Category Archives: Music Blog

Stevie Wonder Superstition

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All professional DJs have a few songs we know will work in most situations young and old, Black and White, Rock, Reggae and Hip Hop. For me, Stevie Wonder Superstition is one of the songs for me. While others from the Motown era and beyond have reached higher international acclaim, Stevie has just continued to make great music and share with us his messages of hope, peace and the struggle with a forceful beats and rhythms.

 

I had the opportunity to see him live as a birthday present many years ago at Radio City Music Hall. A great show from a great performer. Stevie Wonder Superstition was one of the highlights.

 

When I first began as a professional DJ, I used to play Stevie Wonder Superstition on ’45’ nearly every show and was always accepted well. In fact, the old ’45s’ on vinyl when played too often would get ‘burned’ and make a noise from the groove it produced from over-play when played in the beginning. This is one of the records I needed to replace due to professional DJ burn. Today, I seem to still get that same response from all audiences. While it is easier to use Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna as back-up plans; I like to use call on my old friend Stevie Wonder Superstition.

 

Enjoy the performance of Stevie Wonder Superstition!

http://youtu.be/rhw_zbvxvb4

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Beatles First Visit to USA

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It is hard to imagine that there was a time music existed before The Beatles. I realize how short-sighted that is to write but still what’s on my mind. For those who were not born yet to witness Beatlemania, there is not really a way to accurately convey just how big they were and how quickly it happened. If you can visualize Beyonce, Lady GaGa, Akon, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus all wrapped into one band in its impact and complete domination of the Billboard charts. They were their only real competition for many years. In 1964, during the week of 4 April, the Beatles held twelve positions on the singles chart, including the top five. Just to make sure you understood what was just written, The Beatles had the top five songs and twelve in general! The Beatles First Visit to USA!

 

The influence of The Beatles still continues today. They were the avalanche that made the British Invasion what it became and paved the road for the British artists in America today. The mindset of peace and imagining a world with equality, respect and freedom for all are still with us. The legacy of The Beatles outlasted their actual careers together as a musical group. They were together for less than a decade and here we are almost forty years later still listening to and appreciating their greatness and artistry. From the days of cute ‘moptops’ to Sargeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and finally Let It Be, The Beatles have left their mark globally and definitely for me personally. The Beatles First Visit to USA!

 

I remember the first ’45’ I owned was The Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand. It is where this all started for me. In a world dominated by performers more interested in being noticed by paparazzi than trying to create world peace and love, groups like The Beatles are missed. Maybe it is time for some of the major acts of today to step-up and lead the way for the next generation. The Beatles First Visit to USA!

The Beatles First Visit to USA! Who will be the ones to do this?

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Madonna Material Girl

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It was June 30, 1985. America was in transition from the laid-back feeling of the 60’s and 70’s to an electronic culture with a new generation focused on different things than equality, peace and love. They were the beginning of the generation of ‘me’.  And the ‘me’ generation had their owns interests and agendas, one of them in the front of the train was money and material possessions. So who better to write and place this in the face for all to see than Madonna Material Girl?

 

Her hit, Madonna Material Girl, marked this shift in cultural focus clearly with no apologies or excuses. She was bold enough to make a video demonstrating just who she and this new generation were in diamonds and glitter. It is hard to know whether she was writing about herself specifically or just making a statement but either way we all knew that the times has changed and money was now was the goal and direction of the country and individual. President Reagan had done his thing and we were an economically strong country, affluence was the norm not the exception among certain racial and cultural groups.

 

I am not certain the same video or song would hold the same impact and weight today as it did then. Affluence has been such an undercurrent that it is accepted as how we exist now. The days of sharing and leaving doors unlocked have been replaced by SAT prep classes and parents writing high school students college personal statements and having them proofed by a college entrance application proofreader.  Today education is focused on tests, not learning. Students volunteer for resumes, not service today. Madonna forecasted this. Enjoy Madonna Material Girl!

http://youtu.be/1BDJt30FmzI

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Money Pink Floyd

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I remember when my brother first brought home Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon. For me as an adolescent, the music was so far out of my scope of what music was and could be I did not know what to do with it. It was another year or two later before I was able to appreciate the creative sounds and energy they produced. The album graced his turntable often during those years. Soon after, it became an old friend of mine as well, with Money Pink Floyd being one of the first songs that caught my attention. The rest of the album followed shortly.The album went on to become the longest running on Billboard charts in history, its run was an unbelievable 781 weeks! Yes, you read that correctly, this album was on the Billboard charts for 781 weeks! This is about fifteen years!

