{"id":829313,"date":"2026-08-29T02:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T02:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/829313\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T02:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T02:38:15","slug":"5-of-the-grooviest-songs-turning-50-this-year-that-still-make-me-want-to-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/829313\/","title":{"rendered":"5 of the Grooviest Songs Turning 50 This Year That Still Make Me Want to Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The late 1970s ushered in a distinct blend of rock, funk, disco, and soul, easily making the songs from that era, including songs from 1976 specifically, the grooviest of all time. Even five decades after these songs\u2019 releases, they all make me want to get up and dance just as much as the first time I heard them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet \u2018Em In\u201d by Wings<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787971093_311_hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Play\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wings, Paul McCartney\u2019s post-Beatles band, released <a href=\"https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/behind-the-nonsensical-meaning-of-wings-playful-track-let-em-in\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cLet \u2018Em In\u201d<\/a> on their 1976 album, Wings At The Speed Of Sound. The song is quintessentially Paul McCartney. There are multiple characters, infectious grooves, and lots of musical painting. Throughout the entire song, a plodding piano part mimics someone actually knocking on the front door. Never has a simple knock-knock on a door felt so dancey.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tVideos by American Songwriter\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTakin\u2019 It To The Streets\u201d by The Doobie Brothers<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787971094_491_hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Play\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Doobie Brothers released <a href=\"https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/watch-michael-mcdonald-croon-his-doobie-brothers-hit-takin-it-to-the-streets-with-jimmy-fallon-and-the-roots\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cTakin\u2019 It To The Streets\u201d<\/a> in March 1976 on the album of the same name. This was Michael McDonald\u2019s first song on lead vocals, and he wrote the track, too. It proved to be a tremendous success, peaking at No. 13 in the United States and No. 7 in Canada. Even 50 years later, this song still makes me want to move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFly Like An Eagle\u201d by Steve Miller Band<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787971094_757_hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Play\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Steve Miller Band\u2019s album Fly Like An Eagle is full of great tracks. But none of them make me want to dance quite like the grooviest of all the songs: the <a href=\"https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/the-escapist-meaning-behind-the-steve-miller-bands-fly-like-an-eagle\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">1976 album\u2019s title track<\/a>. Is the dancing that I want to do mainly swaying and moving my arms like I\u2019m flying in some kind of gelatinous atmosphere? Maybe. But that\u2019s still dancing, you know.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre You Ready For The Country\u201d by Waylon Jennings<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787971095_172_hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Play\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Waylon Jennings might have been a country icon, but he was no stranger to exploring other genres. Jennings released many non-country covers throughout his career, including a rendition of Neil Young\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/how-neil-youngs-are-you-ready-for-the-country-went-from-anti-war-to-anti-nashville\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cAre You Ready For The Country\u201d<\/a>. Jennings\u2019 version is a classic country shuffle with enough groove to get your toes tapping no matter how many times you\u2019ve heard it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlay That Funky Music\u201d by Wild Cherry<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787971095_728_hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Play\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, wrapping up this list of the grooviest songs from 1976 that are turning 50 this year is a funk song done by a rock band. <a href=\"https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/meaning-play-that-funky-music-wild-cherry-song-lyrics\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cPlay That Funky Music\u201d<\/a> came about after Wild Cherry\u2019s audience began requesting funk halfway through their set. Some artists would let that request offend them. Wild Cherry turned into a career-defining hit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Photo by Michael Putland\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The late 1970s ushered in a distinct blend of rock, funk, disco, and soul, easily making the songs&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":829314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[2616,157423,88,216,17172,2156],"class_list":["post-829313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-1970s","tag-157423","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-pop-music","tag-rock-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}