search: 80s pop songs that make you dance like a loon

guilty pleasures all, but these would be playing at the 80s party of **my** dreams.

"tenderness" - general public "town called malice" - the jam "oh sheila" - ready for the world "crush on you" - the jets

THE REFLEX!!!

I feel for you - Chaka Khan

the 'which duran song to go for' has been a particular concern of mine. currently i'm favouring a view to a kill to bury in the early part of the set, hungry like the wolf when things get going a bit and then wild boys for the drunken 'schlurrimawildboyisam!' drunken bits.

is this too much duran? what am i saying?! as if there was even such a thing as too much duran!!

groove is in the heart, push it, that technobeat song, and black box

groove is in the heart is 90s.

isn't it?

hrmm

Everything Queen G mentions is definitively late 80s / early 90s. Not "80s" in the sense defined here. "Groove Is In The Heart", FWIW, was summer 1990.

I've always had a soft spot for the wholly wacko dance anthems of the early 80s featuring the unlikely combo of synth basslines, proletarian sloganeering, and lots of proto new romantic makeup. I'm thinking Heaven 17 "Fascist Groovethang", "Wheels of Industry" or much derided late Gang of Four "Man in Uniform". You can have your dance over here, and a rally...over there!

As for my loon dancing, I once sustained minor injury due to Shreikback's "Nemesis".

Shalamer - a night to remember
Midnight Star - midas touch
Colonel Abrams - trapped
Strawberry Switchblade - since yesterday
Mel & Kim - Respectable
Hashim - al-naayfish
? - Ray-Gun-omics
Madonna - Holiday
Willie Colon - Set Fire To Me (Latin Jazzbo version)
Gwen Guthrie - Seventh Heaven
Dynasty - Adventures in the land of music

Romantics: "Talking in your Sleep." This song is positively unstoppable -- and plus clearly demonstrates the reasoning behind the oft-discussed big gated 80s snare.

i forgot Prince - Raspberry Beret, and the nite should finish with Ive Had The Time Of My Life by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes

nowhere girl! warm leatherette!

Frankie Smith-Double Dutch Bus
Gap Band-You Dropped a Bomb on Me
Shannon-Let the Music Play/Give Me Tonight
Cameo-Word Up
Laura Branigan-Self Control

I second 'Word Up'.

How about 'Blue Monday', or is that too tarty?

and then there is the entire Smiths back catalogue.

Recommended for danceability:

Baltimora - Tarzan Boy
Cure - Lovecats
Peter Schilling - Major Tom
George Kranz - Din Daa Daa
Madonna - Lucky Star
Cyndi Lauper - She Bop
Q Feel - Dancing in Heaven
Morris Day and the Time - Jungle Love
Adam Ant - Vive Le Rock
Iggy Pop - Wild One (oh wait, it'll sound just like the last one)
Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Love Missile F1-11
Van Halen - Hot for Teacher
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
Beastie Boys - Girls
Depeche Mode - Master and Servant
Nitzer Ebb - Join in the Chant
Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf
Flesh For Lulu - I Go Crazy
Charlie Sexton - Beat's So Lonely
Duran Duran - Planet Earth
English Beat - Save it for Later
Devo - Whip it
Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
Real Life - Send Me an Angel
The Waitresses - I Know What Boys Like
Joan Jett - I Love Rock and Roll
Romeo Void - Never Say Never
Corey Hart - Sunglasses at Night
Trans X - Living on Video
Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy
The Spoons - Arias and Symphonies
Aha - The Sun Always Shines on TV
Images in Vogue - Call it Love
Alphaville - Forever Young
If you want to cheat a bit, I these two are 1990 I think,
Betty Boo - Doin' the Do
Digital Underground - Humpty Dance

New Order- Blue Monday, True Faith Human League- Don't You Want Me Depeche Mode- Strangelove or Behind the Wheel Prince- Rasberry Beret Duran Duran- Girls on Film Mary Jane Girls- All Night Long Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam- Let the Beat Him Tom Tom Club- er can't remember the title Marrs Yaz= Only You or Situation

Kool and the Gang - Get down on it Whispers - The beat goes on *cough* Madonna - Get in to the groove

give me three cuba libres and i'll dance to anything. yes, that includes metal machine music. especially that.

Has anyone mentioned "Safety dance" yet?

give me three cuba libres and i'll dance to anything.

