Dance Music Songs And The “Forbidden Genre”

I recently found myself in an online argument with complete strangers over a list of the twenty five greatest songs of the “oughties.” Or whatever it is we’ve decided to call the decade that ran from the year 2000 to the year 2010. And yes, arguing online is like running in the special olympics – even if you win, you’re still retarded. But I just can’t help myself.

On my list of the top 25 songs of the decade I included two dance music songs: Kylie Minogues 2000 hit “Can’t get you out of my head” and Lady Gaga’s 2008 release “Poker Face.” While there were those who supported my selections, there was one person who was very, very much against including any dance music songs on any top 25 “best of” list for any reason.

And from my point of view, that’s kind of ridiculous thinking. Dance music songs tend not to be my favorites, and the genre itself has given rise to some pretty awful stuff as a whole, but that doesn’t mean that the genre can’t ever produce worthwhile music. And I think the two dance music songs I mentioned particularly illustrate that.

And the fact is, music critics tend to hate manufactured bands and dance music songs the most. The most frequent criticism thrown at them tends to be that they’re somehow faux; that the music they make, even if it is very good, somehow counts for less because it was not made for purely idealistic ends. I think this is blinkered hogwash.

After all, just think about it: Neither Bing Crosby nor Frank Sinatra wrote their own music. Neither did Billie Holliday or Ella Fitzgerald or Nat King Cole. Nobody was more manufactured than the singers of “standards” in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, yet those singers are almost uniformly venerated by the same critics that hate every manufactured band from the Monkees to the Jonas Brothers to points beyond. It’s an arbitrary and useless distinction on their part, one born of cultural attitudes moreso than any realistic assessment of the music that’s been produced by these acts.

So which dance music songs have really stood out for me besides the ones I already mentioned? Well, it depends upon what you consider dance music. For me, I’d throw the French grou Daft Punk into that genre even though others consider them “electronic music.” If you’re not counting them out, then virtually everything they’ve done over the years belongs on a list of the best dance music songs.

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