Stayin’ Alive With Its Disco Roots, Dance Music Is Still Going Strong

Buckle on your boogie shoes, all you dancin’ fools.

Today’s stylized dance music shimmies a wide path on the floor, from melodious house to tantalizing techno. It moves like a Corvette and corners like a Lexus. And Tom Jones - yes, “that” Tom Jones - is on the cutting edge club-wise. Yet, one constant remains:

No matter what we call it (is disco still a dirty word?), dance music is flourishing these days - on pop radio and in the clubs - providing, at 120 beats or more per minute, a pulsating soundtrack for many a weekend rendezvous.

By its simplest definition, dance music is whatever gets us moving, from the sound of swing to the big band beat. Elvis Presley’s rock-‘n’-rolling “Hound Dog” did it in the ‘50s (to much parental horror), while Chubby Checker had us twistin’ the night away a decade later.

And, of course, there was disco. “Rock the Boat,” a No. 1 single in 1974, helped jumpstart this R&B offshoot characterized by swirling strings, a metronomic drum beat and actual tunes and singers.

Disco’s detractors claimed such producer-driven studio effects yielded artists who were little more than interchangeable names. Still, is there anyone of a certain age who doesn’t remember Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls” or Chic’s “Le Freak”? Even our PARENTS were attempting “The Hustle.”

The dance music most nightspots play today has its origins in the spirit of disco, but it’s shucked the polyester leisure-suit image and branched off into a slew of slipperyto-define permutations.

“They’re coming up with new terms every week to classify dance music,” says one staffer at Miami Beach’s hip Uncle Sam’s Music. And he’s right.

Classic disco lingers, but there’s also house (its harder-driving cousin, often characterized by a piercing female wailer); deep or underground house (heavier, darker, more repetitive); high-NRG (high energy, figure it out); and tribal (a heavily rhythmic, percussive-heavy stew of sound effects and cascading beats).

Today, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences continues to ignore dance music. It is, shall we say, the winter of our discotheque.

Still, the beat goes on. So much to choose from. Where to begin?

Let us help. Here, in chronological order of release, are 20 CDs that have helped shape the current dance scene. Add them to your collection, and you’ll have the makings of a wellrounded dance-CD library.

1. The Original Movie Soundtrack, “Saturday Night Fever,” Polydor (1977).

Disco’s crowning moment came in the form of this two-album package for a movie no one dreamed would have cultural significance. Yet, John Travolta’s white-suited, finger-pointing-skyward pose, captured forever on the album cover, helped define the ‘70s as surely as any other visual image. The title alone is synonymous with the sensory-overloaded lifestyle that swept the nation. The music of the Bee Gees, ageless and brimming with life on propulsive tracks like “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever,” joined the Trammps’ equally charged, near-11-minute aphrodisiac “Disco Inferno.” Hypnotically thumping drum beats, rubbery bass riffs, irresistible energy. Exquisite.

2. Michael Jackson, “Thriller,” Epic (1982).

Despite everything since, it’s still a thriller. Before the Weird One became, well, weird, he unleashed this pop masterpiece, which featured such solid dance-floor workouts as “Billie Jean,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin”’ and the title track. With Quincy Jones’ expensive production adding sizzle and Jacko writing seizing hooks, “Thriller” still sounds remarkably fresh.

3. Pet Shop Boys, “Disco,” EMI (1986).

This first Pet Shop Boys remix CD recasts early material (“West End Girls,” “Opportunities,” “Love Comes Quickly”) at up to 128 beats per minute without sacrificing the haunting melodies that made the original versions work. This is U.K. dance/pop at its best - and includes the previously unreleased gem “Paninaro.”

4. Debbie Harry/Blondie, “Once More Into the Bleach,” Chrysalis (1988).

OK, so Blondie was more fun as a rock band. Then Harry went solo, discovered the beat within her and became a precursor to Madonna. This collection, notably, “In Love With Love,” “Rush Rush” and “Feel the Spin,” shows why: Harry’s glassy soprano sounds dee-lish, dripping sex appeal as it rides atop modernized, bouncy synth lines.

5. Bananarama, “The Greatest Hits Collection,” London (1988).

You can hardly call this female British trio gifted; try enthusiastic. The singing is amateurish, the music slight. Still, there is the work of producers Stock, Aitken, Waterman, the team that defined the dance genre for a time in the Me decade. The SAW sound, as it was called repetitive and simple, impossibly slick, irrepressibly tuneful - peaked with Bananarama’s upbeat remake of “Venus.”

6. Jimmy Somerville, “The Singles Collection 1984/1990 Featuring Bronski Beat and the Communards,” FFRR Records/London (1990).

Falsetto Somerville (think Boy George without the purity of tone) offered high-NRG disco remakes mixed with original pensive ballads, the best of which are gathered here. Somerville sang straightforwardly about gay topics, the most famous being the mid-tempo hit “Smalltown Boy.” His sad, sometimes grating voice spoke directly to his intended gay audience; others sought out the song’s mesmerizing melody and coursing, rhythmic current.

7. C+C Music Factory, “Gonna Make You Sweat,” Columbia (1990).

Producers Robert Clivilles and the late David Cole merged techno with a touch of rap and the piercing female wailer (in this case, Zelma Davis) of house. “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” is the blueprint - so influential, you can’t escape the high-pitched vocal at clubs nowadays.

