Chronological Dance Party

I will turn 40 this coming Wednesday. To celebrate, I threw a dance party at the seminary at which I played one song from each year of my life. We had a fabulous time, and some of my friends were real troupers to dance through all the decades.

Here's the list of songs that I played:

1972 - The Doobie Brothers - Listen to the Music
1973 - Stevie Wonder - Superstition
1974 - Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Takin' Care of Business
1975 - Average White Band - Pick Up the Pieces
1976 - K.C. & the Sunshine Band - (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty
1977 - Abba - Dancing Queen
1978 - Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive

(Most of us at the party are too young to remember disco clubs, and we wondered: was there any disco move other than the pointing-in-the-air-and-then-back-to-your-hips thing?)

1979 - The Village People - Y.M.C.A.
1980 - AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long
1981 - Olivia Newton-John - Physical

(That song bombed so badly that I stuck an extra song in to make up for it!)

1981 - Rick James - Super Freak
1982 - J. Geils Band - Centerfold
1983 - Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
1984 - Chaka Khan - I Feel for You

(Around this time, a lot of the people present recognized that we had hit their birth years. We began cheering to welcome people to the world as their respective songs played.)

1985 - a-ha - Take On Me
1986 - Prince & the Revolution - Kiss
1987 - Beastie Boys - (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)
1988 - Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
1989 - The B-52s - Love Shack
1990 - Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby

(Right around this time, one of my speakers bit the dust, and I had to cut down to one speaker, taking care not to crank it up too loud. Thanks a lot, '90s bass music!)

1991 - C+C Music Factory - Gonna Make You Sweat
1992 - Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy
1993 - Tag Team - Whoomp! (There It Is)
1994 - Ini Kamoze - Here Comes the Hotstepper
1995 - Dave Matthews Band - What Would You Say

(This song also bombed on the dance floor, and that surprised me. But we all needed a break by then.)

1996 - Los Del Rio - Macarena
1997 - Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life
1998 - Will Smith - Gettin' Jiggy Wit It
1999 - Lou Bega - Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of ...)
2000 - Santana - Smooth
2001 - Shaggy - It Wasn't Me

(Since I was playing this song for adults instead of Episcopal teenagers at a church event, I didn't get in trouble like I did eleven years ago!)

2002 - Jimmy Eat World - The Middle
2003 - Justin Timberlake - Rock Your Body
2004 - OutKast - Hey Ya!
2005 - Gwen Stefani - Hollaback Girl
2006 - 'Weird Al' Yankovic - White & Nerdy

(Christy said, "I can't believe you picked this song!" But people loved it.)

2007 - Rihanna - Umbrella
2008 - Flo Rida - Low
2009 - Miley Cyrus - Party in the U.S.A. [Da Sooper Yooper Remix]

(In my custom remix, Miley sings about Jay-Z, and we hear some Jay-Z. She sings about Britney, and we hear some Britney.)

2010 - Train - Hey, Soul Sister
2011 - LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem
2012 - PSY - Gangnam Style

After we got up to the present day, I said, "OK, what songs did I skip that I shouldn't have?" And we kept on dancing. Thank you, everyone who turned up to dance, even if it was a temporary study break. I hope y'all did well on your Greek exam today!