The Wedding Dancer Issue #37

Girl Talk lists his top 10 dance songs

By Kathleen Keish
Published: September 1st, 2008 | 12:32am

Gregg Gillis may have put science on hold, but he has definitely mastered the art of the party. Since the release of his first album, Secret Diary in 2002, the Pittsburgh native has transitioned from biomedical engineer to a once-underground, now aboveground, dance-music icon. Known as mash-up artist Girl Talk, the 27-year-old who insists he’s not a DJ has performed at everything from high school proms to Pitchfork Music Festival with just a laptop in tow. A master of blending together popular tunes from every genre, Girl Talk’s sound is an orgy of radio melodies.

To celebrate the release of his fourth album, Feed the Animals, we asked Gillis to compile a High Fidelty–esque list of his favorite Top 40 songs to get down to. “I interpret ‘get down’ as ‘dancing,’” he said, explaining that his list has morphed into a “10 Straight-up Wedding Jams VH1-style List.”

1. JACKSON 5, “ABC”
The definition of “feel-good jam” to me.

2. DR. DRE FEATURING SNOOP DOGG, “NUTHIN’ BUT A G THANG”
As demonstrated by the video, you have to play this one outside in the summertime. It’s unbelievably smooth.

3. LIONEL RICHIE, “ALL NIGHT LONG (ALL NIGHT)”
I was at a party in Pittsburgh, and people were dancing and having a good time. When this song hit, everyone took it to the next level and crowd-surfed the furniture. That sums it up for me.

4. ROB BASE & DJ E-Z ROCK, “IT TAKES TWO”
This is my favorite beat of all time. The energy is insane.

5. NOTORIOUS B.I.G., “HYPNOTIZE”
Biggie Smalls slays this track. It’s a house party standard. Without fail, people lose it as soon as the intro hits.

6. DAFT PUNK, “ONE MORE TIME”
I don’t know if this is officially a Top 40 song, but my mom is into it, so I think it should count. When this dropped, I was 19 and really focused on avant-garde electronic music. My friends were going nuts over this album, and I was convinced I was going to hate it. I was really wrong.

7. THE EMOTIONS, “BEST OF MY LOVE”
The intro is so recognizable, and it’s basically one of the best bass lines in the history of music.

8. MICHAEL JACKSON, “P.Y.T. (PRETTY YOUNG THING)”
I could have picked 10 MJ tracks to fill up this entire list. The guitar breakdown followed by the call-and-response segment is unstoppable.

9. CECE PENISTON, “FINALLY”
I have a soft spot for ‘90s dance-pop, and this is the cream of the crop. I used to do college basketball dribbling halftime performances when I was little, and this was the anthem for it.

10. BEYONCÉ FEATURING JAY-Z, “CRAZY IN LOVE”
The horn sample just explodes. If this song is playing at a social event and people aren’t dancing, just leave.

—