Retro Party Playlist By Decade

Most party playlists fail for the same reason: they front-load the big songs and there's nothing left at eleven.

Here's the running order first, then what goes in each decade.

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The running order

  • First hour, while people arrive and talk: Motown, soul, easy sixties and seventies. Loud enough to fill the room, quiet enough to hear each other.
  • Second hour, as the room fills: the birthday person's teenage decade. Everybody knows every word.
  • Third hour, the peak: the biggest floor-fillers from across all decades, alternating fast and very fast.
  • Fourth hour: dance, disco, anthems, and the ones with a chorus everybody shouts.
  • Last twenty minutes: the singalongs. Slow it down and finish on one everyone knows.
  • Never put your three biggest songs in the first hour. That's the whole trick.

60s and 70s

  • Motown for the early part: The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Martha Reeves.
  • Disco for the middle: Chic, Sister Sledge, Earth Wind and Fire, Donna Summer.
  • Glam for the singalong: Slade, T. Rex, Sweet, Mud.
  • ABBA, which is not optional at any party in Britain.
  • Northern soul if the room is right, and it'll either empty the floor or make the night.
  • One Elvis, one Beatles, and no more than that unless the room asks.

80s

  • The certainties: Wham!, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Whitney, Prince.
  • Indie and guitar: The Smiths, The Cure, New Order, Talking Heads - use these while people are still talking, not at the peak.
  • Pop: Duran Duran, Bananarama, Kylie, Rick Astley, Tears for Fears.
  • The shouters: Journey, Bon Jovi, Queen, Bonnie Tyler.
  • One power ballad near the end, and everybody will pretend to hate it and sing it.

90s and 00s

  • Britpop: Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Supergrass. Common People is a guaranteed floor-filler and will take five minutes of your night.
  • Pop: Spice Girls, Take That, All Saints, Steps.
  • Dance: Robin S, Faithless, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, the ones with a build everyone waits for.
  • 00s indie: The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand.
  • 00s pop and R&B: Beyonce, Outkast, Girls Aloud, Usher.
  • Mr Brightside near the end. It is the closest thing this country has to a second national anthem.

Practical rules

  • Three to four hours of music is a full night. More than that and you're not curating, you're shuffling.
  • Kill every long intro and outro. Nobody dances through ninety seconds of build.
  • No more than two songs in a row by the same artist, ever.
  • Check the explicit versions before your nan arrives.
  • Download it. Do not rely on the venue's wifi. This ruins more parties than anything else.
  • One person controls the music. Requests go through them, not through the aux cable.
  • Test the volume in the empty room and then turn it up a little - a full room absorbs a surprising amount.

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How to write it so it lands

  • Never put your three biggest songs in the first hour.
  • Download it. Never rely on venue wifi.
  • One person controls the music. No aux cable.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you build a party playlist by decade?

Open with sixties and seventies soul while people arrive, move to the birthday person's teenage decade as the room fills, put the biggest floor-fillers in the third hour, and finish on singalongs.

How long should a party playlist be?

Three to four hours of actual music. Any longer and you're shuffling rather than curating, and the running order stops meaning anything.

What's the biggest playlist mistake?

Front-loading the best songs. If your three biggest tracks play in the first hour, there's nothing left when the room is actually full.

Should I stream or download the playlist?

Download it. Venue wifi failing mid-party is the single most common way a playlist goes wrong.

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