POV: it’s 2009 right after the housing crisis, you haven’t skated since your sixth birthday because of the recession but your elementary school is hosting a roller night at Great Skate Galaxy. After begging your parents for weeks, you finally are able to join your peers for a night you will never forget. You grab your four-wheel skates (the six-wheel is still too complicated for you) and hobble your way to the rink with the fluorescent disco ball shining neon lights to the beat of the top ‘90s dance hits. In case this memory is too faint for you, here is the playlist to back it up.

Boom boom boom boom!

Vengaboys

To be fair, I didn’t know this song was about sex until recently. This was my favorite song as a kid and I never understood why it upset my parents so much that I sang it until now. Either way this song needed to be included in my personal roller rink playlist. The high beats and dance vibes create the best roller skating song to ever be created.

Around the World (la la la) 

A touch of Class 

I think this song upset me the most as I really assumed this would be the vibe at clubs once I’m older. Since this is not what Bounce plays in 2022, I unfortunately will have to start partying at old roller rinks to heal my inner child. While this song is slightly slower than the rest, don’t let this discourage your pacing on the rink — think double time or use this opportunity to show off some floor work and include some spins

Blue (Da Ba Dee) 

Eiffel 65

A true novelty, this song opened the gate to my emo phase. Nothing worse than feeling blue 🙁 . I felt it was disrespectful not to include this song in the collection since it was so popular back in the day. I still have every word memorized to this bop. It was always very impressive for the kids that sang each word making intense eye contact zooming around the bowl.

The Rockafeller Skank 

Fat Boy Slim

To be fair I didn’t know the name of this song. It took me over an hour to find this specific one but the beat has been ingrained in my brain since every early 2000 comedy used it in their finale dance portion. The perfect song to show off some funky moves in the rink.

Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) 

C & C Music Factory

An iconic song, no question. Sung by singer Martha Wash and rapper Freedom Williams, this song reached No. 1 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in February 1990. Not only a fan favorite but I promise you will hear this at least four different times when you go to any roller skating rink.