Dancing with Myself

The inspiration for the song occurred during a tour of Japan by the English post-punk band Generation X in mid-1979, when its vocalist/frontman Billy Idol and its bassist Tony James were struck by the sight of the young crowd in a Tokyo discotheque dancing with their own reflections in mirrored walls rather than with one another.^[6]

The song was written and first recorded by Generation X during demo sessions in mid-1979 at Olympic Studios in West London (this demo-recording was first commercially released retrospectively on the long-player K.M.D.-Sweet Revenge (1998)).^[7] After that band had split later in that year, Idol and James re-branded the act as Gen X, and in production sessions with Keith Forsey for a new long-player at AIR Studios in London in mid-1980, the song was re-recorded for commercial release as a single. The guitar parts of the song were a mix of the playing of three guitarists with distinctively differing styles, viz. Steve New playing the lead, Steve Jones playing rhythm, with another layer being added by Danny Kustow.^[8] On commercial sales in October 1980 as a pre-release single from the new band's forthcoming long-player Kiss Me Deadly (1981), "Dancing with Myself" was a retail failure, reaching only number 62 in the UK Singles Chart.

In 1981, Idol, now a solo artist after Gen X had broken up, had Forsey remix the record for its release as a single in the United States, fading down the guitar(s) and bass tracks from their dominance in the 1980 UK release and accentuating the vocal and percussion tracks, to produce a more rhythmic sound for the American commercial market. It became his first hit single in the United States and launched his career there, two versions being issued: the 3:20 single version (which was later included on Idol's 11 of the Best compilation) and the 4:50 extended version that appeared on Idol's Don't Stop EP.

For the 1981 United States single release a music video for use on the newly launched MTV was made, directed by Tobe Hooper, with Idol in a scenario drawn from the 1971 cinema film The Omega Man, playing a lone figure in a post-apocalyptic cityscape besieged upon a skyscraper rooftop by partying mutant street-waifs.^[7]

The portrait image of Idol on the cover of the 1980 release was photographed by Iain McKell.

1. "Dancing with Myself" (3:30)
2. "Ugly Rash" (4:30)

1. "Dancing with Myself" (4:06)
2. "Loopy Dub" (5:08)
3. "Ugly Dub" (3:05)

1. "Dancing with Myself"
2. "Untouchables"
3. "Rock On"
4. "King Rocker" (produced by Ian Hunter)

1. "Dancing with Myself" (3:19) [Labelled as "Billy Idol featuring Generation X"]
2. "Happy People" (4:23)

1. "Dancing with Myself" (3:19) [Labelled as "Billy Idol featuring Generation X"]
2. "Love Calling (Dub)" (5:33)

1. "Dancing with Myself" (6:05) [Labelled as "Billy Idol featuring Generation X"]
2. "Love Calling (Dub)" (5:33)
3. "White Wedding" (8:20)
4. "Hot in the City" (5:20)

• "White Wedding" is the 12" Shotgun mix,^{[clarification needed]} but not labelled as such.

• Swedish rock-reggae band Dag Vag released a Swedish version of the song called "Dansar med mig själv" on their fourth LP 7 lyckliga elefanter in 1982.
• Belgian rock band De Kreuners released a Dutch version of the song called "Ik dans wel met mezelf" in 1982.
• Used in Can’t Buy Me Love (1987 film).^[11]
• A cover version by Blink-182 was featured on the compilation album Before You Were Punk^[12] and on Taylor Steele’s Loose Change film soundtrack.
• A cover version by the Donnas was used in Mean Girls (2004) soundtrack,^[13] as well as the episode "God U." from the 2023 series Gen V.
• In 2024, the song was re-arranged and covered by Maren Morris and released as a single.^[14]