Tag Archives: Rhode Island Wedding DJ

Peter Gabriel The Book of Love

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I think Peter Gabriel The Book of Love is an amazing song! It blew me away the first time I heard it and still gives me chills all these years later!

Rhode Island Wedding DJ Peter Gabriel The Book of Love

Peter Gabriel has been one of my favorite artists since I was a teenager listening to Genesis and my appreciation grew with every solo album he released. It is rare to find artists who can write lyrics and music the way he can that have spanned such a wide spectrum of musical styles and intentions. Strange to think he was a hard-core Progressive Rock writer and performer with Genesis and experimented with rhythms from around the world as a solo artist. Later, he composed the soundtrack to the film The Last Temptation of Christ titled Passion, one of the albums that inspires me the greatest past and present. “It Is Accomplished” feels like an entire soundtrack in one song! Then came Peter Gabriel The Book of Love.

He has written songs of freedom and advocacy like “Biko” that some say was the impetus for Live Aid., as well as featured in The Amnesty International Tour. I remember being overcome with emotion when watching the ending live in TV with the whole crowd totally engaged as each band member left the stage.

His sense of textures and rhythms continue to move me and as a dancer and someone who experiments with movement, find his work incredibly easy to facilitate lyrical and textural dance creativity.

I chose this You Tube of Peter Gabriel The Book of Love for its creative use of love and romance without losing the lush feeling that Gabriel captures in this song. For me, the lyrics in Greek, which I cannot read, somehow added to the effect.

Peter Gabriel The Book of Love Music Video

Enjoy!

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

As a special treat if you have never heard the song “Solsbury Hill” before. He wrote this about the leap of faith to leave the band Genesis and fly on his own.

DJ Classic Disco Mix

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Disco Music continues to gain popularity among those who enjoyed and danced to it when it was at its peak in the 70’s and 80’s, and also gaining popularity with younger audiences who just like to dance to the clean beats and simple rhythms.  Since I get asked for Disco Music more and more, it seemed time to create a DJ Classic Disco Mix. Like some of the other genre that involve older music formats, there is so much to choose from, I had trouble deciding what songs to include in the DJ Classic Disco Mix and know I left out some favorites.

DJ Classic Disco Mix

      Classic Disco Mix - DJ Mystical Michael

Disco is a genre of music which was popular from the mid to late 1970s. Its initial audiences were club-goers from the African American, Latino, gay, and psychedelic communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Disco also was a reaction against both the domination of rock music and the stigmatization of dance music by the counterculture during this period. Women embraced disco as well, and the music eventually expanded to several other popular groups of the time.

Fun Rhode Island Wedding DJ with DJ Classic Disco Mix

Musical influences include funk, Latin and soul music. The disco sound has soaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady“four-on-the-floor” beat, an eighth note (quaver) or 16th note (semi-quaver) hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a prominent, syncopated electric bass line sometimes consisting of octaves. The Fender Jazz Bass is often associated with disco bass lines, because the instrument itself has a very prominent “voice” in the musical mix. In most disco tracks, strings, horns, electric pianos, and electric guitars create a lush background sound. Orchestral instruments such as the flute are often used for solo melodies, and lead guitar is less frequently in disco than in rock. Many disco songs employ the use of electronic instruments such as synthesizers.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

U2 Beautiful Day

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U2 Beautiful Day. On this day, December 9th, in the year 2000, U2 made their first appearance on Saturday Night Live. As much as they are viewed as a commercial band today, that was not always the case. In fact, U2 was a band that started by Larry Mullen, Jr, the band’s drummer at age fourteen. He had posted a flier at his school looking for guys to start a band.  The other three members that are still with the band showed-up along with a few other guys who either chose not to stick with the group or faded away. Their first meeting and rehearsal was in his kitchen. It was not till four years later that they received their first recording contract and were not very successful.

U2 Beautiful Day Music Video

An interesting note about the band. After their second album, The Edge, Bono and Mullen joined a Christian rock band named “Shalom Fellowship” and U2 almost broke-up over the spiritual direction of the band, long before U2 Beautiful Day.

