no play list

[DJ Troy]

I have found that at a Wedding Reception that most people are out of their comfort zone with all these strangers, and when a familiar and normally loathed dance tune comes on it seems to bring some comfort and familiarity to people which helps take their guard down, this can be a shared experience too.... on the dance floor
Consider also that most Brides have not been to a Reception before but the ones that have seem have a better understanding of the concept

This exactly. I end up playing a LOT of these songs at a LOT of the gigs I do - because I have people coming up and requesting them, or have the host/bride request them.

Have these songs been overplayed? Sure. But when there's a party going on, the liquor is flowing, and people want to dance, they still want to hear a lot of these songs. Certainly, many of these songs have ended up on a "don't play" list for me this year, but very few of them have ended up on more than one of those lists.

I'd have no trouble finding other music to play, but if I never played these songs, I'd disappoint a lot of people too.

Every crowd is different, though. I did a wedding for a young couple who really only wanted to hear music from the last 3 years or so, and didn't care if the older generation didn't like that music because they had lots of friends their age at the wedding. I had a great time and probably only played 2 or 3 songs off this list. I've had other events where I played half the songs off this list, because the crowd was a mix of people from 30-60, and that's what they wanted.

At the end of the day, it's about pleasing your client and your audience/dance floor, not so much about pleasing yourself. If pleasing yourself is your goal, then you should probably be a club DJ or producer rather than a mobile DJ...

[Unknown DJ]

#4 is #9 on the most requested list. http://www.djintelligence.com/charts...otPlay2015.pdf

[cooper]

The majority of these songs appear on the Top 200 or top requested by decade. Some people hate popular and/or overplayed songs. Some of these are wedding staples and some should never be heard again for all of eternity (see #'s 1, 2, 4).

[sacsmitty]

This exactly. I end up playing a LOT of these songs at a LOT of the gigs I do - because I have people coming up and requesting them, or have the host/bride request them.

Give the people what they want...

[sacsmitty]

#4 is #9 on the most requested list. http://www.djintelligence.com/charts...otPlay2015.pdf

#4 and #9 make me wanna vomit.

[chukles]

People at weddings dance to songs they know and that have a good dance beat. Most of those songs meet both criteria. I play many of those songs at just about every gig I do and people have a blast dancing to them. I am sure there are some in the crowd that groan when YMCA comes on but nobody likes every songs. If I had a B&G that didn't want many of the songs on that list played I probably wouldn't take the gig.

[DJ Nada]

I think the message that list is trying to get across is "Would you lazy, unoriginal DJ's please stop playing the same stuff over and over, and dig in the crates for some new stuff?"

Not too many of those songs is bad by itself, but if a DJ set consisted of mostly those type of songs, it'd be a pretty boring, cliche performance. We'll never be able to get away with playing all new dope tracks we got off Soundcloud yesterday, people do want to hear familiar stuff. But when you get the right mix of new stuff, remixes, and familiar stuff, people love it. Seeing this list is a good reminder to me that the DJ isn't a jukebox that plays the Billboard Hot 100. I'll admit, I do bust out Wobble when the dance floor gets a little thin. Maybe I should find something else for that... Our job is to give people songs they want, songs they didn't know they wanted, and great songs they forgot about.

[DJ Troy]

I think the message that list is trying to get across is "Would you lazy, unoriginal DJ's please stop playing the same stuff over and over, and dig in the crates for some new stuff?"

I totally agree with this, and I do as much as I can to pull in new music as well as "forgotten classics" rather than just the "Top 100." Some crowds really appreciate that and have a great time, but some crowds aren't having any of it. You do what you can, but when you have 10 people whining about wanting to hear YMCA or Wobble or Gangnam Style or whatever it happens to be, the best thing to do is just play it and make them happy.

I'd be fine if I never played YMCA ever again, but I don't mind playing it when the crowd wants it. If I was only willing to listen to music *I* like, then I wouldn't be a mobile DJ, I'd just get a Pandora subscription.

[sacsmitty]

Agree on all accounts. I find a quick consultation, understanding the average age and different age groups speaks loads. People often appreciate the new mixed with old stuff they were shaking their ass to back in the 70's, 80's and 90's.