 

Let’s put that in perspective. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton together were U.S. Presidents for sixteen years. Seinfeld ran for nine years, Friends for ten, Miley Cyrus was sixteen when she released her first album and fifteen years is more than twice as long as World War II that had over 60 million casualties.  It is hard to believe that Dark Side of the Moon was on Billboard longer than Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

 

What made this album so interesting was the creation of what we now can do easily and often through digital effects. Money Pink Floyd used alarms and heart-beats and cash registers to help the listener hear what they were tying to say through the amazing talents of engineer Alan Parsons. It changed the industry in many ways. Can you imagine the music industry today without musicians using non-musical sounds in their recordings?

 

Pink Floyd had the technical know-how to include rock, electronics, jazz and classic genres all into one album with a dose of blues guitar. Today their music is often associated with the album The Wall, which was a bigger hit commercially but did not last as long on the charts. There are rumors that if you play the album Dark Side of the Moon while watching the movie The Wizard of Oz that the music syncs with the scenes perfectly. I have never tried this but it has been widely talked about since the late 70’s.

 

Dark Side of the Moon was one of my favorite albums during my teen years and well into my twenties. It was one of the albums I listened to when I needed some peace or to clear my head.

Again, 781 weeks on the Billboard album charts!

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Beautiful

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We had been traveling for five days through Central Mongolia. The Russian van was full of dust and dry sand. There were seven of us total including the driver and guide. We spent time on camels, horses, foot and van learning and experiencing The Semi-Gobi Desert first-hand and felt the affects in our minds, bodies and clothes.

 

Our driver had tried to keep things alive by playing a cassette tape of traditional Mongolian music but the rocks and dry air must have finally done his tape in and it broke into little streams of brown plastic. That was yesterday.

 

We had stopped to eat some lunch in a deserted mostly flat area not far from the dirt road we had been traveling on all morning. While lunch was being put together, I took a short walk to get some space and quiet from the group. We had slept in Gers (Yurts) together and I was aching for some time with myself. I was standing and doing some stretching when in the background echoing through the small hills was an American voice with a beat. It was “Beautiful” Akon, the song. Everybody rose from their individual and collective slumber. I walked back to the group and a young couple we were traveling with got out of the van and were dancing together on the dry desert ground. I broke out laughing and was taken over and reminded of the power of music and a beat. It was only minutes later when the whole group sat down for some pasta, vegetables and tuna together and enjoyed a meal. After one year in South Korea and some time in Mongolia, hearing American music in English was such a relief and reminder of how far from home I was.

Never doubt the power of music and a beat, regardless of what you like or do not like to bring out the life and energy in us. I am sure we all have our own stories and experiences to share about times and places when music woke up a lost part of ourselves. It is no wonder music has been part of every culture for as long as records have been kept. On this day, it was “Beautiful” Akon.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Michael Jackson at MTV Awards 1995

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I was walking down the streets of downtown Hong Kong in early August of last year, 2009 and was totally caught off guard by seeing and hearing this video played on big screen TVs in front of every music, electronic, t-shirt, snack bar and jewelry store with crowds of people standing and gawking. I do not know which surprised me more, the amount of shops and people watching or how captivated they were.  It was as if they had never seen or heard music before in their lives, not just Michael Jackson; music or dance in general.

 

I have the image still in my head at how a man’s recent death had reached the attention of the global pop world with such force and energy. I remember the day that I heard the he had died. I was in South Korea at the time teaching English to young kids. For days, kids would walk up to me and ask me if I was Michael Jackson’s brother. As you know, in most of Asia the family name is first and given name is second. From their perspective, the name ‘Michael’ is a family name, not a given name. He was the talk of every young and old person for a month or two no matter whom I was speaking to.

 

I have wondered just what Michael Jackson had that nobody else could match. I used to play his stuff on vinyl in clubs when Off The Wall and Thriller were still on the charts and was amazed at how his music would transcend race, age, genre or taste. It was that forceful.

http://youtu.be/_tjg_aCp6ao 

Today, one year after his passing, I maintain the awe I had when he was first releasing the videos from Thriller. He was doing things nobody had done before and spitting it out so quickly it was as if he found a muse the rest of us just talk about. I wonder what Michael  Jackson’s legacy will be in twenty-five years from now? Will it be his music? His dancing?  His choreography? His public image? Or maybe his general greatness and ability to create magic?

