Hi everyone, i hope you don't mind me posting here.
I am part of a Vintage Quartet singing a Variety of songs from the 1940's up to the 60's and some very early 70's.
We are being asked to do tea dances more often now and we have lots of songs that people get up and dance to , In the Mood being a firm favourite ha ha.
I was wondering if you could let me know which songs you enjoy dancing to, title and artist, and which dance it is appropriate for.
Any tips would be greatfully received.We love to see our audience dance and to get some more suitable rhythm songs in our sets would be great.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this and once again, i hope you didn't mind me asking.
Yvonne. X

Frank Sinatra recorded quite a few great songs, but most of them work best as Foxtrots. He had one hit that is clearly a Rumba (Rumba is a "rhythm" dance in American style dancing): "Strangers In The Night."

Another good Rumba is "The Way You Look Tonight" as recorded by Michael Buble. Sinatra has a wonderful version of the song, but it's a Foxtrot. Buble's version is different. (The Buble version is fairly recent, but the song is older. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936, as originally sung by Fred Astaire in the movie "Swing Time." Lots of singers have recorded it since then.)

Also, quite a few Elvis hits might work for you. "All Shook Up," "Don't Be Cruel," "Hound Dog," "Proud Mary" all make good Swings. And there are others.

Thank you so much for taking the time ti reply to my request. These are great ideas.
If you have any more suggestions please let me know.
Thanks again
Yvonne.

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Yvonne. If your looking for Quicksteps. Try Singing in the Rain. The lady is a Tramp. 42nd Street. You will find that the original Tempo that those tunes were written in was and should be 50 BPM

Wonder why so many of the tunes recorded by the leading Dance Orchestras are songs written in the 30's into the 40's.I believe they were written for people to Dance to , ( which is more than can be said with much of today's music ), and could be played on a Piano, or on a Pianola. A Pianola is one of those Pianos with pedals which were one found in most Hotel Bars. Another one for a Quickstep is Hello Dolly.

Are the dancers you perform for interested in Strict Tempo and ballroom dancers or are they just "social dancers"? Our local art center sponsors both ballroom classes and dances. Recently they had a big band play, but as most of us were ballroom dancers there was a disconnect from what they thought was tango, foxtrot, rumba etc. We've also had some live groups have a hard time keeping the tempo even for the whole song. That can be frustrating and challenging.

I think your question is wonderful and thoughtful. If your audience is people who like social dancing, they'll be much less particular. I agree, listen to almost anything by Sinatra, Michael Buble or Tony Bennett. You'll get lots of foxtrots from them, but people enjoy those. My favs are "Come Fly With Me", "Summer Wind" and "Just the Way You Look Tonight". For a rumba, "Girl From Ipanema" is good. Waltzes are also popular such as "Moon River", "Try to Remember" or "Sunrise, Sunset". There are also plenty of modern songs that fit these categories, but you said tea dance so I'm thinking the group is of a certain age.

Unfortunately most of the live bands trying to play strict Tempo haven't a clue what is the difference between a Modern Waltz and a Viennese Waltz just to mention two. Modern Waltz 28 BPM Viennese 60 BPM. The correct Tempos for all the strict Dances can be found by Google the Dance Sport Site in whatever country you are living. Try Dance Sport U.K. or Australia. Find your way to rules and then Tempos. I find that with live bands they have Vocalists and play to suit the Singer and not the Dancers. That is why we get a fluctuation in the Tempo being played. They don't seem to understand that the beats being played must be constant from the Four Bar introduction right through to the end of the tune.

This book (PDF): http://www.mrk-inc.com/users/fjacoby/ballrm0.pdf was written by a band leader who also dances. It's a "how to" guide for other musicians on playing music for dancing, and it devotes considerable space to discussing why the correct tempo matters to dancers.