Martha Reeves: “I wanted to be in David Bowie and Mick Jagger’s ‘Dancing in the Street’ video”

“I just know that ‘Dancing In The Street’ was a hit all over the world!” WRONG. Upon its original release in 1964, it reached Number 28. When it was re-released in 1969, it peaked at Number 4. “I wasn’t looking at how the song was selling. The influence of that song meant so much for the [civil rights] period we were living in. People stopped fighting and ravishing people’s properties and started actually listening to the music and dancing and enjoying each other and getting life back together.” Was there a moment you realised it was a special song? “At first, I did make the statement that I didn’t want to dance in the streets. I wanted to dance in the house and the ballrooms. I didn’t want to be hit by a car or anything! [Laughs] But then I realised what it meant. It’s actually being there in the middle of life and death, danger and safety, and just dancing and having a good time, and don’t worry about it because God is going to protect us and take care of us.” “That Marvin Gaye wrote it and gave it to me in the studio is a gift. He saw me peeking in the window and said, ‘Martha, come here. Sing this song’. I had learned it listening to him, and I asked him if I could sing it the ...