Get Your Break Dance On! Classic Hip Hop Music From The 1980’s
My love of music spans genres and began at the tender age of 6. I was in the Kiss Army at 8 and evolved into New Wave, Hardcore and Punk Rock. New Wave was my go-to dance form, but in high school, there was this great under 21-dance party you could hit up in my neighborhood in Philadelphia. It was called Mardi Gras and once you hit high school, you could attend every Sunday afternoon. It was a great in between dance to attend while you were waiting for the high school dances to come around.
If you got to Mardi Gras early, you could claim your own dance cage and they held a lip sync competition half way through the day. I once lip synced to Apollonia 6’s “Sex Shooter” with two friends. We had water pistols and capes. The boys loved it.
The main style of music was Freestyle and the mode of dance was Breakdance. Some pubs in my neighborhood, like Pub 36, now offer a Freestyle dance night where you can get your nostalgia and groove on. I certainly don’t move like I used to but I’d like to think I still got it on the dance floor.
In 1985 and 1986, I pop rocked it at Mardi Gras until Club Pizazz opened. Club Pizazz was home to the Philly Hardcore scene in the late 1980’s.This genre of music opened up doors for me in music and lifestyle. If you go on YouTube, you can check out videos of some of the great bands that played at Club Pizazz like The Pagan Babies and Stepping Razor. Stay tuned for an article on the Philly punk and hardcore scene…
In memory of Mardi Gras, I offered you a playlist of some of the best Freestyle hits of the 1980’s:
- “One More Shot: by C-Bank
- “So Many Men So Little Time” by Miquel Brown
- “When I Hear Music” by Debbie Deb
- “Angel Eyes” by Lime
- “High Energy” by Evelyn Thomas
- “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa
- “Fantasy Girl” by Johnny O
- “I Wonder If I Take You Home” by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force
- “Spring Love” by Stevie B
- “It’s AuToMaTiC” by Freestyle
- “Fascinated” by Company B
- “All Night Passion” by Alisha
- “Apache” by The Sugarhill Gang
- “White Lines” by Grandmaster Flash
- “Point of No Return” by Expose
- “Nasty Boys” by Janet Jackson
- “Sex Shooter” by Apollonia 6
- “Feels Like I’m in Love” by Kelly Marie
- “Two of Hearts” by Stacey Q
- “Burning Up” by Madonna
Honorable Transfer Mention shout out to “Diamond Girl” by Nice and Wild and “Jam on it” by Newcleus. These songs transferred from dance to dance and were even heard on “Dancin’ on Air”, which was my generation’s version of “American Bandstand”.My mom once appeared on “American Bandstand”, so as a sophomore in high school, I decided to attempt to get on “Dancin’ on Air” to pay respect to her, I made it on the show, but wasn’t seen on camera. I was far too punk rock by then. “Rock, rock the Planet Rock…Don’t Stop!”
