a 21st party playlist

AdMMM

It's my 21st this weekend and while I have a DJ for some of the night to cater for the families taste (they are paying for it after all), the problem is that he's actually deaf (I **** you not!) so I'm not having him play after midnight.

He'll undoubtedly be playing the cheesy 80s pop that's at all family gatherings and I once heard him play "the Lady GaGa" but I'm not sure if that was by accident or not. I ideally want some ideas for a playlist that will make the transition from this silly 80s music to something that myself and my friends can enjoy towards the end of the night.

My own tastes for a night out would be pretty much aligned with that of what plays at an Indie/Alternative club yet I'm very concious that a lot of people wouldn't be into that at all so won't be playing anything too obscure that would make them want to head to the hills.

I'll consider anything posted, thanks

MikeHoncho

The best way to get from 80's cheese into Alternative and Indie stuff is via New Orders - Blue Monday. From there you can hit Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart and then you can pretty much go anywhere you want.

A few songs which always seem to go down well at these things with my mates anyway would be:

Modest Mouse - Float On
Battles - Atlas
The Rapture - House Of Jealous Lovers
Interpol - Evil
Animal Collective - My Girls
Blur - Girls And Boys
The Cure - In Between Days
The Pixies - Gouge Away
Broken Social Scene 7/4 Shoreline
Gomez - Get Myself Arrested

Hope thats of help.

Spiritoftheseventies

Pyscho Killer- Talking Heads has to go on it.

MsMoo

AdMMM wrote: »

It's my 21st this weekend and while I have a DJ for some of the night to cater for the families taste (they are paying for it after all), the problem is that he's actually deaf (I **** you not!) so I'm not having him play after midnight.

He'll undoubtedly be playing the cheesy 80s pop that's at all family gatherings and I once heard him play "the Lady GaGa" but I'm not sure if that was by accident or not. I ideally want some ideas for a playlist that will make the transition from this silly 80s music to something that myself and my friends can enjoy towards the end of the night.

My own tastes for a night out would be pretty much aligned with that of what plays at an Indie/Alternative club yet I'm very concious that a lot of people wouldn't be into that at all so won't be playing anything too obscure that would make them want to head to the hills.

I'll consider anything posted, thanks

You're right, your better off sticking to bands/artists people will know, as you say you don't want anything too out there.
I'd suggest some crowd pleasers, like maybe Johnny Cash, The Pogues (streams of whiskey is always a good one) and maybe some Elvis and perhaps Blur (that woo hoo one is a good 'un).

Hope this helps.

Have a great 21st.

me-skywalker

Cant really tell you much because not sure what type of music you listen to?

I recommend end the night with this beast.... Ill come play it.. with the explosiona and all haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr81olQ1ibk

AdMMM

Thanks very much for the suggestions. Hopefully it'll be a good night and with a bit of luck the DJ will actually go down well meaning I won't have to fish out my crudely made CD while completely gee-eyed.

I posted the same thread on another forum and this was the response that I found the most helpful. I'll cross-post it here in case anyone else is looking for some pointers.

If you have comparatively normal friends, then in all honesty you want the 'indie club' type of mix that would include the likes of:

The Killers
Kaiser Chiefs
The Fratellis
Franz Ferdinand
The Smiths ("This Charming Man", "Panic")
Pulp ("Common People", "Disco 2000")
Blur
Oasis
Supergrass ("Alright")
Florence + The Machine
Maximo Park
Vampire Weekend
LCD Soundsystem
Daft Punk
MGMT (first album stuff)
Bon Jovi
Journey
The Wombats
Bloc Party ("Banquet", Armand van Helden's remix of "Signs", "Flux")
Muse
CSS
The Rakes
Alphabeat
The Futureheads
The Courteeners
M.I.A. ("Paper Planes")
Hockey

Some of those bands may not be big in the US, if that's where you're from.

As someone with experience of such things (and not deaf), I can tell you that people will hate things they don't know, or can't dance to. Album tracks should be a no go, and you'll want to intersperse stuff like the above with chart stuff. Your guests want to hear what they like, not what you like, so if you want them to have fun, dance and be in the mood, you need to bear that in mind!

If you want to please the old folks along with your own friends, then throwing in some 80s rock type of songs ("The Final Countdown", "Don't Stop Believin'", "Livin' On A Prayer", "More Than A Feeling", "Jump") will go down well.

You'll get bonus points for scheduling the well-known, "everyone knows the words" kind of songs for what you deem to be the peak point of the night. So, if everyone will be drunk and wanting to dance at 1AM, it's stuff like "Mr. Brightside" that should be playing, not some obscure Ratatat B-side.