8. Black Box, “Dreamland,” deConstruction Records/RCA (1990).

This Italian house-music act hit big with the infectiously tuneful “Everybody Everybody” and “I Don’t Know Anybody Else.” A credible Earth, Wind & Fire cover of “Fantasy” sacrifices the stately arrangement of the original for simple instrumentation - drum machines and punchy synths - but shows Black Box knew what makes for good dance music: a reliable beat and a clear melody to help anticipate your moves on the floor.

9. Madonna, “The Immaculate Collection,” Sire (1990).

Madonna may be a club staple, but her studio albums don’t qualify for this list; aside from 1987’s spotty “You Can Dance” remix CD, those releases veer closer to pop. This immaculate-sounding greatest-hits CD gathers some of the finestcrafted dance hits of the genre. The stylish “Vogue” - kind of like disco on uppers - can’t be topped. A whirl without end.

10. Various Artists, “The ‘70s Preservation Society Presents Disco Fever,” Razor & Tie (1991).

Forty of the disco era’s most popular songs - “Knock on Wood,” “I Love the Nightlife (Disco ‘Round),” “Turn the Beat Around” - and its hottest acts - the Bee Gees, K.C. & the Sunshine Band, Thelma Houston - on a two-CD set. Glaring omissions (anything from Chic or even Andy Gibb’s “Shadow Dancing”) but still a perfect party starter. If you want to understand pop music circa 1975 to 1980, start here.

11. Erasure, “Pop! The First 20 Hits,” Sire/Reprise (1992).

This British duo (ex-Yaz and -Depeche Mode keyboardist Vince Clarke and high-pitched singer Andy Bell) offers synthetic technopop ranging from the frothy dance of “Who Needs Love (Like That)” and “Oh L’amour” to a bouncy remake of ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me.”

12. Village People, “The Best Of Village People,” Casablanca (1994).

This campy group, considered strictly a novelty act of the late 1970s, has aged better than anyone had reason to expect. Unshakable melodies and nonstop, nudging beats make for durable songs. Sure, the lyrics to “Y.M.C.A.” and “In the Navy” are hopelessly corny - do gays really want to flock to either institution and if so, why? - but you can’t shake those hooks.

13. M People, “Elegant Slumming,” Epic (1994).

England’s current dance champs bring melody and soulful singing back to the clubs with a series of terrific house/R&B numbers of endless hooks, highlighted by the sassy “Moving On Up,” arguably dance music’s finest lyrical moment since “I Will Survive.” Its distinctive keyboard pattern, Heather Small’s robust vocals and a thumping beat helped it become the runaway club hit last summer.

14. Crystal Waters, “Storyteller,” Mercury (1994).

No wonder “100% Pure Love” ran neck-and-neck for club supremacy with “Moving On Up” last summer. Waters’ jazz-inflected voice merges with hard-edged house instrumentation, while the song’s dark and heady synthesizer intro is a hard-to-decline signal to hit the dance floor.

15. Waterlillies, “Tempted,” Sire (1994).

A techno record that exudes warmth, thanks to sultry singer Sandra Jill Alikas-St. Thomas. Her New York bandmates somehow manage to inject heat and heart into mid-tempo dance tunes despite using the tools of the trade - synths and drum machines. Hypnotic.

16. Donna Summer, “Endless Summer: Donna Summer’s Greatest Hits,” Casablanca/Mercury (1994).

From 1975’s satin-and-embers “Love to Love You Baby” to “I Feel Love” (1977) through this year’s No. 1 club smash, “Melody of Love (Wanna Be Loved),” this 18-track collection showcases Summer as more than a dance diva par excellence. She’s a “singer.” Includes the disco classics “Hot Stuff,” “Last Dance” and “MacArthur Park.”

17. Various Artists, “Brilliant! The Global Dance Music Experience,” Volume 5, SBK/EMI (1995).

The strongest of the five volumes in this multi-artist compilation series, featuring songs you’ll hear tonight at some clubs. It’s that current. Good stuff, too. Judy Cheek’s saucy, heavily percussive anthem “Respect” is the highlight, but you’ll also groove to Shawn Christopher’s “Make My Love” and a remix of Juliet Lewis’ high-NRG “I Want You.”

18. Real McCoy, “Another Night,” Arista (1995).

Some will bristle at the idea of this German act - a prefabricated Ace of Base for 1995 - on a “classics” list, but you can’t deny the dance appeal of the title track. The tune has stuck to the pop charts for close to a year (!), thanks to its insistent house beat and delicious hook. “Run Away” is another tuneful club/pop nugget, and “Automatic Lover (Call For Love)” and “Operator” are waiting in the wings. Ear and feet candy. So what?

19. Towa Tei, “Future Listening!,” Elektra (1995).

Deee-lite’s DJ-producer trots off on his own on these quirky, delightful acid-jazz tracks that prove as listenable as they are danceable. There’s a sense of whimsy to “I Want to Relax, Please!, Technova (La em Copacabana)” and “Luv Connection.” Big fun.

20. New Order, “(the best of) New Order,” Qwest/WB (1995).

From the ashes of the darker Joy Division, New Order arose in the ‘80s and soared higher, thanks to melodic bass lines, steady synth-driven pulses and bright pop hooks.