Party Favorz is finally ready to start rolling out The Ultimate Dance Classics featuring the and only queen of the dancefloor...MADONNA! With only two sets complete so far, each one has presented its own set of challenges to create.

This first set features all of her 80s dance output plus a couple of spillovers from 1990. This first stage of Madonna's career is where she made not only her name but tip the scales for women to be outright megastars. Whether it was the nude photos of her that were taken prior to her massive success and published in Playboy — which she proudly exclaimed that she didn't care — the tumultuous marriage to actor Sean Penn and the constant swarming of paparazzi, which ultimately ended in divorce or the lucrative tour deal with Pepsi, which ultimately led them to pull out of the deal after the outrage that ensued over the video for "Like A Prayer" forfeiting millions of dollars — Madonna was adept at creating controversy or how to handle it when it wasn't her own doing.

Volume 1 of The Ultimate Dance Classics is the soundtrack for those years and features a dazzling display of dancefloor scorchers along with smart pop songs that ruled the charts throughout the decade.

The nice thing about mixing 80s music is that electronic music at the time was based on a simple snare drum that kept perfect timing. Disconet and later Hot Tracks and Ultimix, which serviced the DJ community with club-ready staples always featured this simple beat throughout the mix no matter what type of style of music it was backing. That in turn made it easy for DJs to mix in and out with no need to be concerned over what key a song was in. Aside from updating the original recordings to match more current edits by Select Mix (another DJ service) and DJ Freddy Greene (a.k.a. Digital Visions), my biggest concern was with the flow.

I'd put together a mix and then go back over and over and rearrange the chairs on the Titanic to ensure everything transitioned with purpose. Thus songs from the same album weren't necessarily grouped together — but were grouped by the overall feel of the two connecting songs that would lead to the next and the next one after that. When you listen to it — it sounds cohesive and purposeful.

This is my second stab at creating an 80s set for Madonna, and I'm positive I did it justice. In fact, I couldn't be more pleased with how all of this has come out (including the upcoming Volume 2) so far. These sets are far exceeding my wildest expectations.

For those of you living under a rock — Madonna is about to release "Finally Enough Love," which is a celebratory compilation of all 50 of her dance songs that went to #1 on the Billboard Dance Club chart. While these songs are edits (with some being very rare) — please support her work as fans have been clamoring for her to release this for a long time. You can also stream it along with all her hits on Spotify.

I'll be back next week with Volume 2. Until then...ENJOY!

Album: The Ultimate Dance Classics Vol. 1

Genre: Dance, Club

Year: 2022

Total Time: 01:50:00

1. Open Your Heart (Shep Pettibone Mix)

2. Express Yourself (Ultimix pt. 1)

3.