SwingDJs

Cute, catchy. I like it.

I take requests all the time. Our scene is small, so there's enough time for people to get their requests in and for me to play other more diverse stuff. Getting a request in once in a while makes people feel special--who am I to deny them that? I haven't run into the problem of the same person coming up every dance and asking if they can hear exactly the same song they heard and requested the last time though. I can see how that would be irritating.

mark0tz wrote:Fine point Rayned. Furthermore, experienced dancers tastes don't necessarily coincide with the majority of the crowd.

GOOD POINT.

and it's very important to include the better dancers. because not only will they they be there time and time again, but in alot of scenes it's the better dancers that draw the inexpeirenced crowd.

this has been proven a few times in Los angeles when the better dancers were ignored, they left started going to a different club, soon after the average and beginners followed now that club is closed or dead.....

besides, beginners will enjoy whatever the good dancers say is good.

So always play to the good dancers.....

SirScratchAlot wrote: GOOD POINT.

and it's very important to include the better dancers. because not only will they they be there time and time again, but in alot of scenes it's the better dancers that draw the inexpeirenced crowd.

this has been proven a few times in Los angeles when the better dancers were ignored, they left started going to a different club, soon after the average and beginners followed now that club is closed or dead.....

besides, beginners will enjoy whatever the good dancers say is good.

So always play to the good dancers.....

excellent point that good dancers should be included in your mix. by including them in you mix, you keep them dancing, and they can provide inspiration for the other dancers, and allow the regular dancers to push their envelope. but if you play only for them you may lose the bulk of your audience and hence possibly your venue.

Or you develop an advanced dancers playground and all the begginers go to other clubs. Hence hurting your attendance. I have seen this happen a few times. This is bound to fail over time, people do drop out of dancing and if you don't have fresh dancers coming in to your club to replace them, you will lose your attendance over time.

I personally think you should play to both in your mixes. Most clubs I have seen have more begginers in the earlier part of the night, and the advanced dancers show up later. Hence you could arrange your night like that.

SirScratchAlot wrote:

mark0tz wrote:Fine point Rayned. Furthermore, experienced dancers tastes don't necessarily coincide with the majority of the crowd.

GOOD POINT.

... [some more fine points here]

So always play to the good dancers.....

I disagree with the "always" part. I think the key is to play GOOD music. A blend of music that keeps the experienced dancers happy, and the inexperienced dancers dancing to get better (and experience) is my model for success.

A venue I regularly DJ here in D.C. has for a long time had what has largely been an inexperienced crowd. There are beginners and intermediates. Many of these beginners have now become intermediates and the beginners have improved some...

What's interesting is that the advanced dancers, and more "hard-core go out most nights a week" crowd have been gradually showing up in greater numbers over the past few months. Word got out that I'm playing good music, the floor is decent, and the AC works like a champ.

Now, I've been playing pretty much the music throughout. Some of it does cater to the beginner/intermediates, but at the same time I'd like to think some of the tunes push them (either with tempo, rhythms, breaks, etc.) to get better. I also am one of the instructors for this venue, so I do take great joy in their improvements.

Anyways, soapbox off, I just feel that catering only to the advanced dancers just so the inexperienced dancers can watch/ wait to get inspired/ dance a little isn't the best course of action for building a venue or scene. There are a lot of effective ways to get people to show up to your place... (You should see what Tom & Debra have done here in D.C.) Keeping the experienced dancers happy is definitely a high priority on my list. Equally important, though, are those intermediate dancers.

i have A LOT of newbies for those of you that have heard of us here.. We're in Boise...

that's one thing we have that many places lack is plenty of live free/cheap venues for jazz/ blues

we looked at a calendar last week and realized you could go out 7 days a week sometimes more than one place!!!! how spoiled are we!!!

tanya

Tanya - what is it about Boise that attracts so much good jazz/players? Feel free to start a new thread....

As most of you probably know Gene Harris is from Boise, and they have the Gene Harris Jazz Festival there every year. Another musician I've been listening to lately is Curtis Stigers (great modern jazz -- sounds a little like Mose Allison -- good groove music) - he's also from Boise.

Being from Seattle, I never thought Boise was a place that would cultivate a hot bed of musicians...........................

There is an old gentleman always requesting the Artie Shaw's "Begin the Beguine" whenever I'm djing. He's such a sweet old guy, and I usually play it. Sometimes, I'll play it before he even requests, and make him happy!

This is a great thread...I posted something about requests on a different thread before I saw this one. My original question is whether or not you should agree to play a song that sucks just because it is a request. I usually won't do it, but I do try to get out of it as politely as possible. I only get asked for a request once in a blue moon (the dancers never make requests now that I think about it)...it is usually someone who doen't normally dance.

Ya, i think we've talked about that one before... but my opinion is that if I'm DJing for a dance event, I'm much more likely to take a request from a dancer, than a beginner. Though it's a tough call, because I'm also trying to make sure the beginners have a good time, and keep coming back.

Are you saying that I shouldn't request Yanni????!!!!!!

Hehehe

What I always think about when someone makes a request is all the times I used to make requests back in the day. Usually, the DJ would enthusiastically agree to play what I asked for, then never play it. Which sucked.

So, now that I'm a DJ, I either play their request, or tell them that I can't. The easiest cop-out is to say that I don't think I have what they're asking for. If it is totally incompatible with the mood of the venue, I'll tell them that I probably won't be able to play their request, and why, but that I'll try to accomodate them another time. If it's totally off-the-wall, I'll just apologize and refuse.

The thing is, people come out dancing to have fun, and the DJ's job is to make that happen for them. Sure, educating our audience or challenging them is important, but if you're DJing at a venue where there's lots of newbies, I think you should cater to them. To me, that means playing their lame request if possible.

I'll admit that I've played Sing, Sing, Sing or Big Bad Voodoo Daddy when people have requested it. I may feel like a complete retard, but watching those sucky newbie dancers have tons of fun makes it worth it. My one hope is that they have enough fun dancing to their request that they'll want to come back next time, and maybe, just maybe, they'll one day appreciate good music. I mean, come on, didn't we all dance to that crap back in the day?

That's the worst part... i *do* feel like a 'tard when I agree to play awful music. But I get a little bit back when I see most everyone having a good time. I won't play songs that will piss people off... and almost everyone is happy with one or two songs they don't care for, as long as they are mixed in well.

Good point...there is definately a balance with the more advanced dancers getting annoyed with sucking it up to make that person happy by playing a neo song or whatever. It is a tough call sometimes...I hate hurting people's feelings so it is an uncomfortable situation for me. I don't carry any stuff I don't like so it does make it easier to say "sorry I don't have it"...

Holy smokes, I played "jump, jive, and Wail" Louis Prima version, for the first time ever as a DJ on Saturday night. Yuck. There were only 8 people in the club it was early and they were a bunch of neo swingsters from Michigan passing through town. They came up and requested it. My normal excuse was almost used, "I left it at home", but since they were the only ones there, I figured what the hell. but I am forever self scared by playing such trash. I've been having nightmares ever since.

Roy wrote:Holy smokes, I played "jump, jive, and Wail" Louis Prima version, for the first time ever as a DJ on Saturday night. Yuck. There were only 8 people in the club it was early and they were a bunch of neo swingsters from Michigan passing through town. They came up and requested it. My normal excuse was almost used, "I left it at home", but since they were the only ones there, I figured what the hell. but I am forever self scared by playing such trash. I've been having nightmares ever since.

The problem isn't so much the song as watching the people who request that sort of song actually try to dance to it. Like a car wreck: you just can't help yourself from watching no matter how much you want to ignore it.