SwingDJs

GuruReuben wrote:I heard it last night at the LindyGroove. It was played right after "Jumpin' At The Woodside" which has sadly become the overplayed token fast song.

::sigh::

The other ::sigh:: most overplayed fast song might be "Flying Home." There are so many good 200+ and 250+ songs out there that get me moving, it's a shame we don't hear them more often. I'm doing my best to fit them in.

* edited to add: why the heck do my posts always start a new page *

word. jumpin' at the woodside is one of my favorite pieces, but it's not the only solid fast piece out there. as i said earlier, better selections mean a broader, more appreciate (less burnt out) audience.

i'm sure reuben can list 113 fast lindy songs off the top of his head, so why limit your audience to one or two you're comfortable with as a dj?

kalman

same with overplayed partners, why dance with the same great people all the time. you should never have to dance with the same people everytime you go dancing. sure you like them alot, and they're wonderful dancers, but why get stuck in a rut. always dance with new people every song and every time.

... haha owned. nice point.

CafeSavoy wrote:same with overplayed partners, why dance with the same great people all the time. you should never have to dance with the same people everytime you go dancing. sure you like them alot, and they're wonderful dancers, but why get stuck in a rut. always dance with new people every song and every time.

Knowing you're being sarcastic, dancing with the same partner can get just as boring... especially if you're always hearing the same songs.

GuruReuben wrote: I heard it last night at the LindyGroove. It was played right after "Jumpin' At The Woodside" which has sadly become the overplayed token fast song.

I'm just amused to finally sit down and catch up on this thread. I had djs commenting all weekend about how I got flamed for playing "Wade in the Water" at LindyGroove, which was just funny since I didn't. I'm sure I played a bunch of other stuff that probably falls in the overplayed category though. *shrug*

kbuxton wrote:

GuruReuben wrote: I heard it last night at the LindyGroove. It was played right after "Jumpin' At The Woodside" which has sadly become the overplayed token fast song.

I'm just amused to finally sit down and catch up on this thread. I had djs commenting all weekend about how I got flamed for playing "Wade in the Water" at LindyGroove, which was just funny since I didn't. I'm sure I played a bunch of other stuff that probably falls in the overplayed category though. *shrug*

I know you didn't play it... Tony did.

GuruReuben wrote: Knowing you're being sarcastic, dancing with the same partner can get just as boring... especially if you're always hearing the same songs.

we did that once to these two dancers, everytime they got together we played Fever, just to see if they would notice.

ahahaha - i laugh because i know the couple

There's always a tension between wanting to play what you know and wanting to extend your repertoire a bit, I think.

I have sets where I really try to extend myself, and the dancers, a little and play quite a lot of stuff that's more unusual, or that I haven't heard played. I guess this naturally happens when you acquire a new stack of CDs. You want to try it out.

The challenge is to keep people interested, but obviously you have to give them the favourites too. Finding the balance is the goal.

I guess I would like to pose the question of everyone as to whether 'overplayed' is a perjorative term. I mean, if you play a song a lot, it could be classified as 'overplayed', or it could be classified as a 'favourite'.

So when does it cross the line? When it becomes boring. And what bores people? Everyone's different. I go to a couple of regular gigs where the song repertoire is, to my way of thinking, pretty limited. Certain songs bore me. But they seem to still be incredibly popular with others.

On the flipside, I do think the role of a really good DJ is to introduce new music to a scene. I definitely get the biggest kick out of that. To see people become completely enamoured by something they've only ever heard me play is the best feedback I can get.

Zot wrote: I guess I would like to pose the question of everyone as to whether 'overplayed' is a perjorative term. I mean, if you play a song a lot, it could be classified as 'overplayed', or it could be classified as a 'favourite'.

I suppose a song in the national scene can be considered overplayed when it's a "favorite" of many DJs in the swing scene. At least if you're using that terminology.

I think a song could be considered overplayed if you're too comfortable playing it. Kinda like 'old reliable'. I try and keep my sets away from those songs unless I feel there's a very good reason to bring them out and I can validate it.

I can't stand the fact that Ella's Smooth Sailing still crowds the floor more than any other song I know...I'm so sick of it!

Face it, we get sick of songs quicker than non-DJs. I'm continually surprised when I ask good, regular dancers, "are you sick of this song, yet?" and they say "No!! I LOVE that song!"

I agree with the "i get tired of it faster" thing. But then, how many of us also listen to hours of music outside of the actual DJ gig, way more than the average dancer?

Ron wrote:Face it, we get sick of songs quicker than non-DJs. I'm continually surprised when I ask good, regular dancers, "are you sick of this song, yet?" and they say "No!! I LOVE that song!"

That's actually the trickiest part: accomodating for the difference between my perception and the dancers' perception of what I play too much. Because I DJ every week, sometimes twice or three times a week, as well as listen to songs several times beforehand to record them onto compilations and otherwise prepare, I get sick of songs far more quickly than the dancers for whom I DJ. Either that, or I end up not playing a song again so as to avoid burning it out. Often, I end up "shelving" a song to prevent burnout before some of my most receptive dancers get a chance to dance to it at all.

Then, because I am a creature of habit, there are other songs that I keep playing every so often out of routine (or when I hit a wall and need something because I ran out of time and the previous song is about to end).

Some people tonight might hear a song for the first time that I have played a lot, whereas some others have coincidentally heard it every time I have played it and get the impression that I'm just being redundant and burning a song out.

Sounds like a complaint, but it's a part of "the game" of being a good DJ.

There ARE also some Lindy Hoppers out there who either have never heard "Wade in the Water" or "Stormy Monday," or who have danced to them only a few times so that they aren't sick of them at all.