I Got Ants in My Pants

1972 single by James Brown

"I Got Ants in My Pants - Part 1"

Single by James Brown

B-side

"I Got Ants in My Pants - Part 15 & 16"

Released

November 1972 (1972-11) or January 1973 (1973-01)

Recorded

October 10, 1971, Capricorn or Bobby Smith Studios, Macon, GA

Genre

Funk

Length

3:02 (Part 1)
3:58 (Part 15 & 16)

Label

Polydor
14162

Songwriter(s)

James Brown

Producer(s)

James Brown

James Brown charting singles chronology

"What My Baby Needs Now Is a Little More Lovin'"
(1972)

"I Got Ants in My Pants - Part 1"
(1972)

"Down and Out in New York City"
(1973)

"I Got Ants in My Pants (and I Want to Dance)" is a funk song by James Brown. Recorded in 1971 and released as a two-part single in November 1972^[1] or January 1973,^[2] it charted #4 R&B and #27 Pop. It did not receive an album release. A remixed version was included on the 1988 compilation album Motherlode, Part 1 to Star Time and the whole cut again in Make It Funky: The Big Payback.

Later uses

The song was sampled in the 1973 break-in record, "Super Fly Meets Shaft" (US #31).

A guitar riff from this song was sampled by Public Enemy on their track "Don't Believe the Hype" from the album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

References

^ Leeds, Alan, and Harry Weinger (1991). "Star Time: Song by Song". In Star Time (pp. 46–53) [CD booklet]. New York: PolyGram Records.
^ Weinger, Harry (2003). Motherlode [CD booklet]. New York: Universal Records.

James Brown singles

Billboard charting singles (R&B and Pop)

1950s

1956	"Please, Please, Please"
1958	"Try Me"
1959	"I Want You So Bad"

1960s

1960	"I'll Go Crazy" "Think" "You've Got the Power" "This Old Heart" "The Bells"
1961	"Bewildered" "I Don't Mind" "Baby, You're Right" "Just You and Me, Darling" "Lost Someone"
1962	"Night Train" "Shout and Shimmy" "Mashed Potatoes U.S.A." "Three Hearts in a Tangle" "I've Got Money"
1963	"Like a Baby" "Every Beat of My Heart" "Prisoner of Love" "These Foolish Things" "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered"
1964	"Oh Baby Don't You Weep" "Please, Please, Please" "Caldonia" "The Things That I Used to Do" "Out of Sight" "Have Mercy Baby"
1965	"Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" "Try Me" "I Got You (I Feel Good)"
1966	"Lost Someone" "I'll Go Crazy" "Ain't That a Groove" "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" "Money Won't Change You" "Don't Be a Drop-Out" "Sweet Little Baby Boy"
1967	"Bring It Up" "Kansas City" "Think" "Let Yourself Go" "Cold Sweat" "Get It Together" "I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me)" "There Was a Time"
1968	"You've Got to Change Your Mind" "I Got the Feelin'" "Licking Stick – Licking Stick" "America Is My Home" "I Guess I'll Have to Cry, Cry, Cry" "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud" "Goodbye My Love" "Tit for Tat (Ain't No Taking Back)"
1969	"Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" "Soul Pride" "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I'll Get It Myself)" "The Popcorn" "Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)" "Lowdown Popcorn" "World" "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn" "Ain't It Funky Now"

1970s

1970	"It's a New Day" "Funky Drummer" "Brother Rapp" "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" "Super Bad" "Santa Claus Is Definitely Here to Stay" "Get Up, Get into It, Get Involved"
1971	"Spinning Wheel" "Soul Power" "I Cried" "Escape-ism" "Hot Pants" "Make It Funky" "I'm a Greedy Man"
1972	"Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing" "King Heroin" "There It Is" "Honky Tonk" "Get on the Good Foot" "I Got a Bag of My Own" "What My Baby Needs Now Is a Little More Lovin'"
1973	"I Got Ants In My Pants (And I Want to Dance)" "Down and Out in New York City" "Think" "Sexy, Sexy, Sexy" "Stoned to the Bone"
1974	"The Payback" "My Thang" "Papa Don't Take No Mess" "Funky President (People It's Bad)" "Coldblooded"
1975	"Reality" "Sex Machine" "Hustle!!! (Dead on It)" "Superbad, Superslick" "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved)"
1976	"(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" "Get Up Offa That Thing" "I Refuse to Lose" "Bodyheat"
1977	"Kiss in 77" "Give Me Some Skin" "If You Don't Give a Doggone About It"
1978	"Eyesight" "The Spank" "For Goodness Sakes, Look at Those Cakes"
1979	"It's Too Funky in Here" "Star Generation"

1980s

1980	"Regrets" "Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses)"
1981	"Stay with Me"
1983	"The Night Time Is the Right Time (To Be With the One That You Love)"
1984	"Unity"
1985	"Living in America"
1986	"Gravity"
1987	"How Do You Stop"
1988	"I'm Real" "Static"
1989	"Gimme Your Love"