When I woke up this morning I was humming the “Cupid Shuffle.” Actually I didn’t know that was the song’s name, and I didn’t know any of the lyrics, but the bassline and that keyboard hit were going through my head. As the day progressed I realized I was humming one of those songs that had a dance to go with it, and it got me thinking about other songs that have their own dance. Gangnam Style (Psy), Macarena (Los del Rio, 1994), C’Mon ‘N Ride It (Quad City Dj’s, 1995), were some of the first that came to mind.
C’Mon ‘N Ride It (The Train) (1995)… I only remember this song because of how awful it is, and accidentally catching them on Oprah flipping channels when I was a teenager. That horrible image of Oprah doing the choo-choo maneuver is burned into my retina forever; oddly hilarious but at the same time horrifying to witness. I’m sure the song was inspired by the commercial success of the Macarena, which was released the year before. It’s one of those songs that’s mildly nauseating for me when I get it stuck in my head, like Hangin’ Tough (New Kids on the Block).
Hangin’ Tough, by the way, doesn’t come with it’s own “dance” per se, but it does introduce some easy to follow dance moves that involve swaying your arms back and forth and sliding across the floor with slick shoes. I’m confident it was the most popular song used in middle school lip sync contests in 1988.
Does The Twist (Chubby Checker), Thriller (Michael Jackson) also count as songs with their own dance? What is the origin of the Chicken Dance, and does that count as a song with it’s own dance? So many questions troubled me this morning! I began to wonder if others though the same and found this compilation of songs that have their own dance. It’s quite a list, and many of the songs that sprang into my inner ear when reading it induced immediate nausea. Cotton Eyed Joe was one I especially would rather have not recalled. Proceed with caution!