"Murder on the Dancefloor" is a song written by Gregg Alexander and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Alexander and Matt Rowe for Ellis-Bextor's first album, Read My Lips (2001). Released on 3 December 2001, the song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for 23 weeks. The song became a top-10 hit worldwide, charting within the top three in Australia, New Zealand, and four European countries. In the United States, where the song was serviced to radio in September 2002, the single reached number nine on the Billboard Dance Singles Sales chart. "Murder on the Dancefloor" is reported to have been the most played song in Europe in 2002. Background and release The follow-up single to "Take Me Home (A Girl Like Me)" was originally planned to be "Lover", an album track from Read My Lips, as read in first-edition album stickers and announced by the label, but for unknown reasons, the release was cancelled and replaced by "Murder on the Dancefloor". In January 2019, a re-recorded orchestral version was released as the third single off Sophie Ellis-Bextor's greatest hits package The Song Diaries. Chart performance The song is Ellis-Bextor's greatest hit internationally. It was a hit in Australia, peaking at number three, staying in the top 50 for 20 weeks, being accredited Platinum by Australian Recording Industry Association, and becoming the 12th-highest-selling single of 2002. Music video The music video was directed by Sophie Muller and it centres around a dance competition. The winner's prize consists of a pair of golden high-heel shoes and a substantial amount of money. Desperate to win, Ellis-Bextor proceeds to sneakily injure and disqualify the majority of the other dancers. She causes one to slip on butter, before tripping up another, who sees her do it and angrily points at her to no avail. Next she slyly poisons a trio of potential rivals by spiking the punch during a refreshment period and then unstraps a contestant's clothes, causing her to run off. She finally frames a dancer for cheating on his partner, by planting a G-string on his person; this results in his partner slapping him and exiting the dance floor. Ellis-Bextor then turns her attention to the trio of judges. By using what seems to be chloroform, she incapacitates the only female judge on the panel. Once the competition is down to the final four couples, Ellis-Bextor