How brave are you?

[Corabar Steve]

Having seen a job offered in the London area forum that "knowledge of Greek, Brazilian, Dutch or Italian music would be an advantage". I wondered how many of you would consider taking a job with what could turn out to be quite specialist tastes involved? (in fairness the OP did also say "Standard hits required", but I'm just picking up on the latter part of the post) .

I for one wouldn't as my knowledge of music from the countries concerned is limited to

Greece - Demis Roussos, Nana Muskouri, & Zorba's dance
Brazil - Sepultura & Os Mutantes
Holland - Focus & Golden Earring
Italy - That jaunty tune they played for Ferrari when Michael Schumacker won the GP (sounded a bit like the theme from Keeping up appearances)





(forgive any spelling mistakes in any of the names above. I'm too lazy to check them)

[wensleydale]

i'd probably do a bit of research- the internet has made things like this a lot easier.
besides, i doubt youd find anyone with greek, brazilian, dutch and italian music knowledge.

[rob1963]

I'd turn the gig down...

...partly because my knowledge of music from those countries is extremely limited, and partly because I don't have any of the music concerned.

Although it's possible to research it to an extent, that could easily take many hours, so you'd need to be charging a lot of money to make it worthwhile...which I never do.

I'd rather sit tight & hope a "normal" booking came in to replace it.

If not, I'd be happy to have the night off.

[Corabar Steve]

How many would be happy to accept CDs & pointers for what to play from the client for the specific (maybe foreign language) tracks?

We did a Chinese pop set for background during a wedding breakfast last year & it entailed a lot of discussion with the client & picking of tracks that while well known to the Chinese guests were acceptable background for non Chinese guests.

I suppose it depends on how much is required & if it is to be used in the main part of the night or not.

Last year I did an Anglo-African wedding & there was a request for a fair bit of African music to be played for dancing as opposed to background. (half of the guests were African). On discussion with the client, we decided that if it was on iTunes UK it was mainstream enough for the African guests to know it & it was left to me to pick & choose tracks that I thought the UK guests might also dance to. The evening was a success, but could so easily have gone the other way. On reflection I would say I would only accept a similar gig now if there is a lot (& I mean a LOT) of client input on the songs.

[wensleydale]

i would be happy with that- a meeting or two, bit of a playlist, and a chat with the dutch, italian and greek guys at work could work.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I've got a party for a Brazilian lady this evening funnily enough and she has sent me some Brazilian music to play. We did a Brazilian wedding last year and they bought there own dancers as well as music. The dancers were brilliant my DJ informed me as I was working elsewhere (unfortunately!)

I actually welcome gigs where I may not know the music as it's something different and very interesting to see what and how they dance to it.

I did a Scottish/African wedding last year that was fantastic fun.

Normally with these kind of functions, I ask for a big input with the music from the client rather than profess to know about it and that has worked well so far.

At the wedding Rob helped me with last year, they wanted quite a lot of soca as the groom and his family were from the Caribbean and I spent a long time researching charts, websites etc and listening to the music before I did the booking. With soca, as with a lot of genres, there are the older party classic type tunes and the more modern tunes. I played a mix of both and they seemed to go well

[ppentertainments]

I done a wedding just last week where the groom was iranian. They asked if I could play some of their iranian music. The best man stood with me to tell me what to play. It went down REALLY well but after about 15 mins or so they wanted 'english' music back.

Few days later letter comes through the post from the B&G saying they have never had such a good night in iran or england and everyone commenting on how I played some iranian music. - personally did not have a clue what it was !

[Impactdisco]

There was a time when I'd have just said no, but if it felt like something I'd be up for, then I'd I'd accept, on the proviso that I got a lot of music input from the client.

[One Vision]

I would rather do one of them than a gay one :shrug: "Just being honest" :run:

[rob1963]

At the wedding Rob helped me with last year, they wanted quite a lot of soca as the groom and his family were from the Caribbean and I spent a long time researching charts, websites etc and listening to the music before I did the booking. With soca, as with a lot of genres, there are the older party classic type tunes and the more modern tunes. I played a mix of both and they seemed to go well

Ah yes...I remember you telling me about the research you'd done for that one.

If I remember rightly, it took you quite a bit of time, too.

[Corabar Steve]

I would rather do one of them than a gay one :shrug: "Just being honest" :run:

This thread is about musical knowledge, not prejudice.

Why would you not want to do a gay wedding / partnership? Don't you know the moves to YMCA or something? If it's because you don't know what music gays like then I have some news for you, they're just like the rest of us & have varying musical tastes.

Admittedly some do have stereotypical "camp" tastes in music, but people in all sections of society can have stereotypical tastes. Some coċkneys love Chas & Dave, some bikers will always ask for Born to be wild or Smoke on the water..

A gay function should be just like any other function, & in all honesty there is no place on this forum for comments like that.

[wensleydale]

I would rather do one of them than a gay one :shrug: "Just being honest" :run:

what a random thing to say.
i suspect with an attitude like that you probably dont get booked for many gay weddings?

[soundtracker]

This thread is about musical knowledge, not prejudice.

Why would you not want to do a gay wedding / partnership? Don't you know the moves to YMCA or something? If it's because you don't know what music gays like then I have some news for you, they're just like the rest of us & have varying musical tastes.

Admittedly some do have stereotypical "camp" tastes in music, but people in all sections of society can have stereotypical tastes. Some coċkneys love Chas & Dave, some bikers will always ask for Born to be wild or Smoke on the water..

A gay function should be just like any other function, & in all honesty there is no place on this forum for comments like that.

I quite agree.

Getting back to the subject in hand - I've done a Greek, a Dutch and an Arabian Wedding in the last 12 months. In every case a pre-wedding meeting with input from the B & G made them all quite straightforward. To be honest it was only a case of throwing in a few of their specially selected tunes amongst the general party fare. All of them went well without any real hiccups!

[Andy Westcott]

I wouldn't accept the booking.

I try to make sure I can accomodate the client's requirements before accepting the work, and as I wouldn't be able to in this case, I would have to decline.

I wouldn't consider the amount of research and purchases required to offer a decent service within these guidelines worthwhile.

[robbiedj]

It depends on the situation.

If it's a matter of a couple of sets of specialist music and there is plenty of client input, it should be no problem. Being able to run through the tracks before is obviously an advantage, as you can get a feel for the music and see how it fits the evening.

But I wouldn't attempt a whole evening of a genre I am unfamiliar with, it wouldn't be fair on the customers.

[rob1963]

I wouldn't accept the booking.

I try to make sure I can accomodate the client's requirements before accepting the work, and as I wouldn't be able to in this case, I would have to decline.

I wouldn't consider the amount of research and purchases required to offer a decent service within these guidelines worthwhile.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Even if I DID do the research & buy the music, I still wouldn't feel comfortable doing a gig where I had to play music I didn't know or understand all night.

[Candybeatdiscos]

Perhaps this is the time for DJ's to move with the times and start focussing on multi cultural music. I mean UK are a member of the European community, and we have more & more foreigners in the UK than ever before, now they get married, celebrate birthday's etc like the rest of us, so why not take these opportunities to start buying world music etc and learning the cultures in order to offer the complete service? If i do go back into DJ'ing then i shall certainly be looking at polish music etc in order to possibly offer this type of service.

[BeerFunk]

No, I'll stick to the music I know, I've generally little interest in music from other cultures and countries, so I'd say it's a non starter for me.

As for accommodating, well in my experience, most immigrants to the UK seem to like the same music we do anyway. I know a lot of Polish guys who like dance and hip-hop, Polish girls who like whatever is in the charts, and a guy from Ghana who can't get enough of US based hip-hop (Kanye West, 50 Cent, Timbaland).

[rob1963]

Perhaps this is the time for DJ's to move with the times and start focussing on multi cultural music. I mean UK are a member of the European community, and we have more & more foreigners in the UK than ever before, now they get married, celebrate birthday's etc like the rest of us, so why not take these opportunities to start buying world music etc and learning the cultures in order to offer the complete service?

In my case, it's simply not necessary. I've never been asked to do a gig where they want a particular kind of music all night that I don't have & know nothing about, such as Chinese, Polish, Iranian or anything else.

Therefore, for me to learn about & buy some of this music, on the off chance that I might be able to do ONE gig like this in the next few years before I retire would be a complete waste of time & money.


No, I'll stick to the music I know, I've generally little interest in music from other cultures and countries, so I'd say it's a non starter for me.

As for accommodating, well in my experience, most immigrants to the UK seem to like the same music we do anyway. I know a lot of Polish guys who like dance and hip-hop, Polish girls who like whatever is in the charts, and a guy from Ghana who can't get enough of US based hip-hop (Kanye West, 50 Cent, Timbaland).

I couldn't agree more!

[One Vision]

Hya fellas I dont want to get in to prejudice rubbish, I am just saying as specialized as this thread is about I would much rather do the research than do a gay one, I simply wouldn't do one as I dont agree with it so wouldn't enjoy which would show and no doubt spoil the whole night.
I play YMCA as its a fun track and not what it represents.

[wensleydale]

Hya fellas I dont want to get in to prejudice rubbish, I am just saying as specialized as this thread is about I would much rather do the research than do a gay one, I simply wouldn't do one as I dont agree with it so wouldn't enjoy which would show and no doubt spoil the whole night.
I play YMCA as its a fun track and not what it represents.

what does it represent?

[PropellerHeadCase]

Having seen a job offered in the London area forum that "knowledge of Greek, Brazilian, Dutch or Italian music would be an advantage". I wondered how many of you would consider taking a job with what could turn out to be quite specialist tastes involved? (in fairness the OP did also say "Standard hits required", but I'm just picking up on the latter part of the post) .

