Bill,

I'll be 65 this October, and though I don't look at myself as being old, the younger crown, those ranging 20 to 40 years of age, consider folks my age is just a short step from the grave.

I live about 40 miles north of Baltimore, just 20 miles from the PA state line, though I pass through Waldorf many times during the summer. You would not recognize the area now, mostly upscales homes of $500,000 to $1-million that are inhabited by young families that are all in a hurry to get somewhere.

Don's suggested list includes many of the same tunes I perform for my dance-crowds, and I always try to do as many upbeat numbers as possible. However, I also strive to play only songs that folks can dance to. Unlike when I was performing in the bars and restaraunts where there was no dance-floor and folks just wanted to hear some of their favorite tunes.

Cheers,

Gary

Hey Bill,
What I do each year when the holiday rush calms down ( right about now, that is )is to peek at the Billboard charts for the last few years and see if there is anything I'm suited for on it.
For example:
1999-Smooth(Santana)
1998-Don't want to miss a thing(Aerosmith)
1997-Candle in the wind1997(Sir Elton)
1996-Becauseyou loved me(Celine)

Most of them are slow, I know .....

Some fun stuff from the 80s that gets requested alot:

1989-Living years(Mike & Mechanics)
1988-Never gonna give you up(Rick Astley)
1987-I think we're alone now/Mony Mony(remakes)
1986-Addicted to love(Rbt Palmer)
1983-Come on Eileen(Dexys midnite runners)

Some NONdisco 70s that work:

1974-Cant get enough(Barry White)
1973-Crocidile Rock(Elton John)
1972-Brandy(Looking glass)**HUGE
1971-Bobby McGee(Janis Joplin)

Here's a few of our dance floor fillers (UK biased).

Major problem for a pair of 40+ blokes is that a lot of the decent up-tempo stuff is sung by ladies.... but no-one seems to care!

Raining Men (Geri Halliwell version)
Man I Feel Like a Woman (Shania Twaine)
Dance The Night Away (Mavericks)
Dancing Queen (Abba)
My First, My Last, My Everything (Barry White)
Hey Baby (DJ Otzi Version)
December '63 (Four Seasons)
Night Fever (Bee Gees)
Staying Alive (Bee Gees)
Reach (S Club 7)
Tragedy (Steps version)
Chain Reaction (Diano Ross)
Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Queen)
Freedom (Wham)

And others dragged out less frequently)

Disco Inferno (Trammps)
Believe (Sher)
Gimme Gimme Gimme (Abba)
Don't Stop Movin (S Club 7)

Not forgetting the old standbys

I WIll SUrvive (Gloria Gaynor)
YMCA (Village People)
New York, New York (Sinatra)

From my songlist:

Breezin' - George Benson
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Dancing In The MoonLight - King Harvest
Daniel - Elton John
Days of Wine & Roses - Henry Mancini
Desert Rose - Sting
Feel LIke Making Love - Roberta Flack
Fly Like An Eagle - Steve Miller Band
Get Up, Stand Up - Bob Marley
Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
I Shot The Sheriff - Bob Marley
I'll Be Around - The Spinners
Just The Two Of Us - Bill Withers/Grover Washington
Moondance - Van MOrrison
Never Can Say Goodbye - various artists
On & On - Stephen Bishop
Pick Up The Pieces - Average White Band
Rise - Herb Albert
She Walks This Earth - Sting
Sign Your Name - Terence Trent Darby
Smooth Operator - Sade
Summer - War
Sweetest Taboo - Sade
That's The Way Of The World - Earth, Wind & Fire
Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
You Are The Sunshine of My Life - Stevie Wonder

MacAllcock-

"Dancing the Night Away" sounds like a nice party kind of song...

What style might you be using for that? (I have a Tyros.)

Thanks-

Bill in Dayton

Can't go wrong with KC and Sunshine band, EWF, Kool and the Gang.

"Celebration" always gets people goin.

A Few Doobie Bro songs... China Grove, Long Train Runnin', Listen To The Music

Lotta stuff by CCR should also work.

Apologies to Cher!

And possibly more apologies are due to Bill....

I use a midi file for "Just Want To Dance The Night Away" (Mavericks)... but I'll try to see which style matches best on my 2k and let you know.

Bill in Dayton... you kind of insinuated you are interested in catering to... playing lots of animal clubs, the boys (and girls) coming back from Iraq and joining a VFW or American Legion for the first time.

That being the case, nothing wrong with finding a few killer 60s or 70s covers but I would try hard to find those from the 80s and newer. The 60s and 70s have been absolutely played to death.

There was a popular band here that I _loved_ their music. Because they played 80s and newer. NOBODY played those songs.

So I've limbered up the 2k, and IMHO the best match for "Just Want to Dance The Night Away" is "Country 8 Beat 1", variations C & D, played at about 143 bmp. I get "Guitar Riff 1" multi-pad by default and pad no 1 can be used to lift things up a little.