Making OLDIES work, when 90% of the guests don't know 'em...

I've been using less and less of the 50's & 60's genre these days....

rather than continue to debate "Gray" about why these old love songs don't work any more (aging of demographic, no radio support).

Songs like "DDB" (in that other thread) get REGULAR AIR PLAY on the Jammin' Oldies format (V-101 in Sacramento).

Recently I've had great results with the following:

Whenever I get a request (usually from a 20-something) to play what they call "Suicidal" (they of course mean Sean Kingston, "Beautiful Girl") at a wedding or corporate event.

I'll first play the song "Stand By Me" (Ben E. King) for two choruses and then (during the instrumental break)--- will mix into the Sean Kingston request (cueing past the "Yo....Sean Kingston" talking part at the beginning).

The end result, is that you get the older folks on the floor with Stand By Me, and they will stay for the Sean Kingston.....followed by the younger folks who only know the new song.

I call them my "Creative Crossovers"......songs that will engage a higher percentage of your crowd by creative use of mixing or segues.

Brilliant!

I see the potential for a Hank Parody between DJ Grey and DJMC humm Hank humm

I actually have done what your describing DJMC with some Will Smith and Shaggy songs

ie

Getting Jiggy With it from He's The Greatest Dancer

Rise Herb Alpert (fav song) into Hypnotize Big E Smalls

Mj Dance Shout into Shaggy Dance Shout

Thank God for Master Tempo!!

This works great......I do that with old funk tunes, and classic raps. The oldies into the remakes are fun too....big hit most times!

Yeah Matt you named it so it must be yours. Tell the truth. RB taught you didnt he? LOL!!! I Was doing some of this clear back in the 80's, it works well with the younger crowd. However on some occassion the older crowd would prefer to hear the whole song and not have it cut up. Sometimes I prefer the oldies station isnt playing a particular song as it ends up having a wow factor with the crowd having not heard it in ages and realizing how great a song they had been missing.

No radio support, my ass.

Matt, maybe it's different out there in Californee. But I can tell you that the "oldies" ~ dance hits from the '50s to the '80s are to be heard on FM... and at most convenience and grocery stores here on the East coast.

From Elvis to Motown to Huey Lewis, this is today's Muzak. The feeds are everywhere... Sams Club, Wally Mart, Food Lion and everywhere one stops to gas up the car.

Guess what? People like it just the way it is. It ain't mixed nor segued with neo-crapola from "artists" who simply copy a popular music bed from bygone days.

I am going to presume that significantly more money and time has been vested into determining the content of these feeds than Matt Cohen has vested in his advice here. ;)

I've been using less and less of the 50's & 60's genre these days....

rather than continue to debate "Gray" about why these old love songs don't work any more (aging of demographic, no radio support).

Songs like "DDB" (in that other thread) get REGULAR AIR PLAY on the Jammin' Oldies format (V-101 in Sacramento).

Recently I've had great results with the following:

Whenever I get a request (usually from a 20-something) to play what they call "Suicidal" (they of course mean Sean Kingston, "Beautiful Girl") at a wedding or corporate event.

I'll first play the song "Stand By Me" (Ben E. King) for two choruses and then (during the instrumental break)--- will mix into the Sean Kingston request (cueing past the "Yo....Sean Kingston" talking part at the beginning).

The end result, is that you get the older folks on the floor with Stand By Me, and they will stay for the Sean Kingston.....followed by the younger folks who only know the new song.

I call them my "Creative Crossovers"......songs that will engage a higher percentage of your crowd by creative use of mixing or segues.

I think that is a great way to engage your entire audience........

As for my playing the oldies....my audiences would not know Sean Kingston from Shaggy?.....

If I put or played that "mix" you speak of here it would be to an empty dancefloor, with looks from the guests that I must have "flipped" out.

If I can help it I do not play for young people.....It happens at times they are in attendance at a retirement or birthday party or an anniversary party, if they request something, and I have it I will play it.

My clients know up front if this is what they want, I ask them to call Ruben..........

From an outsider looking in when it come to Gray and Matt --- I think both should be prevented from talking to one another....seperate gentleman and move to your perspective corners. Agree to disagree and stay out of one's path.

That's just my penny comment, your mileage may vary.

From an outsider looking in when it come to Gray and Matt --- I think both should be prevented from talking to one another....seperate gentleman and move to your perspective corners. Agree to disagree and stay out of one's path.

That's just my penny comment, your mileage may vary.


I agree..............

