Billie Jean voted greatest dance record of all time

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Is it really better than I Feel Love?

Billie Jean: loved by amateur moonwalkers the world over.
Billie Jean: loved by amateur moonwalkers the world over.

Michael Jackson's Billie Jean has been voted the greatest dance record of all time in a poll conducted by BBC Radio 2. Listeners were asked to pick their favourite track from a shortlist of 20.

Produced by Quincy Jones and released in 1983, Billie Jean appeared on Jackson's Thriller, which is still the best-selling album in music history (could this account for its place at the top of the chart?).

Second place went to Donna Summer's Giorgio Moroder-produced I Feel Love. Released in 1977, the song's synthesized backing track is routinely credited with changing the face of dance music forever.

The original shortlist was drawn up by a panel of music experts that included DJs Trevor Nelson and Danny Rampling. The full top 10 is as follows:

1. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
2. Donna Summer - I Feel Love
3. James Brown - Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine
4. Rhythim Is Rhythim - Strings Of Life
5. Alison Limerick - Where Love Lives
6. Soul II Soul - Keep On Movin'
7. Fingers Inc. - Can You Feel It
8. Inner City - Big Fun
9. S'Express - Theme From S'Express
10. The Charades - Key To My Happiness

So, is this the right result? Great though Billie Jean is, MusicRadar's vote would have gone to I Feel Love, which is both a fantastic record in its own right and hugely influential.

Ben Rogerson
Ben Rogerson
Deputy Editor

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.