#9: Dancin’ Shoes by Nigel Olsson

City: Fredericton, NB
Radio Station: CFNB
Peak Month: March 1979
Peak Position in Fredericton: #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #17
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #18
YouTube: “Dancin’ Shoes”
Lyrics: “Dancin’ Shoes”

Nigel Olsson was born in Cheshire, England, in 1949. He began his musical career playing the guitar in small bands, and took up the drums at a gig where the drummer did not show up at the last minute. His first appearance on a record album was in the band Plastic Penny, which released Two Sides of a Penny in 1968. Olsson was spotlighted on one song on that album, “I Want You,” performing both lead vocals and a drum solo. In 1969 he played drums on the flower power pop single “Mr. Boyd” by Argosy, a one-off group which also included Reginald Dwight (later known as Elton John), and future Supertramp band member Roger Hodgson. Olsson also had a brief stint with the English hard rock band Uriah Heep, playing drums on two songs on their 1970 debut album, Very ‘easy… Very ‘umble.

Olson subsequently played drums on Elton John’s album Empty Sky. He was on tour with Elton John in the USA in 1970. In 1971, he released his first studio album, featuring backing vocals from Doris Troy, titled Nigel Olsson’s Drum Orchestra and Chorus.

In 1972, Olson joined Elton John’s band, and played drums on 11-17-70, Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across the Water, Honky Château, Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Caribou, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Olsson provided backing vocals on numbers of songs. These include “Where to Now St. Peter?”, “Your Song”, “Sixty Years On”, “Tiny Dancer”, “Rocket Man”, “Candle In the Wind”, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, “Harmony”, “The Bitch Is Back”, “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me”, “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”, Olsson provided drums on many hits, including “Honky Cat”, “Daniel”, and “Crocodile Rock”.

In 1975 Olson left Elton John’s band, and released his second studio album, the self-titled Nigel Olsson. That year he also was in the studio with Neil Sedaka on his duet with Elton John, “Bad Blood”, and for Sedaka’s remake of “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”. In 1976, Olsson was a session musician with Leo Sayer in recording his hit records “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”, “When I Need You”, and “How Much Love”. In 1977, he was a studio musician for Eric Carmen, providing backing vocals on the Top Ten hit “She Did It”. In 1978, he released a second set-titled album (his third) also titled Nigel Olsson. Late that year he recorded tracks for his forthcoming album, Nigel. One of these was “Dancin’ Shoes”.

“”Dancin’ Shoes” is a song that begins with people in stuck places: “Too many long conversations, and no one is hearing a word,” too many problems, loneliness, having the blues, and discomfort with silence. Here’s a solution: “put on your dancin’ shoes.” Who knows? At the club you could meet someone new and kindle a romance.

“Dancin’ Shoes” was written by Carl Storrie, a singer from Muncie, Indiana. In 1969, the Cascades (of “Rhythm of the Rain” fame) album Maybe the Rain Will Fall, contained the title track written by Storrie. He worked with several local acts and released a self titled solo album, Carl Storie, in 1999.

“Dancin’ Shoes” peaked at #1 in Bangor (ME), #2 in Fredericton (NB), #3 in San Diego and Honolulu, #4 in Allentown (PA), #5 in Dallas, #6 in San Bernardino (CA), Flagstaff (AZ), and Akron (OH), #7 in Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Kansas City (MO), St. Louis, and Athens (GA), #7 in Houston, #8 in Baltimore and La Crosse (WI), #9 in Pittsburgh, Providence (RI), and Philadelphia, #10 in Anniston (AL), #11 in San Luis Obispo (CA), Nashville, and Norfolk (VA), and #13 in Ottawa.

As a follow up, Olsson released a cover of the Jarmels 1961 #12 hit “A Little Bit Of Soap”, stalling in 1979 at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1980, Nigel Olsson rejoined Elton John’s band and provided drums on “Little Jeannie”. That year he released his final studio album, Changing Tides.

And in 1984, Olsson provided backing vocals and drums on “Sad Songs (Say So Much)”. Over the decades, Nigel Olsson has been a studio musician and bandmate with Elton John on sixteen of John’s studio albums between 1969 and 2016.

In 1987, Nigel Olsson was in the studio providing drums for Gowan on “Moonlight Desires”. Over the years, Nigel Olsson has been in the recording studio with numbers of hitmakers, including Linda Ronstadt and Rod Stewart.

On November 9, 2014, Olsson played his 2000th concert with Elton John at the Ice Hall Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia.On his 68th birthday, February 10, 2017, Olsson played his 2,267th concert with Elton John at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada. On June 25, 2023, Olsson played with Elton John at Glastonbury Festival, headlining the event.

October 19, 2024
Ray McGinnis

References:
Andy Greene, “Nigel Olsson Reflects on 50 Years of Playing Drums for Elton John,” Rolling Stone, August 22, 2018.
Doug Fox, “Drummer delivers solid walls of sound for Elton John,” Daily Herald, February 11, 2010.
Doug Fox, “Hello Yellow Brick Road: Q&A; with Elton John drummer Nigel Olsson,” Daily Herald, February 11, 2010.

CIHI 1260-AM Fredericton (NB) Top Ten | March 2, 1979