked delighted with his new direction. He also looked, for perhaps the first time, like a slick pop superstar and a member of the music aristocracy.

The release

The video for the song ‘Let’s Dance’ was shot in February 1983, in the tiny town of Carinda in New South Wales, Australia – described by David Bowie as a place of “frankly brute character.”

The shoot was directed by Bowie and David Mallet. It centred on the Carina Hotel bar, and also featured footage of Warrumbungle National Park and Sydney.

The ‘Let’s Dance’ single was released on 14 March 1983, with the b-side ‘Cat People (Putting Out Fire)’. It was a worldwide smash hit, topping the charts in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the USA. It peaked at number two in Australia, France, Germany, and South Africa.

Let’s Dance was released exactly one month later, on 14 April 1983, on vinyl and cassette.

The album was an instant smash, becoming EMI’s fastest-selling album since The Beatles’ 1967 opus Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It reached number one in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the UK. In the US it stalled at number four on the Billboard 200.

Three other singles were released from the album. ‘China Girl’ was issued on 31 May 1983, with ‘Shake It’ on the flipside. It was followed by ‘Modern Love’, backed with a live version, in September, and ‘Without You’/‘Criminal World’ in November.

‘Shake It’ was remixed and included on the ‘China Girl’ 12″. ‘Ricochet’, meanwhile, was the only Let’s Dance song not to appear on a single.

Reissues, remasters

The first compact disc edition of Let’s Dance was released in Japan on 21 July 1983. It was given a wider global release on the format the following year.

In 1995 the album was reissued by Virgin Records, with ‘Under Pressure’ as a bonus track.

It was re-released in 1999, as part of EMI’s ‘The David Bowie Series’ of 24-bit digital remasters. This version had no bonus tracks, but was remastered by Peter Mew and Nigel Reeve at Abbey Road Studios in London.

The Canadian edition of the 1999 reissue contained a data element, which included premium content from davidbowie.com when played on a computer.

Let’s Dance was remastered by Nile Rodgers and included in the 2018 box set Loving The Alien (1983-1988).

Remastering Let’s Dance gave me the chance to bring it back to what we actually heard together in the studio while recording it. That’s one way I’ve paid my respect to the man that not only changed the world, but also changed my life…

In my heart, 35 years later I’m proud that I was able to capture what David was thinking, to elevate his ideas and to co-create the biggest record of his life. Now the world is going to get to hear it the way we heard it. It’s been both an incredible honor and a huge responsibility, and if technology becomes even more top-notch while I’m still alive, I will want to do it again because David is that important, Let’s Dance is that important!