Once again, Happy New Year!
2021 was a crazy year! Despite not being officially allowed to get back to work until the 19th of July, I still managed to squeeze in 61 events before the end of the year and in that time managed to play over 3,200 tracks! But what were the most popular tunes?
The list below shows the top 100 party anthems based on the tracks I played at parties. These are the tracks that filled the dance floor and are made up of requests and songs I believed worked well with those requests.
Let’s get cracking with my top 100 party bangers!
- I Want You Back (Dmitri from Paris Remix) by The Jacksons – It’s generally the first song I play when I feel the time is right to get the party started and it never fails to deliver. It’s a remix, yes, but doesn’t take anything away from the original and gets people dancing every single time!
- Blame It On The Boogie by The Jackson 5 – I tend to play this together with the song above because they do go together like peas and carrots so it’s no wonder that they always occupy the top slots each year!
- I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston – Who doesn’t like some upbeat 80s? This track from Whitney delivers on every single level. Once I hit play feet head towards the dance floor if they’re not already there!
- September by Earth Wind & Fire – It’s fair to say that a disco classic like this really fills dance floors and each year this is always in my top 50. It’s a party anthem for sure!!!
- Night Fever by The Bee Gees – The party classics continue with this 70s disco anthem from The Bee Gees. This won’t be the only time you see them in my top 100 for sure!
- Valerie by Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse – Gone but certainly not forgotten, this superb song features Amy Winehouse on the vocals but there’s no sign of her in the video, but that doesn’t take anything away from the song. People love it, it’s often requested and gets people dancing!
- Dancing Queen by S Club 7 – Now…ABBA purists will probably take offence at this but although the original song is a timeless classic, this version retains everything the ABBA version gives you but adds more depth to make it more friendly for modern-day speaker systems yet still remains faithful to the original.
- Friday (Dopamine Edit) by Riton feat. The Nightcrawlers – A 90’s dance classic re-imagined with a modern twist, that’s basically what you get with this and as we came out of lockdown in July, it was an anthem that just got people dancing again!
- Starships by Nicki Minaj – What’s not to love about this song? Modern, makes you feel good and no matter how old it gets, it’s an iconic party anthem!
- Mr Brightside by The Killers – It is very rare that I do not play this at a party and is certainly a regularly requested track. It hits all the musical spots and gets people singing at the tops of their voices, the sign of a real party anthem!
- Sister Sledge – We Are Family
- Beyonce feat. Jay-Z – Crazy In Love
- The Weeknd – Blinding Lights
- The Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
- Kings Of Leon – Sex On Fire
- Bon Jovi – Livin’ On A Prayer
- Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger
- Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk
- DJ Casper – Cha Cha Slide
- Bruno Mars – Marry You
- Taylor Swift – Shake It Off
- Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean – Hips Don’t Lie
- Pharrell Williams – Happy
- Justin Timberlake – CAN’T STOP THE FEELING!
- Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’
- Bee Gees – Stayin’ Alive
- Whigfield – Saturday Night
- Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
- The B52s – Love Shack
- Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber – Despacito
- Tina Turner – Proud Mary
- House of Pain – Jump Around
- Fatman Scoop & Crooklyn Clan – Be Faithful
- Cee-Lo Green – Forget You
- Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
- Robin S – Show Me Love
- Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now
- Maneskin – Beggin’
- Candi Staton – Young Hearts Run Free
- The Village People – YMCA (Millennium Mix Edit)
- S Club 7 – Reach
- Los Del Rio – Macarena
- Arctic Monkeys – I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
- Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
- Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
- Martine McCutcheon – Mamma Mia
- Livin’ Joy – Dreamer
- Gala – Freed From Desire
- Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons – December ’63 (Oh What A Night)
- Florence + The Machine – You Got The Love (Dennis Kruissen Remix)
- Aretha Franklin – Respect
- Wheatus – Teenage Dirtbag (Explicit)
- Walk The Moon – Shut Up and Dance
- Luther Vandross – Never Too Much
- Greasemania Original Cast – You’re The One That I Want
- Dolly Parton – 9 To 5
- Diana Ross & The Supremes – You Can’t Hurry Love
- Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers – Soul Banana
- Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits
- Bruno Mars – 24K Magic
- Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes – (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life
- Wham! – Club Tropicana
- The Trammps – Disco Inferno
- Spice Girls – Wannabe
- Robin Thicke feat. Pharrell & T.I. – Blurred Lines
- Oasis – Wonderwall
- Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline
- Kygo & Whitney Houston – Higher Love
- John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John – Grease Megamix
- Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions – Boogie Wonderland
- Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music
- Tones And I – Dance Monkey
- The Fatback Band – I Found Lovin’
- The Artful Dodger feat. Romina Johnson – Movin’ Too Fast
- Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)
- Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris – We Found Love
- Outkast – Hey Ya!
- Olivia Rodrigo – Good 4 u
- John Travolta – Greased Lightnin’
- Estelle feat. Kanye West – American Boy
- Elton John & Dua Lipa – Cold Heart (Claptone Remix)
- Earth, Wind & Fire – Let’s Groove
- Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
- BTS – Dynamite
- Bryan Adams – Summer Of ’69
- Backstreet Boys – Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)
- Tina Turner – The Best
- Tiesto – The Business (Original Mix)
- The Wideboys feat. Dennis G – Sambuca (Original Radio Edit)
- The Proclaimers – I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
- The Black Eyed Peas – Let’s Get It Started
- Stevie Wonder – Superstition
- Steps – 5678
- Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You
- LMFAO – Sexy & I Know It
- Little Mix – Black Magic
- Kenny Loggins – Footloose
- Flo Rida feat. T-Pain – Low
- Five – Keep On Movin’
- David Guetta feat. Sia – Titanium
So, The Jacksons take the top positions again for the 4th year running!
One thing you may have noticed is the distinct lack of more modern music on the list. That’s not to say I don’t have any, it’s just that it would appear that modern music just doesn’t seem to have a place at parties these days.
Someone said to me just the other week actually that they would struggle to come up with a song that was released in the past 2 years that I would still be playing in 30 years. I Want You Back came out over 50 years ago and is still smashing the dance floor! Whitney’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody is 35 years old this year…!
I’m looking forward to what this year will bring. Hopefully, there will be no more lockdowns and people can enjoy parties throughout the whole year again! In the meantime, all the stats have been reset ready for my first wedding this weekend as it happens on the 8th of January.
For all of these plus a choice of literally thousands of other tracks then all you need to do is fill in my short contact form. You can also email me directly at hello@ianforest.com or call/text or WhatsApp me at 07799 782764!
Speak soon!