On Djing...

i usually make a playlist for a specific event as like a "plan a" road map to get to a handful of key tracks i know i want to play, otherwise i'll forget the stuff i was really excited about and go off in a totally different direction. i always deviate from it, but then i can go back to it if i sense myself starting to get a little aimless

i tend to plan out the first hour or so of my sets as i’m kind of building momentum and then once there’s a bit of a crowd going it’s a little more anything goes. don’t like to overly plan my sets in advance either, but i also don’t like to have too much material to choose from in the moment either (thankful that USBs can only hold so much on them lol). if I were playing to actual dance floors more regularly i would probably approach this differently

my rekordbox library is a completely unorganized mess lol

I used to plan out sets when I was a wedding DJ. Just a rough outline that had chunks that made sense to me, like thinking about the couple's requests and seeing how to get from one to the other while mixing it up with the hits and my standards. I was happy to ignore it, but it was a great crutch.

i would definitely use playlists if i needed to sketch out programming in an unfamiliar situation. it helps a lot in a wedding situation where people will give you time markers and a few tracks they want you to play. on the other hand i got asked to play a disco night for pride last year, i had each hour more or less playlisted, and halfway through the night i got yelled at by some asshole manager for playing the wrong thing, the implication that i needed to play a totally different genre. think i related the story upthread. most of that (programming) is kind of in my head for my weeklies but could use some tuning up and filling out tbh. like i have maybe 4 or 5 "places" i like to go over 4 hours. the sunday gig is so sparsely attended that i do a lot more winging it. when i get asked to play on a friday at my second place i go something like "big current pop numbers" then "pop/club" then "tech house" then "fast stuff" then "oldish favs" and then the last hour of the night is reggaeton and hip hop, both of which i have really limited selections of.

my area has a lot of latin patrons and clubbers and i've had to build up a half-decent selection of latin language club songs at the risk of coming across as pandering and clueless, but it's been really helpful overall. i like bad bunny a lot. wish i knew spanish tbqf.

yeah i did a lot of stressing out about track order/selection and mood/vibe at the wedding i played two months ago. i erred on the side of the songs/genres the grooms mentioned when we discussed it in advance, and threw in a few of my own choices which went down well enough

xp Bomba Estereo yo!! so good

back in 2008/2009 or so when I spent 2 seasons as a "hip" wedding DJ, part of this crew https://www.74events.com/ (though back then there were only 3 of us, now it's a whole roster of NYC DJs, even some WFMU folk) I made two mixes to introduce myself to the owner, so this was before I did any weddings for anybody that wasn't a friend of mine. After joining up with them and experiencing actual weddings you could definitely remove most of this stuff and replace it with Journey and Pitbull (this was 2008), but here were my "trial" playlists:

Dan Selzer – Cocktail Compilation

1. Beach Boys – God Only Knows
2. The Searchers – When You Walk in the Room
3. Bobbie Gentry – You’ve Made Me So Very Happy
4. Gene Clark – Because of You
5. Todd Rundgren – Hello, It’s Me
6. Brenton Woods – Gimme a Little Sign
7. Etta James – At Last
8. The Flamingoes – I Only Have Eyes For You
9. Paul McCartney – Maybe I’m Amazed
10. The Rolling Stones – She Smiled Sweetly
11. Roxy Music – More Than This
12. Little Anthony and the Imperials – Goin’ Out of My Head
13. Darlene Love – Today I Met The Boy I’m Gonna Marry
14. Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions – So In Love
15. Chris Montez – Call Me
16. The Everly Brothers – Till I Kissed You
17. Wanda Jackson – Funnel of Love
18. The Vogues – You’re The One
19. The Zombies – This Will Be Our Year
20. Syd Barrett – Love Song
21. David Bowie – Soul Love
22. Big Star – Thirteen
23. The Undertones – Teenage Kicks
24. Blondie – Dreaming
25. Talking Heads – This Must Be the Place

