There is a wide spread of ages amongst DJU members so it will be interesting to see what opinions are expressed on this topic.

On another forum ( to remain anonymous ) a member had listed music liked by "60 year olds".

I won't reveal the titles until some replies have appeared.

However, someone aged 60 in 2006 would have been in their mid-teens in the 1960's.

That could be a guide but it's not a clue to the above mentioned list.

It may be possible to generalise a bit but, overall and not least because tastes can differ hugely, I consider it dangerous to do so.

So what do other members think will go down well with "60 year olds"?

Hands up, who's 60? You sir? Right! whaddayou like?

This would be the only accurate way of knowing - and even then, thats only that 60 year olds opinion.

Calculating back to a persons teenage or "music buying" years is a fair basis of approximation, however, I'm sure I'm not alone in having elderly guest stagger up for Beyoncé (probably just in rememberence of the videos), or indeed having a teenager strut up and ask for "Build me up Buttercup" or Free's "All right now".

But, playing along...

I think the generic 60 year old would (be expected to) like:

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis, Bill Haley, Eddie Cochren(sp?), Roy Orbison, Martha Reeves & the Vandellas.

My brothers nearly 60 and his taste is like mine, Prodigy, Leftfield, Faithless,Chemical Bros, Røyksopp etc

I would of thought it could be very difficult to generalise what is liked by peeps in their 60's.(as already stated)
Everybody, regardless of age, has different tastes in music.

But if we are generalising I would say Motown.

(My parents, who are in their 70's actually like a bit of country even more so since they started going line dancing)

My parents loved the 70's - Bay City Rollers, T-Rex, etc.

Now that there are a few replies I'll reveal the list I mentioned.

Apparently "60 year olds" like Hokey Cokey, The Conga and Auld Lang Syne.

Does anyone agree with that?

If I was booking a Disco for my next birthday (53rd) I would ask the Dj to play a night of Trance !!

No def not.....................but strangely enough I got a request for it from the bride at wedding reception last weekend............so played the black lace version...........along with the conga............... 1 minute later everyone had conga'd out of the building...............i was left playin to myself.

80's ???
Billy Idol, U2, Simple Minds, G'N'R, Blondie, Madonna and Chesney Hawks (lol)

One of my residencies is a well thought of Golf Club. The average membership age at the members nights is over 50.

Requests range from Uptown Girl, Love Shack, Wacko Jacko, Drifters, Carpenters,Bryan Ferry, Status Quo through to the sixties. I never get asked for ballroom stuff, which would have been the norm when I first started out in 1979.

I think the key to sucess with the older age group is volume and lighting. Subtle lighting works better rather than moving heads. Always play an the lower side, I would rather be asked to turn it up three times than told to turn it down once.

Works for me everytime.

Slightly off topic, I did a show for a group of 50-somethings a while back. I say show because it was more background music and announcements than disco and lights. Anyhoo, I went to the library and copied newspaper front and back pages dating back from the fifities to about when Charles and Diana were married. My God (said in Rigsby voice) that kept 'em entertained.

Trips down memory lane work really well.

From experience, 60s and 70's onwards!

One chap I know in his 60s loves Queen. Meatloaf, T Rex, Showaddywaddy, The Sweet.....whereas another person I know hates the above and likes Josef Locke, Mario Lanzer and Michael Ball music

Some people seem "old" when they're younger and stay that way whilst others can seem much younger than the stereotypical image associated with their age group.

That's why it's impossible to generalise.

However one of the reasons I started this topic is that I find laughable the idea that Hokey Cokey is a favourite amongst "60 year olds".

Hokey Cokey dates from around 1940 and was particularly popular during World War 2 which was over before anyone of 60 today was born.

When I first went into mobile DJ work, in 1970, I would take ballroom dancing LPs by Joe Loss and Victor Sylvester to weddings because "60 year olds" at that time had lived through a totally different era to the younger generation ( including World War 2 ) and would request waltzes etc. They might also have been keen on Hokey Cokey.

Popular music changed dramatically from the beginning of the 1960's to the end with a variety of genres achieving popularity. Other styles have evolved subsequently to the point where , as we all know, tastes today are myriad.

Consequently today's "60 year olds" could be fans of rock 'n' roll, soul, rock, reggae, punk, indie, disco, dance etc etc etc.

I've heard it said that "40 is the new 20". Maybe 60 is the new 30?

Certainly I saw plenty of air guitars amongst those of pensionable age at Peterborough Marriott last New Year's Eve!

last wedding i done the bride ask me to bring lots of tina turner and queen for her dad who was at least 60 something you couldnt of got him off the floor when the bast went on and as for nutbush city limits the dancefloor was packed with all the older guest

I think it's a dodgy practice to 'pigeon-hole' a person's ideal music on the basis of age.

I think anything decent from 50s upwards would be OK, but just because they were teenagers in the 50s & 60s doesn't mean that is the only music they like. But there is no harm in a trip down memory lane and playing good tunes from 'their' time, but also cover right up through the decades, but avoid pop R n' B.

My Mum's over 60 & her CD collection includes (pff the top of mu head):

the Cure
Siouxsie & the Banshees
Ultravox
Pink Floyd
the Beatles
Elvis Presley
the Levellers
Charlie Rich
the Rolling Stones
James Blunt
Jack Johnson
the Stranglers
Slade
Sweet
T Rex
Bee Gees
Big Country
Kate Bush
the Psychedelic Furs
Nat King Cole
Louis Amstrong

& Loads of Compilations of various genres including:

Country
Rock'n'Roll
Ska
Reggae
Punk
Classical
Jazz
Soul
Glam Rock
& a presonal favourite of mine - The Dark Side Of The 80's


Admitidly she has a wider taste in music than most DJs I know, but it goes to show you can't generalise.