Matt, maybe it's different out there in Californee. But I can tell you that the "oldies" ~ dance hits from the '50s to the '80s are to be heard on FM... and at most convenience and grocery stores here on the East coast.
;)

Hey! - We've cracked it then. I'm going to make sure that my next string of bookings for the Summer season is at Wal-Mart!!

Joking aside, I've done stuff like this too with varying results. All I'd like to add is that there is more than one way of making it 'work' for a mixed age group, and remember, if there was just one 'right' way of doing things:

(1) we would all be doing exactly the same thing, and

(2) we wouldn't need a site like this one, because we'd all know everything already!!

What a boring and depressing place that would be.........:sqfrown:

Hey! - We've cracked it then. I'm going to make sure that my next string of bookings for the Summer season is at Wal-Mart!!

Joking aside, I've done stuff like this too with varying results. All I'd like to add is that there is more than one way of making it 'work' for a mixed age group, and remember, if there was just one 'right' way of doing things:

(1) we would all be doing exactly the same thing, and

(2) we wouldn't need a site like this one, because we'd all know everything already!!

What a boring and depressing place that would be.........:sqfrown:
Agreed 100%, my friend. :)

As I've mentioned before, Ol' Wolfster got a serious dose of culture shock when I moved to Delaware. North of the Mason-Dixon Line is a whole nother world where filling the dance floors is concerned. I played more Frankie Sinatra in one year in DE than I played in seven years in VA. Likewise, I can count on one hand the number of times Uncle Pen has filled a floor around here. I couldn't do a show in VA without playing that dance turn. :eek:

In deference to Matt's original comments, working up a mix with the new and the old may indeed do well in some demographics. I just haven't seen it. But then again, I don't play dance clubs and can't say what works in clubs. Ain't my market. In our experience, audiences tend to respond positively to sets of music genres and timeframes in original format.

Mmmmmmm. I can see how and why you could have success with either mixing old and new versions of the same song together, or 'leaving well alone'. It does of course depend on the crowd, their ages and what proportion of age groups there are within the whole audience. (ie) What percentage would have a 'sympathetic ear' for unadulterated sixties music, for example.

When I have a mixed crowd, apart from (maybe) mixing the old with the new version, I like to find what I call 'common denominator' songs. These are songs that will appeal to a particular age group, but may be a song that a wider age group might know. This might be due to them hearing it as part of a film soundtrack, or on a TV commercial.

Typical songs that spring to mind might be 'Build Me Up Buttercup' (Foundations, 1968), used in the film 'There's something about Mary', or 'One Way Or Another' (Blondie, 1978), from the film 'Coyote Ugly'.
Without being too smug about it, some people forget how intolerant some age groups are when all mixed together at a family function. There are several reasons for this. A 'Golden Oldie' to me (a fifty-plusser) is something that came out in my youth, so we are talking anything from the mid-fifties onwards. A 'Golden Oldie' to someone that is fifteen, could be something that came out eighteen months ago. Without seeming too patronising, this group are too young to have developed a large catalogue of favourite songs, so you get massive numbers of youths all latching on to the same few songs. Soulja Boy, Rihanna, Black Eyed Peas, Shakira, Beyonce - and generally all from the same genre, which here in the UK is currently R&B. Although there is a slight swing back to drum and bass at the moment.

My age group has their favourite songs too. The difference is, they have probably been favourites of theirs for years and years and years. Taking the 'Build Me Up Buttercup' example, play that song here in the UK at a family gathering, and the dance floor will be pretty much full. Play their version of 'Baby Now That I've Found You', which did even better in the UK in 1967, and you will probably be left with the forty-five plusses, the younger ones will be on their way back to their tables thinking that the DJ has just landed from Mars. (Wtf is this?)

Unfortunately, some new versions of songs completely wreck the memory of some classics for us old gits. Take for example 'Hey Baby' by DJ Otzi. Play the original version (as used in 'Dirty Dancing') by Bruce Channel, and the crowd will still insist in chanting 'Hooooo-Haaaah' in the middle of the lyrics, even though they are not used in that version.

Finally, (Sorry, it's teaching Gran'ma to suck eggs time), you do have to keep a very close eye on how the crowd are reacting to what you are playing, because generally the younger side of the crowd will come up and ask for songs, whereas the older ones will not be so forthcoming. If you relied on this too much, you would end up with a very skewed picture of what the crowd might actually want.

That's how it is here in the UK anyway. I'd be interested to hear how it is elsewhere.....