I for one wouldn't as my knowledge of music from the countries concerned is limited to

Greece - Demis Roussos, Nana Muskouri, & Zorba's dance
Brazil - Sepultura & Os Mutantes
Holland - Focus & Golden Earring
Italy - That jaunty tune they played for Ferrari when Michael Schumacker won the GP (sounded a bit like the theme from Keeping up appearances)

Yep, I'm much the same as you, though I'd add Soulfly and Daniela Mercury for Brasil. And, whilst French you could get away with Kaoma as the Lambada originated in Brasil.

And Eros Ramazotti, Andrea Bocelli and Filippa Giordano for Italy.



i'd probably do a bit of research- the internet has made things like this a lot easier.

True, but the best source of information is still the client. Imagine how crap a DJ would be if they only played UK number ones :eek: Why would it be any different for any other country? The most popular party classic, bar none, by a New Zealand band only peaked at three on the charts.



besides, i doubt youd find anyone with greek, brazilian, dutch and italian music knowledge.

Except maybe Greek, Brasilian, Dutch and Italian people?



Admittedly some do have stereotypical "camp" tastes in music, but people in all sections of society can have stereotypical tastes. Some coċkneys love Chas & Dave, some bikers will always ask for Born to be wild or Smoke on the water...

Agreed. A good friend of mine is decidedly gay and a very good progressive house/breaks DJ in Boston.

Also interesting to note that many of the so-called 'camp classics' are also the ones that steretypically get the girls on the floor, e.g. 'Dancing Queen', 'I Will Survive', etc.



I wouldn't accept the booking.

I try to make sure I can accomodate the client's requirements before accepting the work, and as I wouldn't be able to in this case, I would have to decline.

I wouldn't consider the amount of research and purchases required to offer a decent service within these guidelines worthwhile.

If it was a whole night of that country's music I'd agree, but if they merely want a handful of inclusions that they will supply it's not a problem. I think most people are fairly forgiving when it comes to pop music from their country - if the DJ at least makes an effort they trend to recoignise that, probably moreso than when picking the "wrong" English-language pop. How many Germans/Austrians actually like '99 Luftballon' or 'Rock Me Amdaeus'? Yet if you play them you'll probably get at least a nod of recognition, if not an outright cheer.




It depends on the situation.

If it's a matter of a couple of sets of specialist music and there is plenty of client input, it should be no problem. Being able to run through the tracks before is obviously an advantage, as you can get a feel for the music and see how it fits the evening.

But I wouldn't attempt a whole evening of a genre I am unfamiliar with, it wouldn't be fair on the customers.

Agreed. Tell them to hire a specialist.

I was once asked to run a whole night of Croatian music and I said to the guy that he needed to hire a specialist Croatian DJ, that it's not simply a matter of putting the music on, you need to know it, understand it, etc. I also suggested he hire a jukebox and load it up with Croatian music, which is I think what he ended up doing.



Perhaps this is the time for DJ's to move with the times and start focussing on multi cultural music. I mean UK are a member of the European community, and we have more & more foreigners in the UK than ever before, now they get married, celebrate birthday's etc like the rest of us, so why not take these opportunities to start buying world music etc and learning the cultures in order to offer the complete service? If i do go back into DJ'ing then i shall certainly be looking at polish music etc in order to possibly offer this type of service.

I simply don't see the point - it's hell of a lot of work for one or two songs at one or two gigs. You can play the pop music you grew up with and augment that knowledge with research but to start from scratch, especially in a language you dont speak, is asking for trouble. Stick to what you know and play the songs that the clients supply.



Hya fellas I dont want to get in to prejudice rubbish, I am just saying as specialized as this thread is about I would much rather do the research than do a gay one...

If you don't want to get into "prejudice rubbish" then don't make prejudiced comments... simple.



I simply wouldn't do one as I dont agree with it

Don't agree with what? Trying to steer clear of the political here but not agreeing with 'homosexuality' is like not agreeing with 'being tall'.



so wouldn't enjoy which would show and no doubt spoil the whole night.

So the fact that your clients were gay would alter your perception of the music you were playing even if it was carbon-copy, track-for-track, of the last straight wedding you did (which it would probably would be)?



I play YMCA as its a fun track and not what it represents.


what does it represent?

What he said.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Let's leave the political comments and the ones about sexuality out please.

You all know the rules.

[wensleydale]

Originally Posted by wensleydale
besides, i doubt youd find anyone with greek, brazilian, dutch and italian music knowledge.

Except maybe Greek, Brasilian, Dutch and Italian people?

I meant altogether.

[PropellerHeadCase]

Ahh, I see, fair call.

[One Vision]

I think I made it clear enough without having to go over things, everybody ells has a freedom of choice thats my freedom of choice end of.
Apologies to the forum for bringing the subject up originally, but as stated just being honest.

[djqacy]

If you have a wedding and you want greek music just arrange for the tickets and will come to help you out. :)

The music i play here in most of my partys is greek and english.

When i have people from other countries like Russia, Ireland, Rumania, Israel, Poland, Germany they usually bring 3-4 cds with the music they like.

[Shaun]

The music i play here in most of my partys is greek and english.


Perhaps you could post a list of your top 20 Greek floor-filler tracks? :)