Three For Free: Dance, Dance, Dance!

Sometimes, you just need to dance – get up off of your chair, onto your feet, and shake it. These three songs, which you can download for free from Freegal,* should entice you to do just that.

“Freeway of Love” by Aretha Franklin from Who’s Zoomin’ Who?

You may know Aretha Franklin as the Queen of Soul, but she was also the Queen of Dance during the summer of 1985 when this song was a huge dance club hit. Aretha won a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (her 12^th!) for this song, which features Clarence Clemons on sax. My favorite memory of this song involves dancing with my best friend in the middle of a crowded dance floor at Tugs in Belltown on Halloween, surrounded by men dressed as nuns, all of us having the time of our lives.

2. “100 Yard Dash” by Raphael Saadiq from The Way I See It.

I find this song completely irresistible. How can you listen to this and not move along to it? IMPOSSIBLE! Saadiq radiates so much cool and channels the funky kind of soul music I listened to a lot while growing up. This song even sounds like it’s coming out of an AM radio–in a good way!

3. “Lady Marmalade” by LaBelle from Nightbirds.

Remember this fantastic song? This is the original version from 1974, but you might be more familiar with the cover version from the 2001 Moulin Rouge soundtrack by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and Pink. If you want to fill an empty dance floor, put this song on and watch the wallflowers abandon their posts in droves. Then, listen as they sing along: “Hey sister, go sister, soul sister, go sister,” and “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?” And, for heaven’s sake, join them and DANCE!

*Freegal is a downloadable music service that offers access to approximately three million songs, including the Sony Music catalog. The collection changes daily and covers thousands of artists on over 10,000 labels with music that originates in over 60 countries. Library cardholders can download up to three songs per week on their computer, flash drive or mobile device (via the Freegal app). There is no software to download and song files can be transferred to multiple devices, burned to disc and will never expire. You must have a Seattle Public Library card and PIN in order to access the service.