Best Dance Songs of 1987
When New Order, Depeche Mode, Rick Astley and Exposé Ruled the Floor
Oct 11, 2008
80's Music had its ups and downs from New Wave to Freestyle. Here are the 10 Best Dance Songs of 1987
Pet Shop Boys – Always On My Mind
Taking “Always On My Mind”, a track first made popular by Elvis and then Country legend Willie Nelson, and bringing it to the dancefloor is no small feat. But the Pet Shop Boys' version of this classic track remains one of the greatest reincarnations ever.
Not only is “Always On My Mind” unrecognisable from its country version, but the Boys deliver their habitual stoic stance on the track, capturing it for themselves. Recorded in their prime, following the huge success of their first two albums, this track remains one of the greatest dance tracks ever recorded. Found on Discography.
The Cover Girls – Because of You
Created as an 80's Latina version of the Supremes, The Cover Girls had a handful of freestyle dance tracks, none of which matches the melancholy fun of “Because of You”. It’s hard not to remain from “jumping up and down, spinning all around” when “Because of You” tracks hits the speakers. Found on Show Me.
Exposé – Come Go With Me
The Spicegirls and their girl power were still a decade away when these three starlets burst out of Miami, Florida to capture the dancefloor and the charts with “Come Go With Me”. Bringing a Latin vibe to the single (one that later influenced the Pet Shop Boys’ “Domino Dancing”) “Come Go With Me” mixed high energy synths with electric guitar that captures the 80’s freestyle sound like few other tracks. Found on Exposure.
The Cure – Just Like Heaven
While not a pure dance track, back in the 80’s “Just Like Heaven” filled school gymnasium dance floors with lovesick teens that “promised to run away with you”. One of the more upbeat moments for a band that made its brand in gloom, The Cure placed a spell on a whole new generation of fans and landed its first Stateside top 40 track with this hypnotic jam. Found on Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me.
Jody Watley – Looking For A New Love
Watley was anything but subtle when she roller-skated off TV’s Solid Gold and landed straight onto the dancefloor and the charts with her kiss-off track “Looking For A New Love”. Our girl Jody asks the burning questions “was she hot, did she turn you out, curiosity rules my brain”, before giving her two-timing dud the boot on this track, one of several floor fillers that earned her a Grammy for best new artist in 1987. Found on Jody Watley.
George Michael – Monkey
George Michael clocked in some serious time at the summit of the charts with the 1987 release of his career-making album Faith. But while the biggest hits pulled from that album came in the form of heart wrenching ballads such as “One More Try”, "Father Figure” and the rockabilly-esque title track, Michael put on his dancing shoes for “Monkey”.
Remixed by the scorching hot team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (of Janet Jackson Control fame), the remixed “Monkey” brought Michael serious dance floor cred, as well as a few stares for his awful dancing in the video. Song found on Ladies and Gentlemen; The Best of George Michael, video found on TwentyFive.
New Order – True Faith
One of the new recordings included on the group’s double disc collection of material dating back to the Joy Division days, “True Faith” brought attention to an emerging ‘electronica’ movement that incorporated the rawness of punk with sleek electronic production, bridging the gap between the underground dance movement and mainstream pop radio.
"True Faith" propelled the group into the top 40 Stateside for the first time and is included on various soundtracks and countless New Order Greatest Hits collections ever since. “True Faith” stands up to the test of time and sounds every bit as brooding and buoyant today as it did in 1987. Found on Substance.
Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up
There was a time, in 1987 in fact, before Rickrolling, when “Never Gonna Give You Up” dominated the airwaves and the dancefloor. Looking like the lost son from the Partridge Family but sounding like a mountain of a soul singer, Astley, along with Kylie Minogue, Bananarama and Samantha Fox, brought the Stock/Aitkin/Waterman sound to America in a big way.
Clocking up hit after hit before their pop/dance train lost steam in the late 80’s, the production team of SAW crafted seamless crossover hits like Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round” and, “Never Gonna Give You Up”, still the most famous in Astley’s thin catalogue. Rickroll away! Found on Whenever You Need Somebody.
M/A/R/R/S – Pump Up The Volume
Proving there’s no real need for a band to exist for a classic song to be born, “Pump Up The Volume”, crafted in various studios by feuding group members, became the first UK number one based solely on samples, despite a lawsuit from Stock/Aitkin/Waterman who claimed M/A/R/R/S used their “Yeah, Yeah” without permission.
Re-recorded for an American audience, the track went top twenty in the US and paved the way for other hip hop/ dance fusions to break into the mainstream. Used in numerous movie soundtracks even today, this one-hit-wonder remains one of the best and most recognisable dance tracks ever recorded. Found on Pump Up The Volume – Single.
Depeche Mode – Behind the Wheel
From the moment the hubcap stops spinning and the thundering drums begin, “Behind the Wheel” becomes a testament to a band at its creative height. Years before “Enjoy the Silence” brought the band global fame, “Behind the Wheel” captured the imagination of a generation longing to be free, either in a convertible slicing down an open highway, or on a dance floor tripped out on acid. Provoking, yet moving, “Behind the Wheel” dances a thin line between submission and aggression. A floor filler to this day. Found on Music for the Masses.
In 1987 dance music was a pot pourri of styles, characteristic of the decade and the groups providing its soundtrack.
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