If there is a style of 1970s music that makes you want to move your feet, it’s likely Motown. So many great, uptempo songs from the genre came out in the 1970s, including these three songs from 1971, which still make me want to dance today.
“We Can Work It Out” by Stevie Wonder
The final single from Stevie Wonder’s iconic Signed, Sealed & Delivered album is “We Can Work It Out”. The song was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and first released by The Beatles in 1965.
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“We Can Work It Out” says in part, “Try to see things my way / Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong / While you see it your way / There’s a chance that we may fall apart before too long / We can work it out.“
On a CBS special celebrating The Beatles in 2014, Wonder said he was 15 years old when he first heard “We Can Work It Out”. He vowed then to someday record the song.
“It had a nice thing to it,” Wonder said at the time. “But I said, ‘Someday I’m going to do it again, with a little more funky thing with it.’”
Signed, Sealed & Delivered also includes the title track and “Heaven Help Us All”, which were all big hits for Wonder as well.
“Never Can Say Goodbye” by The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5’s “Never Can Say Goodbye” is part of their Maybe Tomorrow record. The song was written by Clifton Davis.
The groovy chorus says, “Tell me why is it so / That I never can say goodbye / Never can say goodbye, girl/ No, no, no, no, I / Never can say goodbye / Never can say goodbye, girl.”
In 1974, Gloria Gaynor had a Top 10 hit with this song. “Never Can Say Goodbye” became the group’s final No. 1 single for two years on Billboard‘s R&B chart. In 1974, The Jackson 5 returned to the top with “Dancing Machine”.
“What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye has plenty of dance-worthy songs, including “What’s Going On”. The song, a five-week No. 1 single, is the title track of a record Gaye also released in 1971. Gaye wrote this song with Al Cleveland and Renaldo Benson.
“What’s Going On” says, “What’s happening? / Hey, man, what’s happening? / Woo / Everything is everything / We’re gonna do a get down today, boy, I’ll tell ya.“
“What’s Going On” may sound like an uptempo, feel-good song. However, it was actually inspired by the political unrest at the time, including police brutality and violence following the Vietnam War.
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