Kriss Kross – Jump (1992)

We think it’s fun to sit around and bash all the teeny-bopper music, but go back and remember how incredibly popular this song was when you were that age. I want to see a show of hands on how many of you showed up to the dance with your clothes on backwards. I remember a few (not me, of course). But seriously, this is a song where a bunch of 13-year olds yell at a bunch of other 13-year olds to “JUMP! JUMP!” for a solid 3 minutes. I’m sure all the ladies at the dance were thrilled to slow dance with you after your Brut had been mixed with sweat after all that jumping.

Montell Jordan – This is How We Do It (1995)

Ya know, as we make this list, I’m realizing that this song was totally inappropriate for a kid in middle school. Let’s look at the lyrics “I reach for my 40”, “all the gang bangers forgot about the drive-by”, “designated driver took the keys to my truck”. I didn’t know what the hell any of that was back then, I just knew that this song was the jam. Me and all my very white friends sang all the words to this one as we took a break from holding hands with our ladies. Damn we wuz some gangstahs.

From RayRay

Color Me Badd – I Wanna Sex U Up (1991)

I actually remember DJ’s playing this song at church-sponsored dances. And plus, Color Me Bad was second to only Boyz II Men in the dance rotation. There’s nothing more hilarious to think about than a bunch of 7th graders standing 2 feet apart barely moving side to side while this song jams. We wouldn’t know how to sex a girl up if we were given an instruction manual. On a side note, another solid tune from the Color Me Bad catalog was “I Adore Mi Amor.” Just because we could change the words “Mi Amor” to whoever we happened to have a crush on that magical Friday night.

Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)

Sixth grade was a remarkable year. You made new friends, you met new girls, and most of all, you got to dance with those new girls. But, as an awkward 6th Grader with a secret fetish for The Cure and New Order, I wasn’t too willing to humiliate myself by asking various girls to grace the dance floor with me. Instead, I waited for that one song; the song when all the boys would break out their air guitars and jump around. That song for us was “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” We moshed and danced about, just like in the video, except with nerdy kids who shopped at the Gap. Sure, we looked like idiots, but we were in 6th Grade, so we were idiots.

From nathan.lankford

Boyz II Men – End of the Road (1992)

This is the song that brought down the house (a close second is “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye to Yesterday“. This is the song you were waiting for all night long. This is the song you were prepping for all week.  Most dances I remember just cycled through 5 different Boyz II Men songs at the end of the night. But I tell you what… if I go to dance today, 15 years later, they sure as hell better play some Boyz II Men. It can’t be beat.