The final list contains tracks from the seventies, many of which are classified as "disco." Disco gets a lot of knocks, mainly because of the excesses it spawned. I mean..."Disco Duck" and the "Theme from Star Wars?" Who can forget  the"Andrea True Connection?" And frankly, I still have problems appreciating the Bee Gees. (It's the nasal falsetto.)

The fact is, Disco got Americans up and dancing again. You didn't have to wear a white leisure suit or ridiculously high platform shoes. And the line dancing and overly complicated partner dancing? You could ignore it and still have a great time.

There were some great dance tunes between 1970 and 1977. The list below contains the sure-thing dance tunes.

• I'm Your Boogie Man - KC & the Sunshine Band (tied with Get Down Tonight. Both Classics!)
• Disco Inferno - The Trammps
• Le Freak -  Chic
• I Wish - Stevie Wonder
• Bad Girls - Donna Summer
• Play That Funky Music White Boy -  Wild Cherry (yes, I know...it was in Part 2 also)
• Tear the Roof Off the Mother - Geo. Clinton & Funkadelic/Parliament (because you MUST have music you can BUMP to!)
• Shake Your Groove Thing - Peaches & Herb
• Let's Groove - Earth, Wind and Fire  
  
• September  - Earth, Wind and Fire  
  
• Get the Funk Out Ma' Face -  Brothers Johnson
• Almost anything by Kool & the Gang...except CELEBRATION!
• Rockin' Down the Highway - Doobie Brothers
• Dancin' Machine - The Jackson 5
• Breakdown Ahead - Boz Skaggs 
• You're Still a Young Man - Tower of Power
• Livin' In The USA - Steve Miller Band (back when he remembered how to do dance tunes)
• Yes We Can Can - Pointer Sisters
• Take Me In Your Arms (Rock me a little while) - Doobie Brothers...go Motown!

Okay, obviously this list could be MUCH larger. No Bee Gees? None of the ballad tunes like "I Will Survive"  or Rick James. Yeah, I know. Disco is dangerous because it can wander over into the "camp / parody" side of the street so easily, like anything from the Village People or Andy Gibb. And ABBA? What was that? Anyway, not a problem if you are presenting a "disco-themed" party, but disco was an era of truly wretched musical excess, so unless your group are all liquored up, too much disco, or disco up front...might as well put on Barbara Streisand or Boxcar Willie.  

In Part 1 you probably learned nothing that you didn't already know. This part contains the objective of your search...some of the best dancing tunes of our generation. The fifties weren't really our generation's music. The Boomer generation only officially  started in 1946, so in the late fifties even the earliest boomers were only 14, maybe 16 years old. The music you danced to at the high school and college...it was sixties music, and later boomers were dancing in the late sixties and seventies. Yes...disco!


This is the top 25. The golden 25. Please, don't play them in the order in which they appear. I do entire 3 hour dance parties around Motown, British Invasion, Beach/Car Music, and Funk/Soul. The tracks below are plucked from those categories.

• Twist & Shout...the Beatles version
  
• Rock & Roll Music  - Beatles version, not Chuck Berry's , or better yet,  Long Tall Sally..Beatles, not Little Richard's
• Surfin' USA -  Beach Boys  (Brian Wilson stole this song virtually note-for-note from Chuck Berry's  "Sweet Little Sixteen")
• Help Me Rhonda -  Beach Boys (The OTHER sure-thing dance tune from the Beach Boys)
• You Really Got Me - The Kinks
  
• I Want You Back - The Jackson 5
• Do You Love Me - The Contours version, not the Dave Clark Five's
• Jackie Wilson - Baby Work Out
• What is Hip - Tower of Power  (or TOP's Down to the Nightclub)
• The Twist - Chubby Checker 
• Sway - No, not Dean...the Michael Buble version. Really. No, really. Women love this song.
  
• Jungle Boogie (or Hollywood Swingin')  -  Kool & The Gang
• Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin' -  Gerry and the Pacemakers  
• Let's Stay Together - Al Green 
  
• Anything by the Righteous Brothers - I mean ANYTHING, including Little Latin Lupe Lu
• At Last - Etta James  
  
• Because - Dave Clark Five  (Easy to dance to)
  
• The Love You Save - Jackson 5   (or ABC...they are both Awesome)
  
• Thank You - Sly & the Family Stone  (way too funky for sober suburban white folk)
• Play That Funky Music White Boy - Wild Cherry (Play this back-to-back with Thank You!)
• I Can't get Next to You - The Temptations (tied with My Girl by the Temptations)
  
• Devil With A Blue Dress - Mitch Ryder (tied with Tommy James "Hanky Panky")
  
• Brown Sugar - Rolling Stones   
• Heat Wave - Martha & the Vandellas 
• Dirty Water - The Standells (...cuz I love that dirty water! The best kind of nostalgia...the kind you can dance to!)

I swear, if you play these in the order they are listed...the floor will only be populated by drunks. It's like cooking...it isn't the ingredients...it's the way you combine them. And when. And that's why you hire me!  ha! 
In the last section I'll show you the later boomer era hits from my playlists. 

The #1 most frequently used "Search" term that people are using to find my website...by a HUGE margin is "baby boomer playlist." There are a dozen variations on that, including "boomer dance music" and "baby boom song list."  They all seem to be looking for one thing: the essential dance tunes. I don't mean listening tunes. I mean the tunes that get people on the dance floor.

Keep in mind that even the best tunes need a little "context." There is a start, a middle, and an end to every dance party. There are slow tunes that tend to exclude singles because, well, you don't want to be dancing to a smoldering slow tune with a married colleague or neighbor.  If the room is too brightly lit, some dancers are inhibited and may sit out even the best tunes. Save the funky stuff until you have a few bodies up and dancing...stick with the "gateway" tunes to start...tunes that are familiar and...well...beloved.

That said, here are my recommendations. They are guaranteed to get a reaction and if the crowd is primarily boomer-aged, they will hit the floor without an elevated blood-alcohol level.

One other thing...there are distinct sub-groups in Baby Boomer dance music. The holy trinity are 1) late 50s, 2) 60's, and 70's up to classic disco. Those groups make more sense than "Motown, Funk/Soul, and what I like to call (snob alert) "Happy Days" which is late 50's sock-hop music that has been famous in movies, most notably "American Graffiti." (A GREAT movie!) Real 50's music is a different animal. All partner dancing, vocalist-heavy tunes that are great over dinner, good used sparringly, but otherwise will drive people right off the dance floor. Pronto, Tonto. Early and mid-50's is good enough for pledge night on KQED, but no...not in your playlist! 


Late 50's (The Golden Age of dance-worthy Elvis)

• Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley & the Comets
• At The Hop - Danny and the Juniors
• School Day - Chuck Berry
• Jailhouse Rock or Hound Dog -  These are the reason Elvis is THE KING
• Smoke Gets in You Eyes - The Platters
• Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
• Chance Are -  Johnny Mathis
• Tequila - The Champs
• I Only Have Eyes for You - The Flamingos
• I've Got You Under My Skin - Frank (the version arranged by Nelson Riddle and performed with the N. Riddle Orchestra)
• Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins

In Part 2 I will cover the "heavy lifter" tunes that are the core of a Boomer Dance party...the incredible explosion that was the Sixties.
As always, if you don't agree with my list...go out and make your own.