Celebration Songs

When it’s time to party, some tracks hit the spot like slammers, and we’ve ordered up a full round for you right here, whatever the occasion — whether you’re raisin’ the roof for a birthday, a new job, or the fact that, hey, it’s Friday. If you want to get down with your bad self, we’ve got the good stuff that goes straight to your feet: these tracks represent a basic dance-floor survival kit for any occasion, kicking off with Kool & The Gang’s woo-hooin’, scene-setting anthem “Celebration,” before lighting a rocket under your big night with Lady GaGa (“Just Dance”), the Village People (“Y.M.C.A.”), Black Eyed Peas (“I Gotta Feeling”), and MC Hammer (“U Can’t Touch This”).

Time to get funky with Rick James and Lipps Inc, in Next Steps.

Mixing any playlist into an all-night musical cocktail takes a little inspiration — and if you get the ingredients wrong, the only guaranteed result is one almighty mess, with your guests stranded hopelessly somewhere between groove and mosh. That’s why we’ve done all the hard work for you with these classic party-time jams, including Lipps Inc’s extended trip to “Funkytown,” Rick James’ kinky landmark “Super Freak,” and the O’Jays’ prescription for first-class fun, “Love Train.” If the girls bring it with “Milkshake,” the boys can fling it right back at ’em with “We Are the Champions,” with Adam Lambert dominating the middle ground: “For Your Entertainment.”

Rockers bring reinforcements to your celebration, in Deep Cuts.

When the party moves on into the early morning hours, any good DJ will take a break from the obvious dance-floor fillers and pep things up with an adrenalizing dose of rock, just so you don’t nod off. The Ramones’ “Blitzkreig Bop” and Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “Takin’ Care of Business” are guaranteed to keep the party moving ’til the break of dawn. And once everyone’s been rocked back to their senses, greet the sunrise with J-Lo’s monumental blast of dance-floor euphoria “Waiting for Tonight,” the Ray Charles-channeling “Gold Digger” (Kanye West with Jamie Foxx), and — for your inner line dancer — “Achy Breaky Heart” from Miley Cyrus’ dad, Billy Ray.

When folks get down on the dance floor at a wedding, birthday or office party, these tunes are positively guaranteed to convince the most reluctant of wallflowers to let their hair down and cut loose like there’s no tomorrow. Oh, yes, wild things, these fortified tracks are an absolute must at any celebration — play the first few notes of Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” or OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” and any venue is instantly transformed into a palace of pogo, a mansion of mosh, or a bastion of boogie. Someone’s turning 21 again? We’ve got 50 Cent’s “In da Club.” Doing shots? “Tequila” by the Champs. Feelin’ country-fresh? Gretchen Wilson’s “Redneck Woman.” Whatever the excuse, we’ve got the celebration song.