my party tape

I was wanting to do a top 100, but the effort was too terrifying. I would feel obliged to look through the 55,000 tracks in my collection to make the selections, and I couldn't face it. But I made a series of tapes (seven C90s) a couple of years back for a party, so I thought I'd list those instead. Obviously the fact of their having a purpose biases things (more disco, less blues, for instance), as does the fact that I knew who was coming, so there's a bit of influence there (some things cut back (e.g. dance, some things included for pals who love them). Also, I tried for variety, so there's rarely more than one track by an act. Feel free to skip this if you're not interested of course, but it might be useful reference if you're ever hesitating about coming to any party of mine.

We start with music for people arriving, before any real partying gets going, and gradually build up the danceability...
Morning Dew - Tim Rose
Isaac Hayes - Theme From Shaft
Subway Sect - Different Story
Chi-Lites - Stoned Out Of My Mind
Rubinoos - I Think We're Alone Now
Billy Ward & the Dominos - Sixty Minute Man
Altered Images - Happy Birthday
Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man
Al Green - Tired Of Being Alone
Shirelles - Will You Love Me Tomorrow
Culture - Two Sevens Clash
Omni Trio - Renegade Snares
Gene Pitney - 24 Hours From Tulsa
L.A.D. - Riding low
Bobby Bland - Further Up The Road
Isley Brothers - Summer Breeze (it was a June party)
Waterboys - Whole Of The Moon
Keith Hudson - Civilisation
Booker T & the MGs - Green Onions
Louis Prima - Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody
R. Dean Taylor - There's A Ghost In My House
Willie Tee - Walking Up A One-Way Street
Faithless - Insomnia
Dion & the Belmonts - Runaround Sue
Neil Young - Like A Hurricane (a long favourite version from a live bootleg)
Brainbug - Nightmare (Sinister Strings mix)
Luther Barnes & Reverend F.C. Barnes and the Red Budd Gospel Choir - My God Can Do Anything
UltraViolence - Hardcore Motherfucker
Denim - On A Chicory Tip
Ian Dury & the Blockheads - Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll
Dave Angel - This Is Disco
Jan & Dean - Surf City
Shangri-Las - Give Him A Great Big Kiss
Jonny L - 20 Degrees (Scratch Perverts Mix)
Blur - Song 2
Elvis Presley - Suspicious minds (the live one, of course)
Fatboy Slim - The Rockafeller Skank
Tom Jones - Delilah
Barry White - You're The First, The Last, My Everything
Sister Sledge - Lost In Music
Kingsmen - Louie Louie
Trammps - Penguin At The Big Apple/Zing Went The Strings of My Heart
Candi Staton - Young Hearts Run Free
Adverts - One Chord Wonders
Faces - Stay With Me
Underworld - Born Slippy
Wynonie Harris - Good Rockin' Tonight
Penetration - Don't Dictate
Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up
T. Rex - Metal Guru
Helen love - Does Your Heart Go Boom
Coasters - Yakety Yak
Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
Iggy Pop - The Passenger
Hank Ballard & the Midniters - Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go
Weather Girls - It's Raining Men
Rezillos - Top Of The Pops
Prince - Kiss
Yachts - Suffice To Say
Armand Van Helden - Ultrafunkula
Ike & Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High
Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right
Sam Cooke - Having A Party
Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin
Lionrock - Rude Boy Rock
Rivingtons - Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper
DJ Shadow - High Noon
Primal Scream - Loaded
Jim Carroll Band - People Who Died (the most extreme case of putting one on for friends)
Village People - YMCA
Vandellas - Heat Wave
Velvet Underground - What Goes On (live)
Vinyl Groover & Druid - Choirs of Heaven (I have no idea why we have a V section here!)
Pulp - Common People
O'Jays - Love Train
Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet
Trammps - Disco Inferno (first act to appear twice!)
Prodigy - Firestarter (arson link!)
Garnet Mimms - As Long As I Have You
Sweet - Ballroom Blitz
James Brown - Sex Machine
Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (from Live At The Star Club)
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five - The Message
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Little Demon
Supremes - Stop! In The Name Of Love
Inner City - Good Life
Saints - (I'm) Stranded
Little Richard - Rip It Up
Sly & the Family Stone - Dance To The Music
Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin' Beats
Toots & the Maytals - Pressure Drop
Chic - Good Times
New York Dolls - Personality Crisis
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Source & Candi Staton - You Got The Love (Now Voyager Mix)
Slade - Mama Weere All Crazee Now
Divine - You Think You're A Man
Esquerita - Maybe Baby
LL Cool J - Go Cut Creator Go
Gary Glitter - Rock & Roll (part 2)
Four Tops - Reack Out, I'll Be There
Clash - Police And Thieves
Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash
Sabres of Paradise - Wilmot
Darlene Love - Lord If You're A Woman
Cameo - Word Up
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Orbital - Satan
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - I Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying
Jesus & Mary Chain - Never Understand
Madonna - Like A Prayer
Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove
Smiths - This Charming Man
A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray
Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music
Dead Kennedys - Viva Las Vegas
Beach Boys - Fun Fun Fun
Kool & the Gang - Jungle Boogie
Blondie - Sex Offender
Mott The Hoople - All The Way From Memphis
DJ Supreme - Tha Wildstyle
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love
Monkees - I'm A Believer
Blaze - Can't Win For Losing
Elvis Costello - Pump It Up
Soul II Soul - Back To Life
Rod Stewart - Maggie May
Shy FX - Bambaataa
David Bowie - Young Americans
Chairmen Of The Board - Give Me Just A Little More Time
Shut Up And Dance - Derek Went Mad

How that lacks certain acts (Fall, Sex Pistols) and tracks I don't know, but it still looks great to me. I also made a 'winding down' tape, for either very late when there are only a few of us left up, or for the next morning (which is in fact when it got played):

PM Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
Aaron Neville - One Fine Day
Gregory Isaacs - Night Nurse
TLC - Waterfalls
Spiritualized - Oh Happy Day
Ann Peebles - I Can't Stand The Rain
Aretha Franklin - I Say A Little Prayer
Etta James - I Just Want To Make Love To You
Jimmy Cliff - Many Rivers To Cross
Fontella Bass - Rescue Me
Walker Brothers - The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More
Willie Nelson - Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down
Frank Sinatra - One For My Baby
Al Green - How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
Billy Paul - Me And Mrs Jones
Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Portishead - Sour Times
Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay
Gladys Knight & the Pips - Midnight Train To Georgia
Mary Wells - My Guy
Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy
Jackie Wilson - I Get The Sweetest Feeling
Percy Sledge - When A Man Loves A Woman
Charles Smith - I'm Useless

I'm not sure I have a question. I just want everyone to know what fab taste I have! (You should probably note that I'm in my 40s, and most of my friends are of similar vintage - this might explain the list's elderly bias.)