I was thinking along the lines of...
Status Quo
Queen
Beach boys
Beatles
Frank Valli
Some rock and roll classics like lets twist again

These are just a few suggestions obviously I need to get a feel for the audience but has anyone found any particular no no's that don't go down well from experience?

Try some bob marley,elvis,gypsy kings,ricky martin, kool n gang, village people,barry white, michael jackson, madonna,phil collins.......... i would have thought a lot of the obvious stuff like hard house,drum n bass,gabba,techno etc might not work

T-Rex, Boney M and Showaddywaddy always seem to do well at my 50ths. More often than not they will have teenage kids or older so a bit of 80's and 90's cheese (Take That, Spice Girls, Wham, Culture Club) will work as a bit of cross-generation floor filler!

And, as always, a good dose of Elvis and other rock'n'roll tracks will always have 'em dancing on the tables!

I'm hopping I will get a chance to play quite a bit of rock and roll. I have noticed recently that this kind of music is going down really well with some of the younger crowds too.

the drifters

and a bit of 70s

barry white

freda payne

and some disco i.e. working my way back to you babe, young hearts run free etc. If my experience the woman love it and woman are the ones that get up at gigs then any males will follow etc. You get the woman up youve cracked it

I went to a 50th a while back and the theme was beech party and the man were to were Hawanian shirts and shorts etc.
It wasn't until the cake came out that it all became apparent. The tune that was played was the theme tune to Hawaii 5O.

Anne

Don't forget that at 50ths, generally, the crowd will be up for a really good party, so listen to their requests. They may even have their kids there in there 20s.