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The songs become so well known that we can almost take them for granted – but how well do we really know them? Here’s your chance to get to know 10 of the most popular dancefloor fillers a little better.
Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
Beginning as a US prog rock outfit, Journey became a more mainstream rock act in the early 80s. Parting with their original keyboardist as their sound changed, the band invited British musician Jonathan Cain to take his place. Cain had been living in LA but was struggling to make a living. At his lowest, he would call home to receive words of encouragement from his dad. “Don’t stop believing or you’re done,” his dad would tell him.
So when Journey rented a warehouse to write and record their next album, Cain took his dad’s words to heart, coming up with the song’s title and hook. The band were inspired, contributing and expanding the track to become what we’re familiar with today, and also cementing Cain’s place within the group in the process.
The song was met with dismissive reviews when first released, but has solidified into a genuine rock anthem, becoming the biggest selling digital track from the 20th century in 2012, and being placed into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021. Cain’s dad must have been proud.
Love Story – Taylor Swift
This is another song that received a poor reception upon release, which underscores that critics really do know nothing. This time, it was criticised for how it had used Romeo and Juliet as a foundation for the song, with more than one critic claiming Swift had fallen short of the mark. Considering her youth and gender, you can’t help but wonder if there was a little misogyny at play here, especially given the fullness of time.
The song was written for her second album, Fearless, and, like so much of her music, had taken inspiration from a real-life event. On this occasion it was a boy she really liked, but no matter who she introduced him to nobody else seemed to have anything good to say about him.
The relationship never developed, but it was good fodder for a song, reminding Swift of how the families of Romeo and Juliet disapproved of their choices for partners. Swift’s instincts were spot on, and although the critics grumbled, the public loved it, making it one of the significant stepping stones on her path to mega-stardom. ‘Love Story’ has sold six million copies in the US and a further 18 million across the globe, and is getting a new lease of life following Swift’s recent acquisition of her original master recordings.
Shut Up And Dance – Walk The Moon
Now a decade old, Walk The Moon’s vocalist Nicholas Petricca says much of the song’s inspiration comes from hits of the past – what he described as “simple and beautiful...in-your-face rock songs”. There are three songs in particular that he cites, all of which you can hear echoes of in ‘Shut Up And Dance’: ‘Just What I Needed’ by the Cars, ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ by Pat Benatar, and ‘Jessie’s Girl’ by Rick Springfield. Combined with the track they inspired, all four would make a cracking segue.
Low – Flo Rida
Flo Rida’s debut single, and arguably his biggest track, has featured in films ‘Step Up 2: The Streets’, ‘Tropic Thunder’, ‘Rio 2’ and ‘Zookeeper'. Emulating a hip-hop style from the 1990s, ‘Low’ describes the rapper’s attempts to win over a woman dancing in a club. He somehow manages to avoid the overtly sexual connotations and imagery used by his contemporaries for more obscure and unlikely euphemisms, such as ‘birthday cakes’ to describe the dancer’s buttocks. It’s popular at school discos, although let’s hope not for that reason. Regardless, it was the most downloaded song of the 2000s (2000-2009) despite only coming out in 2007.
Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
‘Sweet Caroline’ was released in 1969 and remains a much beloved hit, finding a whole new lease of life amongst the crowd at sporting fixtures. But who was the inspiration behind the song?
Confusingly, Diamond has given two completely different stories, and each explanation made just a few years apart.
In 2007 he stated that it was about the daughter of John F Kennedy, who would have been 11 when the song came out. He mentions seeing photos of her and her family, with Caroline sat on a horse as a particular image that became lodged in his mind. This recollection was made the same year he sang the song at Caroline’s 50th birthday party.
But then, in 2014, he claimed the song was actually about his wife at the time, Marcia Murphy. Frustratingly, her name just didn’t fit the rhyme, so he changed it to Caroline instead. Daa-da-daaah!
Yeah! – Usher
‘Yeah!’ was the longest-running number one single on the US Billboard charts in 2004, finally being knocked off the top spot by...another Usher song. But it almost never happened.
Producer Lil Jon had been commissioned by Jive Records to write 15 tracks for rapper Mystikal who only went on to use two of them. Thinking he could use the unwanted songs elsewhere, Lil Jon shared them with Usher, resulting in them coming up with a demo version of ‘Yeah!’. Unfortunately, Jive Records, assuming that as they’d commissioned the songs they were theirs to do with as they pleased, shared the remainder with Petey Pablo who used one of them as the basis of the song ‘Freek-A-Leek’. The song was already getting good feedback and, despite Lil Jon requesting he relinquish it, Pablo wasn’t about to give it up. Backed into a corner, Lil Jon was forced to come up with an equally catchy replacement, and, fortunately for Usher, he pulled it off, a fact supported by the 13 million copies it has sold in the US alone.
