80’s Dance Party: 20 Dance Hits From The 1980’s

Man, I loved growing up in the 80’s. The music was the best and still remains to be hot on the airwaves.I still find myself rocking out to the 80’s channel on Sirius, but my favorite is the First Wave Channel. I get my fix of New Wave and Post-Punk music in my car, daily.

The other day, I heard “Rock Lobster” by the B-52s on First Wave. While driving, I was trying to conjure up my old dance moves from the school dances I attended. In Northeast Philadelphia, there were two schools where you could dance the night away once a month. St. Tim’s was for middle schoolers and you got to shake it to songs spanning the 1950’s to the 1980’s.

However, Father Judge dances were the jam in high school. In the 80’s, I went to St. Hubert’s Catholic High School for Girls. Our brother school was Father Judge High School for Boys and once a month, Father Judge held an epic dance. There was always a plan of action made two weeks before the dance: meet under the trestle, smoke a joint and drink some Mad Dog wine, then head to the dance. This did not always go as planned, but those are stories for another time. These were dances where you either met your guy or you met a new guy so your game had to be on point. For me, I could not wait to get my groove on to my favorite songs.

It warms my heart to see Millennials rocking out to those 80’s dance hits so I’ve prepared a playlist for you for your next mixtape to be shared at the next dance party:

St. Tim’s Dance Mixtape:

• “Runaround Sue” by Dion DiMucci
• “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” by Meatloaf
• “Mony Mony” by Tommy James and the Shondells
• “Shout” by Otis and The Knights
• “Fame” by Irene Cara
• “Angel is the Centerfold” by The J.Geils Band
• “Let’s Groove Tonight” by Earth, Wind and Fire
• “Precious and Few” by Climax
• “Kids in America” by Kim Wilde
• “Always and Forever” by Heatwave
  

Father Judge Dance Mixtape:

• “I Will Follow” by U2
• “Diamond Girl” by Nice and Wild
• “What I Like About You” by The Romantics
• “I Ran” by Flock of Seagulls
• “Ant Music” by Adam and The Ants
• “Jam On It” by Newcleus
• “Rock Lobster” by The B52’s
• “You Dropped A Bomb On Me” by the SOS Band
• “Let The Music Play” by Shannon
• “Crazy For You” by Madonna

I could go on and it should be noted that a lot of those St. Tim’s records were spun at the Father Judge Dances (perhaps it was the same DJ?).One song that should get honorable mention and was played at every dance I ever went to was Donna Summer’s “Last Dance”.The problem with that song was that it has a fast ending, which made us want to go back under the trestle to start the night over again. #80sruleforever!