I have a confession. I’m a sucker for 1970s dance music, specifically disco and funk and all their branches. If I had the opportunity to go back in time for a day, I think I would quite possibly choose to visit a dance club like Club 54 in the 1970s for a night of boogieing. My husband Perry cannot get his head around this and thinks I’m crazy. I can’t help it…I LOVE DISCO AND I’M NOT AFRAID TO ADMIT IT! The beats, the rhythms, the bass lines,  the falsetto, the dance routines and dance moves, the awesome hair and clothes that go along with it and most importantly the urge the music gives me to get up and shake what my momma gave me. Basically, just the pure cheesiness of it is enough to make my day.  I just can’t get enough of it. Here are some of my must-haves for the ultimate 1970s dance music playlist…perfect for an afro wig, bell-bottom, platform shoe wearing, groovy night out.

(Click on the song link to be directed to a YouTube video of the song....worth watching just to see the amazing dancing and outfits! Wow things sure have changed since then!)

1. Earth, Wind and Fire - "Boogie Wonderland"
This isn’t because it was featured in Happy Feet (I have an obsession with penguins). I’ve loved this song (and most songs by Earth, Wind and Fire) for as long as I can remember. The penguins just enhanced the lovability factor of it. In fact, I love Earth, Wind and Fire so much that they get two songs on this playlist!

2. Earth, Wind and Fire - "Let's Groove"
CLASSIC! And I love the falsetto....and the video! So cheesy, so awesome, so LOVE LOVE LOVE!

3. Curtis Mayfield - "Move on Up"
I love the popular instrumental riff from this song… you know the one I’m talking about…the one that seems to be heavily sampled nowadays

4. The Commodores - "Brick House"
Great bass line! And perhaps even greater afros!

5. The Gap Band - “I Don’t Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops Upside Your Head)”
So this song was quite huge and there is even some sort of dance that goes along with it. I had no idea until I attended my mum-in-law’s 50th birthday party and her and her sisters started dancing it. As much as I like this song, I can only handle a little bit of it as it just repeats…and repeats…and repeats…and….

 6. Michael Jackson – "Off The Wall"
Love love love love the bass line

7. Michael Jackson – "Get on the Floor"
Another fantastic bass line

8. Rick James - "Give it to Me"
Just LOOK at that hair!

9. Chic – "Everybody Dance"
Love the bass line, the melody, the voices, and the way it makes me want to get up and DANCE!

10. Tavares - "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel"
These guys have got.the.moves! The cheesiness is just hypnotizing.

11. Boney M - "Daddy Cool"
Perry: What the HECK is that?
Me: It's amazing is what it is!
Just check it out for yourselves. A-MA-ZING. I wish dance floors had these kinds of moves and energy still...and not just when I'm on them.

12. James Brown – "Get Up Offa That Thing"
Ever since I heard this song for the first time on the movie Harriet the Spy when I was younger, it has made me want to get up offa that thing and dance dance dance. I love the horns in this and the energy!

13. The Miracles - "Love Machine"
…..na na na na na na na na na na woo hoo hoo…

14. The Spinners – "Working My Way Back To You"

15. Chic - "Good Times"

16 . A Taste of Honey- "Boogie Oogie Oogie"
The bass line just does it for me and I love that it is played by women. Girl Power!

17. Kool And The Gang – “Get Down On It”
Love the rhythm!

18. The O’Jay’s- Love Train

19. Diana Ross – "I’m Coming Out"
The beats and rhythms of this one just make me LOCAAAAA.

20. Bee Gees - "More Than A Woman"
Oh boy that falsetto just does it for me

21. Bee Gees – "Night Fever"
Absolute classic. It screams DISCO!

22. Bee Gees - "Stayin' Alive"
Because no disco playlist is complete without at least 3 Bee Gees hits on it!

23. Stacy Lattisaw – "Jump to the Beat"
….cause it…well…makes me want to jump to the beat :-)

24. Anita Ward – "Ring My Bell"
So so so funky.

25. Heatwave- “Boogie Nights”
Another great bass line...and some great outfits in the video!

26. The Four Season – "December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)"
LOVE LOVE LOVE this one! Perry and I used to borrow one of his mom’s disco compilations when we would go on road trips and this was always the first track to come on. Great tune and one of my favorites on this list.

