I wished I knew everything vro! This thread has surprised me twice already. That is the reason why I suggested that members write something about the songs being posted. Everyday we learn something new.

 

Since you mention girls and 80's, this thread can't overlook the impact of Miami's own trio Expose. The brainchild of DJ turned producer Luis Martinez (aka Lewis Martinee) a pioneer of the Miami Sound in freestyle. Expose became the first group to have four top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from its debut album.

Note: I linked to Wikipedia for this group, however, there is some misinformation about this group. Ali the singer was NOT discovered by talent scouts. Ali was Luis' girlfriend. The reason why the group was rebuilt after Arista signed it was that Ali and Luis relationship went sour and started to interfere with their business. Luis fired her, and the other 2 girls rebelled which also led to their firing. Arista had nothing to do with it. Goia was the singer at a Miami club named G Whiz, a big drug dealer named Roly who was a mutual friend of her husband and Luis introduced Goia to Luis. Wiki also omits that Ali and Lori are one of the five vocalist in Will to Power's hit "Dreaming" which I will post below.

 

Love this song

 

I like Polish band Papa Dance and loved their fashion style.

My ultimate hit song from the 80s
Jurij Shatunov - Bielyje rozy

I very like this SSQ song from '83. Sounds very modern. More like nowadays Synthwave than 80s track.

 

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Oh man oh man this takes me back, simply a brilliant tune! This still works on the dancefloor as well. I've done a version of this as well for my own sets.

Note for the trivia-hounds, this is one of the first recorded tracks featuring the TB-303. Be that as it may, the bassline on this one is still simply mesmerizing.

 

Liaisons Dangereuses were a German "electropunk" band and EBM/industrial pioneers.

I missed this in the eighties but it still rocks and isn't this what this thread is about?

 

it’s got me thinking
I noticed that many of the songs posted here have only a nostalgic value, but they are kind of trapped in the past, can't tell me anything about the present. In general, what I feel is that most of the 80's songs smells like grandma's house.

That’s strange, actually in the 80's the underground movements were on fire: each trend had its own hardcore following, with their particular rules and lifestyle. The music was the trademark of each group: all absolutely unique and experimental. That's the 80's sound that still have a lot to convey, the 80s I like, the one I consider still alive

Needless to say: at that time “that” music was absolutely banned from official radio / tv broadcasts

 

Warning! Why I must always do offtop

It can be only my imagination but I think Liam Howlett inspired of this effect at 1:51 from this song and implement into this track:

0:45

 

I forgot about Kate, one of the first people to get their hands on a Fairlight CMI! ..

Original Sequenced Version:

 

Last edited: Mar 4, 2021

I have to throw some 808-state in here

and some Art of Noise with Max Headroom

 

"They don't want your name, just your number"

 

I agree with you on some points you made and disagree on others. Some of the songs posted crossed over, meaning that while the audience got broader and more diverse, they lost that "underground" appeal. Some of these songs while fitting withing the broad definition of dance music NEVER received ANY airplay in dance clubs. Plain and simple. If I had titled this thread 80's Dance Club Songs, more than 60 % of these songs would not make the list. As a DJ, I had a hard rule: If a song is being played on the radio I would not play it. Only exceptions were those in which club DJs and club patrons forced radio stations to play the song. A perfect example is "Situation." Yet, other artists such as Madonna and Rick Astley became so successful that they lost that "underground appeal" and some of us stopped playing them. As club DJs we did not get paid to play what was popular on the radio. To the contrary, we were always on the hunt for the unknown. Club patrons did not go to dance clubs to dance to and listen to what Top 40 radio was broadcasting. It should be that for many years if you wanted to dance to this type of music, you had to go to a "gay" dance club unless you were living in a city like Miami in which "straight" dance clubs were playing the same music that "gay" dance clubs in NYC and San Francisco played. As homophobic and conservative as the Cubans from the 80s were, they certainly loved to listen and dance to music from artists that only the gay and underground communities embraced. That remains true to this day. That is why Miami was known as the "Dance Capital of the World." Program Directors from radio stations such as Power 96 (Bill Tanner) and Super Q 107.5 (Angel Rodriguez) were playing Sylvester, Divine, Lime. Contrary to what some people think, NYC "dance/urban") radio stations in the 80's did NOT have these songs on their rotation. In fact, if you wanted to lisen to these type of music on 92 WKTU or 98.7 Kiss you had to tuned in to Paco's Super MIx (with Aldo Marin, The Latin Rascals, Raul "TheAnimal" Rodriguez) everyday at 4 pm or to Shep Pettibone's Mastermix sessions on Saturdays. When these stations started to broadcast "live" from clubs, these clubs were playing music similar to what they had on their rotation. Nothing "underground or avant-garde," whatever you want to call it.
I posted Patrick Cowley. His music sounds as fresh today as it did 40 years ago, as it should. After all he is the godfather of Hi Nrg music. Radio never embraced Cowley. Indeed, I can only name a handful of radio stations in the USA that had "the courage" to play him. Cowley's music represented everything that mainstream media and Americans hated at the time. As Cowley there were many others that suffered the same fate. Their music stills sound as fresh today as it did 40 years ago. Yet, the majority of people don't even know who they are. This is not limited to Hi NRG artists. Groups like "The The" "Wire Train" were ignored by radio stations, too.

 

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As explained above, these two bands were practically ignored by radio stations in the USA. I tried hard to push Wire Train after the group's label was swallowed by Columbia to no avail. I was one of the principals at the Rock Pool, a record pool catering to DJs from radio and clubs that played this type of music, and was a Billboard Reporter. I contacted every PD at radio stations in NYC and New Jersey and they refused to include Wire Train in their rotation. The only exception was LIR Radio out of long Island. Reviews were great, clubs were playing them nightly, and yet radio would not play them.

 

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Why narrow it down? Whether funk or Hi NRG or DOR, dance music is dance music. It is what it is. If I tried to narrow it down it will create confusion, and limit members' participation.

 

Very well to add to eclectic nature and participate.

The mullet bros & predator women. 1982.

The Era of Activator & Sheen 1984 & Helpless Women & preternatural sexual predators.

 

Last edited: Mar 4, 2021

Agreed here, if a tune gets played in a club/basement/pub/warehouse/soundsystem and it makes people dance, it is then dance music. I try to keep my output in this thread based on that.

 

Remember, people used it dance to Status Quo

 

Not so sure how fresh it sounds today as I completely love the Chicago house sound.

Anyway, this is definitely *NSFW* so beware before clicking play.

Back in the day, I used to take the acapella and mash it up with Lil Louis' French Kiss. I think a lot of people did this as well. People loved it.

 

Breaking news
Finally discovered why Russians were winning medals in the 80's Olympic games
That's what their training was actually based on:

vleva... prava = left... right