POLL! Top 10 Greatest UK Dance Tracks Of All Time

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Olly

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There was a bit of a poll earlier this week on the djh forum to try and identify the 10 greatest UK dance tracks of all time. It produced some quite passionate debate. It is obviously all subjective, but it is always interesting to see if there is any kind of consensus.

Rules:

- must be made by UK producer and/or performed by UK artist (no US/Euro remixes)
- is not restricted to genre, but should really be a track aimed at a dancefloor - if you want to include some barn dance number from the 1920s, that is technically eligible if not in the spirit of the thread
- if possible, give reasons why you think your choices are more worthy of inclusion than other people's
- the emphasis shouldn't just be on tracks you like but more on tracks which you think are timeless, groundbreaking and which changed lives in some way.

Most of these came up in discussion, I added a few in just now - any glaring omissions??

atmosfear - dancing in outer space
eurythmics - sweet dreams
eddy grant - walking on sunshine
eddy grant - timewarp
lfo - lfo
underworld - rez
underworld - dark train
leftfield - not forgotten
leftfield - song of life
midi rain - the crack train
primal scream - loaded
flowered up - weekender
happy mondays - step on
soft cell - memorabilia
human league - love action
roots manuva - witness
musical youth - pass the dutchie
gat decor - passion
faithless - insomnia
jesus loves you - generations of love
new order - blue monday
new order - true faith
funk masters - love money
2 blind mice - bombscare
renegade soundwave - the phantom
the streets - weak become heroes
black science orchestra - new jersey deep
xpress II - lazy
xpress II - london xpress
future sound of london - papua new guinea
soul II soul - keep on moving
alex reece - pulp fiction
goldie - inner city life
paul rutherford - get real
a guy called gerald - voodoo ray
tcoy - carino
annette - dream 17
marrs - pump up the volume
sexpress - theme from sexpress
orbital - chime
orbital - belfast
The KLF - what time is love
genaside II - narramine
cymande - bra
roni size - brown paper bag
carl cox - i want you forever
unique III - the theme
frankie goes to hollywood - relax
wham - club tropicana
imagination - body talk
loose ends - hanging on a string
yazoo - situation
bronski beat - smalltown boy
coldcut/yazz - doctorin the house
coldcut/lisa stansfield - people hold on
silver bullet - 20 seconds to comply
808 state - pacific state
babe ruth - the mexican
the clash - magnificent dance
felix - don't you want me
jonny l - hurt you so
yellow sox - flim flam
faze action - in the trees
the beloved - sun rising
bassheads - is there anybody out there?
the orb - little fluffy clouds
nitzer ebb - join in the chant
krush - house arrest
hotline - rock this house
ltj bukem - music
night moves - trans dance
the beatles - tomorrow never knows
rolling stones - sympathy for the devil
rolling stones - miss you
depeche mode - enjoy the silence
mc Buzz b - the last tree
mohawks - champ
photek - mine to give
slam - positive education
ganja kru - super sharp shooter
deep blue - helicopter tune
dee patten - who's the badman
bomb the bass - beat dis
origin unknown - valley of the long dark shadows
lenny ice - we are ie
blancmange - living on the ceiling
mj cole - sincere
layo & bushwacka - deep south
gary numan - cars
madness - one step beyond
visage - fade to grey
pigbag - papa's got a brand new pigbag
 
My personal top 10 from that list would be:

eddy grant - timewarp
underworld - dark train
leftfield - song of life
new order - blue monday
the streets - weak become heroes
marrs - pump up the volume
bassheads - is there anybody out there?
the beatles - tomorrow never knows
depeche mode - enjoy the silence
a guy called gerald - voodoo ray

That for Today anyways, all the above had strong memories for me for some reason or another.
 
if you want to select northern soul or jazz funk numbers that is perfectly valid too, but please select 10, preferably giving some reason why.

once everyone who wants to has taken part, then we can aggregate the scores and reach a definitive result.
 
some amazing tracks on that list....this is gonna be hard to choose just 10!
 
Olly said:
train
primal scream - loaded
flowered up - weekender
happy mondays - step on
musical youth - pass the dutchie
gat decor - passion
faithless - insomni
new order - blue monday
new order - true faith
2 blind mice - bombscare
the streets - weak become heroes
future sound of london - papua new guinea
soul II soul - keep on moving
alex reece - pulp fiction
goldie - inner city life
a guy called gerald - voodoo ray
marrs - pump up the volume
sexpress - theme from sexpress
orbital - chime
orbital - belfast
The KLF - what time is love
genaside II - narramine
cymande - bra
carl cox - i want you forever
unique III - the theme
coldcut/yazz - doctorin the house
coldcut/lisa stansfield - people hold on
silver bullet - 20 seconds to comply
808 state - pacific state
felix - don't you want me
jonny l - hurt you so
the beloved - sun rising
bassheads - is there anybody out there?
the orb - little fluffy clouds
ltj bukem - music
depeche mode - enjoy the silence
ganja kru - super sharp shooter
deep blue - helicopter tune
dee patten - who's the badman
bomb the bass - beat dis
origin unknown - valley of the long dark shadows
lenny ice - we are ie
mj cole - sincere
Click to expand...

Took out a few that I remember well, but weren't 'sh1t, remember THAT time!' but there are massive memories in abundance here.

Just missing the transformative phase of my late 20s, Tim Deluxe, KOT and stuff and I could soundtrack the film of my life, no problem.