U2 Beautiful Day with Rhode Island Wedding DJ

U2 Beautiful Day is the first track from their 2000 album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, and it was released as the album’s lead single. It was a commercial success, helping launch the album to multi-platinum status, and is one of U2’s biggest hits to date. Like many tracks from All That You Can’t Leave Behind, U2 Beautiful Day harkens back to the group’s past sound. The tone of The Edge‘s guitar was a subject of debate amongst the band members, as they disagreed on whether he should use a sound similar to that from their early career in the 1980s. Lead vocalist Bono explained that the upbeat track is about losing everything but still finding joy in what one has.

U2 Beautiful Day received positive reviews, and it became their fourth number-one single in the UK and their first number-one in the Netherlands. The song peaked at number 21 in the United States, the band’s highest position since “Discothèque” in 1997. In2001, the song won three Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The group has played U2 Beautiful Day at every one of their concerts since the song’s 2001 live debut on the Elevation Tour.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ and Boston DJ

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This gallery contains 14 photos.

  DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight

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It occurred to me recently at a wedding that I have not added many slow songs to the list of music videos reviewed. This, Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight, was the song I was playing when it hit me and figured that would be a great place to start. I know it is more fun and ‘sexier’ to only include the fast and hot songs but Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight and many other great artists have recorded such a wealth of outstanding classic slow songs for the professional Wedding DJ.

Rhode Island Wedding DJ Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight

More than any other artist, I grew-up listening to Frank Sinatra. I felt like he was a member of the family at times. His records were always on or close to the record player waiting to be played. Old Blue Eyes as he was called, would sing to us about love and life in the New Jersey/New York City region. I cannot count the number of times I heard my father and other friends and family members arguing over when they saw Sinatra and who he was with. His legendary connections, whether true or false, were part of the Sinatra lore. After all, he was a Jersey Boy from Hoboken.

 

He learned to sing by ear and never learned how to read music. At age eight he would illegally sing standing on the bar for tips to help his family pay their bills. His success peaked in the late 40’s and early 50’s. His acting career helped him to regain fame in the 60’s and was notorious for hanging with the Rat Pack, his friends Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, which originally centered around Humphrey Bogart. Sinatra, Martin and Davis were the three ‘core members’. They all starred in the original film, Oceans Eleven.

Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight Music Video

I smile every time I am co-creating a professional Wedding DJ playlist for an event and the planner asks me to play Sinatra, especially Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Johnny Cash Ring Of Fire

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Johnny Cash Ring Of Fire is a great song! The release of the movie I Walk The Line introduced a new generation to the greatness of Johnny Cash. He was one of the few artists to be inducted into the The Country Music Hall Of Fame, The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and The Gospel Hall of Fame; quite an accomplishment. He was often known as “The Man In Black” for his dark clothes when performing. He produced several free performances at prisons throughout his career and often did so to facilitate reactions to his choices, bringing attention to the conditions in many prisons and jails. Two of his more famous shows for inmates were recorded, San Quentin and Folsom prisons. he also performed abroad at  Österåker Prison in Sweden, which also produced a live recording.

 

He generally started his concerts by saying, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.” followed by his traditional opening song, “Folsom Prison Blues”.

Dancing Fun Wedding DJ Johnny Cash Ring Of Fire

Johnny Cash Ring Of Fire was co-written by his wife future wife, June Carter and Merle Kilgore. He told June’s sister, Anita Carter, “I’ll give you about five or six more months, and if you don’t hit with it, I’m gonna record it the way I feel it.”

 Johnny Cash Ring Of Fire Music Video

http://youtu.be/It7107ELQvY

Her version did not include the Mariachi-styled horns that came to him in a dream. Four years later the were married, which he stated helped stop his alcohol and drug addictions. His daughter Rosanne thought it proved the healing power of love. The song reached #1 on The Hot Country Singles and #17 on The Hot 100 Charts. Every good professional DJ know how important Johnny Cash is.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

John Hiatt Have A Little Faith

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John Hiatt Have A Little Faith has been featured in the films Benny & Joon, Phenomenon, Love Happens, Look Who’s Talking and My Best Friend’s Girl. John Hiatt Have A Little Faith has been covered by many artists including  Joe Cocker, Delbert McClinton, Chaka Kahn and my favorite, Van Morrison. Jewel’s version is the one featured in Phenomenon. 

 

Really this is just a beautiful song- the lyrics, the melody and intensity. It certainly carries a message we all can appreciate.