So yes, here's my three quick pointers for scheduling a song:

1. Will anyone know what it is?
2. Can people dance to it?
3. Can people singalong?

If a song doesn't meet all of those criteria (especially true the later it gets), then I would give it a miss. You might not have a load of mates who huddle together and shout the words to "Don't Look Back In Anger", but even so, those pointers work really well.

mewso

It's kind of ironic that the music suggested in that list is exactly what I hate about "indie clubs" but is ideal for a mixed crowd and no doubt your party. There are a lot of indie songs that non-indie people will know. Dog Days Are Over by Florence and The Machine is one example. Great song and everyone will know it but not who it is. Play it as test and wait for someone to ask who it is

Others in that bracket:-

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Dull Life
Violent Femmes Blister in the Sun
Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Sneaker Pimps - 6 Underground
Noah and the Whale - 5 Years Time
MGMT - Time to Pretend
The Go! Team - Ladyflash

Some indie crossover hits that come to mind:-

Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag
Kasabian - Underdog
A-House - Endless Art
Ian Brown - F.E.A.R
Happy Mondays - Step On
Stone Roses - Fools Gold
Gomez - Whippin' Piccadilly
Elbow - One Day Like This

Again none of these would necessarily be my choice if I was the DJ and it was my crowd as it were but they can all be danced to and most folks will know a lot of them. I would certainly play them myself under these circumstances.

This is the pissed up in a friends flat list where I attempt to play as many of these songs before someone kicks me off. I'm turning 40 next year (eek) and I'm going to hire a room somewhere, invite my friends and family and force them to listen to all of these

The Cure - Lullaby
Calvin Harris - Acceptable in the 80s
Arcade Fire - No Cars Go
Beck - Elevator Music
Bluetones - Slight Return
Blur - Bang
Boo Radleys - Lazarus (all time indie classic)
Charlatans - One to Another/Sproston Green/Oh Vanity
Ride - Leave Them All Behind
Eels - Prizefighter/Susan's House
Eurythmics - Doubleplusgood
The Fall - Birmingham School of Business School
Faith No More - Epic
Fu(k Buttons - Bright Tomorrow (if everyone has collapsed on the couch)
Happy Mondays - Wrote For Luck
Inspiral Carpets - Draggin Me Down
Janes Addiction - Jane Says
Jesus and Mary Chain - lots to chose from
Lemon Jelly - Staunton Lick
My Bloody Valentine - Soon
Neutral Milk Hotel - Ghost (letting untitled play after it)
New Fast Automatic Daffodils - It's Not What You Know
Northside - Take 5
The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds
Pop Will East Itself - Def Con One
Rage Against the Machine - Bullet in the Head
Flowered Up - Weekender (15 minute version - at this point I'm removed)

Many more but assuming I get the decks back I finish with every song from every album by Pavement.

MsMoo

mewso wrote: »

This is the pissed up in a friends flat list where I attempt to play as many of these songs before someone kicks me off. I'm turning 40 next year (eek) and I'm going to hire a room somewhere, invite my friends and family and force them to listen to all of these

The Cure - Lullaby
Calvin Harris - Acceptable in the 80s
Arcade Fire - No Cars Go
Beck - Elevator Music
Bluetones - Slight Return
Blur - Bang
Boo Radleys - Lazarus (all time indie classic)
Charlatans - One to Another/Sproston Green/Oh Vanity
Ride - Leave Them All Behind
Eels - Prizefighter/Susan's House
Eurythmics - Doubleplusgood
The Fall - Birmingham School of Business School
Faith No More - Epic
Fu(k Buttons - Bright Tomorrow (if everyone has collapsed on the couch)
Happy Mondays - Wrote For Luck
Inspiral Carpets - Draggin Me Down
Janes Addiction - Jane Says
Jesus and Mary Chain - lots to chose from
Lemon Jelly - Staunton Lick
My Bloody Valentine - Soon
Neutral Milk Hotel - Ghost (letting untitled play after it)
New Fast Automatic Daffodils - It's Not What You Know
Northside - Take 5
The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds
Pop Will East Itself - Def Con One
Rage Against the Machine - Bullet in the Head
Flowered Up - Weekender (15 minute version - at this point I'm removed)

Many more but assuming I get the decks back I finish with every song from every album by Pavement.

Wow, sounds like you are gonna have one hell of 40th party. But surely you could squeeze in a little teenage fanclub there somewhere!:p

mewso

MsMoo wrote: »

Wow, sounds like you are gonna have one hell of 40th party. But surely you could squeeze in a little teenage fanclub there somewhere!:p

Well the list was getting out of hand so I called a halt Yes they would be in there.

sweetie

mewso wrote: »

Many more but assuming I get the decks back I finish with every song from every album by Pavement.

oooh, i'd love a gig where I could play nothing else bar pavement and Teenage fanclub. Brings me back to my formative years

me-skywalker

The Doors - Break On Through... That really gets me going on a nite out!!

Spiritoftheseventies

What you want is a few drinking songs.

This is a fairly good one. If you never have seen the Wire look away now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVEwpYt0EwE