I received a music list a few weeks ago, and called the client up, informing them that it would be near impossible for me to play them all, they understood, but the added that I can only play songs from the list.

Now Boys & Girls, what do you think

Barret Strong - Money (Thats What I Want
Marvelettes - Please Mr Postman
Martha Reeves - Heatwave
Velvelettes - Needle In A Haystack
Diana Ross - Baby Love
Diana Ross - Where Did Our Love Go
Mary Wells - My Guy
Four Tops - It's The Same Old Song
Martha Reeves - Nowhere To run
Four Tops Reach - Out I'll Be There
Isley Brothers - This Old Heart Of Mine
Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston - It Takes Two
Stevie Wonder - Uptight
Diana Ross - You Can't Hurry Love
Diana Ross - You Keep Me Hanging On
Gladys Knight - I heard It Through The Grapevine
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Ain't No Mountain Enough
Stevie Wonder - I Was Made To Love Her
Temptations - Cloud Nine
Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrel - You're All I Need To Get By
Edwin Starr - 25 Miles
Rare Earth - Get Ready
James Brown - Papas Got A Brand New Bag
James Brown - (Call Me) Superbad
James Brown - Good Good Loving
James Brown - Sex Machine
James Brown - It's too funky in here
James Brown - Get on the good foot
James Brown - Get up off that thing
James Brown - Cold sweat
James Brown - I feel good
Frank Sinatra - The lady is a tramp
Frank Sinatra - I've got you under my skin
Sammy Davis Jnr - Mr Bojangles
Frank Sinatra - New York, New York
Frank Sinatra - Fly me to the moon
Frank Sinatra - That's life
Frank Sinatra - My way
Dick Dale & His Del Tones - Miserlou
Kool & The Gang - Jungle boogie
Al Green - Lets stay together
Dusty Springfield - Son Of A Preacher Man
Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell
Revels - Comanche
Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up
Curtis Mayfield - Superfly
Jimi Hendrix - Fire
Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower
Jimi Hendrix - Foxy Lady
Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Muddy Waters - Rollin & Tumblin
Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Working
Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Stevie Wonder - Living For The City
Stevie Wonder - Part Tiime Love
Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life
Stevie Wonder - Signed Sealed Delivered (I'm Yours)
Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground
Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
Gloria Gaynor - Reach Out I'll Be There
Meters - Handclapping Song
Bill Withers - Use Me
Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine
Bill Withers - Lovely Day
Fleetwood Mac - Black Magic Woman
Fleetwood Mac - Oh Well
Fleetwood Mac - Sandy Mary
Fleetwood Mac - Got To Move
Fleetwood Mac - Like It This Way
Fleetwood Mac - Shake Your Money Maker
Rod Stewart - Maggie May
Rod Stewart - Baby Jane
Rod Stewart - Hot Legs
Rod Stewart - You Wear It Well
Rod Stewart - Motown Song
Rod Stewart - Ooh La La
Rod Stewart - It Takes Two
Rod Stewart - Stay With Me
Rod Stewart - Have I Told You Lately
Rod Stewart - Reason To believe
Rod Stewart - Handbags & Gladrags
Rod Stewart - Cut Across Shortly
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod Stewart - Mandolin Wind
Rod Stewart - Highgate Shuffle
Rod Stewart - Stay With Me
Rod Stewart - Having A Party
Bjork - Violently Happy
Beatles - Day Tripper
Beatles - Paperback Writer
Beatles - Lady Madonna
Beatles - Revolution
Beatles - Get Back
Beatles - Ballad Of John & Yoko
Beatles - Love Me Do
Beatles - She Loves You
Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand
Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love
Beatles - A Hard Days night
Beatles - I Feel Fine
Beatles - Help
beatles - come together
otis redding - hard to handle
otis redding - satisfaction
otis redding - respect
otis redding - loveman
otis redding - shake
otis redding - mr pitiful
otis redding - tramp
otis redding - the match game
otis redding - i'm a changed man
earth wind & fire - boogie wonderland
sly & the family stone - family affair
Labelle - lady marmalade
emotions - best of my love
wild cherry - play that funky music white boy
bobbie gentry - son of a preacher man
heatwave - boogie nights
elvis presley - suspicious minds
elvis presley - burning love
kool & the gang - celebration
diana ross - i'm coming out
rose royce - car wash
o'jays - i love music
van morrison- brown eyed girl
rosie gaines - closer then close
eddie cochran - c'mon everybody
kc & the sunshine band - that's the way
snap - rhythm is a dancer
bizarre inc - i'm gonna get you
robin s - show me love
emf - unbelievable
source - you got the love
toploader - dancing in the moonlight
rozalla - everybody's free
stealers wheel - stuck in the middle with you
spencer davis group - keep on running
tom jones - i'ts not unusual
nina simone - feeling good
nina simone - here comes the sun
reef - place your hands up
rolling stones - the last time
rolling stones - jumpin jack flash
rolling stones - 19th nervous breakdown
iggy pop - lust for life
underworld - born slippy
jackie wilson - higher & higher
al green - take me to the river
ramsey lewis - wade in the water
nina simone - my baby just cars for me
faithless - insomnia
house of pain - jump around
primal scream - rocks
galliano - long time gone
massive attack - better things
prodigy - one love
natasha bedingfield - wild horses
leftfield - phat planet
jet - are you gonna be my girl
u2 - one
u2 - discotheque
dee-lite - groove is in the heart
felix - don't you want me
atlantic ocean - waterfall
moby - go
double you - please don't go
tori amos - professional widow
alison limerick - where love lives
alex party - read my lips
original - i love you baby
strike - you sure do
happy clappers - i believe
living joy - dreamer
xpansions - move your body

I like quite a lot of the tracks listed, but can your client be sure that all the guests will?