In my best impression of Artie Johnson as a Nazi soldier '' Verrrryy Interesting!'' But You pretty much nailed it for how it is here as well in Canada. Build Me Up Buttercup doesnt even seem to work here however so the other you mentioned would be totally a floor killer. I have attempted to play some of the favorites others shared with no luck. Timing? Possibly. Not region friendly? Possibly! Somehow if we played the same songs each other did asides the top worldwide hits it would be very boring and folks would look to Bands again

. I had an older couple come up during a wedding and the man asked if I could play Andy Williams- Born Free or Moonriver and I said I would look through to make sure I had. I did of course and at the end of the night he came up shook my hand with a 20 in it and said thank you ever so much for playing our first Dance song 30 yrs ago. He continued to mention he had asked many a DJ to play it with no luck and I did. He took cards and I did two more events from that contact and one Andy Williams song. I hadnt played that song for nearly 20 yrs but I had it with me and now on occasion I use it during Dinner or for a ballad selection during a oldies set.

Dinner music is the best time to play the unexpected and even unknown. Old songs can become new to many a crowd with them flocking to the stage to find out the name and artist of a surprise oldies number.

Dinner music is the best time to play the unexpected and even unknown. Old songs can become new to many a crowd with them flocking to the stage to find out the name and artist of a surprise oldies number.


Spot on Jon. This is exactly what I find too. Though sadly - without the 20!! :sqfrown:

Agreed 100%, my friend. :)

I played more Frankie Sinatra in one year in DE than I played in seven years in VA. Likewise, I can count on one hand the number of times Uncle Pen has filled a floor around here. I couldn't do a show in VA without playing that dance turn. :eek:

Uncle Pen?? Someone's turn I've missed? :sqerr:

try playing the song "Happy Together" NOT by the Turtles but by Jason Donovan then play the original version and see how they sound :)

I have made a lot of money by people guessing who it is (not) lol

I tried Rihannas SOS in to Tainted Love back to SOS Friday night at the teen dance and the kids loved it. I did find out I could use more practice I missed the beats a bit but it still went over well

Thanks for the reminder Matt

I tried Rihannas SOS in to Tainted Love back to SOS Friday night at the teen dance and the kids loved it. I did find out I could use more practice I missed the beats a bit but it still went over well

Thanks for the reminder Matt


What do you mean I missed the Beats?

They are basically the same song musically Jim I missed the beat I was supposed to bring in Tainted Love in on and missed again bringing back SOS. I was only out by about 1 sec. and I was probably the only one who noticed but it's still something I should work on

They are basically the same song musically Jim I missed the beat I was supposed to bring in Tainted Love in on and missed again bringing back SOS. I was only out by about 1 sec. and I was probably the only one who noticed but it's still something I should work on

Hey! - I thought you were the Master Of Music! :sqwink:

Trouble is, once you've started that mix, there's no going back...........

Hey! - I thought you were the Master Of Music! :sqwink:

Trouble is, once you've started that mix, there's no going back...........

I am I just don't beatmix it very well these days :sqwink:

As I recall...isn't S.O.S. 133 and the other one, Tainted Love, is 145 bpm?. Not an easy mix, fer sure!

I am I just don't beatmix it very well these days :sqwink:

Don't sweat it. Just pulling your leg.......:sqrolleyes: I'll bet you were the only one that noticed too.

I have trouble getting the gear up two flights of stairs these days, let alone beatmixing.........

And I'm sure I'm going deaf as well. Must be all those years of having my music too loud.

..........But what a way to go!!!!!!!!!! :sqlaugh:

Are you saying it's time for me to stop playing the Four Aces and Marty Robbins tunes?

Just when I had finally mastered my mash-up of "How Much is that Doggie in the Wndow" and "You Can Do It Put Your _____ Into It".

I for one would like to hear that.

Will swap you for my mix of Soulja Boy's 'Crank That' into Village People's 'YMCA'.

As I recall...isn't S.O.S. 133 and the other one, Tainted Love, is 145 bpm?. Not an easy mix, fer sure!

It's all in the ear Matt....I was Beatmixing before I ever knew what BPM were :sqwink:

IMHO, at least for the wedding audiences in which my specialty lies, oldies are a great ice breaker for multi-genre multi-aged, multi-level of sobriety groups.

The keys lie in the dance beat, not the title or the genre.

While we may work several times a week thus hearing the same tracks over and over, most guests at a wedding, especially the 35+ bracket, are tethered with work and family. Rarely do they get out to "dance" more than twice a year.

