Music at a Party?

[Dirk Gently]

There are pieces of music I love that you really can't play at a party*, there are some I really like that would be ok & there are those that everyone always dances to at a party that I'm indifferent to & some I dislike that other love.

There are pieces of music I love to just sit & listen to but really don't work as party music.

So my questions are, what music would you chose to have at your party?
What makes music party music?




Lists are good, no need for explanations if you don't want.


*Ghost Town by the Specials is a case in point, great to sit & listen to but would kill a party IMO.

[Si Hunt]

"You Spin Me Round" by Dead Or Alive is always good fun, and I once put Gaga and Beyonce's "Telephone" on for a room full of flagging partyers and the atmosphere just exploded.

Si.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Agadoo.

[Anthony Williams]

Nothing like a bit of Slayer.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I think "Ghost Town" would be great at a party.

Generally though I probably sneer a bit at most people's party music selection.

[duncan]

I tend to start of with stuff that people can listen to before going on ton the "floor fillers" once the drinks have flown. Bohemian Rhapsody, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Karma Chameleon, some S Club Seven etc normally does the trick. Generally 80's and early 90's pop music is quite popular at parties.

[Rob McCow]

Nothing like a bit of Slayer.

Seriously - at the right kind of party that's fine, but for anyone who's not a huge metal fan the arrival of something like Slayer, Megadeath or Metallica is going to send them home immediately! Or worse, spoil the party mood. My experience of Metal at parties is one guy standing by the stereo saying 'Listen to this, this ROCKS!' and lots of people pulling strained faces and going 'Yes, very nice.'

"Superstition" by Stevie Wonder is a #1 Party tune, as is "I Don't Feel Like Dancing" by the Scissor Sisters. I've had a bit of practice at this over the years, and although I'm no super-DJ, I think I know the sort of songs that have broader appeal - simply through trial and error!

Any indie is out. You might sneak "I Am The Ressurrection" on, but that's about it. Instead, go for "Atomic" by Blondie. Or "Mr Blue Sky" by ELO.

I'm looking forward to trying out the 'Guilty Pleasures' double CD from The Ministry Of Sound, which has tracks like "More Than A Feeling", "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", "9 to 5" and our new fave, "S-s-s-single Bed" by Fox. It'll be a surefire HIT!

[Anthony Williams]

Seriously - at the right kind of party that's fine, but for anyone who's not a huge metal fan the arrival of something like Slayer, Megadeath or Metallica is going to send them home immediately! Or worse, spoil the party mood. My experience of Metal at parties is one guy standing by the stereo saying 'Listen to this, this ROCKS!' and lots of people pulling strained faces and going 'Yes, very nice.'

You're right about that, Steve! I've only been to one party like that, though. And I'd never really put that kind of thing on at a party!

[SiHart]

Motown always works.

People like things they know and remember. Something they can sings along to always goes down well too.

And lots of cheesy 70s and 80s tunes!

[Llordllama]

I. Hate. Motown. DJ at my wedding insisted on playing it and I almost left!

But cheesy, poptastic, high energy and fun - works for. And much as I love Metalica can't dance to them easily, which rules them out. Course depends on the kind of party - if it's a classy drinks party you might want to have "All the Movie Themes on Pan Pipes" in the background. Generally at ours as the Wife and I disagree on musical taste a lot (aside from Murray Gold) we generally have a mutally agreed silence at our parties*.

Punctuated only by the slow sonorous ticking of grandfather clock shaving the seconds off of everyone's lives...

(*this is a lie)

[Si Hunt]

Interestingly, at the last wedding we went to the DJ's idea of what would be a "floor filler" uniformly failed- stuff like motown, late seventies disco, Donna Summer. Dull, and now so long ago that it's off peoples radar.

Si.

[SiHart]

Yet, at the last wedding we went to the Motown stuff filled the dancefloor and people left when it stopped. It depends on the audience I suppose.