Working this way is a bit restrictive however if it is the clients wishes tehn you either to do it, or you dont. I would speak with the client, agree to work from the list but ask if the night is going badly and noone is dancing, can i introduce some new songs and have a bit of artistic licience.

I think you could have a decent night from that list, there are a lot of good records on their, certainly enough to create a good atmosphere and enjoyable party.

I'd say if you cherry pick the best one you'll have a blinding gig.

How long's the gig?

If you don't want to do it can I have it?

It's a fantastic playlist, and one that I'd love to do, but I'd want ask the client if their guests are into the same sort of muic and explain that you the reason we tend to play for the dancing majority is so that everyone has a good time.

I did a wedding this year where i had to play a specific playlist (much of it was based around eclectic tastes) and the result was an empty dancefloor all night. The clients thought the music was wonderful, but from the view I had, I'm not sure the guests felt the same and I got the feeling that they thought my music selections were poor!

I think a Mod needs to merge some posts here

I asked first

great list.... can start or slow with some frank build it up for the oldies with some of the motown.. move onto some party stuff with steve wonder and the beatles etc and then after a few more slowies to let them catch there breath dance it up with moby and tori.......

S'actually a strangely diverse listing!

With a bit of effort and goodwill, it would work!

Have to say wish we had been given a list like that for some of our gigs.
The lists we get are r n b mostly.
We would have a blinding night with that list.
So long as the guests are into it.

Have a good time with it.

Pete

what a great playlist! Lots of Motown too!

Wheres a MOD when you need one?

Done!

Can't say I heard that one. I'd be happy with a list like that - some great tunes and it's long enough to cherry pick as well (personally I'd leave out some of the Rod Stewart songs). I also notice that Son of a Preacher Man appears twice (Dusty & Bobbie).


On the subject of merging posts - if you have made a post & leave something out just go back to it & click 'Edit'

you may know it better as the Theme From Pulp Fiction

Me Me me .....I'll do it.

Jimbo

come on hand it over

I'm sure I must be the nearest to Mr S! ...I'll do it!

I too wouldn't have a lot of complaints about that list, apart from all that crappy Rod Stewart stuff in there. The last few tracks represent a refreshing change, too.

You could also (if you are brave enough) consider asking the client if he/she would like even more of some types of music, especially the nineties stuff already here, as I find this often works well for all ages.

Go for it, and have fun!

But I asked first!

Decent playlist that Ian. And as the client says "play what you can" you`ll have a great night..

I dont want to do it , because Mr Stewart has a reputation and his act is a hard one to follow !

Oohh Cheeky


did I ever say that I did not want to do it,

to be honest I am really looking forward to the challenge

I can't see the challenge myself, it should be a piece of cake

I think that is a spot on list and you shouldn't have any problems whatsoever. I wish more people did something like that.

Nice list Ian, looks like a good gig for you.

Turned out I was working with a pub/rock style band as well.

however there was only 50 people at the wedding, and only 10 of those under 60, so it was very hard work indeed

It makes you wonder who can be bothered to type out all those songs into a list....

I certainly wouldn't!

If you ever read any of the Bridal forums, you'll see loads of brides just share lists... which is one of the reasons i don't like getting them.

If they were genuinley songs that they really like or family favourites then i wouldn't mind, but if they're compiled as i mention above then its like they don't think we'll have an idea what to play anyway.

Sorry to hear that it was a hard night for you Ian...

However, I'm assuming that you adhered to the clients wishes of "don't play anything that isn't in this list", then how the party went, or didn't... is to a certain degree, down to them.

True...the DJ, you of course in this case, DOES have the option of which of the tracks to "prune" due to time constraints (the rotten, undancable ones), which tracks to play together, which tracks to play when the slightly younger guests are ready to dance, which tracks to play to peak an audience/dancefloor, which tracks to play to ease them down again into slowies/breath-catchers etc.

I get a few of these sorts of lists, as mentioned, they're appearing on Bridal forums and the like, and are fairly easy to source-spot as they are usually cut'n'pasted in alphabetical order - a trick that few clients would know how to achieve on Word or Excel.

Thankfully, even with challenging lists, theres still a lot of impact that a DJ can apply to a set list of tunes - The clients can list the ingredients for their night, but not everyones a music chef.

Yeah but, yeah but, brides are women and women like to be in control, dictate and are never wrong

Hehe.. Gary makes a good point with the music chef analogy. However, contrary to what clients may think, I think working with a list is actually harder.

The reason for this, is not only are you naturally thinking "what track will work next".. "what do i need to try to get X people up..", you also have to see if its on the list and constantly be working out how you can fit all 600 songs into the space of 4 hours.

Ok, slight exaggeration, but i guess overall, i prefer a short list of say 20-30 tracks.. or even a long list of "play if possibles.." as these can be good inspiration, and clients appreciate the fact that you're personalising the night for them. Its just the "do not play anything but these" type lists that i wouldn't like to work with.

I have found that most people aren't so pushy with a list once you've had a chat and re-assure them of your abilities. Of course, they'll always be the control freaks, and these are people i don't particularly want to work for anyway, so i'm not too fussed if i loose the booking.