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DJING COMPANY ANNUAL DINNER i.e. HELP PLAAESE

kennykenny 1,024 Posts
edited February 2008 in Strut Central
man, I have no idea what to play.ok heres the deal, a diverse crowd, mostly chinese but also some my bosses are americans and europeans, and I'm co-djing with this other guy from work, and basically he's got the Top 40 and hiphop stuff covered, so i thought I'd try something different to spice it up rather than sticking to hiphop rnb.so here's what i pulled out so far:gloria gaynor "casanova brown" (simply cuz i love this tune i don't care what!)renee geyer "be there in the morning"players association "get down mellow groove"patrice rushen "forget me not"roger troutman "so ruff so tuff"caesar frazier the blackbyrds "rock creek park"booker t and mgs "chicken pox" (not a good idea maybe?)some JBs perhaps ? what else should i put on there ?any suggestions, critics, comments are much appreciated!i don't want to play rap, i hate rap! thank you soulstrut!

  Comments

  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    man, I have no idea what to play.

    ok heres the deal, a diverse crowd, mostly chinese but also some my bosses are americans and europeans, and I'm co-djing with this other guy from work, and basically he's got the Top 40 and hiphop stuff covered, so i thought I'd try something different to spice it up rather than sticking to hiphop rnb.

    so here's what i pulled out so far:

    gloria gaynor "casanova brown" (simply cuz i love this tune i don't care what!)
    renee geyer "be there in the morning"
    players association "get down mellow groove"
    patrice rushen "forget me not"
    roger troutman "so ruff so tuff"
    caesar frazier
    the blackbyrds "rock creek park"
    booker t and mgs "chicken pox" (not a good idea maybe?)

    some JBs perhaps ? what else should i put on there ?

    any suggestions, critics, comments are much appreciated!

    i don't want to play rap, i hate rap!

    thank you soulstrut!


    as Sherlock Holmes would say, this is a three pipe problem.


    After consideration, I would decline the gig on the grounds that they only asked you to play to humour you, and that everyone will feel beholden to do it again next year. And the year after that, ad nauseum. Until you are 60, and all the new kids in the company are laughing because you don't have the latest in Jetrock or whatever will be de rigeur in the coming decades.
    Not the answer you were hoping for, I fear.
  • empanadamnempanadamn 1,462 Posts
    IF you want to make your company and its clients happy, I would try to take some requests in advance for the sake of back up. Send out an email to your coworkers and their responses will give you an idea of what's in store. I would have some low expectations in which you could probably get away with putting an mp3 player on shuffle, then set it n forget it. As we all know in a lot of these types of situations, it's not about the mix, but the selection. There's hardly any comprehension of transition or segueing for most folks. They want instant gratification. As someone who can't stand that type of situation, I still manage to go ahead and mix.

    Also, given your listing of tracks, most will probably think it's boring and not up to date. I like what you listed, but think about the demographic and the situation. Most folks aren't up on that stuff, and want to hear what they know when it comes down to getting drunk (and maybe "dancing"). If you're playing while ppl are eating, keep it classy and chill. But best believe someone will come up and ask you you to switch it up - "Can you play something more modern / upbeat / something I can dance to / I know / etc."

    I don't know if you're doing this for money or you want to try to get more gigs out of it, but just be prepared for the best and the worst. And have your business cards on hand. Good luck.
  • kennykenny 1,024 Posts

    Also, given your listing of tracks, most will probably think it's boring and not up to date.


    yea, i know what you mean, i mean initially i was wanting to take the risk of that, knowing most people aren't really up on what i've got right there, but i thought hell i just want to have fun and enjoy so might as well play what i like.

    shit, i don't know.

    maybe i should try the email thing first, and be prepared to play things i totally hate listening to.
  • DJCireDJCire 729 Posts
    man, I have no idea what to play.

    ok heres the deal, a diverse crowd, mostly chinese but also some my bosses are americans and europeans, and I'm co-djing with this other guy from work, and basically he's got the Top 40 and hiphop stuff covered, so i thought I'd try something different to spice it up rather than sticking to hiphop rnb.

    so here's what i pulled out so far:

    gloria gaynor "casanova brown" (simply cuz i love this tune i don't care what!)
    renee geyer "be there in the morning"
    players association "get down mellow groove"
    patrice rushen "forget me not"
    roger troutman "so ruff so tuff"
    caesar frazier
    the blackbyrds "rock creek park"
    booker t and mgs "chicken pox" (not a good idea maybe?)

    some JBs perhaps ? what else should i put on there ?

    any suggestions, critics, comments are much appreciated!

    i don't want to play rap, i hate rap!

    thank you soulstrut!


    What's the age of most people?
  • Options
    Unknown
    Wings "Goodnight Tonight" 12 inch Promo Mix

    Boz Scaggs - "Low Down"

    Steely Dan "Hey Nineteen"

    These jams are always winners, especially the Wings...people always bug when I play that shit, no one ever knows it.
  • Controller_7Controller_7 4,052 Posts
    I djed a x-mas party for a fairly young, hip design company and it was not what I expected. The person who was in charge wanted me to play lots of danceable stuff and lots of 80s, but then when I was actually djing I ended up playing lots of soul stuff and played it way more background than I had anticipated. I was ready for people to dance, but they weren't ready for it. Office parties are weird because unless everyone is comfortable getting bombed in front of eachother, people tend to be sort of restrained and won't dance. They want to stand around and mingle.

    I had the first Cymande album with me and ended up playing about 6 songs from it. Nobody had a clue.
  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    I djed a x-mas party for a fairly young, hip design company and it was not what I expected. The person who was in charge wanted me to play lots of danceable stuff and lots of 80s, but then when I was actually djing I ended up playing lots of soul stuff and played it way more background than I had anticipated. I was ready for people to dance, but they weren't ready for it. Office parties are weird because unless everyone is comfortable getting bombed in front of eachother, people tend to be sort of restrained and won't dance. They want to stand around and mingle.

    I had the first Cymande album with me and ended up playing about 6 songs from it. Nobody had a clue.

    Yeah, I hear that. I came out of DJing retirement to play my company's opening weekend at our new headquarters, and after settling on funk/soul as the genre, put in a lot of work on my seven half-hour sets. Turned out I was just background music, and was constantly getting cut out by the sound engineer so people could make announcements to the crowd. By the end of the second day, I just threw on East of Underground and drank beers backstage with the last band.
  • DJCireDJCire 729 Posts
    Office parties are weird because unless everyone is comfortable getting bombed in front of eachother, people tend to be sort of restrained and won't dance. They want to stand around and mingle.


    Ziiiiiinnnnnngggggggggggg......


    I'd say don't bother with any raers, just stick to the basics.
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