1st-Time DJ needs advice
 

What's up, guys?

Hey, I'm DJing for a high school-age dance next Saturday (the 17th), but I got a problem: I need some musical suggestions. Any and all contributions are appreciated...

...and the dance is a 70's theme, so please keep that in mind...

70's, 'eh? Didn't they have Techno and Disco and stuff? How about the Star Wars Disco Theme! Or Snake Eater! And let's not forget the FF6 Chocobo Theme: Techno de Chocobo!

And other Discoish and Technoish songs should be appropriate. Maybe Country and Jazz...

And yes, I'm being serious. If I was DJin' a 70's dance, I would definately put those top three songs to a CD immediately.

im prety sure Tehre was no techno in Teh seventys because i saw a seventys movie last wek & it had lots of Disco but no techno :rmage:

I know it sounds weird but, ask your parents. Odds are they were alive in the 70s at soe point.

Scary huh?

Well, they referred me to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, which I plan on using religiously. However, I need more suggestions on what else I should use. Although this particular dance has a 70's theme to it, my partner and I will be playing some more recent stuff as well (80's, 90's, and current tunes as well), just not as much. Any suggestions in those areas are also welcome :D

Well, you will play Love Shack at least once. It doesn't matter that it came out in 89, you will get requests for it. So have it handy.

Funk!!! Songs: Flashlight, Fire, Pick up the Pieces, ORIGINAL version of Lady Marmelade, Tell me something good, etc. Hell, just pick up the Pure Funk cd at best buy.

Earth, Wind and Fire. I don't care what decade they are from, as they are still cool today.

Creedence Clearwater Revival. Aw yeah.

The Eagles. One of the greats from the 70s. Break out some of their ballads, or keep it fast and light with their other hits.

Gogo!

Also, you're gunna hafta play Stairway to Heaven at some point, so come prepared.

Stairway to Heaven really isn't a dance song.

Its a slow dance/transition into makeout song.

Do not mock the power of Stairway.

In a movie I saw Stairway to Heaven saved the universe, on a releated note it can save your dance to if you get the right one. You see with the internet multiple old versions of the song are floating about that are kind of weak seemingly but would work for a dance. Also if that worries you there is a techno version if you want something unique.

Other songs/bands you may want to bust out.

Parliment Funkadelic
Freak Out
Evil Woman
Last Dance
Begees...Anything will work...
Villlage People
Anything Abba

Need any other DJ advice just ask and I will be glad to help you out.

Please note: Some people may revolt and leave the dance if you play Beegees or Abba.....and Village People...Just don't play YMCA, that song is heard more than Bird's Chirping in a Aviary.


Now then, since you said you were going to play a little 80's and 90's, you should see about getting ahold of "Ride the Train" by the Quad City DJs. That's a decent party song, and even though it's overplayed too, Play that Funky Music probably should be played as well.

So long as it is not the vanilla ice version. Yeah I thought it was all seventies music. If your gonna some of each decade well then throw in some techno, that will keep some people happy, and maybe some rap because well were i went to high school we had themed dances too, and guess what? The DJ played mostly rap anyway. Also maybe one classical dance song will not hurt. The main thing here is to have a grand selection of music, and take some request too...

Well, I was planning on it, but my partner (who shall be known as "PoopDude," his favorite Halo screen-name) wants more current stuff.

So far, I think I'm covered as far as 70's stuff goes, with a healthy mix of BeeGees, Earth Wind & Fire, Kool & the Gang, and others for faster songs, with other artists such as Barry Manilow for slower stuff. I'll definitely need to add more to my slow song selection, but I'll dig through more of my parents' CD collection for those.

Keep those suggestions comin'! I especially need help with more current songs, and PoopDude has $20 worth of Wal-Mart music downloads ready, and I'd like to make them count!

I don't have any specifics to suggest right now, but I will suggest that you bring a BIG supply of music, weither you plan on using it or not. You'll probably get lots of requests for more popular/recent songs, (that is, if you're doing requests) And even if you aren't doing requests, it's always a good idea to have lots of back up music incase you end up playing everything you plan on using.

What do you need Wal-Mart downloads for when you have the rest of the Internet(observe: "Internet" is capitalized. It is a proper noun. There is only one "Internet.") at your fingertips?

Anyway, I still suggest some techno. The techno remixes of Beethoven's "Fur Elise" and [insert artist's name here]'s "Hall Of The Mountain King" are must-haves. Also, if you want some slow songs, try Final Fantasy VIII's "Eyes On Me," or the English version of FFIX's "Melodies Of Life." And that one song, I think it's called "The Fiddler and Satan," where some fiddler has fiddling duel with Satan.

Wait, no, that last one would probably not be a good idea, depending on how tight/lax this school is about talking about the devil.

And Now It's Mr. V With The Post-game Report!
 

The dance went well last night. My 3 co-DJs and I showed up 2 hours early to help set up, and to get familiar with the equipment. Since I couldn't find any 70's-ish stuff to wear, I wore my "Thumpman" outfit: blue cargo pants, blue collared shirt with a blue #54 football jersey over it (I though a collared shirt was in the dress code, otherwise I would've worn a blank white t-shirt instead), and my generic black sunglasses. I would've worn my hat as well, but hats weren't allowed at this particular dance...

Some other people showed up half an hour early to learn a couple dances (the Hustle and New York Swing) and since they had an odd number of people, I was asked to join in on the second one. Little did I know that about half an hour into the dance, we were called out to demonstrate, and I was actually called of the stage by an announcer, the crowd, AND my fellow DJs to go down there. It was great!

Something I noticed about this dance: 70's music pretty much killed any dancing going on (with the exception of the most well-known songs, like Dancing Queen and YMCA), but techno stuff (Sandstorm!) was a big hit. I guess imposing a theme on a dance isn't the best idea, but it was ultimately the creative talent of my crew that pulled us through without TOO many complaints. Having four guys was nice, since so many people came up with requests that one of us could handle them while the others still kept things running smoothly.

Once again, I thank you all for the suggestions. Be on the lookout for another suggestiopns thread next time I do this!

I know it's a little late for this, but don't listen to Otaku. Don't play any damn Final Fantasy music unless you wanna lose your job. The ultra-dorky.

Also, it's called "the Devil went down to Georgia."

I think Otaku has some good ideas. Heck, if I can get away with a Hamster Dance mix (much to their enjoyment), then I guess we could play anything without being dorky. But, you never know :D