55 Fun Songs that Deliver the Best Vibes From Pop, Dance, R&B, & More
Saying goodbye to Fun Song Fridays with refreshed playlist links and a Top 5.
It's the end of the week and also the last-ever Fun Song Friday post. This one is all about looking back and recapping some of the music I’ve covered during this column’s lifespan, and I want to send everyone off into the weekend with the best vibes possible. Regardless of era, genre, or style, the criterion was always simple: it must deliver the joy and excitement we all need in our lives.
You can access the entire Fun Song Fridays archive here. Keep reading for some handy playlist and article links.
As I mentioned earlier in 2025, the Fun Song Friday column is ending this week. But, instead of being a teary-eyed “end of the road” moment, I want to look back and celebrate how diverse this collection of songs ended up being.
Starting on January 12, 2024, with James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good),” I published 55 Fun Song Friday posts, adding up to nearly four hours of the best vibes around. I did my best to sprinkle in a variety of genres and eras, and, for the most part, I think I succeeded in that mission. Only one artist, David Bowie, was featured in the column more than once, and that was by design.
A few other points of interest:
The oldest song given the Fun Song Friday treatment was Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode,” narrowly beating out the Isley Brothers’ “Shout” for that honor.
Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” a standout on the Barbie soundtrack, was the most recent hit to earn a spot in the column.
The posts I’m proudest of were the ones that introduced songs and artists that many of you hadn’t heard of or spent substantial time listening to. Some of those were “Opposite People,” “Got To Keep On,” and a staple from my high school dance and university party days, “Turn Me On.”
Before I wrap up with your playlist links, here are the Top 5 Fun Song Friday posts, in descending order, as dedicated by reader viewership and engagement:
I hope you enjoyed these weekend primers as much as I enjoyed writing them. There’s a good chance I’ll revisit this idea down the road with a compilation post or two. Until then, stay on top of every newsletter update by subscribing and helping me and the world's music lovers grow this fantastic community.
Scroll down for Apple Music and Spotify links (and an embed for the latter). If you use another streaming service as your daily driver, you can copy the playlist to your account using Soundiiz or Tune My Music.
I love all these songs! Great choices for a fun time!
Sorry don't abide by Spotify, try soundcloud.com my joint. Everybody has their place these days.
Read Liz Pelly's "Mood Machine" book released this January if you think there's good people on both sides it'll set you straight. Somethings are just rotten to the core. Spotify will be gone one day into the trash bin of history. I get the idea behind streaming but with limitations. Like a Jukebox. But not for artists, it sucks. For users it has its use. My angle isn't a political one just that ownership of a curated collection always rewards me especially on Friday nights but I'm not static and buy music all the time. $10 for an album digital or otherwise is not a lot of money to give to an artist or to a label on their behalf. This isn't the first time money tried to keep the people down and it won't be the last, but as Bobby D. sang, "Money doesn't talk it swears." And there's been a lot of swearing going around lately.