The Offbeat Blog

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2024

March - Why playing the classics early on usually makes for a better party all night

March 2024

Why playing the classics early on usually makes for a better party all night  

Since I’ve put up the ‘Classic Motown, Funk, Disco and 80's Pop’ recording, a few couples have said something along the lines of:

“We really don’t think that we want this kind of music at our wedding. It’s not something that we listen to ourselves or feel reflects our own tastes.” 

Yep, I completely understand. Pretty much everything in this mix could be said to be played out, and, whilst not exactly cheesy, certainly can’t be described as alternative, unique or niche. It is, in fact, pretty much the most mainstream selection of pre-1990 chart music that you could compile. All totally familiar to anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock, and all chart topping in their time. 

And that is exactly why you should use them to kick start your party. 

At any given wedding there will likely be attendees of all different ages, all with different tastes, many of which will be expecting lots of highly recognisable music they can dance and sing along to. Everything in this mix was included because it is just that: easy to move to (especially after a few drinks!) and everyone knows all the words to belt out. 

By dedicating the first part of the evening set to this kind of mainstream, highly inclusive music, nobody at your wedding party will feel left out because they ‘just don’t know or can’t dance to the newer or more alternative stuff’. The classics are classics for a reason, and if they’re not being played then you can almost guarantee that at least one guest is going to come up and request them (usually asked as “Please can you play something that we oldies know?” Or even just straight up “When are you going to play some ABBA?”)

As a DJ, the last thing I want is for this question to come at a time when that part of the evening has passed and everyone has moved onto the more alternative or electronic types of music, as it’s so jarring to the atmosphere to take a dance floor out of that moment and slam it back to the 70’s disco, or Motown, just because a small group of people felt that they didn’t get the chance to dance to that early on. It’s genuinely horrible to have to deny that person their request and leave them feeling confused and frustrated that at no point was the music for them.

This part of the evening set doesn’t have to go on for long,  I’ll keep playing those hits for as long as the dance floor stays busy and vibrant, but there’s inevitably a time, sooner or later, when the older classics start to lose momentum. It could be after 20 minutes, it could be two hours, but once that part of the night is over, it shouldn’t need to be revisited and the rest of the set, that does reflect your tastes, can be played uninterrupted.

Of course, it's your party and you get to ultimately decide what music gets played and what doesn't, but there's no doubt that the best parties are the ones where everyone gets to have fun on the dancefloor.