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Teen Dance Party Mix Part II

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This is the second part of the Teen Dance Party Mix Series. Teen Dance Party Part I is more focused on 2012 with some 2011 & 2010 additions. Teen Dance Party Part II is more focused on 2011 & 2010 with some 2012 splashed-in to keep it fresh. Here is the link to Teen Dance Party Part I

Teen Dance Party Mix II

      Teen Dance Party Mix Part II - DJ Mystical Michael

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Teen Dance Party Mix Part I

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I am creating two of these Teen Dance Party Mixes for a Christmas Present for someone’s daughter. She is nine years old and is both a Classical Pianist and a lover of Pop Music that she can dance to. I figured these might be helpful for someone else as well, whether it be for a teenager having a Dance Party, a Sweet Sixteen or a client wanting to hire me for their Teen Dance Party. Most of the songs were released in 2012 but some of are from 2010 and 2011 as well to add some flavor.

Teen Dance Party Mix I

      Teen Dance Party Mix Part I - DJ Mystical Michael

If you would like me to send you a CD version, please fill-out the Contact Form with your information and I will be glad to ship it to you. Here is the link to Teen Dance Party Part II

Enjoy!

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Professional DJ Rocks Michael Jackson

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I keep wondering when Michael Jackson’s appeal will diminish like most other Pop stars. The thing is that it seems to be increasing instead of decreasing. It is more common for me to get requests as a professional DJ now than ever before for Michael Jackson.

 

Lately I have been trying to at least play some of the songs that are not as popular as “Billie Jean” or “Thriller”. Last night I had a request for Michael Jackson. When I asked the woman if she wanted to hear anything specific, “No, but I do prefer his older stuff.” She smiled meekly as if asking for me to walk on the moon.

 

I reflected for a moment to see what would mix well with what I was playing and dove into The Jackson “Shake Your Body” and the dance filled in a matter of seconds! I thought would be fun to segue into a little impromptu medley and with a really cool remix of “Off The Wall” a Bride sent me last summer for her wedding and then “Dangerous”, which totally rocked the room!

 

In my lifetime there really is not anybody that compares to M.J. when it comes to really good dancers wanting to let loose. Last night was no exception. By watching this woman move, I am pretty certain she is either a professional dancer or dance teacher, or both. This is not unusual for Michael Jackson requests for a professional DJ. He seems to attract many incredible dancers to create and move to his music.

 

It is strange to think that Michael Jackson has pretty much been a part of my life as long as I can remember from the early days of The Jackson 5 to his younger solo efforts followed by The Jacksons and then his solo classics that still find there way into my professional DJ sets on a regular basis regardless of environment, genre or dancers. Amazing how there isn’t anybody else this is true for, not even Sinatra, Elvis or The Beatles. He shows up at weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, sweet sixteens, reunions and everywhere else people like to dance and party. Amazing.

Icon of the great Michael Jackson

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Hey Hey We’re The Monkees: A Rhode Island DJ Remembers

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I was just a little boy when I first saw The Monkees on TV; we still called it television back then.  They were a hilarious group of guys who happened to also make music, at least that is how I viewed them at the time through my child’s mind. I sang their songs and even owned a few of their albums including The Monkees and More of The Monkees.  In fact, I had an argument with my second grade teacher about the proper spelling of the word monkey since I have had ‘proof’ that it was spelled monkee, not monkey.

DJ Mystical Michael plays The Monkees

 

As I got a little bit older as an adolescent, I never admitted liking The Monkees when I was younger; I was too ‘cool’ for that. I never even threw my Monkees records away. They weren’t playable due to the fact that I was a kid and records of both sizes made great Frisbees.

 

Davy Jones was a legend among girls my age. They would swoon at the mere mention of his name. A photo would produce sighs and giggles without the ability for them to stop themselves. I think somewhat analogous to DJ Mystical Michael plays The Monkees with Davy JonesJustin Bieber today. Thee 60’s had many heartthrobs and Davy Jones was at the top of the list.

 

Many artists have either recorded, performed or credited The Monkees including Run-DMC. A little known fact is The Jimi Hendrix Experience was an opening act for The Monkees in July of 1967 and it was their first American concert tour. Hendrix music and sexual nature did not go over well with The Monkees wholesome teen audience. Hendrix gave the audience the ‘middle finger’ several times and eventually quit the tour due to his lack of audience appreciation.  It is funny to think of Hendrix and The Monkees together on a concert tour and Hendrix being booed of stage in favor of The Monkees.

 

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have snubbed The Monkees allegedly due to them not playing their own instruments often on their records, which is more commonplace today than it was in the 60’s.

DJ Mystical Michael plays The Monkees

 

Regardless of what you think about The Monkees as musicians, they were an incredibly talented group of guys that made music fun and had no trouble playing absolute fools on TV. They entertained a generation in a way not previously demonstrated. They made five #1 albums and three #1 singles in a two-year period. Pretty impressive when you think about The Beatles and The Beach Boys were part of their competition.

 

Davy, thanks for the fun, laughs, music and memories. You gave us all permission to not think that music or life needs to be all that serious most of the time.

 

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