Afternoon Dance Break - "The Pressure"

This song was the JAM.

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Afternoon Dance Break: Susan Clark "Deeper"

Afternoon House Break: R.A.W. - UNBE

A classic house track from the early 90's.

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CeCe Peniston's "Finally" Turns 20

I found out yester from JMG  that CeCe Peniston's dance hit - Finally - is 20 years old (!!). Which makes me - officially - ONE ANCIENT QUEEN.

Here is the original 12" mix - which my friends and I danced to every Friday/Saturday night in the early 90's...

Afternoon House Break: Happy Mondays - Stinkin Thinkin

OMGOMGOMGOMG ... I think I just peed myself a little. This song was the JAM back in my Sound Factory days...

Afternoon Dance Break - House Of Gypsies

This Latin Tribal House track is actually called Sume Sigh Say, but most people (including myself) remember the "Que Es Lo Que Pasa Aqui" lyric. Back in the day I probably heard this song every Saturday night for a good 2-3 years - and I'm still not tired of it...

Afternoon Dance Break - Dajae - U Got Me Up

DJ Danny Tenaglia's club mix of U Got Me Up was a staple of NYC's megaclubs when I moved here in 1993. And, to this day, U Got Me Up makes me want to shake my moneymaker ...

Happy Birthday To Kristine W.

Dance music diva Kristine W turns 49 (!) today - which is a great excuse to post my fave Kristine W song of all time - Feel What You Want. This song, more than any other, takes me back to my early days in NYC and those LOOOOONG nights of dancing in the gay megaclubs which have all since disappeared.

Afternoon Dance Break - Love and Happiness

Back in the early 90's, I had the pleasure of seeing La India perform this track (as well as some others) live at the old Tunnel nightclub.

Afternoon (Celebratory) Dance Break - Deep Inside

This is a repost, but Deep Inside is one of my all-time favorite house/dance ditties - so it seems appropriate to post again today. Here's what I said back on March 17, 2010:

Deep Inside, by Masters At Work, is still one of those "I'm feeling FIERCE!" songs which pop into my head when I'm having a particularly good day.

And today IS a good day here in NYC, and this song DID pop into my head - so let's do this...

Afternoon Dance Break - Bottom Heavy

Bottom Heavy by DJ Danny Tenaglia is one of those tracks you could hear on any given night in NYC's clubs during the late 90's - and it still sounds great today. Tenaglia, btw, will be the closing DJ during this weekend's legendary Saint At Large Black Party at Roseland Ballroom.

Afternoon Dance Break: "Because Of You"

Let's let Gabrielle's "Because of You" usher us into the weekend. TGIF!

Afternoon Dance Break - Going Nowhere

Gabrielle serves up some early 90's House realness in Going Nowhere:

 

Saturday Dance Break - Been A Long Time

The Fog's Been A Long Time is one of the best House tracks of all time, in my ever-so-humble opinion. This song used to set the dance floors of the Roxy and the Sound Factory ON FIRE back in the day:

Afternoon Dance Break - Brighter Days

Let's celebrate the start of the weekend with this little ditty from 1992 - Cajmere (featuring Dajae) giving us Brighter Days.

"Divas To The Dance Floor PLEASE"

Today's Afternoon Dance Break features one of my favorite 90's House tracks EVAH. Back in 1995, all it took was 6 words to get 1000 shirtless Queens to leave the bar, the bathrooms, the couches, etc. and pack onto the dance floor of the Roxy:

"DIVAS TO THE DANCE FLOOR, PLEASE!"

Here is E.G. Fullalove with Didn't I Know (Divas to the Dancefloor):

Afternoon Dance Break - "Took My Love Away"

"Ellis D" was the pseudonym used by Donald Mattern (originally from Lancaster, PA) when he started DJing in NYC clubs during the the 80's. In 1988 Ellis D released Took My Love Away - which was so good that 5 years later (when I moved from PA to NYC) he was still spinning it. But by that time Donald Mattern AKA "Ellis D" was known as Junior Vasquez and was the superstar DJ at the legendary Sound Factory.

Check out this track and see how many different samples you recognize. Fierce.

Afternoon Dance Break - Dream Drums

I most associate Lectroluv's Dream Drums with the old Sound Factory on 27th Street - DJ Junior Vasquez would spin this track for what seemed like hours and everyone would go absolutely INSANE:

Afternoon Dance Break - Money's Too Tight (Fire Island Dub)

CUTBACK! The kitty pictures are a cute touch...

 

Afternoon Dance Break - Hideaway

I love this short video of the De'lacy track from 1995 - Hideaway - because it shows scenes from the NYC I remember as a newcomer to this city. The music and vocals are slammin' also.