From: Dan (dzacks@po-box.mcgill.ca)
Date: Wed Aug 28 2002 - 06:01:08 CEST
Now this is a thread that I can relate to!
I do a late night/early morning show on a campus-community radio station in
Montreal and have request stories that are the stuff of legend. During my
penultimate show before a summer break, a kind fellow named Dwight called in
and congratulated me on my musical selection. If I remember correctly, I
was playing some Doug Carn from an album for which I had just parted with a
not insubstantial amount of money. I was thrilled with Dwight's support and
felt my purchase validated. But Dwight had other intentions. Like the
BlackJazz as he did, Dwight also wanted to hear something a little more
interesting. By which Dwight meant (and I kid you not) Bulgarian folk
music. I politely told Dwight that I didn't have any Bulgarian folk music
in my record bag but he was insistent--surely there was Bulgarian folk music
in the stations library that I could use! Meanwhile, I have to cut into the
next track so I unceremoniously tell Dwight to hold on. When I return to
the phone he proceeds to tell me precisely why I should be playing Bulgarian
folk music; apparently it's good at seducing the ladies. Using proper music
terminology, Dwight literally went on to explain why and how Bulgarian folk
music turns a woman on in graphic detail. I found the whole thing
absolutely surreal and just couldn't hang-up on the guy. Needless to say,
no Bulgarian folk music was heard that night.
About two years ago, I had another fellow whose name I can't remember
explain why he liked some super percussive jazz-dance I was playing. He
enjoyed it so much because the rhythm reminded him of the "tap-tap-tap" of
his father beating him as a child. The rhythm stuck with him so much that
he became a jazz drummer. He then told me to keep up the good work and
hung-up. You can't make this stuff up.
Roughly around the same time, I had a woman call and ask for some Joanie
Mitchell. When I told her I didn't play folk she begged me, saying that her
rabbit, Bunny, was about to give birth to what she feared was a stillborn
baby rabbit. Joanie was the only thing that could help. I was
flabbergasted and hung up on her. But the lady continued to keep me posted
throughout my show on the status of Bunny, who apparently gave birth to a
healthy rabbit without complications. Shortly thereafter, the station got
call display on their studio phone and I managed to avoid speaking with her
again.
As far as club requests go, during my first gig ever a gaggle of piss-drunk
girls came over to the booth (unstrategically placed behind a portion of the
bar) and ask on and off for 15 minutes that I play hiphop. I was in the
middle of playing super deep jazzdance (which I quickly learnt rarely goes
down well on the dancefloor) and didn't want to stop. Eventually they gave
up on hiphop and started asking for some house. This I could deal with, so
I threw down some deep, percussive Claussel-style garage. Surprise,
surprise, they continued to demand house, leaving me totally exasperated
since I will never own any of the trancy-shit they undoubtedly wanted.
After a half hour they stormed out, practically emptying the (very small)
club and leaving the manager really annoyed with me. Fortunately, a middle
aged French fellow told me at the end of the set that a piece of Japanese
fusion I spun was someone of the best music he's ever heard and made the
whole night worth it.
After a year of DJing in clubs I still get exactly the same shit but at
least I have the confidence to deal with it. The only thing that continues
to really, really gall me are the folks who come out to my parties
(advertised with flyers that specifically explain the sort of music being
played, i.e. no techno, hip hop or ravy-break-shit) knowing full well what
to expect and still demand to hear the music they want. And it also feels
really terrible when folks just refuse to respond to music that isn't what
they are used to. By all accounts hiphop heads should at least appreciate
(if not enjoy) deep-funk set and to a lesser extent percussive disco--after
all the stuff forms the basis of so much hiphop. But they don't even think
of dancing or even acknowledging the music (but for jeers and taunts) until
some dime-a-dozen hiphop DJ spins. But such is life.
Dan
-----Original Message-----
From: icehouse@RedShift.com [mailto:icehouse@RedShift.com]
Sent: August 27, 2002 1:13 PM
To: vstewart@calpoly.edu
Cc: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu; downtempo@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Re: [acid-jazz] Funny requests, was -- 21st century urban
music observation.)
Actually this has absolutely NOTHING to do with you being a budding DJ
unless you are really screwing up big-time! it really has to do with
people who have an opportunity to speak to the DJ and who want to have
their 5 cents worth, it has to do with wanting their own way, it has to do
with the state (or lack thereof) of inebbriation and fucked-upness, it has
to do with people who are unable to just chill and enjoy the music you are
spinning, it has to do with idiots who just have to insert themselves into
whatever situation they can, it has to do with people who ache for
control, it has to do with deep insecurities that some folks schlep around
wherever they go, it has to do with people who think they can do better
than you are doing, it has to do with all kinds of things but not really
with your abilities as a DJ since these people will come up to you and lay
their stuff on you even (and sometimes especially!) when the room is going
off totally and almost everyone there is totally diggin what you are
spinning. I cannot tell you the number of times over the last couple of
decades that I have had cd's shoved in my face as being the only possible
thing I could play next, I have learned to ignore these people in a way
that is not rude, crude or crass or even terribly offensive, I just nod
and smile knowingly and then continue on my merry way spinning what I
intend to spin, last week I got a heavy and unpleasant complaint from a
woman who claimed that she and her friends could only dance to disco and I
was playing utter crap and then the host came over and asked her to leave,
it turned out she was not even invited to the party and this is not that
uncommon an occurrence! More and more people want to DJ and they seem to
think that being the DJ is just a matter of spinning a few of their
favourite discs and that is it! Now I know that many listees know about
these situations and have experienced them as well and we all know that it
really has little to do with the quality of the DJ's work so V, just be
like the duck's back and let it all slide off! Now, on the other hand, I
have had a few people come over and ask me to play something that was
entirely appropriate and that fitted the mood perfectly but I usually
resist most of these intrusions, even the positive ones. Being the DJ is
not a question of arriving with a set list of what you are going to play,
it does require some connection with what is happening at the party or
event, what people are moving to and what clears the floor in a few bars
and that knowledge is only learned through experience and intuitive
ability although if you are way into a deep house set and the dance floor
is empty then perhaps the friendly soul trying to talk to you knows what
that crowd really wants, I usually assume they are off doing their drugs
somewhere and that they will return to dance when the chemicals finally
kick in or the smoke is smoked! Life can be tough even for a jaded,
seen-it-all DJ as well. My own weakness in this DJ thing is when an
attractive woman comes up to me and wants to hear something and I like her
enough to start thinking about how I can fit it into what I already have
going on! Some DJ's will not allow anyone to come close to them when they
are into spinning and that probably works for them, I personally like the
interaction with people and I have to just resist their suggestions and
play on!
the ls.dj Leslie Swill/The Power of Sound
-- from Leslie Shill vstewart@calpoly.edu wrote: > > I was spinning at a house party for the first time, playing some deep > house music. > > One guy comes up to me and gives me his Violent Femmes vinyl to play a > favorite song off of it ("Bitchin' Camaro," I think, was the song). > > Another guy comes up to me and says "Hey...I have some hip-hop in my car > if you want me to get it." > > Life can be tough for a budding DJ, ya know? > > V. > >
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