why does everyone hate "wade in the water?"

Message

Platypus · #76 Post by **Platypus** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:05 am

Someone mentioned that if they play a request that is "overplayed," they will make an announcement before they play the tune. Sometimes it is really clear that the DJ DOESN'T like the song and doesn't want to be given responsibility for playing it. As a dancer, I prefer that the DJ just play the request, make sure to keep a positive tone in their voice if they decide to say something, then follow it up with something that they KNOW the dancers will enjoy.

Has it helped or hindered y'alls DJing when you make these announcements?

gatorgal · #77 Post by **gatorgal** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:11 am

Greg Avakian wrote:
(geek) wrote:I recall some DJs spinning 2-3 versions of Moten Swing in relatively rapid succession at the last SFLX. Perhaps the song is a little tired, but under the right circumstances it can still delight everyone involved.
Jesse, Manu and I did this on the last night of SOFLEX with Moanin'.
After hearing 3 different versions, people moaned when they didn't hear a 4th version.

Yep... I was one of those people who wanted to hear a 4th version.

I think that worked that night because the energy in the room was unbelievable and you could tell that the boys were doing it in a genuine spirit of fun.

I don't think too many people are going bitch if you play something "outside the box" so to speak if you're having fun with it.

Tina

Nate Dogg · #78 Post by **Nate Dogg** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:15 am

Platypus wrote:Someone mentioned that if they play a request that is "overplayed," they will make an announcement before they play the tune. Sometimes it is really clear that the DJ DOESN'T like the song and doesn't want to be given responsibility for playing it. As a dancer, I prefer that the DJ just play the request, make sure to keep a positive tone in their voice if they decide to say something, then follow it up with something that they KNOW the dancers will enjoy.

Has it helped or hindered y'alls DJing when you make these announcements?

As long as say it with a smile and don't use people's names, I don't see any problem with announcing requests. If anything, doing so draws more requests. It is also helps protect your reputation if the song is really lame.

gatorgal · #79 Post by **gatorgal** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:17 am

Platypus wrote:Someone mentioned that if they play a request that is "overplayed," they will make an announcement before they play the tune. Sometimes it is really clear that the DJ DOESN'T like the song and doesn't want to be given responsibility for playing it. As a dancer, I prefer that the DJ just play the request, make sure to keep a positive tone in their voice if they decide to say something, then follow it up with something that they KNOW the dancers will enjoy.

Has it helped or hindered y'alls DJing when you make these announcements?

The few times that I have played a request that I don't particularly like or don't want to hear, I've been as positive as I can be during my announcement.

Even if the song makes the majority of the folks groan I find that they take it in stride and just sit the song out. They at least feel more open to making requests themselves.

Tina

#80 Post by **JesseMiner** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:36 am

Greg Avakian wrote:Jesse, Manu and I did this on the last night of SOFLEX with Moanin'. After hearing 3 different versions, people moaned when they didn't hear a 4th version.

Yeah, that was a lot of fun, and the crowd really seemed to get a kick out of it!

Greg Avakian wrote:sometimes the room is totally on your side and you almost can't play the 'wrong' song.

This hits the nail on the head. To be a really good DJ, you need to get the crowd on your side. That's a major thing that lifts a lot of restraints of what you can/cannot play and lets your sets soar making the dancers very happy.

Roy wrote:I still think that you need to be real careful playing songs that parts of a crowd might despise. One song can teint people's views of an entire set. This happened a few years back when a DJ played mambo#5 and that destroyed his entire set for many people. People were litterally walking around bitching about the song and the DJ for a good 10 minutes.

That is a textbook example of the crowd not being on the DJ's side. Ouch! I bet there's a lot more to that story than just the DJ playing "Mambo #5" though. If the crowd is really on your side and you strongly believe that "Mambo #5" is going to be the best possible choice for the next song, then chances are that the dancers are going to get into it.

Jesse

kbuxton · #81 Post by **kbuxton** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 10:30 am

If someone requests a song that I find overplayed, I'll still generally play it if I have it unless there's very good reasons not to. If one person wants to hear it, others probably will too. Exceptions would be if I'm djing at an event not a nightly dance and I've already heard it from another dj, or if I'm djing at home and it's a song I know from experience a large number of people will absolutely hate. The only one of those I can think of offhand in Portland is Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens (and I'm one of the ones who will literally scream as I think Jesse found out last time he was up here).

People coming up and handing me cds and telling me to play a given track number is a totally different story though.

Greg Avakian · #82 Post by **Greg Avakian** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 10:32 am

Another story (which helped me to understand just how much an audience could be "on your side"):

At the Montreal International Swing Dance Festival, I was having one of those great nights where people were complaining that they "have to go to the bathroom and would you quit playing good music please?"
I was using my minidisc player and went out to dance during a song. I thought I gave myself enough time to get back to the DJ booth, but as I was running up the steps, the people sitting there were in my way. I was so paranoid about the "uncoolness" of the next song, that I attracted a lot of attention by almost screaming "get out of my way".

