Blog: 246 The coolest things in the 20th century decades

If you wanted to forget any of your life’s daytime worries by dancing the night away in the 20^th century – all the decades had awesome music to party to going for them.

I’m glad I’m only 43 years old now = I was born in 1981, but I wish I was 100 years old now, because then I would have been alive to experience these awesome decades music treats:

1920s = music was the ‘Jazz Age’.

I would have been at nightclubs dancing to: Blues, Swing, Ragtime, and dance bands music in this decade.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a fan of doing the Charleston dance. In the 1920s I would have been doing the Charleston to early jazz and Dixieland. Do you think you would have been shaking your thing to these types of music in the nightclubs in the 1920s?

Plus, the fashion was rather cool too. I would have worn a Flapper dress most day and I would have had a bob haircut to match it. These looks are still available in vintage / charity shops. If they’re your thing - go get yourself looking super cool in a 1920s vintage look.

1930s = not a lot of partying was happening in this decade because of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis on a mission to kill lots of Earth’s people.

You probably learnt about this in your history lessons at school so I won’t dwell on those bad time.

1940s = People did party in the 1940s, but it was heavily influenced by World War 11 and rationing.

When people did get to party – they partied hard, because they were grateful, they were still alive. Swing and Big Band music were very popular in the 1940s. At nightclubs there was still Jazz, Swing, Latin and Blues music to dance the night away to too. People were also listening to some crooners’ music too, such as Frank Sinatra.

1950s = Rock n Roll era

My mum who was born in 1942 has told me how most people loved to do the Jive dance. This is a dance done with a partner to Rock n Roll music.

Check this fact about my mum that I’m super proud of. In the 1950s my mum was Great Britain’s national Jiving Champion.

The key artists in the 1950s were:

·      Elvis (my mum didn’t fancy him. What’s that all about hey?)

·      Chuck Berry

·      Bill Haley & His Comets

·      Little Richard

·      Jerry Lee Lewis

My mum taught me to Jive, and I taught my best friend. When we went out at night to nightclubs. We jived away to house music and most of the nightclub crowd were clapping for us and copying us. Some eras are very timeless - don’t you think?

1960s = a super cool decade because the World War had ended and there was plenty of great music to dance the night away to:

Rock n Roll, Motown, Soul and Surf rock

You might have heard of a few of these hits from the 1960s:

Twist and Shout, (I can’t get no) Satisfaction, ‘Fun’, ‘Fun’, ‘Fun’, You can’t hurry love & Respect.

The main music stars were:

·      The Supremes

·      Marvin Gaye

·      The Beach Boys

·      The Rolling Stones

·      The Beatles

·      Aretha Franklin

1970s = Disco being the most popular kind of music (it is my favourite type of music to shake my thing to here in 2025).

This decade had a lot of great music stars: Bee Gees, Donna Summer & Chic.

The music was rhythmic, four-on-the-floor, groovy baselines and synthesizers – Get in!

1980s = pop, dance-pop, new wave & rock music galore.

This was the decade when I had plenty of cassette tapes with artists like Kylie Minogue, Wham, Madonna & Michael Jackson to listen and dance too.

How my mum used to love it when I turned the TV up very loud so I could really enjoy the music programme ‘Top of The Pops’. I used to enjoy copying the dancers on stage with awesome pop stars whilst I sang along. Good old now gone ‘Top of The Pops’ TV programme hey!

Are these some of your 1980s favs to dance too – like they are mine?

·      Thriller & Billie Jean by Michael Jackson

·      Just can’t get enough by Depeche Mode

·      Like a virgin by Madonna

·      Wake me up before you Go-Go by Wham

·      Into the groove by Madonna

1990s = when I was in my 20s, my time was spent listening to indie, hip-hop & pop music.

I remember loving chilling out to music by Blur, Oasis and Pulp in the day. Also, some hip-hop music by Montell Jordan & Will Smith.

Check this out – I went to see the Spice Girls in the 1990s. Girl-power! Hey!

Do you remember these hits from the 1990s, if you don’t, please trust me they’re worth asking your Alexa (music player) to play all these songs for you to have a boogie to:

·      Groove is in the heart by Deee-Lite

·      Wannabee by The Spice Girls

·      Everybody (Backstreets back) by The Backstreet Boys (funnily enough)

·      We like to party (The Venga bus) by The Vengaboys

I did start listening to clubbing music at about the age of 7 years old, because my next-door neighbour was 18 and she went to illegal raves where she bought me tapes of the DJs spinning tunes out to the crowd. I loved listening and boogieing to this kind of music, so I started going to nightclubs at the age of 14 = 1995 (fake ID rules). I did and still do love clubbing music, but I don’t know about you - I loved to going to my friend’s birthday parties when pop music was played for all of us to shake our thing to.