This list could go on for ages and does not include some of the obvious such as “YMCA” and “Disco Inferno” and so on but those aren’t on my personal list of top 1970s disco/funk/dance songs…of which there are A LOT. Even as I attempt to conclude this list, I keep thinking of ones I haven’t added and need to be on the list BUT I must stop. So this is my list for now but I am sure I will continue to add to it as more songs come to me. I know some of the songs were released after the 1970s but they are still heavily influenced by funk or disco so I have included them.

Perry's thoughts on this list: "I think you just love disco because of the bass lines". I am a bass player after all so maybe this is the reason. But whatever the reason, it is still one of my favorite eras and I am not ashamed to admit it. I would love to play in a high energy 1970s music group one day. Hope this brings some of you back to the good ‘ol days! Wish I knew what those good 'ol days were like! Come on time machine!!!

What are some of your favorite 1970s disco/funk/dance songs?!

There are some Christmas songs that make me cringe the minute they come through a speaker. However, the following put me in the holiday spirit:

• Paul McCartney – “Wonderful Christmas Time” just because I saw him perform this live last year in Liverpool, England complete with a children’s choir and everytime I hear it, it reminds me of that fabulous night. And I must admit, I really love the synthesized sounds that are heavily present in the song
• Hanson – “What Christmas Means to Me”. This is a heavily covered song and Hanson’s is not the original version, but this version brings me back to my youth when I was a big Hanson fan and the album “Snowed In” which was heavily repeated at Christmastime during my Hanson phase. Another version I like of this song is Stevie Wonder’s
• The Waitresses – “Christmas Wrapping”. I love how fun and 80s this song sounds and how it makes me want to boogie. I always thought it was a UK band as it is played A LOT here in the UK and has the sound that reminds me of many UK bands. It also only peaked in the UK charts adding to my idea that it was a UK band (they were from the USA). A definite must for playlists!
• The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl- “Fairytale of New York”. No matter how much this song is overplayed in the UK, I don’t think I could ever get sick of it. It is such a ballad and just makes me want to be in a bar singing along with all the people in it while swaying side to side with a pint in my hand. It also makes me think of the movie “P.S. I Love You”  and makes me think of Kirsty MacColl’s tragic death which makes it a bit sad but nice to see that her voice is heard every Christmas time.
• Bobby Helms- “Jingle Bell Rock” …just cause it reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas movie: “Home Alone 2″…and lets face it, who doen’t love this movie??
• John Williams - “Carol of the Bells” – Again, a Home Alone 2 reference but I love this, Home Alone or not. Would love to sing it in a choir…if only I could sing! 
• Band Aid - “Do They Know Its Christmas?” - Again I love the 80s sound of this song and the cheesy synthesized sounds…and also because it involves quite the list of artists!
• John and Yoko - “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” - How could I not love a John Lennon tune (even if it includes Yoko…which I admit I actually do like!). I also do like the children’s choir that is heard in the background.
• Darlene Love – “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home” just cause this version is an oldie and I never get sick of the oldies
• Eartha Kitt- “Santa Baby” – another oldie and a fun and playful one

My least favorite include, but are not limited to, the following (mainly because they are SO overplayed). Listing these in case you’d like ideas for your playlists.

• Mariah Carey – “All I Want for Christmas is You”
• Slade – “Merry Xmas Everybody”
• Wizzard – “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday”
• Chris Rea – “Driving Home For Christmas”
• Gabriella Cilmi – “Warm This Winter”
• Bruce Springstean – “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”
• Any song by Michael Buble