For a site composed of 2000+ DJ's from around the globe, I don't think we do a good job of talking about music. I would like redress that.

I was 'forced' to watch an hour or so of semi-naked women gyrating their hips sorry, I mean the Kiss channel, yesterday lunchtime. There was some really good stuff being played that, ordinarily, I may never have heard; it also opened my eyes to some slow tunes that have a fast dance routine in their video - something R'n'B seems to have cornered.

There must be so much music out there that would go down really well, yet unless I watch all the music channels, listen to a number of radio stations and keep an eye on singles charts, album charts, download charts and playlists, I may never even hear.

Between us, we must listen and watch a great deal of these channels. So I got to thinking how could we share this knowledge to help each other out.

We've tried putting set lists on the forum, but it didn't work...too much effort, same people each week, etc. We tried putting the requests on, I think we even narrowed it down to the top five requests, still didn't work.

So what can we do to share our specific area of musical interest with others on this board? I don't mean your secrets or your favourite mix, I'm talking about seeing a song or two on the box and letting others know.

For example, yesterday lunchtime I saw the new song from Amerie (1 Thing) which I thought was really good. I also saw the Kaiser Chiefs (Everday I Love You Less and Less), which I also really liked. Both of these are on the Radio 1 "A" playlist too.

Mis-Teeq, who always go down well at gigs (leave it Ads ), have released a new Greatest Hits album covering all of their stuff including their Garage years.

We could also share our musical likes and dislikes - for example, I love The Brian Setzer Orchestra. Albums like Vavoom! and The Dirtry Boogie are an essential part of my collection. Tracks such as Jump Jive an Wail, The Dirty Boogie and Gettin in the Mood are played often and always get a great reaction.

Am I being too optimistic? Is this a good or a bad idea? Would anyone be willing to share their thoughts on current music on a weekly basis? What about a nostalgic spot each week?

I imagine a lot of you will be scoffing at the idea already. Fair enough, but why?

I normally watch Kiss with the volume muted

dj's can be a bit like the secret service and like to keep things close to there chest although i have found this forum to be the most open helpful one.

im not sure why music isn't debated more maybe we assume that everyones already watching the channels or maybe we dont want to leave ourselves open to ridicule by listing the dodgy tracks we play .

I think that a proportion of mobile DJ's, myself included, dont talk about ultra-new, finger-on-the-pulse, latest white label releases for a particular reason...

And that reason is simply, that in many cases, we dont need to be all that much up-front.

In practice, depending on the sort of night it is, we could clear a floor totally by playing a promo track by "so and so artist, out in the shops in 3 weeks time", whereas Disc 1, track 3 from the latest "Hits" or "Now" album, will have them packed so tightly on the dancefloor, that you'll live in fear of your tripod meeting your mixer, on most unfriendly terms...

Even at 16ths and 18ths Birthdays, Im not asked for "that new one that aint out yet". At all ages, there seems to be a stigma of "I dont know this track, I'm off to the bar".

Even during mixed sets of dance tunes, its the new/promo tunes that would cause the floor to thin out. pre-releases are ok for the clubs where people will dance to almost anything with a beat to it, rather than the usual mobile gigs. I'd say that across all gigs, less than 5% of my plays are pre-release.

Only once recently have I been asked for a pre-release track - they wanted the latest one from (i think it was) Moby, Manics (or some similar group)... the latest track that I had from the group in question was the unfortunately named "Tsunami" and I wouldnt have played that under any circumstances.

Thats maybe why new tunes arnt talked about much here. We dont need them until our punters have heard the tunes on the radio, or in the car, or tapped their feet to them on top of the pops etc.

Gary is spot on for the majority of mobiles. Since I keep up to date on pre release and promos etc.., I have the added ability to do the occasional club gig which I get a big buzz from.

Furthermore, I am also targetting and getting mobile gigs from an inceasing niche of customers who do not want 'the average mobile jock' playing the usual tunes.

This increasing niche of customers are willing to pay well for the right DJ who can mix the classics with the very new, which they hear on their favourite radio shows, and when they go clubbing.

Hey, when you stop learning in this game, it's time to hang up those headphones.

