After the Dance (song)
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Motown Recording Studios (Hollywood, California)
| "After the Dance" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Marvin Gaye | ||||
| from the album I Want You | ||||
| B-side | "Feel All My Love Inside" | |||
| Released | July 15, 1976 | |||
| Recorded | September 1975 – March 1976 | |||
| Studio | Marvin Gaye Studios (Los Angeles, California) Motown Recording Studios (Hollywood, California) | |||
| Genre | Soul, funk, downtempo | |||
| Length |
| |||
| Label | Tamla | |||
| Songwriters | Marvin Gaye, Leon Ware | |||
| Producer | Leon Ware | |||
| Marvin Gaye singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"After the Dance" is a slow jam recorded by singer Marvin Gaye and released as the second single off Gaye's 1976 hit album I Want You. Though it received modest success, the song was widely considered to be one of Gaye's best ballads[1] and served as part of the template for quiet storm and urban contemporary ballads that came afterwards.[2]
Written by Gaye and his co-producer Leon Ware, the song narrates a moment where the author noticed a woman on Soul Train and convinces her to "get together" after the two shared a dance.[1] Throughout the entire I Want You album, which was dedicated to Marvin's live-in lover Janis Hunter (who wrote a 2015 memoir entitled After the Dance: My Life with Marvin Gaye),[3] the narrator — Gaye — brings up the dance concept in songs such as "Since I Had You".[4][5]
The song also served in a funky instrumental, which included a synthesizer solo performed by Gaye[1][6] just days before the master mix of the I Want You album was due at Motown.[7] The instrumental version received a nomination at the 1977 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Instrumental Song.[8]
Record World praised Gaye's "strong performance" of the song.[9]
The song was Gaye's lowest-peaked pop single for the first time in 13 years since the B-side of his "Can I Get a Witness" titled "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby", peaking at number 74,[10] ironically three places higher than "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby", while it was a bigger success on the R&B chart, peaking at number 14.[1][6]
Recording
The basic track of "After the Dance" was recorded for Gaye with the working title "Don't You Wanna Come?" in September 1975.[6]
The overdubbing sessions took place between January 1976 to March 1976.[6][7]