Getting a bit deeper into the philosophy of oldies, it is very helpful to have lived and danced to the songs and understand what potential memories of their younger days certain tracks can trigger.

An classic example happened last Tuesday night. (Sea story follows) ;>) !

Allison (my wife) and I had a hankerin for greasy bar food and brewskis. We went to our favorite watering hole and there was about 20 patrons. The digital juke box was playing some of todays trash and the place felt like a mausoleum.

Over to the digital jukebox, shoved a couple of bucks into it and played:

Human Beinz - Nobody But Me
JJ Jackson - It's Alright
Sly & Family Stone - Dance To the Music
Abba - Does Your Mother Know
Dion - Donna Prima Donna

Five songs and the place was was jumpin. Folks boppin in their seats, waitresses giving me money to make more choices, my wife and I dancing by our table, one fella said I oughta be a DJ, and the place was completely energized.

Anybody can push play. It's what specific educated choices are made to put under that play button that separates success from ordinary. Mixing is overrated.

My two cents, anyway.

Five songs and the place was was jumpin. Folks boppin in their seats, waitresses giving me money to make more choices, my wife and I dancing by our table, one fella said I oughta be a DJ, and the place was completely energized.

I hope you gave him a card :sqwink:

Jeff : Nope. Didn't have to. The explanation why would sound a bit braggadocios and a tangent to the thread topic.

And there we have it..........The reason I once called you the Ambassador. Thanks Cap!!

It is amazing the reactions you can get from some of the oldies.........

Bob's reference to one of my favorites from back then.....

"How Much is that Doggie in the Wndow".....A great Patti Page....... "Golden Oldie"

These are the type of songs that I will play for the right audience, during Dinner/Cocktail music time. You can tell by the "Toe Tappers", how much they enjoy.........

If it is well received we try a few during the dance program.....

"Doggie in the Window" is actually a waltz (3/4 time). Otherwise, I probably would mash it with "You can do it.... :sqerr:

Mixing is overrated.

Tell that to the Jive bunny. Spoil sport! :(

Talk to the hand......crab scratcha :)

Jive Bunny and the Jock Jams mixes are okay. Too bad Jive Bunny and Jock Jams didn't take enough care (or perhaps were too young) to use the original song versions (e.g. JB Swing The Mood Mix [worst cover of In The Mood even done, all the Elvis cuts rot to high heaven, JB Hawaii 5-0 Surf mix, Chubby Checker re-recording at age 60 something plus a few other really bad singing impersonations, and JJ using YMCA re-recording cut done maybe 10 years later than the original? )

But let's see here. Jive and Jock lasted maybe a year or two? Poof! Gone faster than an elephant with David Copperfield.

To some, those puppies (although much richer than I'll ever be) are content disappointing thus aren't used. The idea is great, and with Audition, creating an identical (but all original) pre-mix and saved clone is entirely possible.

Say, Bob, do you ever smile while typing posts (other than using icons/smilies) or does perpetual gloom and doom follow you around like Joe Btfsplk (http://www.ourdjtalk.com/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Btfsplk) ?

Ambassador I hate to admit it but Jive Bunny Swing The mood most often used and well received song from its inception til oh even last weekend. Never even used without the use of Audition. Come to think of it that recording never sounded as good on each occasion until presented through the Bose L1. ( A Funny bit of irony after your last post).

Jon : Tch tch tch.

Say, Bob, do you ever smile while typing posts (other than using icons/smilies) or does perpetual gloom and doom follow you around like Joe Btfsplk ?

I don't know what "Joe Btfsplk" is and the link doesn't work.

What is so gloomy about Jive Bunny and Patti Page?

http://deniskitchen.com/docs/bios/bio.jbtfsplk.jpg



Cap,

I am certainly not going to let an insult such as that go unanswered. Clearly, you are a sour and mean spirited individual. I would just like to state for the record and make it perfectly clear to everyone in this forum that I would never wear a hat like that with yellow shoes!

Bob : Thank you for clearing that up. The rumor mill, even though believed by millions, needed to be cleared up and what a swell job you did.

I honestly personally believe you were smiling when you posted the response (and that your shoes are actually and really burnt sienna)

Thanks to the "Monster.com" commercials......."All Right Now" by Free has seen a big resurgence at my gigs. Its around 120 bpm......it mixes with other Rock tunes like "Start Me Up" by the Stones.