I would love to get back into the circuit of playing the latest releases, even the pre-release material. The type of Genre I like personally is the Dave Pearce Dance Anthems stuff - namely a mixture of new material and 1999 - 2004 Era Dance .

However it just doesn't seem practical to play this at the average Wedding Reception or family function in this area , and the times when a bride and groom have requested it, it has gone down like a lead balloon, dancefloor wise . I do have A Wedding Reception tomorrow where the B&G have requested some of the classic stuff and I must admit i'm quite looking forward to it, even though we are on with a band so I reckon the amount of this genre which will be played will be somewhat limited . After all, my aim will be to try and get people onto the dancefloor in the fastest possible time, which in the 15 - 20 minute sets the band will 'allow us' isn't easy

Dj'ing is about playing to the Majority and some of it is certainly not what I would choose to listen to in the car or when relaxing at home, however when a gig comes along with material which matches my own personal taste then I just class it as a rare treat and something of a bonus .

I'd be happy to join in the discussion. Like most people have said, my gigs also tend to revolve around current / recent chart stuff for younger age groups, and the old classics for the rest (with chart stuff thrown in). I never get asked for pre-release stuff.

I've been getting loads of requests for Green Day and Franz Ferdinand over the past 3 months. Luckily my kids buy this so I can nick it LOL.

Cheers,

Jack.

One of things that struck me over the last few months is that we all
address really different markets - some of us specialise in kids
discos - others focus on the dance music scene, others seem to
do a lot of weddings. There's quite a bit of cross-over but then
there are some things you can get away with in one area that dont
work in another (eg, the grunge version of the Scoobie Doo theme?)

Cheers, Chris.

To be honest a lot of tunes loose their hype once their released.. i'd say you need to be up to date with the pre-release stuff. Songs like the shapeshifters, uniting nations, cabin crew etc. were all being played months before release and people knew the songs as they get played on the music channels.

Personally i try to keep up to date by checking the radio one chart and new release lists (not the one on radio 1's site as they only include 5-6 singles for the next 2 weeks) and also the tracklistings for the DMC DJ only disk. I find napster the best place to get these, i used to buy DJ only but they pad it out with loads of stuff i wouldn't play so i just buy the tracks i want from napster.

I'd say you defintaly want to have pre-release stuff for 16ths/18th and even 21st.. all RnB and dance stuff is well known ages before release and if they clear the floor then you must be playing the wrong tracks. Of course, for weddings and the like its not very often you'd need to have this kinda stuff... but you never know!

Just had a quick look through a future release list and found the folllowing -

Quote from Big Ben
We could also share our musical likes and dislikes - for example, I love The Brian Setzer Orchestra. Albums like Vavoom! and The Dirtry Boogie are an essential part of my collection. Tracks such as Jump Jive an Wail, The Dirty Boogie and Gettin in the Mood are played often and always get a great reaction.

I often play this type of track at Modern jive nights.
Ben,there is a group called The Jive Aces who have an album out called-Life is a game.One of the tracks is a cover of Singing in the Rain.It's brilliant!

Quote from Danno
Now those are all released over the next 3 weeks and most of them i've been playing and been asked for over the last couple of weeks. I'm doing my 6th form leavers' ball in 2 weeks and have had loads of requests for a couple of those tracks

If they aren't released for 3 weeks I wont have them.You obviously get pre release stuff.Not all dj's on this site get them.How many of those you mention are likely to chart;if most of them are club tracks they are unlikely to be played at the average mobile birthday/wedding.

Quote
I'd say you defintaly want to have pre-release stuff for 16ths/18th and even 21st.. all RnB and dance stuff is well known ages before release

By your reckoning because I dont get pre-release stuff I shouldn't be doing the 18th that I have booked for later this month.