*files mental note for helenforsdale's later corruption*

Men Without Hats - Saftey Dance, Pop Goes The World
Ramones - Pet Sementary
Jane Siberry - Mimi On A Beach (Dance Mix)
Martha and The Muffins - Echo Beach
Falco - Rock Me Amadeus, Der Kommisar
Wang Chung - Everybody Wang Chung Tonight
Blondie - Call Me
Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)
Devo - Whip It
Teenage Head - Something On My Mind
Yello - Oh Yeah
The Fall - Victoria
Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
The Clash - Train In Vain
New Order New Order New Order and More New Order
Love And Rockets - Ball of Confusion
Pixies - Where is My Mind, Monkey Gone To Heaven, Holiday Song
Public Enemy - Bring The Noise, Rebel Without A Pause
Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right To Party, 2nd half of Sounds of Sience, Ryhming and Stealing
Im semidrunk and would dance to any of these.

And the most criminally underrated band of all time The Young Canadians (aka The K-tels) have al sorts of power pop/punk tunes, notably Hawai, I Hate Music (not a Replacements cover) or Data Redux.

CLICK CLICK CLICK. WHIRRRR. Adding these tracks to WinMX hitlist CUSTOS001.

THANK YOU FOR SUBMITTING. EXIT RIGHT TO FUNWAY.

Ohh..."Come Anytime" by the Hoodoo Gurus.

Oh, yeah. "Groovy Train" by the Farm, "Rock Lobster" by the B-52s and "One Night in Bankok" by Murray Head. (and I take back what I said about "Come Anytime."; Though I love the song "Miss Free Love '69" is better for dancing like a loon to.)

david bowie - let's dance

malcolm mclaren - buffalo girls (actual do-ci-doing of partners made possible, along with all kinds of crazy b-boy moves)

plastic bertrand - ca plane pour moi

prince - let's work. or controversy

sylvester - you make me feel (mighty real)

Well I said Mimi on the Beach, what I meant to say was ... Life Is A Red Wagon, which did get a dance mix, Mimi just got a single/radio edit.

People who say 80s music sucks are not very bright.

Lipps Inc-Funkytown
Ray Parker-The Other Woman
Prince-Dirty Mind, When You Were Mine, Head, Little Red Corvette, I Wanna Be Your Lover, Pop Life, Kiss, Hot Thang
Belle Stars-Sign of the Times
Shalamar-There It Is
Vels-Look My Way, Once Upon a Time
Frankie Goes To Hollywood-Relax
Fall-Totally Wired
Wire-Kidney Bingoes
Ian Dury-Spasticus Autisticus
Echo & The Bunnymen-Do It Clean, A Promise
Killing Joke-Wardance
Talking Heads-Crosseyed & Painless
Gang of Four-Damaged Goods (so, it's from late '79)
Lene Lovich-Bird Song, New Toy
Mari Wilson-Just What I Always Wanted
Primitives-Crash
Joboxers-Boxerbeat, Just Got Lucky
Duran Duran-Girls on Film
U2-I Will Follow
Beat-Save It For Later, I Confess
Fleshtones-Cold Cold Shoes
Lyres-Don't Give It Up Now Adam & the Ants-Antmusic, Dog Eat Dog
Tenpole Tudor-There Are Boys
B-52s-Bring Back My Man, Party Out of Bounds, Strobe Light
Kraftwerk-Pocket Calculator
Devo-Gates of Steel, Good Thing
Pogues-Transmetropolitan
Pigbag-Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag
Cramps-Zombie Dance, Garbage Man
Joe "King" Carrasco & The Crowns-Don't Bug Me Baby

*catch breath*

R.E.M.-Radio Free Europe
Jesus & Mary Chain-Just Like Honey
Psych Furs-We Love You
Cure-A Forest
Cocteau Twins-Aikea Guinea

Some songs to chuck onto your list;

The Vapours - Turning Japanese Duran Duran – Planet Earth, Rio Ramones – I wanna be sedated Killing Joke - Love like blood Hoodoo Gurus – Like WOW wipeout Shit loads of New Order, Madness and The Jam

is it possible to do one of these kind of nights and NOT play any fucking spandau ballet?

i hope so. i do hope so.

okay this is the line up i've got planned so far, although subject to lots of changes. at which points do you start and stop dancing? discuss.

