Get Down with Your Funky Self - "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowza, Yowza, Yowza)"

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“Get down” has been part of the lyrical lexicon since people have been dancing (modern times, of course. I don’t think they were yelling “Get Down!” during waltzes in Vienna back in the day.) Of course, those two words also can be used to mean intimacy as well. I’ve got ten songs with “Get Down” in the lyrics, and some of these you should even be familiar with. We’ll begin during the Disco era, with Chic’s “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowza, Yowza, Yowza.)” Disco was still going strong in 1977, and the Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards-led R&B band Chic crossed over into disco territory with ease, and often. Such was the case with the New York group’s debut single, which pointed everyone to the dance floor. “Heading towards the floor, gotta get down, get down some more,” go the lyrics, although the tune is best remembered for its catchy “Yowza, yowza, yowza” chant. According to Rodgers, he and the late bassist Edwards tried every little catchphrase they could think of before remembering actor Gig Young repeating “yowza, yowza, yowza” in the 1969 film They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? It obviously worked. The tune reached #1 on the Billboard Dance Club chart, and #6 on the Hot 100 (as well as in both Canada and the U.K.) Fun Fact: Then-session vocalist Luther Vandross performed backup vocals on “Dance, Dance, Dance.” Chic is still going strong, although key members Edwards and drummer extraordinaire Tony Thompson have both passed on. If this one didn’t make you want to get down, don’t worry, there are nine more chances. Get Down! Link is to the radio edit: