New York DJ

Well, the New Year is almost here and along with midnight kisses, champagne, and Auld Lang Syne often comes the tradition of watching the ball drop in Times Square. So with New York City in many people's mind's tonight, we thought this a perfect time to bring you a mix of great New York City songs for your events to not just feature at year-end events, but throughout the whole year.

Often at events located in or near the city, no matter what time of the year, we find that playing a few songs that reference New York in some way add an extra sentimental touch, both for those who live here or nearby, and those who have come to the event from out of the state or out of the country. The great thing about the city is that there's been so many songs in so many styles written about it, so therefore we've chosen songs are from a wide range of genres – jazz, soul, rock, folk, indie pop, reggae, hip-hop, merengue, and more. The songs are also from a wide variety of moods, some quiet, some loud, some in between, so you'll find many songs here to everything from a small dinner gathering to a huge corporate party. Many of these songs even helped define these genres they come from. Some of these are classics you've heard many times but still love and would want to hear many more times, some are newer and likely completely unfamiliar, some are only songs you want to hear when drunk, but all feature the city as a central part of the tune and capture an essence of the Big Apple in their own memorable way.

Here is the list of the songs included in the mix (arranged in a consecutive order, generally, of rising party-ability):

1. Take the "A" Train – Duke Ellington
2. Let Me Off Uptown – Mel Tormé
3. The Brooklyn Bridge – Mel Tormé
4. Manhattan – Ella Fitzgerald
5. Autumn In New York – Frank Sinatra
6. Spanish Harlem – Ben E. King
7. Brooklyn and Jamaica – Morgan Heritage
8. Take the L Train (To Brooklyn) Brooklyn Funk Essentials
9. Breakfast In NYC – Oppenheimer
10. Walk on the Wild Side – Lou Reed
11. Going Home – Luna
12. NYC – Interpol
13. Coney Island – Death Cab for Cutie
14. Wintering in Brooklyn – The Last Town Chorus
15. The Only Living Boy in New York – Simon & Garfunkel
16. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) Simon & Garfunkel
17. The City – Joe Purdy
18. Fairytale of New York – The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl
19. Angel of Harlem – U2
20. New York, New York – Ryan Adams
21. Broadway – Goo Goo Dolls
22. New York City – They Might Be Giants
23. Rockaway Beach – The Ramones
24. Rockin' the Bronx – Black 47
25. Brooklyn – Mos Def
26. South Bronx – KRS-One & Boogie Down Productions
27. New York New York – Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel & The Furious Five
28. No Sleep 'til Brooklyn – Beastie Boys
29. Brooklyn's Finest (feat. The Notorious B.I.G.) – Jay-Z
30. Big Pimpin' (feat. UGK) – Jay-Z
31. Across 110th Street – Bobby Womack
32. Native New Yorker – Odyssey
33. Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) – Christopher Cross
34. New York Soul – Ray Barretto
35. Funky Broadway – Wilson Pickett
36. 110th St. & 5th Ave. – Tito Puente
37. Un Dia en New York Los Hermanos Rosario
38. Fiesta en el Bronx – Frank River
39. NYC Beat – Armand Van Helden
40. New York City Boy – Pet Shop Boys
41. I Love New York – Madonna
42. I Love NYC – Andrew W.K. 
43. New York State of Mind – Billy Joel 
44. Theme from New York, New York – Frank Sinatra

So, as Frank Sinatra sings in his famous rendition of "New York, New York," let those little town dreams melt away and go listen to the mix here.

When it comes to events that include a cocktail hour or dinner in which jazz standards by classic male vocalists are wanted, clients often eagerly suggest either Sinatra, Dean Martin, or Tony Bennett. The name Mel Torme, a contemporary of these others, doesn’t often come up, though. I think it’s because in the casual listener’s mind – a mind that's not familiar with Torme's entire range of musical moods – his vocal style is considered a bit too showy or cutesy, and therefore might pose the risk of giving the event a schmaltzy air.

