I see (Gary/Diki/Everyone) there really IS a cross section of people WHEREVER you go (including the Caregivers/Staff at Nursing Homes) - so, not so different I guess.


To be more helpful to Scott:

BROWN EYED GIRL (works everywhere)

I GOTTA FEELING (Black Eyed Peas) like it or not, it's a Feelgood, yet "Hip" song that - mostly - everyone of all ages likes.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR (An international Hit I believe, that is both a Samba and another Feel-good-everyone-likes-it number.

DANCING QUEEN/MAMA MIA (Surely Abba is relatively popular in the US? It simply does NOT fail in Australia. ANYWHERE)

MICHAEL JACKSON, especially *ahem* now...
(Blame it on the Boogie, The Way You Make Me Feel are two must plays we've found, & Billie Jean is a great Cha Cha)

ALL SHOOK UP - 'nuff said.

ROCKIN' ROBIN - Ditto.

COPACABANA - great, fun, Kitsch!

All the others mentioned above me....

P.S. Ooooh! GREAT BALLS OF FIRE - you get to show off your soloing skills AND it's a barnstormer of a RnR song everyone of all ages digs.

Yo Donny, would you believe I've had a request several times from a dear, sweet, little old lady in a retirement community for Knees Up Mother Brown?

Joe

Each year Joe I do an International English ladies club in a famous Cape May Hotel & that song is a MUST!! I'm surprised it's not in Diki's song list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gGP_gFhtcQ&feature=related



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 05-16-2010).]

Okay...I never heard of Knees up...
Now I know http://www.thanksmuch.com/kids/knees-up-mother-brown-mp3.html
yeah....now I know.
Eddie

If I were still doing pubs in England, I might still be doing it... But it's been a few decades since I did the Hokey Pokey and Knees up Mother Brown.

But I can probably find you an MP3 if you want to cover it, Donny...

Thanx for all the good responses.

I think I need to clarify a bit by the looks of some of the respones here.

Someone made the inference that I don't know how to fill a dance floor etc, etc.

I play for a number of dance clubs. A few are weekly, some are monthly, etc.

Today, for instance, I played solo for an ongoing brunch. I had a couple travel 1 1/2 hours to hear me and dance to my music. Another couple drove an hour. Both drove in bad weather, one wasn't feeling well. This is common for the niche I've found for myself in the different dance halls. It absolutely floors me, really. But I am flattered by the people in the area dance community that do this in the different places I play. One guy lives in Pensacola. On the day's when I do my weekly gig in town, he will drive to Mobile, a good hour to get his dance partner, drives another hour to the dance, another hour to take her home and another hour to get back home in Pensacola. Some real die-hards.

Two venues is a duo. There are another bunch of dance clubs that have asked me to perform solo instrumental. So, I have found out you don't have to sing or have a singer to be successful.

All of my gigs for some time have all been by referral. They seek me out.

Do I gig often? For example, I had only 4 open days recently one month and turned down about a dozen other gigs.

I am really a pretty humble kind of guy, but I thought that I needed to point this out by the way some of the posters answered.

I was hoping that people would give their top 5, 10, 20 or whatever songs that they find fill the floor for them in their particular setting. Maybe songs that just about everybody would dance to. Maybe it would be their favorites. But also I wanted to see what others playing different types of gigs where playing, as I want to keep myself kind of updated. I thought everyone, not just me could gain by this.

I hope we hear from everybody. Who knows who might pick up a couple new tunes, remember one that they haven't played in eons, get a different perspective, etc,

I hope we hear form Donny, Gary, Bill, Don, etc, etc....

Best
Scott

Here' some of the songs that my current audiences like to dance to:

Unchained Melody
Jambalaya
Silver Wings
Where'm I Gonna Live
Release Me
Elvira
Electric Slide
Europa
Oye Como Va
Sway
Hello Josephine
Mustang Sally
Sea Cruise
Boogie Shoes
Rockin' Pneumonia
Love Potion #9 (as a west coast swing)
In The Mood
Woodchopper's Ball
Begin The Beguine
At Last
Stranger On The Shore
Moonlight Serenade
Margaritaville
Could I Have This Dance
Waltz Across Texas
Brown Eyed Girl
Pretty Woman
Chattanooga Choo Choo
I'm Walkin'
Come Monday
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
St Thomas (as a merengue)
Drum Boogie (Gene Krupa)
etc, etc

Scott the two main criteria for a sucessful dance are...

!- Take very recognizable to all songs of which there are thousands

2- play them very danceable with the "Correct Tempos" I can't stress this enough.



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 05-17-2010).]

You realize I didn't ask this question, don't you?

Scott it doesn't matter ....my answer pertains to any songs in general top fill a dance floor.



[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 05-17-2010).]