Wedding Songs
A good friend of mine is getting married soon. I'm going to DJ the wedding. I asked him, and four other friends, to suggest songs to play. They suggested 521 different songs, over 24 hours of music. Here's the overlap in their suggestions:
2 Votes:
REM: Don't Go Back to Rockville
New Order: Bizarre Love Triangle
Talking Heads: Book I Read
Cure: Just Like Heaven
Cure: Love Cats
Pulp: Common People
Daft Punk: Digital Love
Pulp: Disco 2000
Depeche Mode: Dreaming of Me
David Bowie: Golden Years
Beach Boys: Good Vibrations
Gang of Four: I Love a Man in Uniform
Prince: Kiss
Talking Heads: Life During Wartime
Cardigans: Lovefool
Bill Withers: Lovely Day
Andrea True Connection: More, More, More
Faces: Ooh La La
Air: Playground Love
REM: Pretty Persuasion
Hall & Oates: Private Eyes
Stevie Wonder: Superstition
New Order: Temptation
Talking Heads: The Girls Want to be with the Girls
Smiths: This Charming Man
Prince: When Doves Cry
Beck: Where It's At
Beastie Boys: So What'cha Want
Billy Idol: Dancing With Myself
Cure: Boys Don't Cry
Le Tigre/DFA: Deceptacon (DFA Remix)
Digital Underground: Humpty Dance
Electric Light Orchestra: Mr. Blue Sky
Elvis Costello: The Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes
Gilbert O'Sullivan: Alone Again (Naturally)
Morrisey: You're the One for Me, Fatty
Orange Juice Jones: Rip It Up
Pet Shop Boys: West End Girls
Scissor Sisters: Comfortably Numb
3 Votes:
David Bowie: Queen Bitch
Shuggie Otis: Strawberry Letter 23
4 Votes:
Depeche Mode: Just Can't Have Enough
2 Votes:
REM: Don't Go Back to Rockville
New Order: Bizarre Love Triangle
Talking Heads: Book I Read
Cure: Just Like Heaven
Cure: Love Cats
Pulp: Common People
Daft Punk: Digital Love
Pulp: Disco 2000
Depeche Mode: Dreaming of Me
David Bowie: Golden Years
Beach Boys: Good Vibrations
Gang of Four: I Love a Man in Uniform
Prince: Kiss
Talking Heads: Life During Wartime
Cardigans: Lovefool
Bill Withers: Lovely Day
Andrea True Connection: More, More, More
Faces: Ooh La La
Air: Playground Love
REM: Pretty Persuasion
Hall & Oates: Private Eyes
Stevie Wonder: Superstition
New Order: Temptation
Talking Heads: The Girls Want to be with the Girls
Smiths: This Charming Man
Prince: When Doves Cry
Beck: Where It's At
Beastie Boys: So What'cha Want
Billy Idol: Dancing With Myself
Cure: Boys Don't Cry
Le Tigre/DFA: Deceptacon (DFA Remix)
Digital Underground: Humpty Dance
Electric Light Orchestra: Mr. Blue Sky
Elvis Costello: The Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes
Gilbert O'Sullivan: Alone Again (Naturally)
Morrisey: You're the One for Me, Fatty
Orange Juice Jones: Rip It Up
Pet Shop Boys: West End Girls
Scissor Sisters: Comfortably Numb
3 Votes:
David Bowie: Queen Bitch
Shuggie Otis: Strawberry Letter 23
4 Votes:
Depeche Mode: Just Can't Have Enough
posted by Charles P. Everitt at 11:24 AM
13 Comments:
Of course, I think the right way to explain overlap is in terms of a mutual discovery of independently existing beauty, but I am willing to wonder how people were first exposed to some of these instances of beauty in the first place. Where did people hear that Bill Withers song, for instance? Is it on some soundtrack? (I doubt they all own "Menagerie", the original album it's on .) And two votes for ELO?!?
The overlap on the Shuggie Otis song is interesting. I prefer the original, which happens to be on the "Jackie Brown" OST.
And who the hell is Orange Juice Jones?
