Birthday Parties, happy birthday song request

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shanefrom302

shanefrom302

DJ Extraordinaire
Sep 28, 2008
948
86
41
Delaware
www.chodecircus.com
Ok so last week at a bday party one of the caterers tells me that they are about to cut the cake and wanted me to play the happy birthday song. I replied I don't have the happy birthday song and her eyebrows went sky high and she said your dj'ing a birthday party and do not have the happy birthday song!!!! and walked off...


Now in all my years I have never ever had someone request "the happy birthday song" After all its something that your guest/loved ones have sung to each and everyone of us ever since our first bday party......so was I in the wrong for not having this song??? after all, is there supposed to be a different version for every name that exist????

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear "your name here", happy birthday to you

Is there really a general birthday song out there? I thought to myself how lame would that be to have me play a birthday song instead of having the guest sing happy birthday using the name of the birthday boy/girl.

The caterer then walks over and says the dj doesn't have the happy birthday song, so then they start singing it. I mean c'mon now was she really serious?

Was I in the wrong and unprepared?
 
Well now that I think about it ,I have it, but only in a kids music format. This was for a 60th Birthday party and I don't think that any birthday song could have replaced having his guest sing it to him. I need to listen to the versions I have when I get home becuase what do they sing where you are supposed to say the persons name? I immediately told the caterer no becuase I thought to myself how am I supposed to have a happy birthday song for every name on earth.




I guess just like brides want custom 1st dance mixes now the birthday gals/guys will want a custom bday mix with thier name included. Of coarse the first mix is free, after that I'm charging :sqwink::sqlaugh::rofl:
 
I have a version of Happy Birthday by Eddy Howard but it's more of an instrumental. When I do parties for older black crowds, they usually like the version by Stevie Wonder. He is singing Happy Birthday to Martin Luther King.

I find it odd when people ask for Happy Birthday also. I would hop on the mic and have all of the guest come up to sing it at that time.
 
I have the instrumental version and have been asked for it less than a dozen times but it is there like all my music for that one time it is asked for. Its better to have it once than have the eye roll when you dont.
 
Shane,

No offense intended toward you, my compadre. Just sayin'. If you're booked to DJ at a birthday party you really should have the Happy Birthday song in your library.

Gosh, we've played Happy Birthday at shows where we didn't know we were gonna need it. The client comes over and says hey, it's so-and-so's birthday next week and we'd like to sing Happy Birthday. Could you play it for us?

Here's an Amazon link to an older CD we carry in the case: Amazon.com: Music for All Occasions: Eddy Howard, Lawrence Welk, The Lettermen, Guy Lombardo, Cristy Lane, Pat Boone, Queen Ida, The Mom and Dads, Happy Polkateers, Johnny Paycheck: Music@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/418NY4WWYYL.@@AMEPARAM@@418NY4WWYYL

Check it out. It has vocal and instrumental versions of the song. The vocal version goes "Happy birthday to ____."

Hope this helps. :)
 
That was my first CD bought especially for New Years and Birthdays etc. Star Spangled Banner etc etc. Used the polkas etc numerous times it has paid for itself tenfold.
 
I've used Happy Birthday by The Beatles, I have a kids version, an instrumental version, and the Stevie Wonder version. I have played all of them more than once. I usually start the song and by the end of the first happy birthday I can fade it out and let the guests take over.

young...
 
The way I see it, you wouldn't do a wedding without the Wagner's march, you wouldn't do a New Year's Eve without Auld Lang Syne, you wouldn't do a bar mitzvah without Hava Nagila, I wouldn't do a birthday without Happy Birthday. Preparation is key, be prepared for anything and everything. Business 101, under-promise and over deliver.

young...
 
shanefrom302 said:
Ok so last week at a bday party one of the caterers tells me that they are about to cut the cake and wanted me to play the happy birthday song. I replied I don't have the happy birthday song and her eyebrows went sky high and she said your dj'ing a birthday party and do not have the happy birthday song!!!! and walked off...


Now in all my years I have never ever had someone request "the happy birthday song" After all its something that your guest/loved ones have sung to each and everyone of us ever since our first bday party......so was I in the wrong for not having this song??? after all, is there supposed to be a different version for every name that exist????

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear "your name here", happy birthday to you

Is there really a general birthday song out there? I thought to myself how lame would that be to have me play a birthday song instead of having the guest sing happy birthday using the name of the birthday boy/girl.

The caterer then walks over and says the dj doesn't have the happy birthday song, so then they start singing it. I mean c'mon now was she really serious?

Was I in the wrong and unprepared?
Click to expand...
To answer your question, "Yes". These are the ones that I have:
Happy Birthday - Karaoke
Happy Birthday - Traditional
Happy Birthday - Stevie Wonder
Happy Birthday Darlin - Conway Twitty
Happy Birthday (Mr. President) - Marilyn Monroe
Happy Birthday To You - Frank Sinatra
Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday - Dolly Parton
Happy Birthday Polka - Walter Ostanek
I also have a Techno Version of Happy Birthday.
 
Ok I don't know why I never thought to have an instrumental version. I kept thinking to myself, who doesn't sing happy birthday to the birthday girl/gal themselves. Different strokes for different folks. If I had 100 guest show up to my birthday and they requested the dj to play a happy birthday song instead of singing it themselves I would think in my head these bastards can't even sing me happy birthday, time for everyone to leave. Oh well you live and you learn.
 
shanefrom302 said:
Ok I don't know why I never thought to have an instrumental version. I kept thinking to myself, who doesn't sing happy birthday to the birthday girl/gal themselves. Different strokes for different folks. If I had 100 guest show up to my birthday and they requested the dj to play a happy birthday song instead of singing it themselves I would think in my head these bastards can't even sing me happy birthday, time for everyone to leave. Oh well you live and you learn.
Click to expand...
we live and learn everyday and the experience is always good for the next time around.
 
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