One of the things I’ve appreciated in watching the growth of LMFAO over the last three years is their ability to make records that are funny and audacious and still sound like well-crafted, well-calculated hit singles. On their first album, only West Coast and Southwest listeners knew what a good singles machine they had become. Now, as they go from “Party Rock Anthem” to “Sexy And I Know It,” following the “Song of Summer 2011” with another top 10 hit, everybody knows.

You don’t necessarily think of subtleties with an act that has “animal print pants/out of control,” but there’s an interesting coincidence in timing with LMFAO’s breakthrough that many PDs may not have picked up on. LMFAO’s brand of playfulness found its home at radio just as labelmate Lady Gaga was relinquishing that franchise with the more ambitious “Born This Way.”

Much of Gaga’s achievement over the first three years of her career was that her perfectly crafted singles were funny and outrageous, too, in a way that only enhanced how great they sounded on the radio. And she did it without veering further into campiness than American audiences were comfortable with; (it says a lot that listeners were willing to follow her as far as “Alejandro” without flinching).

Gaga wasn’t wrong to move forward. Between “The Fame” and “The Fame Monster,” she effectively managed two full albums of perfect singles, and then tried something different as Ke$ha and other “turbo-pop” acts moved on to her turf. And releasing an anthem about daring to be different—a topic she could address with authority—kept her away from the pitfalls of, say, George Michael trying to get all serious on “Praying For Time.” Think of it more as Madonna’s “True Blue” album—more experimental and without the novelty aspect of “Like A Virgin” or “Material Girl.”

But Gaga did leave an opening. Ke$ha started on her turf, but didn’t stay there indefinitely. By her second album, she too was aiming for the anthemic with “We R Who We R,” and then “Blow,” possibly the least fun song about partying ever. Eminem had defined funny and audacious for many years, particularly with the first single from his various projects, but “Lose Yourself” took him in a different direction, and that aspect of his music hasn’t yet resurfaced.

In fact, a lot of the Hip-Hop from the late ’90s/early ’00s period managed to somehow pull off the trick of often being funny without being pigeonholed as being novelty, because as we all know, Top 40 hasn’t accepted novelty songs for 20 years. It’s also a trick that Country has picked up as well—a lot of the most enduring Country gold titles are along the lines of “Ten Rounds With Jose Cuervo” and “Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)” that might have, at one time, been quick to burn or resisted altogether.

It’s pretty obvious at this point that the number of songs about extreme partying—a frequent topic in this column of late—has something to do with the economic bad times of the last few years. But tough times call for somebody who can make listeners chuckle as well. Radio doesn’t always provide that after 10 a.m.—even if stations are no longer making the mistake of positioning as “fun all morning, music all day,” there’s not the same premium on air-talent that can raise a smile over the intros. LMFAO’s success isn’t just at providing party anthems, it’s at accepting the prerogative to have a good time.

More Ross On Radio:

Radio's Best & Worst

First Listen: A Very Up! Christmas