Girls Going Wild

Sugar and spice may be nice, but when it comes time to party with the ladies, we’ll take the sparkle and sass of Girls Going Wild. We’re talkin’ babes like Ke$ha, who can whip the freaks into a “Take It Off” frenzy with a wave of her glittery hand; and Kelly Clarkson, who can face a fool and shut him down with one blast of her take-no-prisoners pipes on “I Do Not Hook Up.” Lady GaGa’s rarin’ to ride that disco stick for a pulsating “LoveGame,” while Rihanna keeps a “Rude Boy” on the line, and Kelis brings the boys to the yard by baiting her honey trap with a sweet and slinky “Milkshake.”

Even Miley Cyrus “Can’t Be Tamed,” because, hey, a girl’s gotta grow up sometime, right? Enjoy some more wild-girl developments in Next Steps.

The best thing about girls going wild is that they come in all sizes, shapes, and sounds. So while disco queen Donna Summer gives us a dancetastic lesson in the storied history of the naughty lady with her gym-whistle landmark “Bad Girls,” redneck woman Gretchen Wilson cleans up good to announce she’s “Here for the Party.” Kylie Minogue says what’s on all our minds whenever we come across her hook-bait club shaker “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” and Lil’ Kim & Sisqó twist their tongues around some “did they say that?” one-on-one while they ponder the all-important question “How Many Licks?”

And just how deep can we get into Girls Going Wild? Find out in Deep Cuts.

“Hello, world. I’m your wild girl!” tease ’70s trailblazers the Runaways as they detonate a chick-rock “Cherry Bomb” and blast a path for future rebels the Donnas and the garage-shaking sounds of “Take It Off.” Meanwhile, the old-school sound of J.J. Fad’s “Supersonic” blows open the rap scene so future hip-hop hotties Eve & Gwen Stefani can step up and demand that you “Let Me Blow Ya Mind.” And if the candy-pop of ABBA and “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man after Midnight)” sounds ever so slightly tame these days, just bend your ears to the group’s 21st-century descendents the Veronicas as they issue their own sex-me-up directive “Take Me On the Floor.”

Ladies and gentleman — cut it out. It’s time to stop being so well-behaved, to listen up to P!nk’s “Get the Party Started,” and celebrate the weird and wonderful things that result from girls going wild. We all know there’s nothing quite like an off-the-hook honey, whether she’s taking on the role of ringmaster to some big-top-crazy times (Britney Spears and a freaky-deaky “Circus”), messing with some dizzy heads (the Ting Tings and “That’s Not My Name”), or detailing around-the-bend bumps and curves like Ciara and her back-seat “Ride (feat. Ludacris).” There’s no use crying over bad manners — OG rock babe Joan Jett & The Blackhearts don’t give a damn about their “Bad Reputation,” and if diva supreme Beyoncé is promising to be a “Naughty Girl,” well, how can it be bad when it sounds so good?