The late King of Pop was also master of the dance tune, churning out enough body-revving songs for a whole CD of all-time greats of the genre. Yet MJ's iconic "best" of these, by acclaim and demand, is decisively a two-way tie between his early '80s "Thriller" and "Billie Jean," tunes so potent as to effortlessly transform unlikely lyrical themes -- ghoul-on-girlfriend picnics and paternity claim denials respectively -- into timelessly addictive dance songs. Pulsating, passionate and generation-transcending, "Thriller" and "Billy Jean" evoke goose bumps and move-busting together; they'll have you moonwalking, grinding and gyrating MJ-style each and every time.
The '80s-vintage hard-rock band AC/DC might not now -- or ever have been -- technically hip, but their rock signature "You Shook Me All Night Long" is definitively a hip-popping, floor-bopping dance tune for the ages. A raucous ode to a night's torrid affair with a sex-crazed dream babe, "You Shook Me All Night Long" is as hot, heavy and quaking a tune as the encounter it describes. It's a tune made for all-out rocking out; it all but yanks audience members to their feet for energized, aggressive, head-slamming and sweaty full-body shaking of what their mamas gave them.
Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" is not only the legendary rock 'n' roll band's quintessential song, it's also the quintessential rock 'n roll dance tune. Cross-generationally beloved both for its inspirational message and rhythmic groove, "Livin' on a Prayer," whenever played, produces mass reactions of gleeful and gregarious jumping, hugging and singing from reveling audiences. The song tells the timeless tale of a young working-class couple struggling to make ends meet, but finding strength and hope in each other; the resounding chorus affirming its protagonists' unified front is echoed literally and figuratively on the dance floor, where the giddy throbbing crowd twists and shouts their hearts out together to the familiar feel-good words.
Current R&B goddess Beyonce puts the contemporary cap on this all-time list with her insta-classic dance-pop smash "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)." The resonating dance-ability of queen B's '08 tune is vividly manifested in its video, a minimalist tour de force that, as Kanye West infamously declared, is indeed a "best music video of all-time." The now-epic shoot focuses precisely in black and white on a simply leotarded Beyonce-led trio as the ladies shimmy, kick, contort, squat and swagger in jaw-dropping performance of the signature "'Singles Ladies' Dance." Fueled by the uptempo tone and verse, hypnotic electronica and funk strains, hook-filled chorus, and sass-attitude vocals, the video's song and dance experienced together create a fierce, sensory celebration of female physicality and empowerment. This experience is recreated every time "Single Ladies" sounds; though chances are neither you nor anyone can dance quite like Beyonce, the tune's an all-time best because you and everyone can't help but want to try.