Popular songs with simple actions. like the macarena.

the ones i can recall having seen at youth dances/mixers/functions while growing up:

marcia griffiths "electric boogie" (aka the electric slide)
v.i.c. "wobble"
whigfield "saturday night"
soulja boy "crank that"
rednex "cotton eye joe"

oh and recently there's blanco brown "the git up" which does call out many of its steps

at weddings w/ older folks present they always play isley brothers "shout" and ppl do the same thing every time, i guess something from animal house? idk never saw it but it's easy enough to imitate

i feel like at one point in elementary school class we were taught some line dance-ish steps to lou bega "mambo no. 5" (presumably matching some steps that are called out in the second verse) but who knows if anyone actually does that anymore. in general i'm sure some of the ones i mentioned have fallen out of collective memory and/or have some regional variation, like i always saw people dancing to "cotton eye joe" the same way around where i grew up but i think in other places i've seen ppl do slightly different things along to it, or a few more/less steps than what i knew

as an american i should also note that i think the only reason i ever encountered "saturday night" is because i went to a summer camp that had lots of counselors who had come over from europe... in retrospect i'm amazed that the song (+ dance) stuck around at that camp's social functions for so long after the song was actually a hit on the other side of the ocean

i wouldn't put too many of these in one party playlist tho

The Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian
Chubby Checker - The Twist
Silento - Watch Me

Psy - Gangnam Style

perhaps the young people/young adults at this function will be well versed in the 'mayo pete dance'? lol

as an american i should also note that i think the only reason i ever encountered "saturday night" is because i went to a summer camp that had lots of counselors who had come over from europe... in retrospect i'm amazed that the song (+ dance) stuck around at that camp's social functions for so long after the song was actually a hit on the other side of the ocean

Ha, this song was unavoidable in Ottawa (and I definitely did not seek out dance-pop music at that time). Did it really not cross over in the US?

it didn't even hit the hot 100!

damn america sucks

irish folk doing that rock the boat thing at weddings etc.

scottish old women dancing the slosh to beautiful sunday at weddings etc.

Not just Irish people, the "Oops Upside Your Head" rowboat was a staple at every party and wedding reception I went to as a kid

Also gonna suggest "The Time Warp"

Lots of moves to chose from with The Hustle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj23_nDFSfE

Is "YMCA" too obvious to mention?

I'm a big fan of mid-90s Brazilian/Euro hit 'Tic Tic Tac' by Carrapichio which really should have been bigger than the Macarena

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hV2o7KdndI

Remember 'Rolex Sweep'?

tbf Macarena was pushed by both Hillary Clinton and Bill Gates

chicken dance

― ingredience (map),

Yes.

Best Version of the Chicken Dance / Duck Dance / Ententanz / Danse des canards / Baile de los pajaritos / Ballo del qua qua / Vogeltjesdans / Fågeldansen / etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm8yDgDDNCQ

tbf Macarena was pushed by both Hillary Clinton and Bill Gates

Blame It On The Boogie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u38dNIB06EU

a song that makes sense for British people in the 90s, impressions of TV characters and personalities with dance routines, some parts have dated... terribly

I remember going to parties as a child in like 1995 and having zero idea who any of these people are

The locomotion

Agadoo

this was very helpfull. nothing is too obvious! can't believe i didn't think of YMCA for this, which btw is the best recommendation (ty) as it doesn't involve legs or overly specific actions (with finger movements etc). thanks all!

Phish had a dance called The Meatstick.

https://youtu.be/AMdcaUuoltwp

Oh wait, that one was in Japanese.

y'all. the motherfucking Hokey Pokey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_XN6HUTZ7E

Is not a pop song

You could learn a load of old dance moves in short order from this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdbrIrFxas0

Is not a pop song

― plax (ico), Saturday, November 30, 2019 4:48 PM bookmarkflaglink

big band music was p poppy in the 50s

Lou wouldn’t sing like this again until “Head Held High” (which itself instructs the listener to “do the Dog,” so it’s all a rich tapestry).

https://youtu.be/5r998weOUiM

You could learn a load of old dance moves in short order from this