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Cover of Van Halen II by Van Halen
Cover: Van Halen II

Song · Van Halen

“Dance the Night Away” by Van Halen

From the album Van Halen II (1979)

“Dance the Night Away” by Van Halen appears on 85 radio countdowns from 29 stations between 1982 and 2026. It was first released in 1979 on the album Van Halen II. Its best result is #3 on the WMGK Philly 500 (2025). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #188 of the '70s.

85countdowns
29stations
#3best position
0#1 finishes
2top 10 finishes
1982–2026years charted

Watch

Van Halen - Dance The Night Away (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Van Halen). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Dance the Night Away" sits on Van Halen II, released in 1979, and it may be the only song on that record that didn't come out of the band's club days and demo tapes. They dreamed it up during the album sessions, standing in a circle and humming parts at each other, with Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" as the spark. Ted Templeman produced and Donn Landee engineered.

It's Van Halen in a party dress: Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen keep a bright, bouncing beat, David Lee Roth is all grin, and Edward Van Halen, of all people, leaves out the guitar solo, putting a riff of tapped harmonics where it would go. Roth wanted to call it "Dance, Lolita, Dance" until Eddie talked him into the title it has now, and the chorus changed to match.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1982 201 95.5 KLOS KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) 499
1994 248 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1994) 1000
1995 193 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995) 1000
1996 237 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996) 1000
1996 348 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) 500
1997 310 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (1997) 499
1997 231 102.3 WBAB WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) 1023
1997 74 104.5 KZEP KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) 500
1998 193 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) 1000
1999 164 KISW KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999) 998
2002 409 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (2002) 500
2002 345 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2002 214 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) 923
2004 213 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2004) 923
2010 47 97.9 The Loop The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010) 500
2011 97 97.9 The Loop The Loop Rock N Roll 500 (2011) 500
2011 218 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 203 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2012) 500
2012 219 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2013 272 Big 100 BIG 500 Labor Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 475 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013) 500
2013 290 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 159 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2013) 500
2013 143 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 179 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 149 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 165 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2015 461 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2015) 500
2015 142 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 141 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2015 160 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2016 63 102.9 The Whale 102.9 The Whale Hartford 500 (2016) 500
2016 420 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2016 302 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2016 101 Qfm96 Qfm96 Memorial Day 500 (2016) 500
2016 127 103.5 The Fox The Fox Memorial Day 500 (2016) 299
2017 341 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2017) 500
2017 183 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2017 312 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2018 358 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2018 314 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2019 153 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) 500
2019 465 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2019) 500
2019 211 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2019) 500
2019 260 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2019 639 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2019 469 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2020 274 Q105.7 Q105.7 Memorial Day 500 (2020) 499
2020 461 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2020) 500
2020 334 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2020 253 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2020) 500
2020 198 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) 1025
2021 202 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2021) 499
2021 384 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2021 545 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2021 351 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2021) 500
2021 494 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2021 217 WCSX WCSX Rock & Roll 500 (2021) 499
2021 184 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2022 189 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s 908
2022 180 102.5 KZOK KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) 1025
2022 301 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 440 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 493 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2022) 500
2022 274 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 78 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2022) 500
2022 381 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2022 334 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2023 242 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 351 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2023) 500
2023 290 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 338 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) 1043
2023 214 97.1 The Drive 97.1 The Drive Memorial Day Weekend Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 334 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2024 358 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 231 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 499
2024 243 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2025 211 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2025) 500
2025 3 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2025) 500
2025 241 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 280 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 735 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800
2026 380 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2026) 500
2026 440 100.7 KSLX KSLX Arizona 500 (2026) 500
2026 5 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2026) 500

Also listed as: Dance The Night Away.

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