Good thread, Ollysaurus.
 
Orbital - chimes, Lfo - Lfo and Carl Cox - I want you forever are in my top ten I would change Xpress2 to music express and that would be there also..
it's hard to make a top ten a lot of those tunes are good tunes but where's the Jungle Brothers - I'll House You surely should be there!
 
I thought the idea was to suggest your own ten,which might include tunes from that long,long list.
Am I wrong?
 
hauskitten,sadly there's nothing uk about the Jungle Brothers!

Stupidly,and without my thinking head on I just wacked together a killer ten,all groundbreakers,dancefloor faves and big hits on the uk charts.But none were uk productions.
Thinking on...
 
that was a just a list to start people off (NOT a shortlist!) - don't feel constrained by it in any way.

if your top ten are all hardcore numbers by hixxy & sharkey then so be it
 
in no particular order:

new order - blue monday
faithless - insomnia
happy mondays - step on
promal scream - loaded
george michael - freedom
soul II soul - keep on moving
eurythmix - sweet dreams
frankie goes to hollywood - relax
underworld - born slippy
adamski - killer (edit)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
it's really hard just to put 10 but I'll try:

Fatboy Slim - Gangsta Trippin', full on fun madness from Mr Cook & a great video blowing stuff up :)

Primal Scream - Come Together, with a 2 min + intro that makes all the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

Prodigy - Charly, an amazing track that turned me on to the wonderful world of dance music at the age of 9.

The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds, this is just beautiful, with quirky lyrics that just work.

Stone Roses - Fools Gold, a forever classic that is just brilliant.

The Shamen - Boss Drum, a true rave classic.

K-Klass - Rhythm Is A Mystery, just another classic 90's anthem

Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar, not as in your face as some of their other stuff, but probably my personal favourite track from them.

Carl Cox - Latin Theme, first heard on a cassette :) of a mix of his from god knows when, the rewind button got used a lot on this tape!

New Order - Blue Monday, do i need to say anything about this?
 
On a Ragga Trip- SL2
The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds
Pet Shop Boys- West End Girls
Insomnia- Faithless
The Prodigy- (hughly influential) Breath, No Good
S'Express Theme From S'Express
Voodoo Ray- A man called Gerald
Blue Monday- New Order
Felix Dont you Want Me
Fatboy Slim- Rockefeller Skank
 
ok, looks like blue monday is the early frontrunner. Some good suggestions here.

keep those top 10s flooding in! At the end, I'll compile the results together.

Mine:

not easy - should it just be a favourite 10 - or 10 which you feel changed the map slightly?

I'm going to pick these 10 which all brought something new to the party

Eddy Grant - Timewarp - the weird and wonderful sound of post-disco - sounded totally new and ahead of its time, still very influential on producers like Metro Area

Goldie - inner city life - very big around 1995 - this was jungle at its most epic and where jungle morphed into the collective imagination as drum n bass - I think it's important to have some jungle in the top 10 as it is the most uniquely British of all the dance music which followed acid house in the 90s

The Streets - weak become heroes - the UK was never that good at making hiphop (derek b was a bad young brother!) but it needs to be represented at some level. I'm going for this over roots manuva witness purely because Skinner managed to marry our nostalgia for acid house with a hiphop sensibility and an earthy English sense of humour to create one of the great pieces of contemporary verse

tcoy - carino - I missed out on the Manchester phenomenon but I always felt my tastes in dance music were always closer to the North - and would kill to have spent time at the Hac in my younger days. This was beautiful and intrinsically balearic and still sounds very vital today, as those who went on last year's riverboat shuffle down the Thames will testify

paul rutherford - get real - this is so house it hurts. It could, in fact, it should have been made in Chicago. It was actually a stirring piece of acid house put together by an ex-member of Frankie Goes to Hollywood

underworld - dark train - everyone associates it with THAT cold turkey scene in trainspotting - an epic piece of thumping music which heralded the arrival of Underworld as major players on the big stage in the mid-90s. I always far preferred this to born slippy from the same film. underworld have their detractors but I think they played a major role in taking electronic music to the big stage and indeed in turning it into a global phenomenon.

flowered up - weekender - it's all about the famous video but mr weatherall packs enough punch into the remix to leave one of the most famous acid house experiences. This record redefined what it meant to be young and British on a night out.

the orb - A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From the Center of the Ultraworld - ambient house was a massive part of my life in the early 90s, it was where things started to get a bit trippy and a bit hippy and none of the practitioners were quite as interesting as Dr Patterson and his various associates. farmyard animals, minnie ripperton samples, soaring synths, on the same track?! what was not to like? unlike any other record around at that time

808 State - pacific state
The Beloved - sun rising

I think something has been lost from dance music as it has got more sophisticated - that essential but very basic melody which locks itself in your consciousness and which taps into your altered state of mind. Pacific State and Sun Rising both mean an awful lot to all sorts of diverse people, both are evocative of a more innocent time, before the music scenes all fragmented into their various niches. That they are still remembered and regularly played 20+ years later is testimony to their enduring genius
 
I'll have to go away and think about this anyway, as much as I actually know the JB's aren't Brits I'm not sure about some of my list so will have to do some research! :)
 
great thread......and very tough to pick 10!!

one missed off Ollys list that i thought of straight away was Beedles mix of Bent - Always
 
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