How To Throw A Good Party, Part 3

Okay, in earlier installments we talked about managing people and setting things up logistically.  This time I suppose we should talk about music.  I've just arrived home from a party.  My high heel shoes are off, my stockings have a run in them, my feather boa has been hung up, and I'm curled up in the big easy chair, staving off sleep.  At this party there was a DJ.  How is it that people who appear to make a living out of playing music for people seem to be so oblivious about how to do it?  Have you ever seen a good DJ?  Probably not, because by definition if the DJ is great you don't even notice him.  Your attention is on the dance floor and your fabulous moves.   The only DJs you notice are the semi-competent ones.  Tonight's was nice enough, but not particularly adept at reading the crowd.

The music you choose for your party is going to depend on many things -- the mood you're trying to set, and the demographic of the people you've got at the party.  That seems obvious, but it's something I've learned over time.  I remember a warm spring day, last year or the year before, I was outside in the yard working on my boat.  I had the boom box out and a bunch of CDs beside it.  Friends started to drop by and we fired up the grill and before long the afternoon took on a life of it's own and we had a little informal party going on.  I thought to myself, I'll just play some Beck.  Everybody loves Beck.  And I put in Midnite Vultures and proceeded to go about my business until I noticed some guests making faces and rolling their eyes about the music.  Everyone doesn't love Beck, I realized.  Wrong crowd.  I put on Little Feat instead, and everyone relaxed.  So lesson one: know your demographic.  The object is to provide music that is familiar, but not cliche.  It's got to be accessible to your guests, but it's preferable if it is interesting to them, too.  Not something they hear at every party.  So Norah Jones and David Gray are out.  Coldplay is out.  The Allman Brothers are out.  Jimmy Buffet is out, not simply because I can't stand him, but because he's a cliche.  Bob Marley is out for the same reason, but Peter Tosh would be okay. 

The DJ tonight was only moderately competent.  My current hypothesis is that the best way to get people dancing is to play funk and disco.  Those tunes are familiar to everyone, but aren't anybody's regular diet of music.  Doesn't everyone like James Brown?  ABBA? I think so.  But not everyone wants to hear John Fogerty or Def Leppard.  The Rolling Stones work pretty well.  80s music, and hip-hop/rap re-mixes are spotty.  It depends on the crowd, of course. 

My musical mainstays for entertaining are: Christopher O'Reilly -- True Love Waits -- classical piano renditions of Radiohead tunes.  Nice background music for a dinner party, with a familiar but elusive edge to those of your guests who are really listening.  Jimmy LaFave -- Trail -- a two-volume CD collection of mostly acoustic singer-songwriter tunes.  Many of them are Dylan covers, sung wonderfully.  Paolo Conte -- a smoky-voiced Italian crooner and piano player.  Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire -- great, loungey, swingy pieces by a musically rich ensemble with a suave-voiced singer and odd lyrics.   Wilco's Being There is a great mellow background choice.  Johnny Cash suits certain crowds.  When I want people to dance, I lean hard on Millennium Funk and New Millennium Funk, compilation CDs that really work.  James Brown works for me, as does Maceo Parker, and occasionally Madonna and ABBA and the Digable Planets and the Beastie Boys.

For the party tonight I wore a little black dress and heels and a pink feather boa and elbow length black gloves and over-the-top fabulous humongous sunglasses.  The theme was "Dress as the name of your boat."  We Hooked On Tonics girls, in our fabulous superglam getups, with our cigarette holders and oversized martini glasses, took the first prize for our outfits.  It was pretty fun. People were taking lots of photos; if I get my hands on one perhaps I'll post it.  But now it's time for bed.                               

Comments

[pjm]

Pity the people with boring boat names.

[(Way) Over the Line]

I take umbrage with your Allman Bros. comments.

[wab]

Cute post about superglam outfits... and Paolo Conte really is great.

[kitty]

I do love Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire.

[Kristal L. Rosebrook]

Great suggestions