Music of the night: #14 "Dance the Night Away" Van Halen (1979)

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“Have you seen her? So fine and pretty Fooled me with her style and ease And I feel her from across the room Yes, it’s love in the third degree” “Dance the Night Away” was Van Halen’s first top 20 hit coming in at Billboard #15. That came as a surprise as “Running with the Devil” seems the bigger song yet barely cracked the Hot 100. The difference must have been “Dance the Night Away” was more mainstream pop while “Running with the Devil” more hard rock radio. From the album “Van Halen II,” the song receives group writing credit and supposedly inspired by Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way.” David Lee Roth wanted to call the song Dance Lolita Dance” and Eddie Van Halen convinced him otherwise for obvious reasons. “Dance the Night Away” has been heard in the movies “Argo,” “MIssion to Mars” and “Anchorman 2.”