Archive for December, 2011
The top 50 dance songs of 2011
For several years now, one of my most popular perennial blog posts has been my “top 50″ charts. Last year, I actually did a top 100, but it’s been such a marginal year for dance music, I scaled it back once again to 50 this year.
To expand on that thought, 2011 marks a year of further decline in the music industry as a whole, and dance music specifically. While some may disagree with me on that point for various reasons, I find it objectively demonstrable that the volume of well-crafted, quality music has been heading (and continues to head) downward. I’m not here to debate the point, nor speculate on the reasons for it—if I happen to be right. It’s easy to blame file trading and piracy; too easy, in fact. But I suspect the causes are far deeper than that. I’ll leave it to the experts; all I know is that the situation is getting worse, not better.
In any event, at least for me, it’s remarkably difficult to come-up with a list of even a dozen tracks from 2011 that I’m truly, genuinely, enthusiastically excited about—let alone 50, let alone 100. What you’ll find below is the best I could manage.
You’ll find some important information below the chart. I hope you enjoy the list and find it useful. Please support dance music and keep it alive by supporting with your entertainment dollars the artists, remixers and record labels who bring it to you.
| Rank | Artist | Track (and Preferred Mix) | Label |
| 1 | Clokx | Catch Your Fall (Extended Mix) | Spinnin’ |
| 2 | Ti.Pi.Cal. feat. Josh Colow | Stars (Long Mix) | Do it Yourself |
| 3 | McFly | That’s The Truth (7th Heaven Club Mix) | Island |
| 4 | Tale & Dutch feat. Mark Wild | Love Life (Original Club Mix) | CAPP Records |
| 5 | J. Majik & Wickaman feat. Dee Freer | In Pieces (7th Heaven Club Mix) | Ministry of Sound |
| 6 | Santito vs. Block+Crown | Back It Up (Extended) | Robbins |
| 7 | Selena Gomez | Who Says (Bimbo Jones Club Mix) | Universal |
| 8 | Avi Elman & Danny J. feat. Nuwella | What’s the Point (Seamus Haji Remix) | Strictly Rhythm |
| 9 | Pixie Lott | All About Tonight (The Alias Extended Mix) | Mercury |
| 10 | DJ Fresh feat. Sian Evans | Louder (7th Heaven Club Mix) | Ministry of Sound |
| 11 | The Wanted | Gold Forever (Moto Blanco Club Mix) | Island |
| 12 | Meleka | Work for Me (Cutmore Extended Mix) | Warner |
| 13 | Nick Fiorucci feat. Selena Gittens | I Can Give (Criss Wave & Nick Fiorucci Club Mix) | Hi-Bias |
| 14 | Made by Monkeys vs. Rossko feat. Lisa Gary | Euphoria (Original Extended Mix) | Kult Records |
| 15 | Melanie C | Think About It (Electric Allstars Club Mix) | Warner |
| 16 | Alexis Jordan | Hush Hush (Cahill Lounge Club Mix) | Columbia |
| 17 | Darren Hayes | Black Out the Sun (7th Heaven Club Mix) | Mercury |
| 18 | Nadia Ali, Starkillers & Alex Kenji | Pressure (Clokx Extended Commercial Remix) | Simply Delicious |
| 19 | Will Young | Jealousy (The Alias Club Mix) | Sony |
| 20 | Erasure | When I Start To (Break It All Down) (Steve Smart & WestFunk Club Mix) | Mute |
| 21 | Leona Lewis | Collide (Extended Mix) | Sony |
| 22 | U.V.U.K. | Forever (Original Extended) | Robbins |
| 23 | Wendel Kos feat. Andrea Holley | Dancing on the Lights (Bayazzo Extended) | Robbins |
| 24 | Adele | Set Fire to the Rain (Plastic Plates Remix) | Columbia |
| 25 | Chicco Secci & Graham Wheeler | Fly With You (Benny Benassi Club Mix) | Magnificent |
| 26 | The Saturdays | All Fired Up (The Alias Club Mix) | Polydor |
| 27 | The Saturdays | My Heart Takes Over (Soul Seekerz Club Mix) | Polydor |
| 28 | Henri | When You Walk Away (Scotty K Vocal Klub Mix) | Dauman |
| 29 | Hurts | Better Than Love (Freemasons Pegasus Club Mix) | RCA |
| 30 | Stellar Project feat. Emelie Norenberg | Strong (Club Mix) | Ultra |
| 31 | Tank | I Can’t Make You Love Me (John Dahlback Remix) | Atlantic |
| 32 | Yasmin | Finish Line (Freemasons Club Mix) | Ministry of Sound |
| 33 | Bella Vida | Kiss Kiss Me Bang Bang (Wideboys Extended Mix) | Indie |
| 34 | Erasure | Be With You (Moto Blanco Club Mix) | Mute |
| 35 | Hurts | Sunday (Seamus Haji Club Mix) | Columbia |
| 36 | Joe Jonas | Just In Love (Soul Seekerz Club Mix) | Universal |
| 37 | Kim Sozzi | Little Bird (Italia3 Extended Mix) | Ultra |
| 38 | Marcia Juell | Calling (Saint’s Airplay Extended) | Black Hole |
| 39 | Mekki Martin | The Wonder (Club Mix) | U Recordings |
| 40 | Sugababes | Freedom (7th Heaven Club Mix) | Universal |
| 41 | Sunday Girl | Love U More (Buzz Junkies Club Mix) | Polydor |
| 42 | The Wanted | Lightning (The Alias Club Mix) | Universal |
| 43 | Wonderland | Not a Love Song (Club Junkies Club Mix) | Universal |
| 44 | Cristian Marchi and Nari & Milani feat. Max’C | I Got You (Antillas & Dankann Club Mix) | Ultra |
| 45 | Dash Berlin feat. Jonathan Mendelsohn | Better Half of Me (Extended Airplay Mix) | Armada |
| 46 | Kimberly Caldwell | Desperate Girls and Stupid Boys (Digital Dog Club Mix) | EMI |
| 47 | Medina | Addiction (Extended Mix) | Ultra |
| 48 | Ola | All Over the World (Buzz Junkies Club Mix) | Oliniho |
| 49 | Sirens | Good Enough (Liam Keegan Extended Mix) | Kitchenware |
| 50 | Swiss American Federation (S.A.F.) feat. Nichole Alden | Live So Free (Extended Club Mix) | Redstick |
Several things to bear in mind for those reading this chart:
- The artists and tracks listed are those I personally find the most interesting. I don’t read the Billboard charts, and I don’t care about them. I don’t pay attention to what’s on the FMQB chart, or what other DJs play, or even what promoters happen to tell me “everyone else” is playing. I play what I think has the best hook, or the sweetest groove, or whatever else about a song happens to catch my ear. As a result, my top 50 list is likely to be quite different than what you might be expecting.
- As a DJ, I characterize my music as “mainstream dance.” As a result, this chart may not even match your idea of “dance music,” especially if you prefer trance, techno, dubstep, or other sub-genres. “My” dance music is largely melodic, vocal, commercial, mainstream dance with largely house roots. Your mileage may (and probably will) vary.
- The tracks shown here are selected for the chart based on the number of times played, and other objective and subjective factors. In some cases (notably #28), you might see some material here that wasn’t released in 2011, but that for whatever reason I “discovered” and started playing during the year.
- I often play a variety of mixes of a single song. This year, that is taken into account in the data. My “preferred” remix is listed, though I may play others.