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March 03, 2006

Found Music

Congrats on the new IPod, Sheila! As one of your commenters noted, it'd be just wrong to indulge in coveting during the holy season.

One of your other commenters brought up a bit of deja vu, with a remark about the fun combinations of songs that come up when you're on "shuffle" mode.

Back between my first two careers, I worked as a nightclub DJ - for, like, three miserable years. One of the things I did (and did very well) was "eat-mixing". If you've been in a dance club, ever, you've probably heard it; two songs mix together so smoothly that the beat never interrupts; it feels like one long, cohesive rhythm track. Which, indeed, it is.

One day I was walking down Hennepin Avenue by the old Green Mill on 26th street, meeting a friend for lunch. It was the middle of summer, a swelteringly hot day. A convertible pulls up at the light, blasting Jody Watley's big hit, "Looking for a New Love".

As I'm about to walk into the Mill, a jeep pulls up next to the 'vert, with its top down, blasting Bad Company's "Rock And Roll Fantasy".

They were perfectly in sync, like someone was mixing a novelty record, live on the scene.

"It's all part, of my rock and roll fantasy, yeah yeah yeahhhhh....

Then, as (I'm sure) now, I was probably the only person who got it. And I used it at the club (probably the Mermaid) that night. But I also found a lot of other little accidental beat-mixed drop-ins like that.

For example: It's amazing how many R'nB songs of the past twenty years have a breakdown in the middle of exactly the right speed and beat to fit The "Mr. Ed Theme", in perfect rhythm.

Posted by Mitch at March 3, 2006 04:58 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Mitch said,

"One of the things I did (and did very well)"

Pretty standard skill for anyone working as a DJ but I digress...

When I was DJ in Northern Wisconsin, one of my favorite mixes was Slades, "Run Run away" with "In A Big Country" by Big Country.

Even thought neither song was particularly memorable, it always packed the floor - both men and women which was pretty rare in that part of Wisconsin.

Posted by: Doug at March 3, 2006 08:16 AM

BTW Mitch,

I think you had your mind on the "foodie" post when you wrote this one...

One of the things I did (and did very well) was "eat-mixing".

Posted by: Doug at March 3, 2006 08:19 AM

"Pretty standard skill for anyone working as a DJ but I digress"

True, but I also (as noted in a different post) went way beyond that, and I was (to the best of my knowledge) the first person in town who figured out how to manually beat-mix CDs.

Fun episode: I was showing this new hire (at the sleazy DJ service I worked for) the ropes at one of the bars I worked. He figured he HAD to have me beat; he was 21, had great hair, and impeccable taste in dance music (worked at First Ave a day or two a week). I told him I routinely beat-mixed CDs. "Bullsh*t", he said (was he really JB Doubtless?), "it's impossible". I turned around and rolled a perfect, impeccable mix to a full floor. It shut him up but good.

"When I was DJ in Northern Wisconsin, one of my favorite mixes was Slades, "Run Run away" with "In A Big Country" by Big Country. "

Good one!

At the Mermaid, the challenge was this: they had pool tables and twofer taps until 10, which brought in a sizeable white redneck crowd. The brothers came in sometime after 10ish (which was when the partTAI started). The hard/fun part was figuring out how to get a floor full of white girls out dancing to danceable rock'nroll at 9:45, and then slowly, almost subliminally mix into R&B by 10:15 (so the redneck guys'd figure "Hey, all the girls are here!" and hang around and keep on spending).

Great combinations:

"Mony Mony" (Idol) --> "Baby I'm A Star"

"You Shook Me All Night Long" --> "Control"

And so on.

Posted by: mitch at March 3, 2006 09:43 AM
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