Dan Selzer – Wedding Mix
1. George McRae – Rock Your Baby
2. Rolling Stones – Emotional Rescue
3. David Bowie – Golden Years
4. The Jacksons – Dance and Shout (Shake Your Body)
5. Hot Chocolate – You Sexy Thing
6. Archie Bell & The Drells – Tighten Up
7. Tommy Roe – Sweet Pea
8. Neil Diamond – Cherry, Cherry
9. Bow Wow Wow – I Want Candy
10. The Clash – Rock the Casbah (Mustapha Dance)
11. Punkin’ Machine – I Need You Tonight
12. Prince – Kiss
13. Chic – Good Times
14. Queen – Another One Bites the Dust
15. ABC – The Look of Love
16. Altered Images – I Could Be Happy
17. Animotion – Obession
18. Human League – (Keep Feeling) Fascination
19. Bobby O – I’m So Hot For You
20. Exposé – Point of No Return
21. Debbie Deb – When I Hear Music
22. West Street Mob – Break Dance (Electric Boogie)
23. De La Soul – A Roller Skatin’ Jam Named “Saturdays”
24. Steely Dan – Peg
25. Slick Rick – Mona Lisa
26. Yaz – Situation
27. Depeche Mode – Just Can’t Get Enough
28. New Order – Temptation
29. Donna Summer – I Feel Love
30. Joe Jackson – Stepping Out

A lot of those were still staples of mine, but obviously mixed in with the requests and the hits of the era. People came to Gary (founder of 74 Events) because they were looking for "hip" "brooklyn" wedding DJs. They didn't want some cheesy DJ with props playing all the typical stuff. We'd meet with the couples and they'd explain how they wanted a cool DJ who'd play cool music. Then they'd send us their requests playlist and it would start with Black Eyed Peas. The flipside was half the time I just felt relieved to know that playing Lady Gaga would get the floor going, because no matter how much the couple liked The Pixies, it was going to keep grandma on the dancefloor. Still I tried to deliver and remember at least one wedding where only the couple and their best friend danced to Vampire Weekend A-Punk and all of their relatives cleared the floor. They had a blast though and that's all that mattered.

I can write a book about my experiences as a wedding DJ, how I related to it, what I learned, etc, but some of it's painful to visit.

The second to last wedding I DJ'd, my friend asked me AND our friend James Mulry to DJ. I'd only ever done weddings by myself which was it's own hassle. This wedding they made really good requests, I think we opened with Loose Joints' Tell You Today and everybody danced and it was a blast...and even with a good crowd, many of whom were friends, and a good partner, I was still an anxious wreck and decided...this is not for me. After that wedding I sold my speakers and wireless mic to James and never DJ'd a wedding again.

Until a few months later when my ex-girlfriend got married and called me and said "you can do one more". I borrowed my speakers back from James and did that wedding. I slipped in The Doors Peace Frog which blew a few minds but Deniece Williams' Let's Hear it for the Boy was the smash.

A few years later I hired James to DJ my wedding, at the same venue that we DJ'd together at (The Metropolitan Building in Long Island City) and yes, he ended the night with Joe Jackson's Stepping Out.

I actually have the playlists from James for my wedding, which were obviously heavily directed by myself.

DJ James Mulry
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4/12/2014 - Dan Nicole
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Prelude
Steve Reich - Reich: Pulse - Sections I-X - Pulse

Processional
Woody Guthrie’s Hesitating Beauty - Performed by Lawrence Kim

Recessional
The Pretenders - Message Of Love

Cocktail Hour
the Knife - Heartbeats
Blondie - Dreaming
The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action
The Searchers - When You Walk In The Room
The Clean - Anything Could Happen
Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You
David Bowie - Be My Wife
Sparks - When I'm With You
Carole King - I Feel The Earth Move
Brenton Wood - Give Me Some Kind Of Sign Girl
Kirsty MacColl - They Don't Know
Yazoo - Only You
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
Lou Christie - I'm Gonna Make You Mine
Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music - More Than This
Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra - Sand
The Left Banke - And Suddenly
The Modern Folk Quartet - This Could Be the Night
Gerry & The Pacemakers - How Do You Do It
The Vogues - You're The One
Richard Thompson - I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
Slapp Happy - Blue Flower
Ike & Tina Turner - It's Gonna Work Out Fine
Nina Simone - Feeling Good
Emitt Rhodes - With My Face On The Floor

First Dance Set
The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love
Thurston Harris - Little Bitty Pretty One
Jackie Wilson - Higher And Higher
The Temptations - Ain't Too Proud To Beg
Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle Dub
The Human League - Don't You Want Me
JJ Jackson - But It's Alright
Tommy Roe - Sweet Pea
Len Barry - 1-2-3
Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons - Beggin'
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terell - Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Shirley & Lee - Let The Good Times Roll
Solomon Burke - Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
Shirley Ellis - The Clapping Song

