Houston, we have a problem!

OK, that makes more sense then. My personal music collection wasn't bad, but not what folks want to hear. So I've picked up a lot of 50s stuff and of course 90-current pop and hip hop.

I still feel i'm missing a lot. But i pick it up as I need it. Doint a 1980 class reunion and plan to comb the top 40 77-81 for what i'm missing. fortunately I'm familiar with a wide range of stuff - i'm not a jazz expert but picked up half a dozen albums for background music for wedding photo sales a few years back. My mother listened to non-rock 40s and 50s music so I know some of the 'lounge' singers as I call them. Dad listened to motown and top 40 radio. Father in law is bluegrass. I've had make girlfriends into country and my dad listed to a lot of that as well. Spent 10 years on a job where the boss listened to public radio...classical, jazz, irish music hour, etc. Another job in the early 2000's it was hip hop/urban contemporary.

So that all helps when it's time to buy music and choose what to play.

One of the handiest collections I obtained (through patience and hard work) is the Billboard Top 100 hits for every year from 1950 until current year (approximately 6500 songs but there can be duplication as some songs make the top 100 more than one year running). With this collection, you can pretty much nail down 90% of all the requests for any contemporary music gig you ever do. It certainly won't help with Polkas, Jazz or any other specialty genres though but it was well worth the effort. I then looked to collecting from other lists which can be found easily via our good friend Google. Lists such as:

Top 100 Hip Hop of all time
Top Jazz Hits (great for dinner music)
Rat Pack Lists (also great for dinner music)
Top 100 Country Hits for Weddings (because I know very little about Country - but learning)
Top House
Top EDM
Slow dance lists
and on and on....
Before you know it, your clients will be hard pressed to stump you with a request and if they do, chances are it will bomb on the dance floor anyway...


My ongoing challenge as a VJ is to find music videos for all these and I have to say I have amassed quite few. Rarely do I ever get stumped on music videos and where I don't have one or they don't exist I simply make them up on the fly with open source HD media using TeleMedia or the equivalent of Clipbank in VDJ8. Last last resort is content unlimited which I prelisten in headphones before playing - only a bonus if connectivity is available as I don't ever rely on it. When I do use it and find a good tune I don't simply stream it but download it to my hard drive at best bitrate possible for offline playback any time which is perfectly legal. If I stop paying my CU subscription, the file simply becomes useless. If I pay my monthly subscription it becomes useful again....

ittigger said:

Music is constantly 'recycling' itself. What's old is new again. There are new songs that sound like older styles. 'Like I'm Gonna Lose You' is a decent example. There were songs from all decades with this kind of flow. 'Marvin Gaye' by Charlie Puth is another example (older R&B).

Being able to pull out stuff that people will like is very different than playing requests (and has nothing to do with how new or old the music is). If someone specifically has something they want to hear, that's one thing. Being able to find something that people will remember and dance to is another. Obviously, the older it is, the harder it may be to find. I had an event that wanted music specifically from 1900 to 1940 - good luck finding a decent amount of that in a record pool or available online digitally.

Being that most of us have 1 library, it's most likely a blend of stuff you need, stuff you like and stuff you think you might need / like / play.

I have been at this for a bit - but you never know what you may need. I would rather be prepared and have it then not.

Click to expand...

Bingo!!!

And being able to segue between generations within the same genre or type of sound is imo what keeps people (especially the older crowd) staying at the events longer while at the same time still keeping the younger crowd interested.

Wanna play "in the mood" or "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"? Follow it up with Christina Auguilera's "Candyman".
Wanna play Uptown Funk? Follow it up with "Play that Funky Music".


How about Wanda Jackson's "Funnel of Love"? Now there's something that's not only an oldie but not real mainstream to begin with. Lot's of so called "mainstream DJ's" would probably not even have that song but I know the perfect song to use as a follow up and If anybody can tell me what that would be, I'll buy you a beer tomorrow.
Hint: It's hot on the charts right now!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf5FvUt7iIw


Just one more tool in what would be a very overcrowded toolbox according to some.
As Tigger said, music recycles itself and you can use that to your advantage in so many ways.

Going back and forth between generations while still keeping the same sound so to speak works quite well for me and doesn't have the 0ld folks looking to make the quick exit as soon as the music starts playing.

Well, at least not until I turn it up at eleven....or is that turn it up to "11" .

DJ TJ said:

And being able to segue between generations within the same genre or type of sound is imo what keeps people (especially the older crowd) staying at the events longer while at the same time still keeping the younger crowd interested.

Wanna play "in the mood" or "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"? Follow it up with Christina Auguilera's "Candyman".
Wanna play Uptown Funk? Follow it up with "Play that Funky Music".