Sharing your thoughts on the curent music scene can be looked at in two ways -your personal view or your view seen from the position of a mobile dj.
Personnally I cant abide MOST of the current so called RnB rap c**p performed by, it would seem,every other coloured guy or girl on the planet.No offence meant but its a fact.But in their defence,the young girl that I take dancing(modern jive and she's 15) knows all the words to all the songs and she likes it so you have to play it.My personal tastes range from the classic cheesey chart tunes plus Van Morrison,Al Green,In Grid,as Chris says,Dave Pearce Dance Album stuff,Shania Twain,Rod Stewart.Basically anything fairly mainstream.I dont think I have a particular favorite genre.Its very difficult to actually say what your particular favorites are as perhaps one of your particular likes may be just be one track by a particular artist-Eve Cassidy Wade in the water,Renee Olstead On a slow boat to China,Johnny Lang Rack em up,Fredrik Kempe Disco Volante/Vincero,Greg Taylor Scratch my back,Kenny Neal Blue stew,thats just a few off the top of my head but the list is could be endless.
When it comes to your own particular likes its very difficult to "discuss".Some of you may not have heard of one or two of the tracks I have just mentioned;I always think of Eskie and Ian when talking of personal choice in music - nearly all the tracks in their,no,ALL the tracks in their soul playlists go completely over my head.I dont know any of them!Well thats not strictly true but I'm sure you get my meaning.
As far as music in general is concerned.Whether its old,new,pre-release,whether you like or dislike it personnally,it doesnt matter.If gets people up on the dance floor and they have a good nights entertainment-job done.

I think its difficult to share playlists and new tunes as situations vary even from the location of the dj themselves. I've noticed on a few occasions someone has posted a playlist and to be honest I can't say I've neither heard nor played some of the tracks listed. I believe we need to keep our own individualtiy by what we play so its not a case of being secretive or anything. Theres a nightclub up from me where all the djs share the same hard drive of music, one club has it's own permanant broadband connection. They think I'm a fool because I actually "buy" the proper cds.

I tend to disagree with you there Loz
I think there is a tendancy amongst dj's to be secretive.There certainly is in my main line of work -modern jive.
As for your average mobile I think sharing playlists or programmes is a good thing.
I can certainly say that there have been times when I would have benefitted with some fresh ideas about playlists or the order of tracks for a night.I dont think its necessarily playlists that people look for its the order of what makes a typical night successful
I dont class myself as a pro or semipro but to my mind people like Chris,Brian,Ads,Darren,Eskie,Ian,Mikee,Spin(where is he) they can offer years of good advice and experience to beginners and people like me that have the odd high but some bloody awful lows.

Well it seems my opinion on this isn't very popular but just to set a few things straight..

I'm not saying that because you don't have pre-release stuff you shouldn't be doing 18ths or anything like that, thats not my place to say so i'm sorry if you took it that way.

My point is that at your typical 16th/18th (well atleast the many that i've done) i get loads of requests for the stuff thats being played on music channels.. i.e. isn't out yet! Now of course it isn't compulsorary to play every request but i think it defintaley does help to have these tracks. It kinda makes you look like the "cool, up-to-date DJ" rather than the "old guy with no new music".. of course that isn't meant to offend anyone its just the way i see it.

Danno,I didnt take offence;in fact I would probably agree with what you are saying,but my main point was that unless you have access to pre release tracks you are buggered.
By the way it will be interesting to see just how many of those do chart.Keep your eye on them and let me know.

You can get some stuff on iTunes before it is released in the shops

I started this thread because I'd watched something I don't normally have time to and consequently heard some songs I may not have otherwise come across. The fact that some of the songs mentioned are yet to be released is mere coincidence. I could have been watching Top of the Pops 2 or re-runs of The Old Grey Whistle Test and still felt the same.

My point is simple, we can't all be aware of every song and artist. By discussing different artists, music or songs on here, we could all learn a thing or two. I know some of us have "secrets" or ideas we don't want to share - fine, discuss another artist instead.

Brian has got the idea - check out his current tunes section on his website.

I started the ball rolling with Brian Setzer. In answer to Eskie:

most 'pre release' tracks are easy to find if you know where to look. Try 2nd hand record shops, ebay or downloading them. There are loads of promos floating about.
Or just buy the album of the artist - I think you will find the latest tracks by Akon, Snoop, Nelly and Gwen Stefani's new songs are all on their latest albums.
Likewise Amerie is on the 'Hitch' soundtrack.
Once people start requesting it - time to get it in my opinion.