It’s unfortunate. In a gentler world, you’d be able to play a tender, lullaby-esque Torme song like “Brooklyn Bridge” at the early part of an event without fear that those under 65 will think you’re lame or a wimp, but for now, we’ve got to keep most of these playfully sweet vintage songs (come on, a lot of you like listen to them now and then) confined to our headphones, car stereos, or Valentine’s Day.

Mel Torme recorded a lot of albums during his career, though, and there’s a good amount of his songs that aren’t light and cute, but sexy and swingin.’ And some songs even veer into soul territory. The best example I’ve found of this is his hit from 1962, “Comin’ Home Baby.” The song kicks off with a bluesy piano riff and a gritty, smoky vocal that makes you think you’re listening to Ray Charles. Because Torme abandons his velvety romantic croon for this more soul-esque sound, coupled with the female back-up singers sultrily calling back in response to his singing, you get the impression in this tune that Torme isn’t interested in comin’ home to sweetly give you flowers and a peck on the lips, but that instead, when he arrives he'll take his girl right into the bedroom and – well, you get the idea.

We’ve played this song before during cocktail hour at events, and once a man asked who did it. When I told him, he looked surprised. I recall he seemed to expect me to say it was someone like Ray Charles or Otis Redding. But I think he walked away with a more impressive image of Mel Torme. Hopefully you will as well.

Mel Torme – Comin' Home Baby

While a large part of a DJ’s job is to please the crowd with a song they love or a beat that grooves, another element altogether – usually when it’s time for arrivals, cocktail hour or dinner – is to provide a proper atmosphere. This is where song recognition, or a great dance song, aren’t as important, and an overall feel is. Often these times are a great place to spin songs that a crowd may have never heard of before, but that perfectly fits the mood.

Many clients that hire us really like that we know the obscure gems in a wide range of genres of music. But more and more, we’ve noticed that in the past few years clients are wanting their cocktail hours or dinners to feature indie music, which we loosely define as pop or rock outside the mainstream in that it’s often on a small record label, not as polished-sounding, or tends to offers a more offbeat or unfamiliar perspective. Some can only listen to indie music, while others may think it’s trying too hard to be different. Regardless, it’s a genre that seems to have grown at such an astounding pace over the past 25 years from when it was known as "college" or "alternative" rock that we’re not surprised more clients are wanting some kind of indie music at their events.

Since just after the turn of the millennium, a lot of indie bands began to bring back the lush guitars and synthesizer riffs, soaring choruses, and often angsty vocals of the ‘80s, as evident in the sound of now well-known bands like The Arcade Fire and The Killers. If you like this sound, as well as lesser-known bands using it, such as Interpol and M83, you’ll love the Swedish band The Mary Onettes.

Theiur album came out about a year ago, and I don't know exactly why they never got more of a buzz. Maybe there’s too many of these angsty bands around now, or maybe the band's record label has been crowded out by bigger indie labels, but whatever the case, forgive the "punny" name of the group. This band nails the majestic, moody, ‘80s sound as popularized by Echo & the Bunnymen, The Church, Modern English, the Jesus and Mary Chain and the like to such a exact degree that you could pass the album off to an indiepop geek as a long-unheralded album from England recorded around 1980 that influenced all the other bands from the time. All the elements are there: Slightly Gothic vocals? Check. Icily pretty synth riffs? Yep. Dirgy basslines? Uh-huh. Bittersweet melodies? Of course. This album is so influenced by this '80s mood that it even extends to its packaging – a stylishly austere Joy Division-like album cover.

But somehow, it all sounds quite fresh. It really shouldn’t, but because the last few years of hearing Coldplay, The Killers and Arcade Fire have made this old sound seem more like the sound of now then maybe it was then, to me the "flashback" associations aren't as powerful. But more so, I think the album is good simply because it's well-crafted and energetic: While the lyrics are a bit generic at times, most of the melodies are quite beautiful; each of many generation-old influences are added in just the right quantities, at just the right times; and the band plays with such focus in forging their rainy-day melancholy that this mood quickly establishes an authority over you.

