Although my main business is weddings, I absolutely LOVE taking on special occasions such as milestone birthdays. Laura and Andrew’s joint 50th was one I’d been looking forward to for a while.
I’d met up with Laura and Andrew several weeks ago at the City of Ely Golf Club several weeks ago to discuss their party requirements, and in particular, the style of music they were looking for from the evening.
Sitting on a sunny terrace, it soon transpired that our musical tastes were very similar – which always makes a party a lot more fun from my side of things.
Come the night and it’s time to set up and prepare for the evening’s festivities.
The plan was for guests to arrive, mingle and then enjoy a hog-roast before the main party. Until that time, my job was to provide background music.
Taking a mix of the less “dancey” music from Laura and Andrew’s playlist and more than a few of my own selections, a background music playlist of music from the 60s to the 90s was played until it was time to start the party proper.
And then - it was time to party!
As with the background music, the brief for the evening was for music from the 60s to the 90s, with just a little bit of “Indie” music thrown in for good measure.
On the night, it soon became apparent that the ’80s was going to be the biggest floor filling decade with even the younger guests filling the dance floor and singing along to most of the tracks (they weren’t even born when most of those songs were popular!).
What’s not to like?!
From there we went back into a little BritPop/Indie and then into some oldies from the 1960s, then for the final 30 minutes into good old fashioned cheddar!
The dance floor stayed pretty much rammed for the duration – my kind of party!
Some photos of the evening then....
And so to the playlist....
The evening consisted mainly of songs selected by Laura and Andrew, or at least along their selected genres. Many of the tracks were also selected by their guests on the night.
There’s a big jump from indie to 60s towards then end of the evening due to pressure from a particular guest, and these choices really didn’t work sadly (trust me….I play what I play because it WORKS!). On the night though, it all sort of held together and kept the dance floor full 🙂
Queen – Dont Stop me Now
Kings Of Leon – DJ Beats: Sex On Fire
Bryan Adams – Summer of ´69
The Killers – Human
Pulp – Disco 2000 (7′ Mix)
Blur – Song 2
Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip – I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper
Boney M – Daddy Cool
Boney M – Rasputin (Single)
Laura Branigan – Gloria
Soft Cell – Tainted Love
Tiffany – I Think Were Alone Now
The Communards Don’t Leave Me This Way
Bon Jovi – DJ Beats: Livin’ On A Prayer
Wham – Wake me up before you go go
Dexys Midnight Runners- Come On Eileen
Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up
The Human League – Don`t you Want Me
Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This
Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse Of The Heart
Billy Ocean – Red Light Spells Danger
The Jam – Town Called Malice
Katrina & The Waves – Walking On Sunshine
The Smiths – This Charming Man
Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance
Various Artists – The Grease Megamix
Degrees Of Motion – Shine On (Single)
Cornershop – Brimful Of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)
Blur – Girls And Boys
Supergrass – Alright
The Killers – DJ Beats: Mr Brightside
The Fratellis – Chelsea Dagger
Neil Diamond – Cracklin’ Rosie
Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline
Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire
Chubby Checker – Let’s Twist Again
The Archies – Sugar Sugar
Manfred Mann – Do Wah Diddy Diddy (2007 Remaster)
Abba – Dancing Queen
Dolly Parton – 9 To 5
ABBA – MAMMA MIA
Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
Spice Girls – Wannabe (Radio Edit)
PULP – Common People