September – Earth, Wind And Fire
The song’s opening lyric goes: ‘Do you remember, the 21st night of September’. Quite naturally, people have been very curious about the significance of this date, and the song’s writers have been happy to tell, which I’m happy to share with you here. There is absolutely no significance whatsoever.
It was simply a case of deciding what sounded better when sung out loud. Co-writer Allee Willis said: ‘We went through all the dates: “Do you remember the first, the second, the third, the fourth...” and the one that just felt the best was the 21st.’
Willis was bothered, however, by the lyric “ba-dee-ya” which he felt was utter gibberish. He implored his fellow writer Maurice White to change it, with White responding, most emphatically: “Who the **** cares?”
Willis went on to say he learnt his greatest songwriting lesson from that moment, which was never let the lyric get in the way of the groove. And perhaps he was right. ‘September’ remains a hugely popular song nearly 50 years later.
Mr Brightside – The Killers
Despite never reaching the number one spot, and having been released twice in successive years, ‘Mr Brightside’ is a staggering hit record. In the UK, it is the third most successful song ever, spending over eight years in the top 100 chart.
It began life before they were signed, recounting The Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers entering a Las Vegas bar to find his girlfriend cheating on him. Guitarist Dave Keuning had already written the music that would become the song, so Flowers wrote down his experience to complete it. Not that he wrote much. The song comprises a single verse, repeated, as Flowers had nothing else to say on the matter.
It would be fair to imagine that the song’s success has gone a long way to compensate Flowers for the initial heartbreak.
Dancing Queen – ABBA
The creation of ‘Dancing Queen’, for ABBA’s fourth album of the same name, was a very deliberate process. Up until then, ABBA had failed to secure a number one spot in the USA whose charts, at the time, were dominated by disco. So, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus set out to write a song that would get the band noticed there.
Their starting points were George McCrae’s ‘Rock Your Baby’ and Phil Spector’s famous Wall of Sound production, with the original demo being called ‘Boogaloo’. Half of the song was jettisoned in the songwriters’ laser-focused desire for the perfect hit, although a demo is available online that features it. But the sacrifice was worth it. ABBA’s Agnetha Fältskog said: “It's often difficult to know what will be a hit. The exception was 'Dancing Queen’. We all knew it was going to be massive.”
A worldwide sensation, it topped the charts in 17 countries and was top five in many more. And, as planned, it gave ABBA their first US number one. In the UK, it is ABBA’s biggest of all their songs, selling 1.65 million copies, and has now wracked up over 1.7 billion streams on Spotify. Ever since, a party isn’t really a party without it.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) – Whitney Houston
There was tremendous pressure on Whitney Houston to follow up on the promise of her debut album. One of the biggest songs from that record had been ‘How Will I Know’, written by songwriting duo George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, better known as the band Boy Meets Girl.
They were drafted in again by Arista Records to create an upbeat pop song that showcased Houston’s vocal talent. Together, the songwriter duo sat down to write a hit.
True to their word, that hit was delivered shortly afterwards. The only problem was Arista didn’t like it. The song they’d delivered was called ‘Waiting For A Star To Fall’, which you’ve almost certainly heard of as it did alright shortly afterwards when Boy Meets Girl released it themselves. But it wasn’t the song for Whitney. Merrill and Rubicam were sent back to the keyboard to try again.
Looking for an angle, they settled upon someone going to a club in search of company. The title wasn’t about finding someone to dance with for just an evening, but, as Rubicam put it, to “to do that dance of life with somebody”. This time they won Arista over.
Next, Arista drafted in Narada Michael Walden, who had produced ‘How Will I Know’. He wasn’t sold on the song at first, thinking it too country and western for Houston. But he acknowledged it had potential, and delivered the funk and polish that the song needed for much broader appeal. In a cunning trick, Houston recorded the end of the song first, allowing her to throw energy at the climax of the song.
Like several songs on this list, it received a mixed reception upon release, with some more vocal critics claiming it was either a re-hash of ‘How Will I Know’ or a copy of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’. But that didn’t stop it taking off, lifting Houston’s career as she reached a wider audience.
‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)’ was a huge hit, selling 13 million copies at the time, and now has, impressively, one and half billion streams on Spotify. And that’s not counting all the times you’ve played it!
So there you have it. A little insight into 10 of the dancefloor’s biggest songs. Now you know them just a little better.
Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
Beginning as a US prog rock outfit, Journey became a more mainstream rock act in the early 80s. Parting with their original keyboardist as their sound changed, the band invited British musician Jonathan Cain to take his place. Cain had been living in LA but was struggling to make a living. At his lowest, he would call home to receive words of encouragement from his dad. “Don’t stop believing or you’re done,” his dad would tell him.
So when Journey rented a warehouse to write and record their next album, Cain took his dad’s words to heart, coming up with the song’s title and hook. The band were inspired, contributing and expanding the track to become what we’re familiar with today, and also cementing Cain’s place within the group in the process.
The song was met with dismissive reviews when first released, but has solidified into a genuine rock anthem, becoming the biggest selling digital track from the 20th century in 2012, and being placed into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2021. Cain’s dad must have been proud.
Love Story – Taylor Swift
This is another song that received a poor reception upon release, which underscores that critics really do know nothing. This time, it was criticised for how it had used Romeo and Juliet as a foundation for the song, with more than one critic claiming Swift had fallen short of the mark. Considering her youth and gender, you can’t help but wonder if there was a little misogyny at play here, especially given the fullness of time.
The song was written for her second album, Fearless, and, like so much of her music, had taken inspiration from a real-life event. On this occasion it was a boy she really liked, but no matter who she introduced him to nobody else seemed to have anything good to say about him.
The relationship never developed, but it was good fodder for a song, reminding Swift of how the families of Romeo and Juliet disapproved of their choices for partners. Swift’s instincts were spot on, and although the critics grumbled, the public loved it, making it one of the significant stepping stones on her path to mega-stardom. ‘Love Story’ has sold six million copies in the US and a further 18 million across the globe, and is getting a new lease of life following Swift’s recent acquisition of her original master recordings.
Shut Up And Dance – Walk The Moon
Now a decade old, Walk The Moon’s vocalist Nicholas Petricca says much of the song’s inspiration comes from hits of the past – what he described as “simple and beautiful...in-your-face rock songs”. There are three songs in particular that he cites, all of which you can hear echoes of in ‘Shut Up And Dance’: ‘Just What I Needed’ by the Cars, ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ by Pat Benatar, and ‘Jessie’s Girl’ by Rick Springfield. Combined with the track they inspired, all four would make a cracking segue.
Low – Flo Rida
Flo Rida’s debut single, and arguably his biggest track, has featured in films ‘Step Up 2: The Streets’, ‘Tropic Thunder’, ‘Rio 2’ and ‘Zookeeper'. Emulating a hip-hop style from the 1990s, ‘Low’ describes the rapper’s attempts to win over a woman dancing in a club. He somehow manages to avoid the overtly sexual connotations and imagery used by his contemporaries for more obscure and unlikely euphemisms, such as ‘birthday cakes’ to describe the dancer’s buttocks. It’s popular at school discos, although let’s hope not for that reason. Regardless, it was the most downloaded song of the 2000s (2000-2009) despite only coming out in 2007.
Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
‘Sweet Caroline’ was released in 1969 and remains a much beloved hit, finding a whole new lease of life amongst the crowd at sporting fixtures. But who was the inspiration behind the song?
Confusingly, Diamond has given two completely different stories, and each explanation made just a few years apart.
In 2007 he stated that it was about the daughter of John F Kennedy, who would have been 11 when the song came out. He mentions seeing photos of her and her family, with Caroline sat on a horse as a particular image that became lodged in his mind. This recollection was made the same year he sang the song at Caroline’s 50th birthday party.
But then, in 2014, he claimed the song was actually about his wife at the time, Marcia Murphy. Frustratingly, her name just didn’t fit the rhyme, so he changed it to Caroline instead. Daa-da-daaah!
Yeah! – Usher
‘Yeah!’ was the longest-running number one single on the US Billboard charts in 2004, finally being knocked off the top spot by...another Usher song. But it almost never happened.
Producer Lil Jon had been commissioned by Jive Records to write 15 tracks for rapper Mystikal who only went on to use two of them. Thinking he could use the unwanted songs elsewhere, Lil Jon shared them with Usher, resulting in them coming up with a demo version of ‘Yeah!’. Unfortunately, Jive Records, assuming that as they’d commissioned the songs they were theirs to do with as they pleased, shared the remainder with Petey Pablo who used one of them as the basis of the song ‘Freek-A-Leek’. The song was already getting good feedback and, despite Lil Jon requesting he relinquish it, Pablo wasn’t about to give it up. Backed into a corner, Lil Jon was forced to come up with an equally catchy replacement, and, fortunately for Usher, he pulled it off, a fact supported by the 13 million copies it has sold in the US alone.
