Ok, so it's been a while since I bothered to post anything, but there's a good reason. I am now approaching the end of my tertiary education and finally have some spare time to dedicate to writing something other than essays. So, in order to make up for my absence (and to celebrate my freedom) I'm going to give the people what they want; a pointless "Top 10" list!
Hat Guy's 10 Favorite Party Songs (In no particular order)
Let's face it, everyone likes to party. To me, nothing makes a party like good party music, you don't even have to dance, just rock out or groove a little. The best party music, to me, makes me feel good to be alive, it makes me want to cut loose and have fun. Hence, this list contains very few "Party Standards" like Celebration or the Nutbush, because I fucking hate these songs. Any song that I'm pretty much guaranteed to hear at a wedding reception or 21st, I'm gonna be pretty sick of, having heard it repeatedly at such gatherings. No. I like to rock out a bit when I party as you'll see below. These songs are the first things I'll throw on a playlist for any party I'm hosting, I just love to hear them and Party Hard!
1. I Get Wet - Andrew WK
Fuck. Yeah. If there's anyone that can party harder and better than Andrew WK, I've never heard of them. The man is a Party Virtuoso, spreading his philosophy of Partying to a grateful world; seeing him live was one of the most life-affirming experiences I've ever had. If you want to kick any party from 0 to 100 in under four minutes, Get Wet. I also like this one because it doesn't have "Party" in the title, not that his songs that do are bad, I just prefer this one.
2. Kick Out the Jams - Henry Rollins and Bad Brains
So it turns out I'm a Punk Rocker and I like to party to Punk music and this song is pretty much Punk Bonox. If you could condense all of the music, attitude and history of the punk music into three minutes, you'd end up with this song. Not only a cover of MC5's classic Proto-Punk party anthem, the vocals are provided by Henry Rollins himself with the backing of Bad Brains, one of the most influential Punk acts ever. This song is pretty much a staple of Punk covers and there are my good versions of it out there, but I just couldn't pass up this one. It's a shame that the only recording of it I can find is on the soundtrack to Pump Up The Volume, a mediocre 80s music movie.
3. Stand - R.E.M.
I really wish I could have found the video where Michael Stipe and the two girls dance topless, that one's much better. R.E.M. are brilliant and this song is awesome, even if the lyrics are a bit obtuse and it never did get as big as some of their other stuff. Stand is a great demonstration of R.E.M.'s pop credentials, it's catchy, fun, light and easy to dance to. It's a shame that this song has fallen out of popularity.
4. Zero - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs No Video, see my "Help Me I Hate: Pop Music" article for why this song is awesome.
5. I'm On a Boat - The Lonely Island feat. T Pain
I used to HATE this song. However, over the years it grew on me, and like the fungus on my foot, I now can't imagine life without it. I've talked about the Lonely Island guys before, so I won't repeat myself here, but this song is a great one to sing along to with all your drunk friends.
6. Thrash Unreal - Against Me!
Sometimes you don't party because you're happy. Sometimes you party because life sucks and you've got nothing better to do. Thrash Unreal is about the second kind of party. If you want to get blitzed and forget about tomorrow, this is the song to throw on and dance your aggression out to. My mixed feelings about Against Me! aside, this song is fantastic, desperate yet triumphant, sad yet hopeful. More of this please Against Me!
7. Gettin' In the Mood - The Brian Setzer Orchestra
After Stray Cats, Brian Setzer started up a Swing Orchestra and made the world a better place to live in. This Rockabilly-ed update of a Glenn Miller classic is great to dance to and the perfect example of how great music never goes out of style. If you'll excuse me, I need to go quiff my hair up and shine my bowling shoes. Also, if you still think Slash is the greatest guitarist of all time, check out some old Stray Cats clips and get ready to have your mind blown.
8. I Want You Back - The Jackson 5
There's nothing wrong with the classics and for me, there's nothing more classic than Motown. Forget about MJ for this one and focus on Tito's Bass playing, the man is an under-appreciated genius. A few covers of this song have gained some popularity in the past few years, but to me, none can compare to the original. Never forget that the Jackson 5 were the biggest band on the planet at one time, outselling the Beatles and touring nonstop. I'm not going to dwell upon MJ's life or any of the accusations thrown at him, but man these guys could play.
9. C'Mon Everybody - The Sex Pistols
Another cover, but this one has a great history and my be the last video Sid Viscous recorded before he was (probably) killed by Malcolm McClaren. After Johnny Rotten left the band, Sid did most of the vocals and he appears a lot in their last few videos. Sid is clearly high whilst signing this song, he can't follow the tune and slurs a lot of the lines. God rest you Sid, you will be missed.
10. Rock Lobster - The B52's
I HATE Love Shack. I've heard it so many times that all I can hear is dunk wedding goers trying to sing along without knowing all the words. Rock Lobster, on the other hand, is pure genius. Everything about this song is wrong; the verses don't match, the vocals are on the wrong octave and the chord changes come out of nowhere, but somehow, it works. The B52's are way bigger and better than Love Shack would indicate, check out some of their other work, starting out with this song. It's a Rock Lobster!
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