Dinner
Syd Barrett - Love Song
Caetano Veloso - Lost In The Paradise
Bob Lind - Elusive Butterfly
Bobbie Gentry - You've Made Me So Very Happy
Bert Jansch - Tell Me What Is True Love
Gene Clark - Because of You
Fleetwood Mac - Albatross
Big Star - Thirteen
Lou Reed - Satellite Of Love
The Kinks - Strangers
The Everly Brothers - ('til) I Kissed You
Chris Montez - Call Me
Van Morrison - Crazy Love
The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses
Bob Dylan/Johnny Cash - Girl from the North Country
Jackie Wilson - I Get The Sweetest Feeling
Buffalo Springfield - Sit Down I Think I Love You
Scott Walker - Duchess
Paul McCartney - Maybe I’m Amazed
The Gist - This Is Love
James & Bobby Purify - I'm Your Puppet
Grover Washington Jr & Bill Withers - Just The Two Of Us
Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner [DNA Remix]

First Dance
Nico - I'll Keep It With Mine

Parent Dance
Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle

Dancing
Punkin' Machine - I Need You Tonight
The Jacksons - Shake your body (Down To The Ground)
Rick James - Give It to Me Baby
De La Soul - A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays"
Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough
Freeez - I.O.U.
Yazoo - Situation (U.S.12" Mix)
Bobby O - I'm So Hot 4 You
ABC - The Look of Love, Part 1
Madonna - Into The Groove
Expose - Point Of No Return
Company B - Fascinated (Extended Mix)
Mgmt - Kids
Hall & Oates - I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
Banbarra - Shack Up (full version)
The Doors - Peace Frog
Kool & The Gang - Hollywood Swinging
Prince - I Wanna Be Your Lover
The Human League - (Keep Feeling) Fascination (Extended Version)
Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime
Fun Boy Three - Our Lips Are Sealed
New Order - Temptation [7" Version]
Ladytron - Playgirl
Donna Summer - Our Love
Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round (12")
Stacey Q - Two Of Hearts (long version)
Azoto - Anytime Or Place
Sean Paul - Temperature
Liquid Liquid - Optimo
Konk - Your Life (Konk Mix)
Quando Quango - Love Tempo (Mark Kamins Mix)
Loose Joints - Tell You (Today) (Original 12'' Vocal)
The Rapture - House Of Jealous Lovers
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Date With The Night
Le Tigre - Deceptacon
Iggy Pop - Lust For Life
The Strokes - Last Night
The Cure - Close To Me
M.I.A. - Paper Planes
Neil Diamond - Cherry Cherry
Bruce Springsteen - Dancing In The Dark
Modern English - I Melt With You
Mo-dettes - White Mice
Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere [Lp Version]
Pineapples featuring Douglas Roop - Come On Closer (Club Mix)
Joe Jackson - Stepping Out (@ -7%)

The Clapping Song I got hip to thanks to Optimo!

in a "one of those things is not like the other" is the fact that both Nicole and I love Sean Paul's Temperature AND, we actually heard it played at...that's right...Optimo. I think Stirmonster you said it was a favor for a friend? Maybe later on I would've suggested more classic dancehall stuff to mix it in with but at the time, we just wanted that, and a few of my friends were like huh?

tbf temperature rules and needs no excuses tho

what is mia paper planes if not classic dancehall

lol i had “temperature” on my playlist for my friend’s wedding but didn’t get to play it. it rules!

i didn’t ask our dj for his actual playlist after our wedding and now i’m wishing i had - despite my going over the musical selections with him before the ceremony, i remember maybe five or six songs i danced to because the whole night was such a whirlwind. our first dance was the ‘twin peaks’ theme abruptly cutting into “jump” by the pointer sisters, parent dance was “can’t help falling in love”, cake cutting song was “strange powers” by the magnetic fields.