September – Earth, Wind And Fire
The song’s opening lyric goes: ‘Do you remember, the 21st night of September’. Quite naturally, people have been very curious about the significance of this date, and the song’s writers have been happy to tell, which I’m happy to share with you here. There is absolutely no significance whatsoever.
It was simply a case of deciding what sounded better when sung out loud. Co-writer Allee Willis said: ‘We went through all the dates: “Do you remember the first, the second, the third, the fourth...” and the one that just felt the best was the 21st.’
Willis was bothered, however, by the lyric “ba-dee-ya” which he felt was utter gibberish. He implored his fellow writer Maurice White to change it, with White responding, most emphatically: “Who the **** cares?”
Willis went on to say he learnt his greatest songwriting lesson from that moment, which was never let the lyric get in the way of the groove. And perhaps he was right. ‘September’ remains a hugely popular song nearly 50 years later.
Mr Brightside – The Killers
Despite never reaching the number one spot, and having been released twice in successive years, ‘Mr Brightside’ is a staggering hit record. In the UK, it is the third most successful song ever, spending over eight years in the top 100 chart.
It began life before they were signed, recounting The Killers’ frontman Brandon Flowers entering a Las Vegas bar to find his girlfriend cheating on him. Guitarist Dave Keuning had already written the music that would become the song, so Flowers wrote down his experience to complete it. Not that he wrote much. The song comprises a single verse, repeated, as Flowers had nothing else to say on the matter.
It would be fair to imagine that the song’s success has gone a long way to compensate Flowers for the initial heartbreak.
Dancing Queen – ABBA
The creation of ‘Dancing Queen’, for ABBA’s fourth album of the same name, was a very deliberate process. Up until then, ABBA had failed to secure a number one spot in the USA whose charts, at the time, were dominated by disco. So, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus set out to write a song that would get the band noticed there.
Their starting points were George McCrae’s ‘Rock Your Baby’ and Phil Spector’s famous Wall of Sound production, with the original demo being called ‘Boogaloo’. Half of the song was jettisoned in the songwriters’ laser-focused desire for the perfect hit, although a demo is available online that features it. But the sacrifice was worth it. ABBA’s Agnetha Fältskog said: “It's often difficult to know what will be a hit. The exception was 'Dancing Queen’. We all knew it was going to be massive.”
A worldwide sensation, it topped the charts in 17 countries and was top five in many more. And, as planned, it gave ABBA their first US number one. In the UK, it is ABBA’s biggest of all their songs, selling 1.65 million copies, and has now wracked up over 1.7 billion streams on Spotify. Ever since, a party isn’t really a party without it.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) – Whitney Houston
There was tremendous pressure on Whitney Houston to follow up on the promise of her debut album. One of the biggest songs from that record had been ‘How Will I Know’, written by songwriting duo George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, better known as the band Boy Meets Girl.
They were drafted in again by Arista Records to create an upbeat pop song that showcased Houston’s vocal talent. Together, the songwriter duo sat down to write a hit.
True to their word, that hit was delivered shortly afterwards. The only problem was Arista didn’t like it. The song they’d delivered was called ‘Waiting For A Star To Fall’, which you’ve almost certainly heard of as it did alright shortly afterwards when Boy Meets Girl released it themselves. But it wasn’t the song for Whitney. Merrill and Rubicam were sent back to the keyboard to try again.
Looking for an angle, they settled upon someone going to a club in search of company. The title wasn’t about finding someone to dance with for just an evening, but, as Rubicam put it, to “to do that dance of life with somebody”. This time they won Arista over.
Next, Arista drafted in Narada Michael Walden, who had produced ‘How Will I Know’. He wasn’t sold on the song at first, thinking it too country and western for Houston. But he acknowledged it had potential, and delivered the funk and polish that the song needed for much broader appeal. In a cunning trick, Houston recorded the end of the song first, allowing her to throw energy at the climax of the song.
Like several songs on this list, it received a mixed reception upon release, with some more vocal critics claiming it was either a re-hash of ‘How Will I Know’ or a copy of Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’. But that didn’t stop it taking off, lifting Houston’s career as she reached a wider audience.
‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)’ was a huge hit, selling 13 million copies at the time, and now has, impressively, one and half billion streams on Spotify. And that’s not counting all the times you’ve played it!
So there you have it. A little insight into 10 of the dancefloor’s biggest songs. Now you know them just a little better.
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 133, Pages 56-61.
