I've just received a letter in relation a function I'm doing in a couple of weeks, here's part of it.......

"I know I mentioned this before but I just want to reinforce NO SONGS WITH ACTIONS I hate them. No Saturday Night "

So here we go - I won't be playing:

Saturday Night - Whigfield
Macarena - Los Del Rio
Time Warp - Damien
Cha Cha Slide - DJ Casper
Rock the Boat - Hues Corporation
Birdie Song
Locomotion - Little Eva
and I suppose anything that might get people line dancing/slosh/ceili/Irish dancing

Have I missed any obvious ones that I'm not gonna be playing

Gap Band - Oops upside your head
S Club 7 - Reach

blame it on the boogie
I will survive..
boom shake the room
jump arround
don't stop me now
we will rock you
saturday night fever


how about jut just don't play any music as dancing was an action last time I DJ'ed

more to the point what can you play nothing people want to dance to

John Travolta - Greased Lightening (A classic!)
Donna Summer - Hot Stuff (Plenty of pelvic action!)
Village People - YMCA (Camp is not the word for this song!)

Don't play any line dancing songs either, all that kicking your hells up an' stuff.....
Billy Ray Cirus - Achy Breaky Heart


Anyway - Time Warp.... whats with that Damien version? It's
The original is mega!

Are these people religious or something, or just borin'?

Ian.

Don't forget the classic Ivor Biggun - Winkers Song (Misprint)...

So, nothing by Black Lace

Hey, Baby
We will rock you
YMCA


any party stuff left?

You won't even be able to finish the night off with "New York, New York".

Ian.

Village People- YMCA
Ray Parker Jr - Ghostbusters
Steps - 5,6,7,8
DJ Otzi - or is it Ots DJ?? - Hey Baby
Jive Bunny - Swing The Mood
Grease Megamix (Greased Lightning)
Black Lace - Conga, Music Man, Hokey Cokey . .

I mean, people can get animated to anything, even if you couldn't describe it as dancing.


EDIT:
Oh jeez, turn away from typing for a minute or two and they all jump in before you

Just a query:
Exactly why doesn't this client want you to play any 'fun' music? I'd be interested to know, as I've never had this kind of restriction placed on me.

I fear this person is inflicting his/her misguided notions upon the guests, which is not good, as they probably won't suffer from the same narrow-mindedness.

But then, that's the person paying you I suppose.....

Maybe have a private chat with them, and explain that you are performing a disco, not a radio station playlist....

Cheeky Girls - Cheeky song
Les Ketchup - Ketchup song
S club 7 - Reach
Hi Ho Silver lining - Jeff Beck
Opps up side Your Head - Gap band
Follow Da Leader - Nigel & Marvin

That's half my party playlist cancelled

Anne

How many times have we been asked not to play certain songs, only to have them requested on the night, cleared for playing by the organiser - once they've had a shandy or two - to end up playing more than you thought you knew?

It beggars belief the restrictions some obviously 'well-informed' party-organisers place on our playlist only to rescind after the first mate approaches them to say "the dj says you've told him/her not to play...".

Well, I can see I'm in a mood today. If this board does nothing else it excels as a moodometer for me.

The Claxtons
Kenny the Kanagroo
Musicman
Agadoo
Saturday Night
Macarena
YMCA
Time Warp
Cha Cha Slide
Fast Food Song

The Court of King Caractus
Amarillo
Smile Please
Time Warp (I have Alvin & The chipmunks version as well as Damien)
Sexy eyes
Crazy Frog
Macarena
Saturday Night
YMCA
Grease Megamix
Reach
5,6,7,8
Cha Cha Slide
Jingo
Blame It On The Boogie
Follow The Leader
Hokey Cokey
Conga
Agadoo
Oops Upside Your Head
Can Can (Bad Manners)
Do The Can Can
Superman
I am the Music Man
Birdie Song
Chico Time
Fast Food Song

NO FUN!!

I must play the Ebay Song at one of my gigs!!

I had the same request for a wedding last saturday " no songs with action dances"

it was the worst wedding i had done for ages..no one was dancing, i tryed everything, music from all years, then a bit later i thought what the heck and put on S-club Reach....

suddenly packed dance floor !!

so the play list/request form went stright in the bin !!
at the end of the day, do your job and read the dancefloor !

Funny thing is the bride was up dancing to them all and she was the one who had requested me not to play them !!

God he's good (BigBen)

Don't ya just love to prove somebody wrong?

Go to work tomorrow, and when the boss asks you to do something, say no, I know better than you, see if you still have a job at 5pm.

The B&G are paying your wages, so they are the boss, so you do what they say.

I sort of agree with C.S. and ADS, however... additionally:

To follow the last analogy, the boss frequently knows less than I do so it's often up to me - well before it comes down to the crunch - to politely persuade my alternative viewpoint and invite discussion. If he feels strongly enough to put his foot down then I have the opportunity to do it his way ... or hit the highway.

