Overplayed songs

Tips and techniques of the trade

Moderators: Mr Awesomer, JesseMiner, CafeSavoy

Message
Author
User avatar
kitkat
Posts: 606
Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 10:34 am
Location: Minneapolis, MN

#76 Post by kitkat » Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:56 am

Haydn wrote:I've got more than enough 200 BPM+ songs, but it's the ones around 150 BPM that are really useful for DJing.
Yup. It's the eternal problem / quest of the old-school swing DJ.

User avatar
J-h:n
Posts: 193
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:09 am
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden

#77 Post by J-h:n » Sun Aug 24, 2008 11:37 am

kitkat wrote:Yup. It's the eternal problem / quest of the old-school swing DJ.
Just curious - what do you mean by "old-school" swing DJ? As opposed to...?

Haydn
Posts: 1277
Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2004 5:36 am
Location: London

#78 Post by Haydn » Sun Aug 24, 2008 1:14 pm

J-h:n wrote:
kitkat wrote:Yup. It's the eternal problem / quest of the old-school swing DJ.
Just curious - what do you mean by "old-school" swing DJ? As opposed to...?
Yeah, I wondered that as well, but I'm guessing that Katie means one playing old-school music. I prefer to DJ old-school music, but I have the same problem with modern swing - a shortage of good mid-tempo music.

User avatar
kitkat
Posts: 606
Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 10:34 am
Location: Minneapolis, MN

#79 Post by kitkat » Sun Aug 24, 2008 6:50 pm

Haydn wrote:I have the same problem with modern swing - a shortage of good mid-tempo music.
Really? As long as it's towards the "groovy" side of the spectrum, I've found no shortage of "good" mid-tempo music. (If by good, you just mean well-made. It isn't the right kind of energy to make me want to dance all night, so I don't tend to use much of it...but if it did get me going, I feel like I wouldn't have much trouble finding lots of well-done stuff in slow & mid-tempo.)

User avatar
J-h:n
Posts: 193
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:09 am
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden

#80 Post by J-h:n » Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:59 am

kitkat wrote:
Haydn wrote:I have the same problem with modern swing - a shortage of good mid-tempo music.
Really? As long as it's towards the "groovy" side of the spectrum, I've found no shortage of "good" mid-tempo music. (If by good, you just mean well-made. It isn't the right kind of energy to make me want to dance all night, so I don't tend to use much of it...but if it did get me going, I feel like I wouldn't have much trouble finding lots of well-done stuff in slow & mid-tempo.)
So it still boils down to what Haydn said - finding "exciting, high-energy mid-tempo material" - whether it's old or new music, doesn't it? There's a lot of dull mid-tempo swing from all periods - different sorts of dull, same problem.

But perhaps we should take this discussion to the new exciting high-energy mid-tempo thread.

Toon Town Dave
Posts: 661
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 2:52 pm
Location: Saskatoon, Canada

#81 Post by Toon Town Dave » Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:56 am

I realized I never got around to replying to this ...
djstarr wrote:Dave - is this mix of songs because people dance a wide variety of styles? It appears you have bigger issues than having to hear Moondance played too much!
I don't think it's about the variety of different dance styles. It's more about the priorities of organizers, teachers and other scene leaders. In part, their vision for the scene and partly their (dance) maturity and understanding of the dance.

I'm a subscriber to the idea that if you're not dancing to swing music, you're not doing Lindy Hop camp. That's reflected when I DJ, at events I organize and lessons I teach.

The active leadership in our scene today all buy in to a vision centered around Lindy Hop and Swing (or at least swinging Jazz) music so you won't hear much novelty stuff any more. In the past organizers at the time did try (unsuccessfully) try to appeal to dancers from other styles but those folks are no longer involved as organizers or teachers.

Haydn
Posts: 1277
Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2004 5:36 am
Location: London

#82 Post by Haydn » Sat Mar 14, 2009 1:05 pm

Platypus wrote:So, when does it go from a DJ being a great DJ because they unearth neat alternative tracks VS. being too esoteric? I have heard complaints on both sides. There ARE complaints by dancers that they get tired of hearing too many alternate versions of standards. I once heard it described as a "DJ phase." Where do we draw the line?
Just thinking about this recently, one new person has started DJing here in the last few months, playing mainly over-played classics like, (wait for it):

C Jam Blues, LCJO
Shoot the Sherbert to me Herbert, Tommy Dorsey
Pennsylvania 6-5000, Glenn Miller

Other people, I've noticed, tend to play too much obscure stuff. I think I'm sometimes guilty of this too. I think perhaps it's a fear of being boring and 'the same as everyone else'.

Obviously, tailoring the set to the crowd in the room is important, but I've come to the conclusion that, in general, it's much better to play overplayed classics all night than rare obscurities.

User avatar
dogpossum
Posts: 299
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2003 10:42 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia
Contact:

#83 Post by dogpossum » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:51 pm

I've had these thoughts before: my listening tastes are getting older and less dance-friendly. But when I'm DJing, I find that I simply can't play a set loaded with that stuff.

