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Songs for a dance band

#63
bass12 said:
As far as anything African is concerned you can probably just choose anything that you think will make people dance and that the band plays well. Most people, I would think, won't know individual songs anyway. So it will be more about the style in general and what is danceable. Afrobeat (Fela, Femi - King Sunny played juju, not Afrobeat) is probably as good a place to start as any (though it might sound a bit empty without horns).

Reggae has been much bigger in California than it has been where I live so it's difficult to know what might work and what might be considered super-cliché at this point. Marley is generally a safe bet because even people who aren't into reggae often still like the familiar songs. Some other possibilities reggae-wise could be Toots & The Maytals, Gregory Isaacs, Steel Pulse, Dennis Brown, Dawn Penn, Marcia Griffiths, Etana, Koffee, Queen Ifrica.
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Toots = my #1 fave reggae artist ever since I saw him and the Maytals live back in 1975. He was very much influenced by Memphis soul music.
 
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#64
5StringBlues said:
who says its all got to be high energy? do three uptemp, then lets stay together. every couple hits the floor. this worked every gig for 5 years. that said, we were usually playing for dance groups where the youngest dancers were late 30s
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Experience is what tells me it needs to be high energy. At the weddings I play the guest age is usually majority 25-35, then you have the parents and grandparents, etc. Genre doesn't seem to matter too much. "Kids these days" have all heard the disco tunes and the 80's songs and the 90's hip hop and they love it all. The consistent high energy and DANCE TEMPOS (needed emphasis) are what tie all that stuff together. In my experience, anyway. I've been told the "New York Wedding" is a whole genre in and of itself, and different parts of the country do things differently, so YMMV.
 
#65
true nuff. its a bit more laid back in houston. still , people got to breathe.
Snarf said:
Experience is what tells me it needs to be high energy. At the weddings I play the guest age is usually majority 25-35, then you have the parents and grandparents, etc. Genre doesn't seem to matter too much. "Kids these days" have all heard the disco tunes and the 80's songs and the 90's hip hop and they love it all. The consistent high energy and DANCE TEMPOS (needed emphasis) are what tie all that stuff together. In my experience, anyway. I've been told the "New York Wedding" is a whole genre in and of itself, and different parts of the country do things differently, so YMMV.
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#67
Snarf said:
In the NY metro those songs would have the opposite of the desired effect.
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Maybe you're right.

Personally, I've only been doing this a little under 50 years; I don't have such confidence in my knowledge of whether or not a lesser-played song is going to go over with dancers or not, but I'm willing to find out, especially with tunes that haven't been trotted out and beaten to death.

My previously posted list below scored on all counts, but came from actually trying them in front of a crowd first; It came from a longer list of let's-try-these, with some songs that turned out to not resonate with dancers.

The worst that can happen is you experiment toward the end of the second set; If the dance floor thins, you quick-fire a tried-and-true, close out the set and come back with your standards for the final set. Rinse/repeat the next night and you might find a single set worth of dance tunes to sprinkle in that helps you stand out from the other bands.

Pocket Dave said:
Wanna mix things up with a smattering of dance styles that might make you stand out from the typical "Brick House" dance band?







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#69
l bet folks even dance to LAST 2 DOLLARS in yer neck of the woods.
Pocket Dave said:
Maybe you're right.

Personally, I don't have such confidence in my knowledge of whether or not a song is going to go over with dancers or not, but I'm willing to find out, especially with tunes that haven't been trotted out and beaten to death.

My previously posted list below scored on all counts, but came from actually trying them in front of a crowd first; It came from a longer list with some songs that turned out to not resonate with dancers.
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#72
Lots of good ideas so far. I'll second "Cake by the Ocean." Some not so good ideas....Steely Dan? Really? For dancing? Well, maybe.

Here are some songs that the dance band I was in played that worked well:
This is How We Do it
Billie Jean
Blurred Lines
Fireball
Get Down on it
Return of the Mac
Santeria
Rock Your Body
Sexyback
Uptown Funk
Treasure
What I Got
Hot in Heere
Sugar

Good luck. How does the drummer feel about play a four on the floor beat?
 
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#74
Pocket Dave said:
Maybe you're right.

Personally, I've only been doing this a little under 50 years; I don't have such confidence in my knowledge of whether or not a lesser-played song is going to go over with dancers or not, but I'm willing to find out, especially with tunes that haven't been trotted out and beaten to death.

My previously posted list below scored on all counts, but came from actually trying them in front of a crowd first; It came from a longer list of let's-try-these, with some songs that turned out to not resonate with dancers.

The worst that can happen is you experiment toward the end of the second set; If the dance floor thins, you quick-fire a tried-and-true, close out the set and come back with your standards for the final set. Rinse/repeat the next night and you might find a single set worth of dance tunes to sprinkle in that helps you stand out from the other bands.
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Yup, there's always a spot in the night where you can try stuff. Usually my band will try new songs on bar gigs first before putting them in weddings.
 
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#80
Someone mentioned "Shut Up And Dance" and that always seems to go over well at the weddings and corporate functions I play. The Mark Ronson/Amy Winehouse version of "Valerie" goes over well in bars here (and gets requested a lot). "Tennessee Whiskey" is also a guaranteed floor-filler here as long as there are couples in the room.
 
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