unusually good dj requests

Soulhawk

friday night:girl: "do you have any latin funk?"me: "I think I might..."girl: "like what?"me: "how about some Ray Barretto?"girl: "that'll do" ( disappears onto dancefloor)later a different cute girl requested "Date With the Rain"!!!

mannybolone

friday night:

girl: "do you have any latin funk?"

me: "I think I might..."

girl: "like what?"

me: "how about some Ray Barretto?"

girl: "that'll do" ( disappears onto dancefloor)

later a different cute girl requested "Date With the Rain"!!!

pickwick33

We had a cute girl ask us to play Candi Staton and Ella Washington!

The Staton wasn't so shocking, because her best-of that came out a few years back was promoted heavily, for a reissue...but Ella Washington?

That makes up for a totally unrelated girl who - that same night - pleaded with us to "mix the old with the new and play something current" (i.e., stop playing that old soul shit and put on some Black-Eyed Peas).

DJ_NevilleC

I like it when a cute girl asks me to "play something that we can dance to" because that leaves it wide open.

m_dejean

I remember one time I was playing in the basement of a 3-level party with a friend of mine. The place was jumping. A guy comes up and asks for Gwen McCrae "All The Love That I'm Giving". This was around the time when Cassius had sampled it for "Feeling For You". We were more than OK with that request, but none of us had the record, so we had to give him the "we'd play it if we had it" line.

So he says "don't worry, I'll go get it", and we said "OK buddy whatever", not really believing him, moving on with our set. He disappears for half an hour after which he returns with a minty copy of the "Melody Of Life" LP. He'd driven home by car to get it (dude must have been the only sober person in the house). We thought that was pretty damn cool, so we played it twice and everybody was feeling it.

grandpa_shig

my favorite request was cher's "if i could turn back time" and when i told her i didnt have it she looked at me with such disgust. it was awesome. honestly, i wish i had that on 12".

this one time these chicks (in LA they travel in a minimum of 2) came up and asked me to play "northern soul". being that i still have no idea what that is i was like "uh, i am playing it." and 1 of the chicks was like "no youre not." and so im like "ok give me a name" and she's like "you know, like stuff dj so-and-so from england plays" and i was like "who?" and then they stormed off.

Birdman9

I like it when a cute girl asks me to "play something that we can dance to" because that leaves it wide open.

As if you have been playing Gregorian chants or Throbbing Gristle for the past hour!

mrmatthew

later a different cute girl requested "Date With the Rain"!!!

Find that girl again and marry her!!!

high_c

a week ago I got:

"do you have any Black Sheep?"

One of the few rap records I had on me was Strobelight Honey.

"no i mean like classic Black Sheep."

Then I got:

"do you have any other classic hip hop?"

"like what?"

"Ugly Duckling."

"Nope don't have any of that with me."

Then I got:

"How bout some Bob Marley?"

funky16corners

I had someone come up and ask for 'Hook and Sling' once. I also had someone come up to the decks and ask if I had anything by Kiss.

soulmarcosa

Sharon Jones requests were unusually common at my gigs in NC.

DJBombjack

In the middle of a packed 95% commercial hip hop night I had a group of Beckies approach me. Fearing the worst, my jaw dropped when the lead Becky asked for Tuff Crew's 'My Part Of Town'. Needless to say I dumped the next song and cued up Tuff Crew.

Frank

Best request I ever got by a random customer who I didn't know was for Spider Harrison "beautiful day".

Most other good requests usually come from regulars or friends who want to hear their fave song that they know you have so those shouldn't count.

the_dL

we used to do a place here that was frequented by mainly uni students, a normal night was around 70-80% girls, was one of my longest residencies and had some of the best request ever there
The Meters Just Kissed My Baby
Oh My God ATCQ
Dj Krush Final Home'
Pharaoh Monch Simon Says
Mos Def Hard Margin
Lord Finesse Baby you nasty
Gangstarr Code of the streets
Chakara Jungle Strut
Bamboos Tighten Up
Cloud One's Atmosphere Strut
are just some of the request i remember not so much for the request, more for the requestor

Frank

not to hi-jack this thread into the usual old "worst request I ever got" rant but the strangest request I ever had was a girl asking, or better demanding to deposit a gym bag that held her dog inside the dj booth so i would look after it while she celebrated NYE...

Kinetic

I frequently get asked to play Michael jackson at the funk nigth Im play at, which is Ok, cause I brand out into disco and soul and stuff and it works well, so now as a matter of course I always pack 'don't stop...' with me because it's nice to occassionalyl be able to answer requests with "yes, as a matter of fact i do."

DJ_Enki

I had someone come up and ask for 'Hook and Sling' once.

I had a really cute girl request this once, too. I was smitten right then and there.

Getting a great request like that can totally make my night.

spelunk

Attractive Asian girls in the Bay Area are especially adept at making absurdly good hip-hop requests.

You know it's true.

b/w

My favorite request came on-air when this 15 year-old kid called my homegirl's show every week for a month straight, high as f**k, requesting the Chi-Lites "Stoned Outta My Mind".

Birdman9

not to hi-jack this thread into the usual old "worst request I ever got" rant but the strangest request I ever had was a girl asking, or better demanding to deposit a gym bag that held her dog inside the dj booth so i would look after it while she celebrated NYE...