Science fiction double feature Visage – fade to grey Flock of seagulls - wishing Associates – party fears two Talking heads – once in a lifetime Devo - whip it Psychedelic furs – pretty in pink you got the touch (Transformers the movie theme) smiths - panic Fun boy three – aint what you do… bow wow wow – I want candy the go gos – our lips are sealed fuzzbox – pink sunshine Duran duran – view to a kill David bowie – magic dance the timelords – doctorin’ the tardis sigue sigue sputnik – love missile f1-11 ferris bueller theme new order – blue monday happy Mondays – wfl think about the future marrs – pump up the volume run dmc – it’s tricky de la soul – the magic number Madonna – into the groove wham – young guns Nena – 99 red balloons Primitives - crash the clash - should I stay or should I go the jam – going underground Specials – too much too young madness – house of fun adam ant – prince charming joan jett – I love rock n roll Kiss – crazy crazy nights Run dmc & aerosmith – walk this way Beastie boys – fight for your right Pixies – debaser The knack – my sharona Rick james - superfreak Neneh cherry – buffalo stance New edition – candy girl salt n pepa – push it weathergirls – it’s raining men Bananarama – I’m your venus paula abdul – straight up Madonna – like a virgin Tiffany – I think we’re alone now Duran duran – wild boys Frankie goes to Hollywood - relax Spandau ballet – gold Heaven 17 - temptation Aha – take on me Soft cell – tainted love Human league – don’t you want me Proclaimers – I would walk 500 miles Dexys midnight runners – come on eileen Stone roses –I am the resurrection Ben e king – stand by me Cheers theme

well. that's annoying.

WINDOM, IT'S GORDON -- GORDON COLE! IT PAINS ME TO INFORM YOU THAT I SAW YOUR LIST AND WAS EXCITED TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE FERRIS BUELLER THEME BY NEW ORDER! I TRIED LOOKING IT UP TO NO AVAIL! IT APPEARS I READ YOUR POST INCORRECTLY!

yes! neneh cherry's buffalo stance is a winner.

as for the clash, i prefer 'rock the casbah' to 'should i stay or should i go', but i can't think whether it would fit better in the mix or not :)

re. david bowie's 'magic dance'... someone needs to sample that, i think. get rid of the clunky 'slime and snails' bit and the chorus (with all those puppets singing along) and make the most of those fantastic synthy verses. (or is there a non-puppet version i don't know about?)

80s + dance = NO PRINCE?

Minna proves her worth, oh yes! :-) The version on the soundtrack album had different voices for the puppet roles than was heard on the film, at least at points, but there is no released version of the song that's just David B. with his own bad self.

"don't change" by inxs. "change in mood" by kids in the kitchen. anything by altered images. oh yes.

nobody mentioned Thomas Dolby - "She Blinded Me With Science" ?? The crisp little beat and sharp guitar chords make me go carazy.

I'm 16 and love the 80s, so i might hold some taste for the crowd your playing for:

Prince -LETS GO CRAZY (a must!) Billy Idol - DANCING WITH MYSELF Duran Duran - RIO Michael Jackson - BEAT IT Billy Idol - MONY MONY

he's so shy - pointer sisters
lets hear it for the boy - deniece williams
a beat for you - pseudo echo
beat it - michael jackson.

aargh! how did we fail to mention michael jackson until now!?

you have to play at least one mj track. 'off the wall' is choice.

'off the wall' is choice

I agree wholheartedly! Except it's from 1979.

"You'll Dance to Anything" by the Dead Milkmen will get the sneering pseudo-nihilists up on the floor.

wedding present - Brassneck
Scarlet Fantastic - No Memory

I'm fact checking like a loon: The "Off The Wall" single charted in 1980. On the other hand, somebody mentioned "I Wanna Be Sedated". It's from a 1978 album. I'm not aware of any single.

i'm willing to include some peripheral stuff. The Knack's bubblegum pop classic 'My Sharona' for instance was released in 1979 but the single charted in 1980. Ben E. King's Stand By Me is not an 80s song but the rerelease was a hit as theme tune to the 80s film..