I'm in the process of updating my function info and music sheets at the moment.

Its soooo tempting to include the instructions "Please drink 2 hours worth of alcoholic drinks, preferably whilst at an enjoyable party, before writing anything in the "Do not play" area of this sheet.

As in above posts, I'm sure we've all had instructions from 100% sober function organisers/brides to be etc, stating certain tunes/genres/eras (which we know generally will go down well at almost any function), are not to be played. I, for one, generally check with the bride/whoever, exactly how tight, or relaxed they are on certain policies eg: What if one of your guests specifically asks for that track? When you say "No heavy rock music" what would you clarify as "heavy"? (start high, and work down... WASP, Metallica, Guns & Roses, Marillion, Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi, Status quo )... yes, some extremes in there, but the bride/hirer normally gives a indication as to what they consider as their threshold.

In our role, perhaps more than most, the phrase "He who pays the piper, calls the tune" fits very well indeed. However, some piper-payers need to be subtlely and polite reminded that no-ones entire guest list, at any function, is going to have identical tastes to each other, nor indeed to the host.

Anyway...back to the question of "Action songs"... Rocking All Over The World... Theres another one off the list.

Still, plenty of good "no action" songs left - as long as the hirers dont include "Dancing" as an action...but then, maybe they do.... in which case, take a set of "Monopoly" with you, and 94 extra playing pieces... (I wanna be the Battleship...)

[QUOTE] don't quite understand why my line was quoted there.[/QUOTE

When i look back at the post i read it as Big ben saying the list went in the bin and that he was good, to which you replied that he was good and dont you just love it when you prove punters wrong.If i have misunderstood what you meant then i apologise.I used your quote aswell because it is a common attitude of a lot of djs who gloat when they prove a punter wrong. I quoted it as it fitted into what i was writing and the theme of my post, i did not mention you at all. Incidently what is a spat ?

[QUOTE]However, I am being employed as a professional, and part of their fee is payment for professional advice, not just for mindlessly spinning disks[/QUOTE]

A professional dj imo is a person who makes a living from being a dj, who has trained in all aspects of the job. What do you mean by mindlessly spinning discs ? Do people ask if you are a professional before they book you ? do they require proof that you can mix , use a mic, program music etc before booking you ?

[QUOTE]If I decide to build a house, I will have my own ideas about how I want it, but I'd be a fool to engage an architect and then ignore the advice he gives to me.
[/QUOTE]

I believe architects study for years and take a degree to become architects so they are qualified. The whole purpose of my little "spat" was to make people think before some potential customers perhaps join here to find a dj and see was has been written about them.

Recently heard at a 'no action' disco:

'Ere mate, got any Ennio Morricone?

First of all thanks for all the suggestions of songs I'm not going to be playing.

The topic has wandered slightly into a 'should they/shouldn't they' dictate debate which is fine by me.

My own feelings are that I have no problems with this request at all. I am sometimes asked 'No Rave' or 'No Country' music etc and I don't see this as any different. In fact over the last year or so I have only played most of the songs listed if I am specifically asked for them (with about 3 exceptions) and let's face it there's enough great music around to fill a 5 hour gig without them.

My plan is to print off all your suggestions and show them to the B&G, asking them if there's any they want to add to the list and if there's any they don't mind me playing if requested.

Sorry for pulling your thread off topic sir, shall try not to do it again.

You'll have to avoid playing any Dido then.

Associated Action: People head toward bar, and/or lose the will to live.

Along with Nick cave, tom waites and leonard cohen !

Funnily enough had this back this morning from a couple who are booking me for their Wedding.

"No Heavy Rock and no Grunge. Lots of Elvis and Tina Turner and general mix of songs and artists"

"First dance Savage Garden - Truely Madly Deeply and last play of the night, Tina Turner - Simply The Best".


As for 'No Action Songs' I would respect the wishes of my Paymaster as far as possible but i would not be able to resist the "devil in me " and play at least one just to see the general reaction. The problem would come if it worked and got people dancing..... Sorry Acting..

Just another thought .. You can dance normally to any of the action songs.

Many reasons and thoughts in this thread, its good to see open discussion.
Jimbo

Well I’m just back from this gig. Earlier in the week I sent the Bride an email with all the songs suggested and asked if there were any she’d like to add/remove from the list – only one - ‘Reach’ - could be played.

Apart from a text message asking for The Music Man, which I think was a wind up anyway, no-one asked for any of the other banned songs.

And that’s it – not the most lively event although it had it’s good bits.

I had a similar event, had a playlist, and was sticking to it. Everybody looking at me like I was crap. Some girls asked for Abba and the groome came up and told them no way, so after that, they all knew it was pre decided what was being played, until the groome went outside for a smoke, and Elvis came on, the dance floor was packed for 3.32 mins.