Bob you mentioned "Marty Robbins", the singing Nascar driver...
I played one of my favorites of his for a Anniversary party in December, and it went over very well. even had the younger couples on the dance floor.....

"My Woman, My Woman, My Wife"

I'm not aware of a Marty Robbins & Nascar connection. The Marty Robbins I'm thinking of would be early 1950's as in "A White Sport Coat..."
Is there a connection?

......."All Right Now" by Free

There's an 80's dance mix of this by Pepsi & Shirley that I've always liked. It has a sound sort of like "Black Cat" (Janet Jackson)

Bob yes he raced During the Yarborough, Petty, Allison, Buddy Baker,David Pearson Days and if he hadnt died and or chose only toRace likely could have been a Champion. He certainly wasnt an also ran.

About Free and All right Now I have continued to use this throughout the yrs. Along with Little Willy and many others. Anyone used Devil Woman in recent yrs. Yup I do and its a floor filler. Of course one needs to know when to use it.

Oldies have always been and will always be a major factor in my Gigs..When I first started as a Mobile in 1990 I promoted myself as an Oldies DJ to compliment my Job at an Oldies Radio Station..After a left the station in 1995,I slowly transitioned into a "Full Range DJ"..I today do teen dances,Weddings,Sweet 16's and everything but Bar/Bat Mitvahs and Rave events.. I always perform my best Gigs when Oldies are heavily requested and are mixed in with newer material....J.J. Jackson,The Human Beinz and Free will always be mainstays for most of my Gigs..My favorite gigs of all are Younger Crowds who request a fair amount of Oldies..I have also delved into Carolina Beach Music..On the other side of the coin,I know DJ's who want to play only Oldies and refuse to embrace anything much beyond the Mid 80's and have been forced pretty much into retirement...Too bad every "Older" DJ can't be Philly's Jerry Blavat known as "The Geator With The Heator".

Oldies have always been and will always be a major factor in my Gigs..When I first started as a Mobile in 1990 I promoted myself as an Oldies DJ to compliment my Job at an Oldies Radio Station..After a left the station in 1995,I slowly transitioned into a "Full Range DJ"..I today do teen dances,Weddings,Sweet 16's and everything but Bar/Bat Mitvahs and Rave events.. I always perform my best Gigs when Oldies are heavily requested and are mixed in with newer material....J.J. Jackson,The Human Beinz and Free will always be mainstays for most of my Gigs..My favorite gigs of all are Younger Crowds who request a fair amount of Oldies..I have also delved into Carolina Beach Music..On the other side of the coin,I know DJ's who want to play only Oldies and refuse to embrace anything much beyond the Mid 80's and have been forced pretty much into retirement...Too bad every "Older" DJ can't be Philly's Jerry Blavat known as "The Geator With The Heator".


You are so right, I have started to add some of the newer pop songs to my play lists as needed to satisfy my audiences. I have to admit I wish it wasn't necessary, but we have to respond to our crowds. In doing so I have discovered some outstanding artists as well as songs.

It amazes me as well as some the older guests at these events, to see some of the younger couples slow dancing to the "Golden Oldies"

I believe Maturity can be both Our Greatest Liability and If used Properly Our Greatest Asset...I also believe it is easier for an Older DJ to learn new stuff than a Younger DJ Older stuff simply because the Older DJ has "lived" through it all...One of my Slogans is "Everything from Doo-Wop to Hip-Hop"...I do sometimes lose out to Younger DJ's but the issue is usually not about Music but about Gear and Lights..The Bose has helped tremendously.

thanks Don. You know my take on this. I do much the same and on many occasions keep some oldies alive by using them along with similiar new songs. I have continued to meld old and new beneficial to my 30+ yr career. I figure once the new stuff no longer works for me I might want to centralize my shows to what I know best.

Allie just pointed out yet ANOTHER new song with an old twist.

She said......"Dad.......the new Rihanna song is copying the old MJ song "Wanna Be Starting Something"...."

I pointed out to her....that the "mama se mama sa ma ma cu sa mama se mama sa ma ma koo sa" originated in a late 70's or early 80's disco tune from Afrika Bambaata and I think it was called "Din Da Da" or something like that.

The Rihanna song is called "Don't Stop The Music" and its at 123 bpm. I'd probably use the MJ song in a dance mix, because of the similar bpm range. Not sure about the Afrika Bambaata tune......too obscure for most guests.

Matt if your just now playing that Rihanna song you are in fact playing an oldie and oh my God in California its now a GOLDEN OLDIE!! You have to go back to school and keep up better.