A great list but I'd be cruelly disappointed by the last 3 tracks and leave early to get my coat. What I'd be thinking: Roses track - dreadful, lasts forever, not really associated with 80s in my mind, not fit to lick boots of Dexys. Ben E King - yeah it was a hit in the 80s but its not an 80s track, why aren't they playing 'real' 80s music to climax the night. Cheers theme - might as well be the fucking Bagpuss theme. Fuck off TV themes.

i.e. I'd move the Roses back earlier, Stand by Me a little bit earlier, and put "Eileen" up second-last (much more frenzied than Stand By Me too and it puts the crowd in the right drunken huggy mood for Cheers) and then the Cheers which I'd still grumpily get me coat to but I can see the point of.

i would agree were it not for the fact that the stone roses song is the only one in the entire list that people will actually fucking DANCE to, and ben e. king is the one song in the list (apart from the proclaimers) that absolutely everyone loves. it's ridiculously hard to find any middle ground with competing student cliques..

Surely you are discounting the power of the drink! Everyone will dance to Come On Eileen if they're drunk enough.

i so hope so. but i'll be strung up by the indie kids if i don't play any roses, and if i have to play any eighties indie song it will most likely have to be resurrection and it won't fit anywhere else in the set.

i never liked that song.

Yeah but the sign on the door says EIGHTIES NIGHT it is fair warning I feel that EIGHTIES MUSIC will be played. Bung it in next to the Clash or the Jam.

(Hey it's your night, sorry to go on, but there's something uniquely depressing about the bloody Roses - who indirectly caused the dreariest period for pop music EVER - being the 'crowning glory' of a night devoted to the shiniest period for pop music EVER, or at least up until 1999-2001).

i guess it might also be appropriate for an end of the night 80s thing being a sort of 'whooo exiting the 80s!' moment.

y'see, we all thought it'd be hoverboards and flying cars and it ended up with floppy hats and jangly guitars.

no, i think it's a fair comment and i agree completely, but it is a small campus and parochial enough for me to pinpoint who, by name, will dance to which song.

if only i could get the fuckers dancing to fuzzbox!

You missed The Communards - "don't leave me this way"
The hoover-y synth bit in the middle sounds like the end of the world after a few ales.

Also, you can't do an 80s night and not play "Jack your body", surely?

Ooh! Ooh! Also World Famous Supreme Team...

Tom, have you ever written about your feelings about "indie-dance crossover 1988-1992"? I know you've written about indie (and who hasn't) at great length, but this does seem to be your achilles heel.

And I could do with a laugh. JOKE!

I wuv a lot of indie-dance crossover but the Stone Roses are an ordinary indie band who were in the right place at the right time and listening to (tho not playing) the right music.

In fact I started an enthusiastic thread on indie-dance a long time ago.

also it's perhaps worth bearing in mind that for the vast majority of indie-and-related fans the 80s were the most godawful hated decade ever in the history of the world.

their 80's wasn't an 80s of Jack Your Body and Rock It and Into The Groove, it was an 80s of one Jam song and the Stone Roses album.

i think Vince Clarke's remix of WFL is the closest thing to a bridge traversing the gap.

traversing? is that the right word? oh.

You know some odd indie-and-related fans then. IME the one thing that will get a room full of indie kids dancing is early-to-mid eighties pop (eg Human League, Soft Cell, Duran Duran, Dexys, Associates etc). Mind you, I do normally dj at a club with a strict no Stone Roses policy.

Great list all the same, though.

no stone roses? bejeesus!

actually i'll probly end up dropping the roses when i run out of time. either that or just play the crappy short version.

having said that, unless i manage to round up my mp3 compilation cds (vinyl be damned) off people i won't be playing *anything* except the complete stone roses and 'true' by spandau ballet.

i'll let you know how it goes all the same.

To dance "like a loon" :

Divide & Conquer - Husker Du
The Kick Inside Me - Simple Minds
Black Coffee - Black Flag
Start! - The Jam
The Ledge - Replacements
Cruiser's Creek - the Fall
Kick in the Eye - Bauhaus

So how did it go, Wyndham?

LACK OF LOVE - CHARLES B - quite simply the BEST track never heard, an unstoppable acid groove that picks up where 10 City and Joe Smooth's Promised Land left off.

