We've had discussion on these here boards about mixing the play lists up a bit. I think it's accepted that crowds who hear some good tunes that they haven't heard for a while generally go home happier than if we serve up the usual cheese fest.

An example will help to explain what I'm warbling on about.

Someone asks for Wham. You reach into your box, pull out their Greatest Hits album and search for Wake Me Up.

But what would happen if you played I'm Your Man instead? Surely the crowd would go home happier (see para 1)?

Well, after much testing I can report that this theory does not hold water. I have been testing crowds, primarily with Human League, Soft Cell and Wham, for quite some time. Wake Me Up, Don't You Want Me and Tainted Love all receive a far better reception than I'm Your Man/Edge of Heaven/Club Tropicana, Love Action/Sound of the Crowd/Louise/Mirror Man/Electric Dreams and Bedsitter/Where Did Our Love Go/Torch/What.

What is true, however, is that the crowds who really like to hear something different really do seem to go home happier than crowds who just want the usual cheese-fest. But play Edge of Heaven or Club Tropicana to your typical wedding crowd and the floor will thin out considerably.

Do you agree?

It really depends on the crowd and its different every time. I like to play mix it up as much as I can, but there are certain records for certain crowds and that is what the customer pays us for.

Saying that, when warming up I try to play something different but in the genres I feel the crowd for the night fits into. Once they are on the floor I keep them there with the tried and tested.

Yes, most definatley.

I think what you have to remember here is that although we hear the same songs week in and week out, the punters dont.

Given the vast aray of "oldies" on subscription TV and all the countless radio stations playing "oldies" now, its less unusual to hear yesteryear's tracks.

I have noticed the same few "classics" appearing time and time again on local radio. Only yesterday I heard Tavares "Heaven must be missing an angel" played twice on radio Two and then Ken Bruce opened with it today.

I'm your man works well for me alongside go-go. In the days when I did fun pubs where you dont have to keep the floor busy, I would often play alternatives and by and large they were well received.

You can't please everybody all of the time.........

can you really tell,unless someone comes up and says why did you play edge of heaven i wanted wake me up.

As has been mentioned... every crowd is different... some expect "wake me up.." when requesting Wham, some enjoy an alternative Wham track... its all down to your audience, at the end of the day...

Ive got to admit, sometimes playing the same tracks, day in, day out, does get you sick of them, eventually, but changing your floorfillers to the group's alternative is risking clearing the floor... ive slowly learnt, that people want to here the usual party cheese, and at the end of the day, playing the same cheese is keeping me in business... so im happy to play the same tracks...

Surely the point here is that...some people won't be too clued up on their music, and wake me up is their only one they know/like, hence why it has a good reaction. But if there were Wham enthusiasts then a less obscure one would go down well, as the song wouldn't have been listened to over and over again like wake me up. This would be more apparent when you are entertaining people who have grown up through the Wham period, opposed to people who were born well after.


I always try to keep things fresh, and try keep away from total cheese as people have heard them over and over again. T REX (hot love) Suzi Quatro, Alvin Stardust, ELO (Blue Sky) Abba (SOS, Money Money) 3 degress (givin up givin in) Beach Baby - First Class for 70s tunes...

Also This is why usually I play the Soca Girls instead of DJ Casper.

Yep i do this instinctivley really...

Haven't played dancing queen, wake me up, blame it on the boogie for a while, as its true they are perceived as too cheesy alot of the time. There are alternatives from many artists that get much better reactions...

Never had a problem with Edge of Heaven or Club Tropicana, Soft Cell & Human League however were more "alternative" than Wham & are therefore harder to find alternative tracks to please the crowd (no pun intended)

Depending how the gigs going, I often try to play something different from the usual.

Last night Abba - Does Your Mother Know and ELO - Hold On Tight both went down a storm.