booming posts dan

very relatabe

haha relatable... it's early here

there's so much pressure at a wedding, people want it to be perfect, I guess it depends on your temper how you handle it, me I get quite nervous and really attentive - which is good, but stressful

otoh people really give it their all, the highs can be incredible

best wedding dj experience I had chosen Cat People (OST version with the long slow open) as my opening track and bride and bridesmaids were on the floor along with all the guests, all age groups really, and during the opening esp the older guests are dancing slow and close as if it's a slow jam, then just a second before the big break/drop bride throws the flowers into the crowd as Bowie screams "WITH GAS-O-LIIINE!!!" and it's mayhem on the dance floor, crowd goes WILD

can't say I had planned for anything like that to happen, luckiest moment of my dj career

I think Stirmonster you said it was a favor for a friend?

that night it was but it's something i played regularly. in fact i still do! i usually start with Sizzla's Run Out Pon Dem (same riddim) and then cut back and forth between that and Temperature.

I remember you being surprised to hear it. I'm happy to admit to being a BIG Sean Paul fan.

The Clapping Song goes off every time. i have never seen it not work though i'm sure there are some moody fuks who are dissing it, but then i'm never playing for them.

lots of tracks at your wedding were played at my wedding - there can't be that many weddings where both Sand amd White Mice get played! i had a friend play my weding whose wedding i had previously Played at. i think we were both the only people in town who could have pulled off playing at each other's wedding. weddings can be the hardest and worst gigs ever but i loved playing his and he was fantastic at mine.

Loose Joints - Tell You (Today) (Original 12'' Vocal)

I was just in H&M (I think for the first time ever) and this was playing. Maybe that’s fairly normal but it blew my mind a little bit.

I can't imagine that's normal! Wonderful times if it is.

my wedding foray was a time when I was freelancing part-time in the day job (print production) and refusing to take a full-time job because I still insisting on leaving time to work on my record label and later start my own printing business. Then I thought hey, maybe I can DJ weddings once a week for a few hours on a saturday and make a bunch of money. First it wasn't that much money, especially when I realized it wasn't just that saturday. I spent so much time during the week planning things, organizing music, preparing scripts etc. I also thought I'd just be hired to be a DJ and not have to get on the mic and the couples didn't want somebody always on the mic being cheesy, but I still had to make introductions while playing music and I hated that. Ladies and gentleman, we'd love to welcome the bride's parents! (cue James Brown I Feel Good).

Mostly though there was just this anxiety. I get anxious DJing any normal event though it comes and goes depending on how often I've DJd and what the situation is. Certainly there were plenty of times where I went into parties in bars/clubs/lofts etc with some degree of confidence. But weddings introduced this whole other thing. Gary from 74 Events knew I had a car so he always booked me for the events that required driving. Long Island. Staten Island Beach. Sandy Hook on the Jersey Shore. And I'd just be so worried that I'd be an hour into the drive and think "oh my god I forgot a crucial cable and now the wedding's going to be ruined".

My wife started to go out on friday nights because she couldn't handle being in the house with me, my anxious energy was so toxic! Saturday morning before having to leave I'd just put on Nick Drake and close my eyes and drink tea. I thought about being some kind of consultant after, I felt like I learned so much and had this great library and knew what to do but I just couldn't handle it any more. It's weird to work hard to try to become an expert in something and then move to a different career.

that's pretty anxious!!

i am very good at talking people who want me to DJ their wedding out of it, as 9 times out of 10 i know that what they think they want is just not what they will want on the day when the reality of the situation kicks in. there is almost no gig worse than a really tough wedding.

Playing my best friend's wedding weekend after next....ILM, is it corny to start the party with "Love's Theme"?

Nope.

Through corny out the window. It's a wedding.

what he said!

except spell it "throw"

the ladies who are bartending at the gay club on thursday night really liked the hour of darker house i played after all the kids left a few weeks ago. last night i rolled up and it was pretty much just them and me - they wanted to hear gothy so i went that direction. a group of girls showed up at 11:30 and asked if i took requests and for the first time i said no ("not tonight") and it went great honestly. i'm going to try and build on that i think.

tea dance bar owner is asking me to change my sunday 5-9 into a kinky underwear night thing in the basement from 8-12. i like it in theory but 1) i know he's going to drop the ball on promoting it and running it, so all of that would be up to me and 2) no one goes out in this city on sundays. i'm leaning toward just cancelling my sunday there. i'm feeling a little overextended. two weeklies is too much for me.

you should absolutely lean into that! two weeklies seems like a lot, yeah, and a sunday night underwear party strikes me as pretty optimistic lol.

