All experienced professional DJs have a best friend they bring with them to every gig. No, I am not talking about their buddy who helps lug in the gear and keeps an eye on things during a quick trip to the bathroom. I am speaking of the songs or artists that you know you can bring out when things need a boost to kick into high gear. It is kind-of like cheating with a stacked deck.
In different times and places, the songs and artists vary. For example; if you are the professional DJ at a Sweet Sixteen, your best friend as a professional DJ for that gig will typically be whatever the top dance songs are on the Billboard charts that week. This could be Akon, Myley Cyrus or Carrie Underwood or who knows who will top the charts next week. If you are the professional DJ at a high school reunion for the class of 1962, then it may be The Five Satins, Elvis Presley or The Everly Brothers, and if you’re lucky, maybe even Roy Orbison. This is nothing like what your ace in the hole would be for a college reunion from the class of 1983, which would mean Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls and maybe even Michael Jackson Thriller or The Clash depending on the group.
But what about a wedding? Weddings are somewhat different than other gigs because the guests can be very diverse including age, background and lifestyle. At a wedding, an experienced professional Wedding DJ takes the songs and artists that they were requested in advance by the Bride and Groom, the requests they receive at the wedding, look at the guests age and lifestyle and throw in a dose of common sense of what is working and what is barely shaking the Jello and discern what the ‘aces in the hole’ are for that wedding.
There are the usual songs and artists that rarely fail; Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Old Motown, Soul and R&B, along with a few never fail slow dance songs like Always and Forever, Ribbon in the Sky, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra and some Elvis. In certain circles you can also can count on the Slides, Cha Cha and Electric, Macarena, Thriller or any other group dances. But beyond that, you are successful on your ability to gauge what will work to meet the needs of the diverse guests who may not know each other well or at all.
There are tables that may have a single, middle-aged cousin, two best friends of the bride from high school, the bride’s boss and husband, his former secretary and her new boyfriend and an ex-boyfriend of the bride with his pretend girlfriend for the wedding all trying to make conversation and find a way to enjoy the reception together. They can be the ones you have to get up on the dance floor, the immediate family and friends are rarely hard to please, since they are so excited anyway. But the more distant folks are the ones that will make or break or wedding or any important event. These are the folks that every DJ needs to identify their ‘best friends’ for that event.
A little experimentation within the scope of what the couple have requested will often give you clues what and when to release the ‘aces’. Example; if the bride requested Barry White and Marvin Gaye and they both go over well, then it is probably safe to assume Diana Ross post-Supremes, Smokey Robinson and Earth, Wind and Fire will be effective in getting everybody up and rockin’, and of course MJ is always there when you do not know what else to do. Each time you have a success, you build on it and it produces more opportunities for expanding the playlist to meet the needs of more people while still keeping those enjoying what is going on happy.
Learning your ‘aces in the hole’ and “best friends’ are two of the ways that an experienced professional DJ adapts to the situation successfully without losing what they have already established.
What are your ‘aces in the hole’ and ‘best friends’ as a professional DJ in the NJ, MY & PA region?