Mind-numbing.

Not the same thing, but I have now lost track how many times people have asked if I can plug their phone in for them to recharge it. Sometimes I feel more like a concierge than a dj.

vinylstalker

not to hi-jack this thread into the usual old "worst request I ever got" rant but the strangest request I ever had was a girl asking, or better demanding to deposit a gym bag that held her dog inside the dj booth so i would look after it while she celebrated NYE...

God.
The look an the little dogs face while peering out of the gym bag
was pretty priceless.
She also requested "some 1970's funky soul" in euro-trash broken english
while the Wild Magnolias was being blasted to a full floor.

I had a really tall azn/amrkn girl request "dap walk" about 10 years
ago at a little lounge gig. As this predated any comp of the song,
I always wondered how she knew that one.

DB_Cooper

I was doing a mostly soul set and had ventured into garage territory with the Sonics, when this dude requested Action Woman by The Litter. Really wished I had that one with me.

Terrible request: a couple of weekends ago: I'm playing some DFA/Kitsune-type stuff, and this girl asked for Rod Stewart. "I don't have any Rod Stewart." Incredulously???"You don't have Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?!" "No. And for the record, no I don't."

The_Hook_Up

I once had a guy ask me to turn off the music because he misplaced his cellphone and his friend was calling it so he could track it down, but couldnt hear the ring because of the music. He got super pissed wen I simply said, "No"(after I laughed my ass off at his request).

Okem

I had this real cutie request 'Murder She Wrote' once, but she followed it up with "cause my boyfriend doesn't know it."

bassie

I had someone come up and ask for 'Hook and Sling' once.

Me too - a few months ago. I nearly hugged her. That's the best one that comes to mind for the past little while!

I hardly get requests. When I do, it's for Peter Tosh or Bob Marley as soon as they hear some reggae and James Brown or Sly Stone as soon as they hear soul. But my favourite that is the most recurring is when people ask for a genre that is nothing like what I've been playing for the whole night.

DB_Cooper

I had someone come up and ask for 'Hook and Sling' once.

Me too - a few months ago. I nearly hugged her. That's the best one that comes to mind for the past little while!

I hardly get requests. When I do, it's for Peter Tosh or Bob Marley as soon as they hear some reggae and James Brown or Sly Stone as soon as they hear soul. But my favourite that is the most recurring is when people ask for a genre that is nothing like what I've been playing for the whole night.

Do you have any Rod Stewart?

pickwick33

When I (get requests), it's for James Brown as soon as they hear soul.

now that's the thing that gets me
about the real obvious requests

half the time dude will be
drunk off his ass and will say things
just to make conversation

so, i'll bet you dollars to donuts that
they won't know JB when they hear it.

either:

(a) they'll ask for some JB right when some JB
is playing, or

(b) you could be playing a Joe Tex
record and they
wouldn't know the difference

not to be pompous about it, but sometimes you can
tell when a person wants to hear something
specific vs. generically asking for "some James Brown"

bassie

No, but I have Rod Taylor!!!

bassie

When I (get requests), it's for James Brown as soon as they hear soul.

now that's the thing that gets me
about the real obvious requests

half the time dude will be
drunk off his ass and will say things
just to make conversation

so, i'll bet you dollars to donuts that
they won't know JB when they hear it.

either:

(a) they'll ask for some JB right when some JB
is playing, or

(b) you could be playing a Joe Tex
record and they
wouldn't know the difference

not to be pompous about it, but sometimes you can
tell when somebody wants to hear something
specific vs. just wanting to hear "some James Brown"

you know it. I am not against playing JB or Sly Stone and if I'm carrying it, I will play it for someone. I like follow-up, so if I do put it on, I'll look for the person, even just to make eye contact and say "here you go!" and half the time, they dont even notice it's on! I know the music is a big part of my life and all, but cripes! JB has a pretty distinct voice! even if it's something you've never heard, you gotta be able to tell it's the artist you asked for! (I actually don't mind requests, probably because I get so few, but my stock answer is "if I have it, I'll play it" and becasue I play with guests - I'll ask them, too)

DrWu

not to hi-jack this thread into the usual old "worst request I ever got" rant but the strangest request I ever had was a girl asking, or better demanding to deposit a gym bag that held her dog inside the dj booth so i would look after it while she celebrated NYE...

God.
The look an the little dogs face while peering out of the gym bag
was pretty priceless.
She also requested "some 1970's funky soul" in euro-trash broken english
while the Wild Magnolias was being blasted to a full floor.

I had a really tall azn/amrkn girl request "dap walk" about 10 years
ago at a little lounge gig. As this predated any comp of the song,
I always wondered how she knew that one.

Pretty sure Dap Walk was out on the Sound of Funk series in the 90s.

vinylstalker

Really? Wow.
Still, this was a small LA city around 1999,
and homegirl looked like your average college student.
I had fantasies that she was some super-digger protege,
with stacks of raer in her dormroom.

DrWu

Really? Wow.
Still, this was a small LA city around 1999,
and homegirl looked like your average college student.
I had fantasies that she was some super-digger protege,
with stacks of raer in her dormroom.

Dap Walk is LA related so maybe she was connected.