One of my New Years resolutions for 2005 is to add a healthy number of upbeat songs from the late 60's. 70's and 80's to my book. When I look at my song list, I see a healthy number of faster swing and oldies tunes, but I'm short (IMO) on more upbeat contemporary songs.

Part of this is due to the client base I serve. Loads of ballroom dances every month...a few non-dance gigs where I play more Elton John, James Taylor, Eagles, etc. type stuff. I always play a variety nightly but it seems almost easy to keep playing the same old ballads that everybody likes and keep the dance floor packed.

Let's face it...in towns like mine and probably yours, the ballroom dance crowd is slowly but surely dying off. I should be adding more contemporary songs from the 70's - 90's to stay as fresh as possible.

I need/want to add some quality pop tunes that people will enjoy and possibly dance to. Also, I really like playing songs that most of the other guys on the Dayton club scene don't play. (LOL, There IS no Dayton "Club Scene" you know what I mean...) For example, I've started playing "Reminiscing" by the Little River Band and the first 3 dates I've used it people have really responded well to it. I wouldn't call it upbeat necessarily, but its not a traditional ballad called "Crazy", "Blue Moon", "Misty" or "For the Good Times."

I adore the older stuff as much as anyone, but for those of us playing lots of animal clubs, the boys (and girls) coming back from Iraq and joining a VFW or American Legion for the first time would rather hear songs they know than one there parents danced to...

Suggestions?

Bill in Dayton



[This message has been edited by Bill in Dayton (edited 01-09-2005).]

Morse code of love
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[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-09-2005).]

Donnie-

I don't have any problems keeping the dance floor filled. My band and I have established a strong reputation in our market for being the most "dancer-friendly" band around. We move quickly from tune to tune...and I certainly know how to put together a set list.

Fact of the matter, based on information I hear over and over and OVER again, is that there aren't as many places for ballroom dancers to go anymore. I hear this from the dancers themselves, from area musicians I know as well as the club managers who have been around to remember the "old days." The dancers explain that so many of the great dancers they used to enjoy dancing with, are too old to do it anymore. The clubs say the crowd is dying off and not being replaced with enough younger people to maintain it. Bookers are actively pursuing talent that can entertain the younger crowd, who also usually spend more money, to boot.

Your statement about ballroom dance crowds NOT falling off may apply in your larger market area, but it doesn't come close to being accurate for my market. The younger crowd hasn't typically taken any lessons and dance in a generic style that is more from the 1960's and beyond pop/rock music.

You say take "popular tunes" (Standards/Oldies, I think you mean) and play them in a upbeat fashion. Sure, you can do that with some things...but if my ballroom dancers leave the club at midnight because their feet hurt, it's in my interest to provide more contemporary songs for the 40-50 "30-something's" still in the bar who'd like to hear stuff they connect with.

Of course it's playing what the crowd wants to hear. But, like Esh (I think) has stated many times in other threads...I've successfully "coached" them to actually request the songs I actually prefer over many tired old songs. I don't miss playing "Blue Moon" everynight one bit. To me...that's exactly one of the points I made in my original post. I'll generalize here and say that 99.9% of the bands around here play that song every night. I've added a tune similar to that to our nightly set lists. "Hold Me, Thrill Me" packs the dance floor just as well and we get compliments for playing songs that other bands don't. If somebody requests Blue Moon, we're happy to play it for them, but honestly, dancers can fall into ruts like anyone else. Every weekend, the same couples requested the same songs. We have a feel for which requests are really specific requests and need to be played nightly. But that's only a percentage of them to be sure.

There's at least a dozen tunes my band plays that when I introduced the song to them they where surprised. But after a night or two of playing them, they (and the crowd) were happy to hear something different for a change. I think that's part of our job as well...and its smart business because the clubs can find people to play "Misty" anywhere...

(NO offense meant to anyone who is pysched to play Misty every night!)

My hometown is Pittsburgh-when I return there a few times a year to see my family and play a few gigs...I see in the papers about 4 times the number of ballroom dances than I can find in Dayton. Completely different size market, of course. If I lived there, I could get away with targeting that crowd...and not worry so much about coming up with fresher younger things to play...The dance schools are booming in the 'Burgh from what I hear. Out here...its just a completely different scene. Over half my crowd are farmers who work in the fields all day and want to take their lady to a dance at night. They know 3 or 4 different steps, but for them its a highpoint of their week.

If you're playing in a club with 50 pp who are 25-40, what kind of upbeat things do you play?

