Dance music
Erland Sommarskog
>I do not agree with this. New Order, Depeche Mode, OMD, Dead or Alive, etc.
>are much more danceable -- check out what is played in dance clubs -- you
>do not get top 40; it is either Modern Dance Music (as above), or house or
>club, etc.
A problem when you go dance places these days is that the DJ may crank
out song after song you have never heard, and on top on all most of
it is quite boring to dance to. (I don't know if it is this "house" music
they talk of or what it is.)
As we have noted before in this newsgroup what is danceable or not
has a lot to do with what you like. If you prefer New Order & co before
Top 40 (isn't both New Order and Depeche Mode typical hit-lists
bands, by the way?) you probably think they work better as dance music.
I for the one rather look for a chair or the bar if they put on "Blue
Monday" which I find a cold and boring piece that has little to do near
a dance floor.
Another factor I think is important is regocnition. It is much more
fun and easy to dance to songs that you've heard before. Sure, there
are songs that work the first time. (Philip Bailey's "Easy Lover" and
Haritcut One Hundred's "Favourite Shirts" are two songs I discovered
while dancing.) But for ordinary songs, familliarty helps a lot.
Back in my old academic circuits a month I attended a ball. As
usually we had big-band jazz directly after the dinner. As the band
have done theirs and the late-night food have been eaten a DJ takes
over. It may sound like the total break of style: disco with the
boys in dress suits and the girls in long dresses, but believe me,
with the big dance floor provided, it's extremely fun. Anyway, the
DJ they had this year must be the best I ever heard. He almost only
played familliar songs. Mostly oldies, but some new hits as well.
And no destroying effect mixes, no stupid chat, just played the songs
straight. Fun to dance to, enjoyable just to listen to. And, yes,
he even played "Sensuella Isabella" maybe my dance-floor favourite
number one.
--
Erland Sommarskog - ENEA Data, Stockholm - som...@enea.se
I used to say "It could have been worse, it could have been Pepsi",
then I drank a Diet Coke...
Laura La Gassa
something that gets me into the conversation . . . .
John Eisenman (ji...@echo.SGI.COM) writes:
>New Order, Depeche Mode, OMD, Dead or Alive, etc.
>are much more danceable -- check out what is played in dance clubs -- you
>do not get top 40; it is either Modern Dance Music (as above), or house or
>club, etc.
Show me a club in the United State that plays a decent amount of "Modern Dance
Music" and I will buy you all the drinks you can hold at said club AND pay
your cover! The places I've been to recently in New York City and Austin
Texas play pretty pitiful stuff, in my opinion. Erland describes accurately
why:
In article <44...@enea.se> som...@enea.se (Erland Sommarskog) writes:
>A problem when you go dance places these days is that the DJ may crank
>out song after song you have never heard, and on top on all most of
>it is quite boring to dance to. (I don't know if it is this "house" music
>they talk of or what it is.)
I think this is the "house" music. It is everywhere, and the vast majority
of it is AWFUL. No lyrics, repetititive repetitive reptititive electronic
drum beats that give electro-drums a bad name, inane synthesizer work. "House"
supposedly got started with those 4A.D. wonder-people who's initials spell
M/A/A/R/S. THEY did it passably well. (Colourbox does, too). The rest --
like Yazz and the Plastic People (for example) do it poorly.
A steady 120 bpm does not a good dance song make. For me, the music needs
to have interesting stuff layered into it -- maybe really nifty synth or
guitar work that you can improvise dance steps to, maybe really good lyrics
you can sing along with, something other than BOOM BOOM BOOM ad nauseum.
Erland continues:
> As we have noted before in this newsgroup what is danceable or not
>has a lot to do with what you like. If you prefer New Order & co before
>Top 40 (isn't both New Order and Depeche Mode typical hit-lists
>bands, by the way?) you probably think they work better as dance music.
And he is correct, of course. If you like the no-name "house" stuff, that
is your perogative. But as I've said before, if I can get one NO and one DM
song out of a DJ on a given night, I feel it's been a good one. The one
night I heard Pet Shop Boys AND OMD AND The Cure played in the same club I
thought I'd gone to dance heaven!
> Another factor I think is important is regocnition. It is much more
>fun and easy to dance to songs that you've heard before. Sure, there
>are songs that work the first time.
How true!!!! I wonder why the DJ at the clubs I've been to doesn't notice
that! The floor will be empty, and then the DJ will start mixing in
"Bizarre Love Triangle" and people run to the floor squealing with delight.
The next song is some unknown BOOM BOOM BOOM song, and half the people
leave. I know the club wants people to go to the bar and order drinks, but
this is ridiculous.
My ideal night at a club would include music from the following bands:
(in no particular order)
Book of Love, Camoflage, Clan of Xymox, Depeche Mode, English Beat, Erasure,
Eurythmics, Ministry, New Order, Orchestral Manoevers in the Dark, Pet
Shop Boys, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Sisters of Mercy, Yaz(oo), A Flock of Seagulls,
Altered Images, ABC, Cure.
Of course, not everyone shares my taste, so I'll settle for half of the
above and half house and/or rap. What the heck, with such an arrangement,
I'll probably be in a REALLY good mood, so go ahead and toss that copy of
Madonna's "Lucky Star" on the turntable too.
Still looking for a good club to call home,
Laura
lau...@cs.utexas.edu
Ken Chasse
>>My ideal night at a club would include music from the following bands:
>>(in no particular order)
>>Book of Love, Camoflage, Clan of Xymox, Depeche Mode, English Beat, Erasure,
>>Eurythmics, Ministry, New Order, Orchestral Manoevers in the Dark, Pet
(BAUHAUS), MIRROR IN THE BATHROOM/TIWST & CRAWL (Enlish Beat)...
/kc cha...@ziebmef.uucp cha...@ecf.toronto.edu
Woa, MINISTRY? Would that include the likes of MISSING and DEITY, or just
easy listening stuph like YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE (doesnt everyone just LOVE
the swearing it in, just lik everyone loved MONY MONY because of the chanting
it induces with swearing it - that songs swearing was used by 3 clubs in
their commercials).
Richard Cooper
>In article <166...@hpfcdq.HP.COM> be...@hpfcdq.HP.COM (Jeff Benjamin) writes:
>>>My ideal night at a club would include music from the following bands:
>>>(in no particular order)
>>>Book of Love, Camoflage, Clan of Xymox, Depeche Mode, English Beat, Erasure,
>>>Eurythmics, Ministry, New Order, Orchestral Manoevers in the Dark, Pet
>
>
>Songs you WOULDNT play, the 7 deadly songs....how about BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD
>(BAUHAUS), MIRROR IN THE BATHROOM/TIWST & CRAWL (Enlish Beat)...
Well, there was a venue in Australia that actually did play Bela
Lugosi's Dead, as well as things like Black Horses (Durutti Column), and
it was, pretty much, a dance club. They are great songs to listen to
very loudly in a very big dark place, though perhaps they aren't great
to dance to. But then, at closing time, you need some way to clear the
dance floor. :-)
Richard
EJV...@psuvm.bitnet
"goth", but Bauhaus is my favorite. All the "splinter" works of the band
members are great too!. Love & Rockets, Tones On Tail, Dali's Car, not to
mention some solo work. Oh well just playing around got nothing left to do.