New York DJ

While it’s rare that we spin exclusively current Top 40 at any event, it’s also rare to not play several current Top 40 songs at an event, either. While many of us – especially here in New York City – have our pet preferences for music we’d love to hear at an event, be it in the background over a drink, or that would quickly get us out to the dancefloor, there’s a few genres of music out there where cultures and genders and ages can meet happily. One of the biggest of these is Top 40 – basically, the ubiquitous pop, rock, R & B and hip hop tunes that you hear on the radio, blaring from a passing car on the street, or being pumped down at you from the ceiling of a Rite Aid.

Some people are totally at ease with Top 40 and love featuring it at their events, but, this being a city of many tastes, opinions and cultures, others have a negative or more complex relationship with this music: Some look down on it and think it’s all shallow. Some like a lot of it, but only after a certain number of drinks loosens them into open-mindedness. And some have to firmly emphasize that they like only one or two mainstream artists, but that's it, and the rest, as I've often heard this kind of person say, are crap. Now, I understand. Those who are a bit reticent toward Top 40 have a good point about its disposability and its seemingly cynical focus-grouped origins – many of these songs are quite bland, or, because the songs are often played everywhere, when you hear a good one, you may quickly tire of it from hearing so much.

But, just like Hollywood will often get it right and produce a couple of great mass-market blockbusters every year that most of us agree are very good, there’s always more than a handful of Top 40 tunes from every year that are more than just guilty pleasures or songs you will only let yourself enjoy when you’ve had a few too many drinks. Sometimes, these radio-friendly hits have great dance beats, fresh and catchy melodies, a new and exhilarating sound, a fun or sexy feel, or all of these qualities. Yes, it might be hard for some of the Lower East Side or Williamsburg hipsters to admit, but songs targeted for mass consumption are quite good at times, and their accessibility, simplicity and “bigness” are often exactly what is needed to liven up an event, and bring different types of people together to so willingly share a vibe – whether it’s a song that gets the hips moving at a cocktail hour, provides lyrics to sing along with at a dinner, or makes a lot of people rush out to the dancefloor at once.

Here’s 20 of the songs released in the past year or so that have really proven to excite the crowds we’ve spun for at all kinds of events – from West Village fashion shows to multicultural weddings, from huge midtown corporate parties to smaller, more exclusive private events. There is some variety to the genres here as well – though dominated by R & B, some crunked-out southern hip hop (Lil' Wayne), retro British female soul (Duffy) and indie rock (Ting Tings) also made the list. As a bonus, most of these songs will likely continue to go over well for the early part of 2009, and perhaps some will have a shelf-life that’s even longer. And our winners are (in no particular order):

1) Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) – Beyonce
2) Dangerous – Kardinal Offishall ft. Akon
3) Human – Killers
4) Forever – Chris Brown
5) Disturbia – Rihanna
6) Don’t Stop the Music – Rihanna
7) Got Money – Lil’ Wayne ft. T-Pain
A Milli – Lil’ Wayne
9) Shut Up and Let Me Go – Ting Tings
10) Paper Planes – M.I.A.
11) Bleeding Love – Leona Lewis
12) Mercy – Duffy
13) Womanizer – Britney Spears
14) Green Light – John Legend ft. Andre 3000
15) American Boy – Estelle ft.Kanye West
16) Whatever You Like – T.I.
17) I Kissed a Girl – Katy Perry
18) Hot & Cold – Katy Perry
19) Just Dance – Lady Gaga
20) No Air – Jordin Sparks

Being a DJ, and liking all kinds of musical genres, I see trends come and go all the time. But one that I never thought I would see at all, or see last as long as it has, is the transatlantic success of British female retro-soul singers like Amy Winehouse and Duffy. While some of these women put more of a tough, hip-hop attitude into their style, and others add a bit more sweetness, they all have a sound that’s a throwback to classic ‘60s female soul.

I’ve noticed that a wide range of people seem to like this trend at the events where we spin – Amy Winehouse is an artist that the hipsters, Top 40 fans, and those in their 50s and 60s who recall '60s soul's heyday can enjoy. And Winehouse’s success means guests at our events are more familiar with this retro soul sound, so we’ve been spinning similar artists during the early part of events that are lesser-known in the U.S., like Lily Allen and Candie Payne. (In April, I posted an entry here about a great Candie Payne song, check it out.)

And while it’s been fun at events to mix these these new soul singers in with vintage classics by Aretha Franklin, The Supremes or Gloria Jones, it’s also allowed me to bring out a song from the early '90s I’ve always loved and have long thought has been sadly unknown in this country. It’s by the British trio Saint Etienne (pictured above), and the singer’s name is Sarah Cracknell. While the group and Cracknell (who are still playing together) more often release albums of either electronic ambient or dance tunes, once in a while they record a straightforward pop song. I think this one is their best – the subject a simple a pledge of support to a friend feeling bad, the sweet music and vocals sounding like they were recorded two generations ago.

For the three or so minutes of this tune, Sarah Cracknell was definitely the Duffy of 1993!

Saint Etienne – You're In A Bad Way

This remix is a great example of how production tweaking in the right places can elevate a good song into a great one — and therefore make me much more confident putting it out there to a crowd at an event.

Candie Payne, a British singer sometimes compared with Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen since all share a similar '60s soul-ish sound in their vocals and song production, released her debut album "I Wish I Could Have Loved You More" last year. "One More Chance" is one of the better tracks on the album, sounding pleasantly like some one-hit-wonder Motown girl group circa 1965, with a dash of Nancy Sinatra thrown in.

I've DJ-ed the album version before, but it's a much better bet to spin the Mark Ronson mix of the song, which is available only on the import CD single (cover pictured). Ronson improves upon the relatively spare and almost plodding guitar instrumentation on the album mix of "One More Chance" by boosting Payne's vocals, adding more violins, a thicker drum beat, and filling the chorus with gorgeous ringing bells to lift the song into the retro stratosphere.

Candie Payne – One More Chance (Mark Ronson mix)