I can't get away from the fact that some songs are just _so good_ it's difficult not to play them.
And, really, is it wrong to keep really fabulous songs 'alive' on the dance floor? For me, it's about my own tolerances - I get to the point where I can _not_ hear a particular song again, so I just don't play it.

I'm also very aware of the fact that new people take up lindy hop every day - something that's _so_ five minutes ago for me is new and exciting for them. This was brought home for me a couple of years ago when I heard someone describing a DJ's set as really exciting because they played neo, which no one else played. In my head I was thinking 'thank god - didn't we get enough of that ten years ago?', but my sensible brain was also thinking 'these guys weren't dancing then; for them, this _is_ new and exciting'.

I've also noticed, moving cities, that stuff that I think of as 'overplayed' or 'old favourites' _isn't_ in this town. And vice versa - some things I'm new to are olden days here.

I also think that it makes a difference if the local dancers travel a lot for dancing - the pool of 'overplayed' music gets bigger when a scene's dancers travel. But at the same time, that same pool of traveling dancers is bringing new songs and new musical interests _back_ to their local scene. This is especially significant in Australia where traveling to dance is so expensive, and the 'rest of the dancing world' (which in many cases equates to 'America') is so far away, financially. One of the more significant factors is that there are simply far fewer Australian dancers than say (for example) American dancers - we have a big country, but a relatively small population.

I've noticed a massive change in the movement of musical taste since Youtube started kicking a few years ago - people watch clips of their favourite dancers performing to 'new' songs, and then these 'new' songs (and musical styles) travel and spark new interests in new scenes.

lipi
Posts: 789
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:26 pm
Location: menlo park

#84 Post by lipi » Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:54 pm

I'm bored, so I'll post here.

I'm missing some playlists, but the ones I do have contain 737 total tracks, spread over three years or so. Those I played more than five times:

8: Don Ewell, "My Home Is in a Southern Town", Man Here Plays Fine Piano
8: LaVern Baker, "Gimme a Pigfoot", Sings Bessie Smith
8: Louis Armstrong, "Perdido Street Blues", Complete Decca Studio
7: Duke Ellington, "Things Ain't What They Used to Be", Ella/Duke Cote d'Azur
7: Ella Fitzgerald, "Lullaby of Birdland", Ella/Duke Cote d'Azur
6: Duke Ellington, "Shout 'em Aunt Tillie", Centennial
6: LaVern Baker, "On Revival Day", Sings Bessie Smith
6: Turk Murphy, "St James Infirmary", New Orleans Stomp
6: Jimmie Lunceford, "'t Ain't What You Do", Lunceford Special

User avatar
CafeSavoy
Posts: 1138
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2002 6:25 pm
Location: Mobtown
Contact:

#85 Post by CafeSavoy » Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:08 pm

dogpossum wrote: I'm also very aware of the fact that new people take up lindy hop every day - something that's _so_ five minutes ago for me is new and exciting for them.
A song can go from brand new to overplayed and only you have heard it. It's really difficult since we are dealing with music over a range of almost a hundred years. And dancers with a broad range of exposure to music. And because we are spinning for both dancers and other djs.

User avatar
Platypus
Posts: 261
Joined: Wed Nov 20, 2002 6:17 pm
Location: Houston, TX

#86 Post by Platypus » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:05 am

so, it is great to use this list to come up with "new" suggestions for areas that haven't heard your overplayed songs.

User avatar
trev
Posts: 736
Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:20 pm
Location: Perth, Australia

#87 Post by trev » Sun Nov 04, 2012 11:17 pm

Two years later...

What's currently being overplayed in your town? Remember that one scene's overplayed songs could be another's undiscovered gems.

User avatar
dogpossum
Posts: 299
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2003 10:42 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia
Contact:

#88 Post by dogpossum » Tue Nov 06, 2012 7:50 pm

Gordon Webster.
Love the dood, but I need a break.

I've recently given myself a rule: 90% recordings <1950 because I'm overplaying modern bands.


Otherwise, I don't think there're terribly many patterns in the DJing here, because we've got a really random collection of DJs doing dancer-run gigs, and because live music is really much more important to the scene, tbh. Thankfully.

What's the happs in Perth, Trev? I'm really curious to see what DJs play at MLX - I want to hear what's in other cities' most-played lists.

lipi
Posts: 789
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:26 pm
Location: menlo park

#89 Post by lipi » Tue Nov 06, 2012 9:44 pm

dogpossum wrote:Gordon Webster.
Love the dood, but I need a break.

I've recently given myself a rule: 90% recordings <1950 because I'm overplaying modern bands.
Dude, share! I'm playing 90% ante-1950 because I don't have modern bands' stuff! (O.K., I have a little. But, for example, I have no Gordon Webster.) What should I be on the lookout for? Any albums that are particularly worth getting?

User avatar
J-h:n
Posts: 193
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:09 am
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden

#90 Post by J-h:n » Wed Nov 07, 2012 3:55 pm

For the last couple of years: Sidney Bechet. I love him, and I've sure contributed to the overplaying myself, but still. As far as I'm concerned, this whole Dixieland revival thing in the swingdance community has gone too far. Remember, Bechet was booed off stage at the Savoy Ballroom. To the swing cats and lindy hoppers, that was Dad's music.

Locked