Much to my embaressment, the next song was "Jump, jive and wail" and sure enough, it started playing just as I threw myself at the 'stop' button.

What happened next totally surprised me: everybody around me laughed and then yelled "play it anyway".

Upside: I learned I could get away with almost anything if the set was going really well.
Downside: Bill Borgida still teases me about owning that song.

PS:
MISDF was one of the best events ever; you should all nag Fred about doing it again...

falty411 · #83 Post by **falty411** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 12:30 pm

first time i danced to wade in the water was in 1999 at the Minnesota West Coast Rebels dance. I absolutely love the song, i think its very soulful and awesome to dance to. The last Rebels dance I was at was within the last 3 months and I heard the song again.

Does it have a place in the lindy community? Sure, just as Plenty by Guru does or Mambo # 5. We used to call these songs DJ Challenges (i.e. the DJ will play something that doesnt swing and you dance to it).

Lawrence · #84 Post by **Lawrence** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 11:58 pm

Greg Avakian wrote:Much to my embaressment, the next song was "Jump, jive and wail" and sure enough, it started playing just as I threw myself at the 'stop' button.
* * * *
Downside: Bill Borgida still teases me about owning that song.

Dude... you don't just OWN it (everyone does and somewhat "should" own it), you 1) chose to put it on a minidisc compilation

and 2) didn't delete it in a sounder, more-sober state of mind!!!

You could have pulled a Pee Wee Herman, "I meant to do that." On "one of those nights" I had where the crowd was behind me, I intentionally played the opening bars of "Sing Sing Sing," stopped it short, and announced "just kidding" over the cheers. (A few of the other DJs in town were still playing it regularly, which explains the joke).

Greg Avakian · #85 Post by **Greg Avakian** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 7:12 am

Lawrence wrote: Dude... you don't just OWN it (everyone does and somewhat "should" own it), you 1) chose to put it on a minidisc compilation and 2) didn't delete it in a sounder, more-sober state of mind!!!

Yeah, it's one of those "here's stuff I could play at a neo-swingers dance with some good music mixed in so they get to hear something decent" mixes. I am quite proud of the fact that I was the rebel DJ in Philly.

Yakov · #86 Post by **Yakov** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 9:20 am

louis prima or whatsisface the guitarist?

i like playing the prima version

Lindy Bomb · #87 Post by **Lindy Bomb** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 10:50 pm

Yakov wrote:whatsisface the guitarist?

Brain Setzer?

*shudder*

Lawrence · #88 Post by **Lawrence** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 3:17 pm

Greg Avakian wrote:
Lawrence wrote: Dude... you don't just OWN it (everyone does and somewhat "should" own it), you 1) chose to put it on a minidisc compilation and 2) didn't delete it in a sounder, more-sober state of mind!!!
Yeah, it's one of those "here's stuff I could play at a neo-swingers dance with some good music mixed in so they get to hear something decent" mixes.

Yes, I actually have those "Lindy for the Kids" compilations, myself. I was more just poking fun.

Doberman · #89 Post by **Doberman** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 3:23 pm

Roy wrote:As I think about it the extreme anti-wade in the water might be a Chicago thing. Not everyone of course, but enough to make it a extremly poor choice to play.

There are other songs like this too. For example Nighttrain while not overplayed anymore several main people in the Chicago scene hate this song(not me, i still love it). Any version of the song is a poor selection in Chicago.

I still think that you need to be real careful playing songs that parts of a crowd might despise. One song can teint people's views of an entire set. This happened a few years back when a DJ played mambo#5 and that destroyed his entire set for many people. People were litterally walking around bitching about the song and the DJ for a good 10 minutes.

I'd like to chime in here with another Chicago viewpoint from a regularly working Swing DJ.

I mean no particular disrespect but from everything that I've ever seen, these songs are a poor selection in your eyes.

I've NEVER heard anyone complain about "Wade in the Water," "Nighttrain," or any of the other popular songs that you seem to harp about. All I've ever seen when I (or any of the other DJ's in town) plays these songs, is a dance floor packed full of people. I've also never seen (other than a very select uptight anal few who complain about everything) people walking around complaining about a song for 10 minutes afterwards.

If you're playing to a small handful of people who disdain the "popular" songs on some sorta misguided principle, you're definately playing to the wrong people. If you're building your sets hoping that somebody will ask you to DJ a big event or invite you to an out-of-town exchange, you're doing it for the wrong reasons.

Play what the majority of the crowd wants to dance to. Challenge them with some new and esoteric stuff in the set. Keep to your own vibe. And screw the handful of complainers.

Lawrence · #90 Post by **Lawrence** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 3:47 pm

Doberman wrote:Play what the majority of the crowd wants to dance to. Challenge them with some new and esoteric stuff in the set. Keep to your own vibe. And screw the handful of complainers.

Amen and hallelujah, brother.