had a pride gig at my usual spot last night that went really well, a number of strangers complimented my set and one guy even tipped me - that's never happened before lol. i was slated to go from 7pm til closing (1am) but ended up stopping at midnight because the bar was more or less empty by that point. got a "padam" request for someone's birthday - i played it two songs later but i think he may have stepped out for a smoke or something when i did, oops lol. a table of queens i didn't know came alive when i played the C&C club mix of "pink cadillac", it was very cute. i had my recording app going the whole set but unfortunately i had plugged my phone into the wrong port on the mixer and it just recorded all the noise in the room so it's unlistenable, doh.

have a few places i'm going to cold e-mail over the next week to ask about gigs, gotta spread my wings over here!

ah dr that's great, way to go! requests are so thankless ime. a few people get it and know how to make it worth your while but not many. interested to hear how your cold emails go.

you should absolutely lean into that!

yeah i'm starting to pick up on a thread here. by far my most listened-to mix on soundcloud is one i helpfully titled "sex party sex club bathhouse mix" for the searchers and it has by far the most listens of anything i've done, even though it's literally all slowed-down techno, not really accessible stuff. i already have the muscle daddy look. there's an audience for both a kinky kind of night and harder dance music here. i want to see if i can get the gay bar to name my thursdays "thrust thursdays" or something. i wish our city had an eagle, that seems like it would be a good fit for me. but since that niche is absent here maybe i can try to occupy it.

for some reason the phrase “it’s serving closeted mormon daddy” just came into my head and i can’t stop guffawing

(not that you are that, map, but i imagined a potential partygoer)

back in the day, the weekly Honey Soundsystem parties were on Sundays in San Francisco. I didn’t work til noon on Mondays, so I’d always go and sometimes it was really packed! other times not so much. but i had luck catching some dick, and that’s all that mattered then, along with the music of course

"it's serving closeted mormon daddy" is an alive and thriving genre here. i'm just a little too grossed out by the real thing to enjoy it as kink. and honestly my kink life is pretty bland overall.

i'm sure any other city can do a sunday just fine. even slc could, probably. it's just a small town and there is one "dance music head" group here full of the same < 100 people who go see the same 2-3 djs and their friends. since i don't get along with some of those people, i'm on the outs there. and this particular venue just isn't the place to try and grow a queer dance night.

i would love to be somewhere with a larger dance music contingent.

Provo!

👀

Lol, this has been doing the rounds. Bedroom DJ badly dissecting a Ben UFO video.

Found a DJ nerd guy with the most annoying content on tiktok pic.twitter.com/IlVDvLSlKj

— 🌌 george.mp3 🌌 (@deejaygeejaygee) June 30, 2023

Lead to someone posting this “Beatmatch of the Day” parody video I had not seen before:

LOOOL this is literally this guy and his bedroom DJ post-match analysis content https://t.co/qCthtmvP2V pic.twitter.com/Fu3r5MRg1v

— Massie (@ComradeMassie) June 30, 2023

I did a Classic Pride Anthems set last night at the usual bar - the first Pride related event our little town has ever had, and as every business on our High Street has been displaying Progress flags above their premises for the whole month (about 40-50 of them in total), the time felt right. Fucking hell, it was fantastic. I put a huge amount of work into preparing the set, and it all paid off big time, epic scenes, still buzzing from it this morning.

Did you record it?

I'll take a setlist if nothing else :)

a) I did record it! I'll be putting it up on Mixcloud over the weekend.

b) Here's the set list:

Warm-up:
Lil Nas X - Montero (Call Me By Your Name)
Grace Jones - La Vie En Rose
Garbage - Queer
Suede - Beautiful Ones
Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side
George Michael - Fastlove
Erasure - Sometimes
Erasure - Victim Of Love (Extended Mix)
Janelle Monae - Make Me Feel
Mika - Grace Kelly