Boogie Down Bronx - 'Man' Parrish - I never tire of this track
And if you're Dj-ing just play 'Beat Dis' and Young MC for dancefloor action, and if you're feeling adventurous follow them with Malkit Singh's Tukat Tukat Tutiya (electro-bhangra). Also I second 'Midas Touch'

Jan Hammer - Main Titles for Miami Vice and Crockett's THEME (or kid em with the FPU electro remixes doin' the rounds)
Art of Noise - Close to the Edit
Sparks - When I'm with You
Strings of Life - Rythim is Rhythim - only just pop, only just the 80s
The b-side of Alex F - Shoot Out
The Model - those guys....

Re: 'Dancing like a loon' - Did anyone suggest Kenny Loggins Footloose, the video was pretty damn inspirational for me at the time. Remember that skat break.. or even Flashdance's What a Feeling

The Earl's being a bit quiet about how it went, isn't he?

Don't tell me he's sulking because he got booed off for refusing to play "Agadoo", or something equally horrendous. I hope not, anyway.

not bad lists... but, really people, you want to dance? section 25 - looking from a hilltop vicious pink - c-c-c-cant you see/ take me now/ 815 to nowhere daf - vous les vous... (sex. you make me want to dance) laser cowboys - radioactivity bobby o - medley mcl (microchip league)- new york off - electric salsa moskwa tv - the art of fashion/ generator 7-8 cccp - american soviets/ a solution ministry - nature of love/ the entire twitch lp peter richard - walking the in neon man 2 man - male stripper/ sex symbol/ all men are beasts front 242 - masterhit/ quite unusual/ aggressiva due/ headhunter nitzer ebb - murderous/ let your body learn ledernacken and band - amok siouxsie - cities in dust bauhaus - bela lugosi is dead skinny puppy - addiction/ dig it/ 200 years bronski beat - hit that perfect beat data - in blue-my best dj

just to name a few...

every pop song from the eighties makes me dance. its a real effort to not dance. anywhere. actually i feel like dancing right now and theres no music on.

Hey Mickey by Toni Basil - though I've never actually danced to it.

more? heh... the songs i post are alternative club songs from the 80s only... granmaster melle mel and the furious five - white lines. file 13 - tastes so good. Dominatrix - Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight. Bomb the Bass - Beat Dis. Flirts - Passion. devo - here to go (go mix version). EBN-OZN - AEIOU Sometimes Y. gruesome twosome - hallucination generation. sharpe and numan - New Thing from London Town. stephen tin tin duffy - kiss me. THE TIMELORDS - WHAT TIME IS LOVE (THE KLF ORIGINAL VERSION). Book of Love - Boy. Uptown Girls - I Know I'm Losing You. lana pellay - pistol in my pocket. B.Blase - Shame. A Split Second - Rigor Mortis. Germania - Sympathy for the Devil (Who killed the kennedys). Time Zone - World Destruction. Magazine 60 - Don Quichotte. sandy marton - exotic and erotic/ people from ibiza. Boys Dont Cry - I Want To be A Cowboy. ahhh... i love the 80s...

My list is as follows Thompson Twins - Love on your side, Doctor Doctor Michael Jackson - Beat it, Thriller, The way you make me feel, Smooth criminal, Dirty Diana, Bad Madonna - Express yourself, Open your heart, Material girl, Into the groove, Like a virgin, Cherish The Belle Stars - Sign of the times Men without hats - The safety dance Moonsoon - Ever so lonely Phil Collins - Two Hearts Spandau Ballet - Gold Wham - Club Tropicana, The edge of heaven Duran Duran - The reflex, A View to a kill, Wild boys, Rio, Hungry like the wolf Bananarama - Cruel summer U2 - (pride) In the name of love, Desire, Angel of harlem Kajagoogoo - Too shy Diana Ross - Chain reaction Donna Summer - This time I know it's for real too many others to mention!

"The Earl's being a bit quiet about how it went, isn't he? Don't tell me he's sulking because he got booed off for refusing to play "Agadoo", or something equally horrendous. I hope not, anyway."

dear me, did i not reply to this? well audience response was decidely... patchy. i certainly never played agadoo but i have to bow, kneel and scrape at Tom's feet for his warning against playing the dancefloor-clearing, atmosphere-killing pile of schmindie jism that is I Am The Resurrection. NEVER AGAIN. took it off instead and ended on a bunch of slow songs including Vienna and Black's Wonderful Life.

in the words of Prolapse: "The eighties were CRAP! the hairstyles were CRAP!"