50 Great Dance Songs by Gen X
I’ll be kicking off 2025 taking a deep dive into the culture of my own generation — those of us born from 1960 to 1979. (If you were born from 1960 to 1964, you’re free, of course, to identify with Boomers or Xers. I find the evidence overwhelming that you’re not only more like us Xers but you’re the leading edge of Generation X.)
While researching Gen X culture again in recent weeks, I kept running into dance songs. While I’m not going to write more than a paragraph about dance songs, I thought I’d put a playlist out there of what I think are the 50 best dance songs written and / or performed by musicians born in the Sixties and Seventies.
This music was generated across the past four decades, from the mid-1980s to the mid-2020s. As you might expect, OneRepublic and Coldplay lead the way.
The audio versions of these songs are wholesome and clean enough, in my view, that you can let your kids or grandkids dance to them in the living room without any embarrassment, even if you’re a fairly conservative family. And if you’re in midlife, it’ll probably bring back a lot of happy memories.
These are not in ranked order. They are in the best order that seems intuitively to me to create the flow for the best dance experience.
(Enrique Iglesias’s song “Bailando” is here in English and Spanish, in part because the Spanish version is the second most-watched music video in the history of YouTube, at 3.6 billion views.)
Special thanks to my friend Cary Tyler from our high school days, without whom this playlist wouldn’t have been possible.
If you’re on Spotify, you can find the playlist here.
On YouTube, the playlist is here.
Enjoy,
Mike
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime
David Guetta & OneRepublic - I Don't Wanna Wait (Official Video)
Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (Official Video)
The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling (Official Music Video)
Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Official 4K Video)
*NSYNC - Here We Go (Official Video)
Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock - Get On The Dance Floor
Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It (Official Music Video)
SNAP! - Rhythm Is A Dancer (Official Music Video)
DeBarge - Rhythm Of The Night (Official Music Video)
Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back) (Official HD Video)
Boyz II Men - Motownphilly (Official Music Video)
Pharrell Williams - Happy (Video)
Robbie Williams ft. Michael Bublé | Soda Pop (Official Audio)
Marc Anthony - Vivir Mi Vida (Official Video)
OneRepublic - Sunshine (Official Audio)
M.C. Hammer - U Can't Touch This
Heavy D. & The Boyz - We Got Our Own Thang
SNAP! - The Power (Official Music Video)
OneRepublic - Life In Color (London Sessions 2012)
Justin Timberlake - CAN'T STOP THE FEELING! (from DreamWorks Animation's "TROLLS") (Official Video)
Enrique Iglesias - Bailando ft. Sean Paul, Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona
Enrique Iglesias - Bailando ft. Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona
Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough (Remastered)
Daft Punk - One More Time (Official Video)
OneRepublic - Run (Official Music Video)
Coldplay - Hymn For The Weekend (Official Video)
Lisa Stansfield - All Around the World
Paula Abdul - Straight Up (Official Music Video)
Queen Latifah - Ladies First (feat. Monie Love) [Music Video]
Robin S - Show Me Love (Official Music Video) [1993]
Whitney Houston - How Will I Know (Official HD Video)
Jade - Don't Walk Away (1992) (Full Official Video Version) (HD) 4:3
Michael Bublé - Haven't Met You Yet [Official Music Video]
Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock - It Takes Two
Coldplay - Higher Power (Official Video)
a-ha - Take On Me (Official Video) [Remastered in 4K]
Outkast - Hey Ya! (Official HD Video)
Chris Brown - Forever (Official HD Video)
The Cranberries - Dreams (Dir: Peter Scammell) (Official Music Video)
Coldplay - A Sky Full Of Stars (Official Video)
Coldplay - Adventure Of A Lifetime (Official Video)
Soul For Real - Candy Rain (Official Music Video)
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Official Music Video)
So many great songs!