Bill in Dayton

Hi Bill,
I can make suggestions of many songs but as you say you are in a different area than I am. Popular music is usually pretty much the same all over but some areas really pick up big time on certain tunes differently from other areas.

What I suggest (if you don't do this already) is to spend more time listening to your local hot radio stations to see what is being listened to in that venue. These are the same songs your audiences are listening to.
And you could have a recorder hooked up to your reciever at home to catch hours of usable material.

If you are looking for more obscure material there are many many internet radio stations playing everything under the sun.

I hope this has been of help.

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The old Newb

Hey Newb-

Good ideas...I've been doing alot of scanning the dial lately and wrote a few things down. So much of the popular radio stations play stuff that is TOO modern for the places I usually play. Some of the middle of the road things, a good bit of modern country are already on my radar...but guys like Nellie, Eminem, Green Day and 50 cent just aren't in my wheelhouse if you know what I mean, lol.

I can stretch...but there is a breaking point.

Like I said, its really some suggestions from the late 60's through the mid 90's that are probably the kind of stuff I'm looking to add..

PS: Good luck with your Packers...I hope my Steelers beat, errr...meet them in the Super Bowl in a few weeks!

Bill

Down here is the People's Republic of Maryland if you're playing to people 25 to 40 years of age you're playing to people that have never danced in their lives. Most never even danced at their own weddings, and they're idea of a fun night on the town usually consists of sitting at a bar getting toasted and bitching about their jobs. If it's during football season, they'll be glued to a TV set. As for me, I'll stick with the dance crowd, which in this part of the world is folks over age 55. Yep, they'll quit dancing about midnight, but that's OK cause after 3 to 4 hours of continual entertainment, I'm pretty well out of gas myself. They'll go home happy, and most will be back the next time you're performing at that particular location.Some will not, but more often than not the reason behind this is some type of physical ailment of death.

And, some day in the not too distant future the same thing will happen to me as well. There will come a time when our audiences have died off. When they're gone, that generation of fun loving individuals who danced the night away will be replaced by folks that grew up in front of a TV set or computer monitor, and they only listen to music when there's nothing on TV. If you sincerely think this is not the case, take a close look at the general populace ranging in age from 25 to 40. Most are morbidly obese, they drive too fast, could care less about the environment they're creating and don't seem to give a tinker's damned about anyone other than themselves. It's the ME-NOW GENERATION! I'm very thankful for the crowds I now have, but I know that in five more years, most will be dead and I'm glad I can still make a good living writing magazine and newspaper articles.

Gary

Gary-

I don't know how old you are, but I hope that "Day" is still a far distance away, lol..

I am 44 years old and plan on doing this for at least 15 years or so.

I use to live in Waldorf, MD back in the mid 80s...is that anywhere near you?

Bill

Hi Bill,
Here in Mil. we have the Nellie, Eminem, Green Day and 50 cent type stations, but along with them we have a hot smoothe jazz station doing good r&b numbers as well, we have classic rock stations, one mainly 50's/60's/70's and the other later 60's/70's/80's and some 90's. We've got just about everything available here.
I do not expect a smaller market (less radio stations)to have as much variety. That is why I mentioned internet radio.
There are some sights I've seen that offer searches for stations playing a particular genre/time period, whatever. It's all out there.
I'm sorry I do not have a good link to offer up but perhaps our linkmaster, Donny, can hook you up.

Again, good luck, you'll find what you want eventually, I am sure.

There is SO MUCH music out there. And that's one reason I do not offer up any specific titles. The chances that I'd list what you're looking for is just a shot in the dark. And I could go on offering suggestions probably for days. But you can find exactly what you're looking for yourself. You'll know it when you see/hear it.




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The old Newb

Off The Top Of My Head Songs That Please Almost Everybody:

Mustang Sally (Wilson Pickett)
Your Momma Don't Dance & Your Daddy Don't R&R
Have I Told You Lately (Van Morrison/Rod Stewart)
Brown-Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)
Electric Slide (A. Bridges)
Play That Funky Music White Boy
Sweet Home Chicago (Blues Brothers)
Every Day I Have The Blues ( B.B. King)
Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton)
New Orleans Ladies (Louisiana Leroux)
Margaritaville (Jimmy Buffett)
Wind Beneath My Wings (Bette Midler & others)
Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel)
Drift Away (kids think it's Uncle Kracker-Dobie Grey did the original)
My Girl
DonM

More upbeat songs that get people on the floor...Runaround Sue, The Love I lost, Cool Jerk, Raining Men..to name a few ..