“The Politics of Dancing” by Re-Flex

"The Politics of Dancing" launched the English new wave outfit Re-Flex as their first single in 1983, and it lent its name to their debut album. Keyboardist and co-founder Paul Fishman wrote it the way he usually worked: catching ideas on a pocket cassette machine while out and about near his Hampstead home, then sequencing them on an Oberheim DSX once he got back. He reckoned this one was sparked by a train or something he'd read, and he brought it to the band's next session as a nearly finished demo, lyrics and all.

It's a sleek, pulsing synth-rock workout. Fishman has said the song is about the power people find when they get together, dance and let go, and he later saw the rave scene of the '80s as that message made real.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.