How about Wanda Jackson's "Funnel of Love"? Now there's something that's not only an oldie but not real mainstream to begin with. Lot's of so called "mainstream DJ's" would probably not even have that song but I know the perfect song to use as a follow up and If anybody can tell me what that would be, I'll buy you a beer tomorrow.
Hint: It's hot on the charts right now!

Just one more tool in what would be a very overcrowded toolbox according to some.
As Tigger said, music recycles itself and you can use that to your advantage in so many ways.

Going back and forth between generations while still keeping the same sound so to speak works quite well for me and doesn't have the 0ld folks looking to make the quick exit as soon as the music starts playing.

Click to expand...

There's more to it than that. Two songs having a similar sound isn't enough to make them a good pairing. Christina Aguilera's voice is instantly recognizable, the album was a hit, and Candy Man got sufficient air play to be known among young pop listeners. It gives the younger crowd a reason to stay for a second swing.

Funnel of Love on the other hand, no longer has any of that working for it. Outside of a specific oldies, or rockabilly theme I'm not likely to use it for dancing. There are too mnay better selections that are more recognizable. Listening or background it would be cool almost anytime but, for dancing there has to be a hook to hang it on. Today it's an unknown, and the average person prefers familiarity while dancing.

Mobiles aren't going to spurn the revival of Rockabilly, or any new trends. New music, remixes, and revivals are broken in the clubs - where the more intense dancers are driven by rhythms not necessarily the familiar.

I've had my share of DJs who love to pull out the golden oldies - and most are let go. They just don't get it. The lost 45's were lost - they were deliberately tossed aside by listeners who moved on. ONE lost 45 is a sweet surprise, TWO is a novel treat. THREE is suspicious, and by the FOURTH the crowd knows this DJ has some issues.

Every DJ and gig will be different but, the decision to collect large volumes of lost and forgotten material is a personal decision not a business strategy. Time marches on and mobile DJs can't rely on the luxury of a homogeneous subscriber-ship the way radio does. I have a very deep collection, and I've been at it for over 30 years. The challenge of slipping in those unexpected tracks successfully makes the job more interesting for me. The truth of business experience however, is that the musical pond where the audience prefers to swim is rather shallow.

YMMV

Proformance said:

I have a very deep collection, and I've been at it for over 30 years. The truth of business experience however, is that the musical pond where the audience prefers to swim is rather shallow.

Click to expand...

My collection is vast as well, but truth be told, probably only 20% did I ever use at events as I'm a huge fan of County, Rockabilly, blues and old soul music.

Artist like Chuck Willis, The 5 Royales, Hank Ballard, Jackie Wilson, Joe Turner, Lee Dorsey, Nellie Lutcher, Otis Redding, Ruth Brown, Sam And Dave, Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett and Wynona Carr - most of their tracks would kill a dance floor.

But since I have an hour commute each way every day, music is my saving grace.

The software Rockit allowed multiple libraries and I had two - one for the music I used and the other was ALL my music - just in case....

And yup, the musical pond most guests swim in is MUCH shallower than ours, although technology is starting to change that.

Proformance said:

Outside of a specific oldies, or rockabilly theme I'm not likely to use it for dancing. There are too mnay better selections that are more recognizable. Listening or background it would be cool almost anytime but, for dancing there has to be a hook to hang it on. Today it's an unknown, and the average person prefers familiarity while dancing.

Mobiles aren't going to spurn the revival or Rockabilly, or any new trends. New music, remixes, and revivals are broken in the clubs - where the more intense dancers are driven by rhythms not necessarily the familiar.

Click to expand...

dunlopj said:

My collection is vast as well, but truth be told, probably only 20% did I ever use at events as I'm a huge fan of County, Rockabilly, blues and old soul music.

Artist like Chuck Willis, The 5 Royales, Hank Ballard, Jackie Wilson, Joe Turner, Lee Dorsey, Nellie Lutcher, Otis Redding, Ruth Brown, Sam And Dave, Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett and Wynona Carr - most of their tracks would kill a dance floor.

Click to expand...

Dunlop and Pro, you are both correct that there are more recognizable tracks that would not kill a dance floor and I was just using it as one more example of "flow". If I was to play funnel of love I would follow it up with Elle Kings' Ex's & Ohs. Those two have almost the same voice so in that regard the two songs flow together quite nicely.

I may not play them together as back to back dance tunes for current weddings or parties but I would play them back to back if I was doing an oldies show. Even with an oldies show I slip in a couple of current tracks that I feel are destined to become classics. It's just my style when I play events with guests in attendance from mixed generations that seems to work well for me.

That would also be a great tune for cocktail hour. Thanks for sharing.