To celebrate our new arrival, we're having a party at Top Ten Towers... and you're invited. My son Sam is 4 weeks old today and 1 calendar month on Wednesday. This is his party.
There are, of course, thousands of "party" songs. To narrow that down, the first rule is that the song has to have "party" in the title. There are, however, lots of songs that mention parties in the title but are actually anything but party songs (Party Fears Two, It's My Party And I'll Cry If I Want To). Those will get their own Top Ten one day. Basically, to get in here... you've gotta make me want to hit the dancefloor. (And that takes some doing.)
So... let's party!
10.
The Blackout - Start The Party
Welsh rockers The Blackout swap Merthyr Tydfil for Ibiza in the title track from their latest album. Loses points for the cry of "Wuzzzaaaaaappp?" right at the end of the video. Does anybody really still say "Wuzzzaaaaaappp?" in 2013? Or am I just out of touch?
9.
Gretchen Wilson - Here For The Party
Nobody parties like a redneck queen...
Well, I'm an eight ball shooting, double fisted drinking son of a gun
I wear my jeans a little tight
Just to watch the little boys come undone
I'm here for the beer and the ball busting band
Gonna get a little crazy just because I can
I'm here for the party
8.
Queen - Party / Kashoggi's Ship
The opening tracks to Queen's late 80s album The Miracle segue together for a party full of excess... just like Freddie's life.
No one stops my party!
7.
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Dukes - We're Having A Party
Written and originally recorded by
Sam Cooke, but Johnny's version is more likely to fill the dance floor.
6.
Pulp - Party Hard
The darkest song on this list, dealing with the death of the Britpop party (as the whole This Is Hardcore album portrayed in exquisite detail), yet it still rocks. Plus - Jarvis plays dominoes with a squadron of cheerleaders. The man is a god.
I was having a whale of a time until your uncle...
Your uncle Psychosis arrived.
Why do we have to half kill ourselves just to prove we're alive?
I'm here whenever you need me
and whenever you need me
I won't be here.
And have you ever stopped to ask yourself?
If you didn't come to party, then why did you come here?
5.
Pink - Get The Party Started
As
we've already established, I'm a huge Pink fan. This is the kind of
dancey pop racket that, were it recorded by anyone else, I might not
give much time to. But I do like Pink... and this tune does exactly what
it says on the tin.
4.
The Divine Comedy - I've Been To A Marvellous Party
Neil Hannon covers the Noel Coward classic. It begins as a crackly old gramophone recording before going all techno-Prodigy in the middle. That really shouldn't work. But, by jove, it does.
On Wednesday night, I went to a marvellous party
With Nunu and Nada and Nell
It was in the fresh air and we went as we were and we stayed as we were which was hell
Poor Grace started singing at midnight and she didn't stop singing til four
We knew the excitement was bound to begin when Laura got blind on Dubonet and Gin
And scratched her veneer with a Cartier pin - I couldn't have liked it more!
3.
Elvis Presley - Let's Have A Party
Back in high school, I played Little John in our Sixth Form Robin Hood pantomime. At the beginning of the second half, the Merry Men had a party... and I performed this song with as much Elvis swagger as I could manage. (It was mimed, sadly, but I gave it my all.) Hearing it always reminds me of my moment in the spotlight.
2.
The Beastie Boys - (You've Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)
Thank god for those brackets - I couldn't have left this one out.
Top video - "I hope no bad people show up!"
1. Andrew W.K. - Party Hard
I don't know what to make of Andrew W.K. You can read all kinds of wild conspiracy theories about him over on iffypedia and I don't think any of his other records have stayed on my radar for more than five minutes. But if you're going to go down in history as a crazy one-hit wonder... you can do much worse than this belter.
Which one makes you want to party like it's 1999?