Main set:
Diana Ross - I'm Coming Out
Lizzo - About Damn Time (Purple Disco Machine Extended Remix) << just the "I'm coming out tonight" section
Lizzo - About Damn Time (original)
Sister Sledge - We Are Family
Madonna - Express Yourself (Non-Stop Express Mix)
Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
Chaka Khan - I'm Every Woman [The Reflex Revision]
McFadden & Whitehead - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now [The Reflex Revision]
Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
Scissor Sisters - Let's Have A Kiki
Rupaul - Supermodel
Steps - Tragedy
Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head
David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax (New York Mix)
Erasure - A Little Respect
Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
Aretha Franklin - Respect
Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary
Elton John - Are You Ready For Love
Elton John & Dua Lipa - Cold Heart
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
Madonna - Like A Prayer
Queen - Another One Bites The Dust
Queen - I Want To Break Free
Freddie Mercury - Living On My Own (No More Brothers Radio Mix)
Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe (Almighty Club Mix)
Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind (Extended Dance Version)
Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin (Ian Levine remix)
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)
Donna Summer - I Feel Love (Patrick Cowley Mega Mix)
Communards - Don't Leave Me This Way
Elton John - Your Song (Almighty Mix)
Jackie 'O' - Whatever (Rippin' It Up Mix) << yes, the Oasis song
Cher - Believe (Almighty Definitive Mix)
Indigo - Perfect Day (12" Mix) << yes, the Lou Reed song
Belle Lawrence - Hallelujah (Almighty 12" Anthem Mix) << yes, the Leonard Cohen song
Deja Vu - Somewhere Only We Know (Almighty 12" Anthem Mix) << yes, the Keane song
Lady Gaga - The Edge Of Glory (Cahill Club Mix)
Lady Gaga - Born This Way (Bimbo Jones Club Remix)
David Guetta - When Love Takes Over (ft Kelly Rowland)
Ultra Naté - Free
Aretha Franklin - A Deeper Love [C+C Radio Mix]
Nicki French - Total Eclipse Of The Heart
Weather Girls - It's Raining Men
Sylvester - You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Girls Aloud - Jump
Elton John - I'm Still Standing
Culture Club - Karma Chameleon
George Michael - Faith
Giorgio Moroder with Philip Oakey - Together in Electric Dreams
Donna Summer - Last Dance
Diana Ross - Ain't No Mountain High Enough
George Michael - My Baby Just Cares For Me

"Almighty 12" Anthem" is one of my favourite phrases in the English language as it always sparks a particular kind of shameless joy within me

Hell, yeah! I've not had the chance to play Almighty Anthems out before, and it was the section of the set that I was looking forward to the most. The reaction when I dropped "Whatever" on them was a joy to behold.

god mike that looks amazing

smh at djs

Here's the live recording of last week's Pride Anthems set.
https://www.mixcloud.com/miketd/strut-ya-stuff-56-classic-pride-anthems-special/

Then there's DJ Balearic, which for me is balearic but also Cosmic and Loft classics. I actually put that into one giant playlist on spotify for listening pleasure and kept adding and adding:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4bv9Fa4IfStJNwZW282yjb?si=77d1a3c868634c36

Just popping in to say that I've listened to this playlist loads; it is an absolute banger.

Thanks

I Djed my dad's celebration of life party after his funeral service (well, I made a playlist and thought I would make decisions on the fly but I did not) The whole experience from start to finish was much less fraught than I expected it to be. Just popping in to say that DJing is fun even when it's after someone passes!

Glad it went well LL! What sorts of things did you play?

WELL since you asked:
I had to be very methodical about it because I needed reassurance that I had a methodology and it wasn't just a bunch of random songs I chose. So I started with songs that reminded me him or that I remember him singing/enjoying/whistling. Most of my memories are pretty old because I left home ASAP and that marks an end to the musical memories. That was about 2 hours worth.
Once I had those in the playlist (I used spotify for my ease and the venue's ease; I am not a DJ), I peppered my own era-appropriate faves in there so that I would feel supported by the music that has always kept me company when I needed it. The result was a playlist where only I know which is which and therefore I am ultimately in control of ths situation.

Here's the funny part: the playlist was 4 hours long (just in case; I could have kept going but had to stop at some point) When the party was coming to a close and people were packing up stuff and leaving, I turned off the music at what I thought was the perfect and most appropriate place, at the end of a sentimental Beatles song. If I had waited just a few seconds, I could have ended the party in an unforgettable fashion with the song bearing the same name as my dad, the ultimate send off. But I cut it off early! I think I did what he would have wanted, but in hindsight, if the party had to end when it did, what I would have wanted was to end the entire endeavor with this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auLBLk4ibAk