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Top Ten Famous Dance Songs That Are Actually European

You likely listened to these songs a million times, but did you know they're European?

In the late 1980s, a new genre of electronic dance music came to the fore in central Europe, originating especially from the German rave party scene. The music was characterized by a strong bass rhythm, electronic drums and innovative synthesizers. The vocals were either rich and melodic, or rapped. The lyrics were usually about peace, love, dancing and partying, or talked about overcoming difficulties; artists usually sang in English, irrespective of their nationality.

We are, of course, talking about Eurodance, a genre whose influence on international music and pop culture is hard to overstate. Eurodance has enjoyed massive popularity throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and remains popular to this day. You think you might have never heard of it, let alone listened to it – but odds are, you probably did. In fact, these are all great hits on the dance floors! Here’s a list of ten tremendously famous Eurodance songs!

#1 – Pump Up the Jam – Technotronic (1989, Belgium)

One of the first Eurodance songs ever composed, Technotronic’s Pump Up the Jam was released as a single: it became a worldwide hit by the early 1990s. As it is part of the hip-house genre as well, it is also said to be the first house song to become a hit in the US. If you’ve watched Space Jam, Bride Wars or some episodes of Family Guy, you might recognize it…

#2 – The Power – Snap! (1990, Germany)

If I tell you “I’ve got the power!”, do you sing it along a certain melody? If so, here’s the next level of FYI: this song is actually German! In fact, the duo Snap! originated in Frankfurt. The video opens to a Russian sentence, which translates as follows:

“The American company Transceptor Technology has started production of the ‘Personal Companion’ computer”.

The Personal Companion was a computer-like device for the blind and visually impaired, released in 1990. It was controlled by voice and could, for instance, automatically download articles from USA Today with help from a built-in modem. Mostly known for the film Bruce Almighty, this song was featured in several shows, like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Glee and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

#3 – Get Ready for This – 2 Unlimited (1991, The Netherlands)

Talking about Space Jam, you might recognize this, too. Get Ready for This by Dutch group 2 Unlimited is, in fact, one of the most frequently played songs at sporting events around the world, according to ThoughtCo. This song became immediately successful throughout Europe and worldwide as soon as it was published, thanks to its upbeat rhythm and catching riff.

#4 – What is love – Haddaway (1993, Germany)

Baby, don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more… You probably recognize this refrain from the single by Belgian DJ Lost Frequencies, but you might not know that the 2016 song was a cover. The original track was made in Germany, this time in Cologne, and was sung by Trinidadian-German singer and producer Haddaway.

#5 – Saturday Night – Whigfield (1993, Denmark)

Saturday Night, by Danish singer Whigfield, is a song with a truly European background. The piece was first composed by an Italian producer duo, Larry Pignagnoli and Davide Riva; they hired Whigfield while she was living and working in Bologna. After they recorded the song, though, no label was interested in publishing it, until a Spanish DJ played it repeatedly on radio and the general interest of the song increased.

This light-hearted and jumpy song hit the world’s dance floors and unexpectedly became a No. 1 hit in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland, while peaking at No. 2. in Denmark, France, Iceland and Norway.

#6 – Barbie Girl – Aqua (1997, Denmark)

This song doesn’t need much introduction, does it? While being part of the Eurodance genre, Barbie Girl is also the symbol of a specific Scandinavian subgenre: bubblegum dance. In fact, the track can be described as cheerful, catchy and childish. And yet, at the same time, the lyrics sound parodic and sexually suggestive to the adult listeners (“undress me everywhere”, anyone?).

The song seems to be pretty divisive: it was featured in several charts, such as “Best Number One of All Time” (VH1), but also “Most Awesomely Bad Songs… Ever” (again VH1), “20 Most Annoying Songs” (Rolling Stone) and “50 Guilty Pleasures” (MuchMoreMusic). What do you think about it?

#7 – Better Off Alone – Alice DJ (1998, The Netherlands)

If you turn on the radio right now, it’s likely that at some point you’ll hear Does It Matter by Dutch singer Janieck. Guess what? The 2017 song is based on 1993 Better Off Alone… And so was the melody in Play Hard by French producer David Guetta (2013)! The Eurodance song was indeed very influential thanks to its simple but effective riff.

#8 – Blue (Da Ba Dee) – Eiffel 65 (1998, Italy)

This is another song that earned definitely mixed reactions. While it was extremely successful among the public and was featured in several films and TV series (Loser, Iron Man 3, Smurfs: The Lost Village among others), it also received scathingly critical reviews. Take this one by Rolling Stone: “[it] blends Cher-esque vocoder vocals, trance-like synth riffs, unabashed Eurodisco beats and a baby-babble chorus so infantile it makes the Teletubbies sound like Shakespeare”. Ouch!

#9 – Stereo Love – Edward Maya (2009, Romania)

As we enter the late 2000s, Eurodance evolves as a genre. The synths become softer, the bass less persistent and general production decreases. However, some hits were released in the 21st century as well, like Stereo Love, by Romanian musician Edward Maya. The refrain, which evokes long summer nights, is based on Bayatılar, a song composed by Azerbaijani musician Eldar Mansurov, whereas the music video was filmed in Greece.

#10 – Mr. Saxobeat – Alexandra Stan (2011, Romania)

Last but not least, we find another Romanian artist, Alexandra Stan, with Mr. Saxobeat. Thanks to the upbeat techno beats and the catchy saxophone riffs, this song was internationally successful. It was featured in media as well, such as TV Series (Suburgatory, CSI: Miami) and video games (Dance Central 3, Just Dance 4).

Did you enjoy reading this article? You may also like How Europe Invented Professional Acting or The Ode To Joy: Five Key Facts About Our Common Anthem.

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Grazia Vendrame

Graduate in Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences, she has an eclectic range of interests. Likes: desserts, plants and lists.

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One Comment

  1. Your list is only a little correct, because most of these songs are not Eurodance!
    First of all, we must explain that Eurodance lasted in 1992-1996.
    Pump Up the Jam, The Power and even Get Ready For This were not Eurodance songs but House with elements of hip-hop music but you can say that thanks to it the Eurodance genre was created.
    The first song to be called Eurodance was Snap – Rhythm is A Dancer from 1992. The second song Eurodance was DJ Bobo – Somebody Dance With Me.
    The second part of your list is probably a joke! Aqua never belonged to the Eurodance genre! And that’s because Eurodance didn’t exist anymore in 1997!
    In 1996, Eurodance began to transform into Dance music without the word Euro! In 1997, most Eurodance teams no longer existed! A new era has begun which mixes Trance, House and Pop music. Aqua is nothing more than mixing these three genres together and we can only call their music Dance.
    Dear Miss. Naming the song Better Off Alone Eurodance is simply absurd! It was mixing sounds Trance and Dance music into one!
    Same with Blue (Da Ba Dee). This song contains Dance, Trance and Pop.
    I will no longer comment on adding to this list ” Eurodance ” songs produced after 2000 because it already exceeds all limits of absurdity!

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