I don't know if I buy the synchronous mutual discovery there here. I'm gonna say that lots of these beloved tracks came from a common source or sources, sayyyy some good mix cds and their subsequent dispersion amongst close friends. Also someone downloaded Orange Juice's 'Rip It Up' and it was improperly displayed as Orange Juice Jones.
Also, the nature of the wedding as family-friendly keeps lots of the selections in the tried-and-true faves category. That being said, who's gonna gayyy up the dancefloor when Scissor Sisters comes on?
Of course there's something right in what you're saying, but two questions still remain:
(1) Which mix CDs? I.e., who originally put ELO on their mix CD? Or Bill Withers?
(2) Why these songs as opposed to the others we've passed around on mix CDs? After all, this is only a very small selection of all the songs we're all familiar with.
I think most of the selections can obviously be explained in terms of objective goodness being detected by multiple observers. This is a list of good stuff.
But at least in my own case, I can attest that what Wyeth says is also right--I wouldn't have guessed that the DFA Remix of 'Deceptacon' would make a wedding list, even a list of someone with these particular new wavish sensibilities. But, of course, it should, since it rules.
That song appeared on a very good mix cd Wy made that we used at that final night party at Hopkins 3 years ago, and which kept people moving until like 5am (Bizarre Love Triangle was also on it). Though I have to say--I'm surprised that some other songs from that mix cd didn't make this list. Where, for example, is "Get Into the Groove"? That's conspicuously absent. (Maybe it was "Holiday" that was on wy's mix, but same diff.)
I'm only surprised by a handful of things on the list of 2, since pretty much all of my music is drawn in one way or another, from the collections of Wy, Z., and Kai. So the fact that my music collection is a subset of the union of those collections means it's pretty likely that if I have picked something, one of those dudes will have picked it too.
Wyeth is also right that this is family-friendly. I left off some of my favorites because they're not right for the wedding crowd.
The overall whiteness of the list is also remarkable, though not surprising.
Sorry, CPE, I composed my last post before reading your reply to Wy.
ELO is easy to explain. "Mr. Blue Sky" appeared on some popular VW ads from a couple of years ago. I confess that that's where I first heard the song.
The VW Ad
As to the second, more substantial, question, "Why these songs?", the answer has to be that they meet certain criteria (I think all satisfy at least two of the following):
1. People will dance to them, including people 20+ years older than us.
2. They are familiar.
3. They reflect the sensibilities and musical tastes of the people getting married.
No one else was feeling vintage Michael Jackson? Can't believe no one would second Rock With You, Baby Be Mine, or Don't Stop T.Y.G.E. overplayed as it is. or Curtis Mayfield? Gotta have 'move on up' on there Zedder. That'll sit well with the huge contingent of black dudes that will be at the wedding.
Also of note – I hope stuff from outside of the main list makes it into the mix. Though those are all faves of everyone, it risks slipping into new-wave overload. Zed, work some magic!
Is the Bill Withers on a comp. of some sort, or is someone else in our midst a Bill Withers fiend (like myself)?
Also, it's interesting to note that the Cure is everyone's overall fave, seconded by Depeche Mode. Echoing GF's comment about the whiteness of the list, I would've guessed James Brown or Parliment would be the artist with the most votes.
Wy: Don't worry, I'll mix it up. Early MJ and Curtis will make it on there, as well as a lot else.
GF's making me worried about the old people. We'll have to throw down some Motown or some such early in the night, to give us a karmic excuse to throw down "Ain't No Fun (If My Homies Can't Have Some)" late in the night.
I looked at the years of the songs on the list, and the average came out to 1984.48, roughly.
Wow, that took a lot of time.
What's funny about that is that even my ancient ass was young in 1984. My parents, on the other hand, love the music that was popular when they were seniors in high school. I think that's more normal.
At my wedding, we're going to play only pre-electric recordings.
How's that going to play with your wife?
Well, the way I figure it, at that point she'll be my wife, for better or worse, so what can she do?
The alternative plan, as you well know, involves hiring Grandmaster Flash to DJ. But that requires pre-ceremony agreement. All acoustic ipoding just involves a post-ceremony switchero.
I'm glad to see David Bowie made it to three votes
And DB got two votes for "Golden Years", a song I've been singing to my self of late, due to its inclusion on this list.
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