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8. “My Fondest Childhood Memories” by Macy Gray

We listened to this fantastical Macy Gray track in our “Revenge of the Inner Child” week. We came to suspect that we can’t completely trust what we’re hearing with the lyrics, but the groove was completely reliable.

7. “Timothy” by The Buoys

Speaking of questionable stories, we listened to this Rupert Holmes-penned track of subterranean cannibalism a few years ago. The Buoys’ record company agreed to record them, but refused to promote their record. They therefore set out to record a song so shocking that radio stations would refuse to play it–thus guaranteeing them guerilla marketing cachet. We also learned that its pop hooks were sufficient in many cases to hide the song’s true story. The song doesn’t seem as danceable now, but it clearly can be done.  And no, Timothy was not a mule.

6. “Knoxville Girl” performed by the Wilburn Brothers

You’re going to cry foul here, perhaps, but the 3/4 time of this classic, performed here by the Wilburn Brothers, associates this song in many a listener’s mind with dancing.  It may not have inspired couples to hold each other closer, but it was performed in dance halls, broadcast on radio “barn dances,” and would even show up at a high school dance every now and then. The Wilburns give it a slightly slower tempo than some in the clip below, giving more time for the shuffle steps between the downbeats. The studio version is a little heavier. Artists such as Ruth Gerson and Jennie Stearns have written about “Knoxville Girl” in relation to the romance of dancing and the contrast to the song’s brutal story. We haven’t done a full post on “Knoxville Girl” yet, but it has popped up incidentally in a few posts.

5. “El Paso” performed by the Grateful Dead

Pat suggested this Marty Robbins classic for the list, with the explanation that he had danced to it many times at Grateful Dead shows. Robbins’s version probably got a little dance hall play, as with “Knoxville Girl.” The Grateful Dead described themselves as a dance band, and there are few songs to which Deadheads have not danced. The sheer number of person-hours devoted to dancing to this cowboy ballad earned it its spot on this list. Bobby, Jerry, and friends played it in concert no less than 389 times by July of 1995.

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