Side A
Artist	Song
the B-52's	Private Idaho
the Pretenders	Message of Love
Toni Basil	Mickey
the Go-Go's	We Got the Beat
the Supremes	You Keep Me Hangin' On
the (English) Beat	Tears of a Clown
Rick James	Super Freak
Talking Heads	Once In a Lifetime
Yaz	Situation
the O'Jays	Backstabbers
the Emotions	Best of My Love
James Brown	Sex Machine
Booker T & the MG's	Green Onions
Stevie Wonder	Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Side B
Artist	Song	Buy
Michael Jackson	Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Arrow	Hot, Hot, Hot
Kid Creole & the Coconuts	Latin Music
Kool & the Gang	Let's Go Dancin' (Ooh La, La La)
the Foundations	Build Me Up Buttercup
the Romantics	What I Like About You
the Ramones	Do You Wanna Dance?
Adam Ant	Goody Two Shoes
Elvis Presley	Blue Suede Shoes
Bobby Fuller Four	I Fought the Law
Tom Tom Club	Genius of Love
Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five	The Message

Comment:

Preparing for my wife's gala 40th birthday party a few months ago, I went through my box of dance tapes. I used these tapes extensively through the '80s, forcing them on at any party I went to, usually with the desired result. But the tapes were pretty worn down, and looking at them, I couldn't help but cringe at what I knew from long experience were dead spots. So I cannibalized several, using my top performer 'History of Dance' as a base, to create one sure-fire, pedal-to-the-medal, no-lulls party classic. (OK, 'Mickey' is borderline, but my wife loves it.) Of course, my wife is a new wave chick (still!) and this will only work with mm-mm-mm-my generation (i.e. the ones you can't trust). But if you're having a bunch of forty-somethings over, this is your best shot at getting them out of their wheelchairs and onto the floor. Postscript: At 10ish, when the moment came, I miscalculated and put on a warm-up tape. Our lame-o friends soon started begging off, saying they had to get back to their babysitters. (Silly me, I thought you got a babysitter specifically so you could stay out past 10.) I'm still looking to prove a dance tape for 40-year-olds is not an oxymoron.

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