John Hiatt Have A Little Faith Rhode Island Wedding DJ

 John Hiatt Have A Little Faith Lyrics

When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see
Just let my love throw a spark
And have a little faith in me
And when the tears you cry
Are all you can believe
Just give these loving arms a try
And have a little faith in me

Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me

And when your secret heart
Cannot speak so easily
Come here darling, from a whisper start
And have a little faith in me
And when your back’s against the wall
Just turn around and you, you will see
I will catch you, I will catch your fall
Just have a little faith in me

Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me

‘Cause I’ve been loving you, for such a long, long time
Expecting nothing in return
Just for you to have a little faith in me
You see time, time is our friend
‘Cause for us, there is no end
And all you gotta do, is have a little faith in me
I will hold you up, I will hold you up
And your love, gives me strength enough to
Have a little faith in me
Hey hey
All you gotta do for me girl
Is have a little faith in me

John Hiatt Have A Little Faith Music Video

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Billy Joel We Didn’t Start The Fire

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Billy Joel We Didn’t Start The Fire. Since releasing his first hit song, “Piano Man,” in 1973, Billy Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to the RIAA.  Billy Joel has Top 40 hits in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; achieving 33 Top 40 hits in the United States, all of which he wrote himself. He is also a six-time Grammy Award winner, a 23-time Grammy nominee and has sold over 150 million records worldwide.

 

Billy Joel attended Hicksville High School, class of 1967. However, he did not graduate from Hicksville. Due to playing at a piano bar, he was one English credit short of the graduation requirement; he overslept on the day of an important exam, owing to his late-night musician’s lifestyle. He left high school without a diploma to begin a career in music.  Upon seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, Joel decided to pursue a full-time musical career, and set about finding a local Long Island band to join.

 Billy Joel We Didn’t Start The Fire Story

“The song and music video have been interpreted as a rebuttal to criticism of Joel’s Baby Boomer generation. The song’s title and refrain mention “the fire”, an allusion to conflict and societal turmoil; Joel asserts that these can’t be blamed on his generation alone, as “the fire” has been “always burning since the world’s been turning”. Wikipedia.

 

For a list of the references throughout the song, please go to this Wiki page “We Didn’t Start The Fire” to get the info on each, it is fun!

 

The first single from the Album Storm Front, was released in September 1989 and it became Billy Joel’s third and most recent US #1 hit, spending two weeks at the top; it was also Billboard’s second-last #1 single of the 1980s.

Billy Joel We Didn’t Start The Fire Music Video

Interesting piece of trivia. 52nd Street was the first album to be released on compact disc when it went on sale alongside Sony’s CD player CDP-101 on October 1, 1982, in Japan.

Billy Joel We Didn't Start The Fire icon Rhode Island DJ

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Jon and Nikki Wedding

Gallery

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DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ   Some Photo Credits to Anna Rozenblat Photography  

Elvis Presley Can’t Help Falling In Love

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It still amazes me to his day how much appreciation of Elvis Presley and Elvis Presley Can’t Help Falling In Love exists as there was when I first started out more than thirty years ago as a professional DJ. I assumed at some point he would have saturated the market and lost his appeal. I thought the younger generation would not feel the same about his music with the processed music they are raised with today. I was wrong. His songs are strong as ever and receive at least the same degree of enthusiasm as in the past for this professional Wedding DJ.

Elvis Presley Can't Help Falling In Love Icon

When I was a kid, I used to walk to the local 7-Eleven about a half mile away from our home for a Slurpy or a pack of baseball cards. Next to the counter there was one of those wire free-standing record racks that only contained Elvis records. This was not a surprise since he was one of the most famous people in America at the time. What did seem confusing to me was that I knew Elvis as an actor. His movies were on TV all the time and that was the medium that I was introduced to him. I obviously knew he sang, his voice was deep and rich and what he did most in all the films but did not put 1 and 1 together to figure out that he was a singer that was in movies, not an actor who sang in those movies. I remember staring at that rack trying to understand why they were selling his albums since they were not selling albums by any of the other famous actors during that period. As I got older, I eventually realized just how popular and talented a singer he was, by then he was gone. His music still lives today.

 Elvis Presley Can’t Help Falling In Love Music Video

At mostly every wedding I provide music at some point there is a request for Elvis Presley Can’t Help Falling In Love for the professional Wedding DJ. I never get tired of hearing it and seeing young and old make their way to the dance floor. It’s what a professional Wedding DJ looks forward to.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