"Let the Music Play" is a song recorded by American singer Shannon and released on September 19, 1983, as both her debut single and the lead single from her 1984 debut studio album of the same name. Written by Chris Barbosa and Ed Chisolm, and produced by Barbosa and Mark Liggett, "Let the Music Play" was the first of Shannon's four number ones on the US Dance Club Songs chart, reaching the top spot in October 1983. It also became a huge crossover hit in the US, peaking at number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1984. It was Shannon's only top 40 hit in the US. Some mark "Let the Music Play" as the beginning of the "dance-pop" era. "Let the Music Play" was ranked 43rd on the 2009 VH1 Special 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 1980s, while Rolling Stone and Billboard featured it in their lists of "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" and "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time" in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The song also appears in the film Totally Killer and the video games Dance Central 3 and Scarface: The World Is Yours.
"Early in the Morning" is a song originally performed by The Gap Band, and written by member Charlie Wilson and producers Lonnie Simmons and Rudy Taylor.
"Dancing Machine" is a song recorded by American R&B group the Jackson 5; it was the title track of their ninth studio album. The song was originally recorded for the group's 1973 album G.I.T.: Get It Together and was released as a remix.
"Let's Go Crazy" is a 1984 song by Prince and The Revolution, from the album Purple Rain. It is the opening track on both the album and the film Purple Rain. "Let's Go Crazy" was one of Prince's most popular songs, and was a staple for concert performances, often segueing into other hits. When released as a single, the song became Prince's second number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and also topped the two component charts, the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Dance Club Play charts, as well as becoming a UK Top 10 hit. The B-side was the lyrically controversial "Erotic City". In the UK, the song was released as a double A-side with "Take Me with U".
"Thieves in the Temple" is a song by American musician Prince from the 1990 soundtrack album Graffiti Bridge. Added at the last minute, it was the final song recorded for the album. "Thieves in the Temple" topped the US R&B chart and became a number six hit in the US, and a number seven hit in the UK. The single also peaked at number nine on the dance chart.
"Candy" is a song by American funk band Cameo, released as the second single from their 1986 album Word Up!. The song features a solo by saxophonist Michael Brecker. "Honey", a reworked version with different lyrics was included on their next album, Machismo.
"Walk On By" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for singer Dionne Warwick in 1963. Warwick's recording of the song peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Cash Box Rhythm and Blues Chart In June 1964 and was nominated for a 1965 Grammy Award for the Best Rhythm and Blues Recording.
Brooklyn Dreams were an American singing group of the late 1970s, mixing R&B harmonies with contemporary dance/disco music and best known for a number of collaborations with singer Donna Summer. The band consisted of Joe "Bean" Esposito, Eddie Hokenson and Bruce Sudano. Esposito provided lead vocals for the band and played guitar, while Sudano played keyboards and Hokenson played drums and occasionally sang lead vocals.
"It Only Takes a Minute" is a 1975 song by American soul/R&B group Tavares, released as the first single from their third album, In the City (1975). The song was the group's only top-10 pop hit in the United States, peaking at number 10, and their second number one song on the American soul charts. On the US Disco chart, "It Only Takes a Minute" spent five weeks at number two and was the first of four entries on the chart. The song was subsequently covered by Jonathan King performing as 100 Ton and a Feather in 1976 and by boy band Take That in 1992.
"Dazz" is a song by R&B/funk band Brick. "Dazz" is a combination of disco, funk and jazz, hence the title "Dazz", a combination denominator for "Disco Jazz". Released in 1976 from their debut album Good High, it would become their biggest hit, spending four weeks at the top of the R&B singles chart, while reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 41 on Billboard's year-end chart. In Canada, it reached number 26.
"Fire" is a song by R&B/funk band Ohio Players. It was the opening track from the album of the same name and hit No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot Soul Singles chart in early 1975. It spent two weeks atop the soul chart. "Fire" was the Ohio Players' only entry on the new disco/dance chart, where it peaked at No. 10. The song is considered to be the band's signature one, along with "Love Rollercoaster".
"I'm Still in Love with You" is a song originally recorded by Al Green. Released from the album of the same title, the single spent two weeks at #1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart in August 1972. It also peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart that same year. It would eventually sell over one million copies and is considered one of his most popular songs. Billboard ranked it as the No. 59 song for 1972.
"Heartbeat" is a 1981 R&B single by Taana Gardner. It was arranged by Dennis Weeden and Kenton Nix, and released by West End Records, with the more famous club mix created by Larry Levan. It reached the US Billboard R&B Singles at No. 10 and the No. 6 on the US Billboard Dance. It has sold over 800,000 copies.
"Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" is a song by jazz trumpeter Tom Browne. The single—a memoir of the Jamaica neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens where Browne was born and raised—is from his second solo album, Love Approach. Browne got the idea for the song while he was at his parents' home. The vocals for the single were performed by Toni Smith, who also helped compose the song. The song hit number one on the US Billboard R&B chart for a month. "Funkin' for Jamaica" peaked at number nine on the dance chart and made the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, but it never charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Fresh" is a song by the American group Kool & the Gang. Released as a single in 1984 from the album Emergency, the song peaked at #9 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart, and #11 on the UK chart. It also reached number one on both the U.S. R&B chart and U.S. Dance chart.
"Keep On Dancin'" is the debut single by Gary's Gang, a disco group from Queens, New York. The song became successful in several countries in 1979.
"Walking on Sunshine" is a song by Eddy Grant, and the title track of his third studio album. It was released as a single in 1979. Grant's original version was not a hit, but the song was remade three years later by Rockers Revenge, a studio project assembled by producer Arthur Baker, which became the hit version.
"Divine Emotions" is a 1988 single by Narada Michael Walden, from the album Divine Emotion. A successful producer, Walden billed himself as Narada for his later music releases. After producing acts like Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston in the mid-1980s, Walden released "Divine Emotions," in 1988. The single went to number one on the Billboard dance club play chart for one week. Although the single did not chart on the Hot 100, it peaked at number twenty-one on the soul singles chart. Overseas, "Divine Emotions", was a Top Ten hit in the UK, peaking at #8, and in the Netherlands, peaking at #4 in the Dutch Top40.
"Circles" is a song by the American band Atlantic Starr, and the first single released from their 1982 album Brilliance. The single was the most successful for the group thus far, peaking at number two for two weeks on the Soul Singles chart and it also became their first single to hit the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 38. "Circles" was also Atlantic Starr's most successful single on the dance charts, peaking at number nine.
"Don't Let Go" is a song written by Jesse Stone. The song was first a hit for Roy Hamilton in 1958. The Roy Hamilton version reached number 2 on the R&B charts and number 13 on the pop charts.
