Ready for a brand new beat

By Mark Kurlansky

Subjects: History, Social History, HISTORY, African Americans, Music, Civil rights, Civil rights movements, Vandellas (Musical group), HISTORY / Social History, Social aspects

Description: Can a song change a nation? In 1964, Marvin Gaye, record producer William "Mickey" Stevenson, and Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter wrote "Dancing in the Street." Recorded by Martha and the Vandellas and released on July 31, the song was supposed to be an upbeat dance recording. But in the summer of Mississippi Freedom, the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Act, and the lead-up to a dramatic election, the song took on new meanings.