Listen to samples of "Lost" and "Explosions," and see what you think.

The Mary Onettes – Explosions

The Mary Onettes – Lost

Over the past few years, we’ve noticed that some clients whose events we’ve been hired to perform at during the holiday season are telling us to not just abstain from playing Christmas music, but to not play any holiday-themed music whatsoever. The reason for this is a well-intentioned one – clients are being more sensitive to those guests who do not celebrate Christmas. While most of the events that I am referring to have been corporate parties, some have been weddings, too.

Now, I'm not some grouch who spouts negative grandiosities like "Christmas is under attack in America," or thinks that Christmas music always should be played at holiday parties and those who are bothered by Nat “King” Cole singing “The Christmas Song” should just zip their lips and let everyone else enjoy hearing about the damn chestnuts roasting on an open fire. I’ve said many times in this blog that one of the best things about DJ-ing in New York City is how it exposes you to so much great music of other cultures, and this makes me get to know those other cultures a bit. And I’ve found that with only a little more familiarity comes a lot more appreciation. When you preview and get to know a client’s Arabic or Panjabi or Korean song requests before an event, and then see when you play them at the event how the songs make the crowd so happy and euphoric, or witness the special or intricate dances that the guests will often perform to the songs, these other cultures become less of a stranger, and, at least to me, something you come to enjoy and care about more.

That said, playing absolutely no holiday music at a wintertime party whatsoever – like even banning songs simply about snow, such as “Winter Wonderland” – can often make guests feel there’s something missing. At events where we’ve been told to not play any holiday songs, guests have approached us and asked when we’re going to bust them out. When we tell them we're not allowed to, these guests either look baffled or a bit angry. And these aren’t all people who want Christmas songs; some just want a few "wintery" songs sprinkled throughout the party, like the jazz standards "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” or "Baby, it’s Cold Outside."

So, to help you acknowledge the time of year but also be sensitive to those who celebrate traditions other than Christmas, here’s a few suggestions:

1) Play Winter Songs, Not Christmas Songs – There's a lot more of these than you think out there, like "Let it Snow," and the aforementioned songs "Winter Wonderland," "Ive Got My Love to Keep Me Warm," and "Baby it's Cold Outside." These songs are jazzy classics that most everyone knows, and if you think they're too tired and familiar, all you need to do is go to iTunes to see that these songs are also performed by many different artists, and often played in many different styles other than the jazz vocal style, such as reggae, soul, indie pop, and even electronica-ish DJ remixes. I've recently put together a mix of songs on iTunes that showcases some of these alternate versions of winter songs. To hear the mix, go here.

2) Ask Your Guests How they Feel About a Few Christmas Songs – If there's only a few of your guests that coming that don't celebrate Christmas, just simply ask them if they mind if a few Christmas songs are played. Holiday parties don't mean Christmas or holiday-themed music is going to be played constantly – that would sickening, and many of those who do celebrate Christmas don't want to hear more Christmas music then they already are bombarded with during the season. The trick here is to be friendly and open about the way you ask. Don't imply a judgment or a negative consequence by asking something like, "Hey, you're not going to spoil the party for everyone and be a real drag and object to a few harmless Christmas songs, are you?" Ask the question in a more neutral way, like "What do you think if a few Christmas songs are played during the party?"

3) Make It a Multi-Cultural Holiday Party – If you know there are more than a few guests from other cultures coming to the event, why not ask if all guests are up for a party that includes a bit of Christmas music, but also music from other holiday traditions that those from these other cultures celebrate. Then you're turning hoilday-themed music – which many clients see as a potnetial alienating element to the party – into one that can become an interesting, educational, and even bonding experience. True, the bonding might be over how both Kwanzaa songs and Christmas songs remind guests of wintertime visits to their annoying relatives homes, but, hey, it's a start.