Tag Archives: Rock Music

DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix

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I gratefully continue to receive calls from Brides and Grooms requesting their professional Wedding DJ to play Rock Music at the Cocktail Hour and Reception of their Wedding. This makes me happy since Rock Music is not as popular today among younger people as it was before the rise of Hip Hop, Rap and R&B. Of course, just like Hip Hop and Rap, the professional Wedding DJ needs to be mindful of not playing music that is too hyped-up or loud during the Cocktail Hour of Weddings and make sure those who are elderly or want to enjoy conversation and relaxation during the Cocktail Hour, are not overpowered by the music. This is what I created the DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix for.

 

It is hard for me as an ‘old school’ professional DJ to make mixes that cut songs short and segue to songs that maybe do not belong together in order to include enough tunes to offer Brides and Grooms a large enough sample of what we can play at their Cocktail Hour or Reception in a mix like this. I even struggle when doing this with Dance mixes but when it comes to Rock, I struggle greater due to the nature of Rock Music and the integrity of the lyrical content and musicians talent. I guess we all have to make some concessions as professional Wedding DJs to serve our Brides and Grooms best and help them decide what music they want at their weddings.

DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix

      Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix - DJ Mystical Michael

This same mix would also work well as a sample for a Birthday, Anniversary or Reunion Party for those whom would like Rock Music played during Dinner at their event too!

Beautiful Rhode Island Wedding DJ with DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix

Let me know what you think.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Ask about my Rhode Island Wedding DJ & Rhode Island Party DJ Guarantee!

Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams

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I find it fascinating which and when certain 80’s songs like Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams, pop into current music requests again. Recently, I have noticed that many of the Hall & Oates hits are being replayed with enthusiasm. Hall & Oates were sort of their own genre for a little while, often being referred to as ‘Blue Eyed Soul’. This was during the period when musical genre split social and cultural groups to very specific audiences and it was rare for a group like Hall & Oates to reach multiple groups. Another group that had success with this were The Doobie Brothers, especially when Michael MacDonald went solo.

Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams Music Video

This song in particular, Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams, is a great song for a professional DJ since it can be mixed with Pop, Dance, Oldies, R&B and Rock seamlessly. Last Thursday night, Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams worked perfectly with an 80’s Rock set but also on Friday night with some Pop and Dance stuff from the same period.

Fun new Jersey Wedding DJ Hall and Oates You Make My Dreams

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army

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The other night I was at an event dancing with some friends and the DJ played this version of Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army. I had not heard Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army before and it rocks! It is an exclusive mix for the film G.I. Joe” Retaliation. The funny part is that the DJ is someone I trained as a DJ!  This is one of the beauties of music; it never ends with its constant surprises and inspiration.

Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army Mp3

      The Glitch Mob - Seven Nation Army Remix (The White Stripes)

I have typically not been a big fan of overplaying remixes and mash-ups but am starting to open my mind lately due to some really fun versions I have heard and moved to in recent weeks, especially, Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army.

Fun Rhode Island Wedding DJ with Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army

“Glitch Mob/The White Stripes Seven Nation Army was also featured on the February 1, 2011 broadcast of Democracy Now!, where it was linked to the massive pro-democracy demonstrations then occurring in Egypt.  Speaking with Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy, host Amy Goodman said “That music is in your ears and head all the time, you said, Mona,” to which Eltahawy replied:

It’s a loop, Amy, because every time I hear the opening lines—”I’m going to fight them off. A seven-nation army couldn’t hold me back”—it just takes me to Egypt, where people—I’ve never seen anything like it. Literally, nothing can hold them back. Mubarak shuts down the internet, shuts down the train system, shuts down almost the entire country, and still they come. It’s beautiful.”

 

 

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

 

 

The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)

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The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)is a classic song and The Beastie Boys are legends that have left a legacy across genre and generations.  I remember when I was the professional DJ at a graduation party for a friend of mine. Halfway through the night, my friend Mark came up and handed me a record and said, “Play this”.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Don’t worry, just play it”.

Fun Rhode Island Wedding DJ The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)

It was his party so I played it. It was The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party). I was hooked. Very few artist have been as experimental and creative with their bold attempts to try few things for themselves and for all musicians simultaneously like The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party).

The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) Music Video

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Jeff Buckley Hallelujah

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One of my favorite songs of all music, Jeff Buckley Hallelujah.  Jeff Buckley Hallelujah was initially written and recorded by Leonard Cohen, released in 1984 and brought back to fame when K.D.Lang sang her version at the opening ceremonies in Vancouver at the 2004 Winter Olympics Games to an estimated 3 million listeners and viewers.  Every version of this song I have enjoyed but, the Jeff Buckley Hallelujah version moves me in a way few songs can.  Jeff Buckley Hallelujah was ranked #259 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004. Many artists and composers have pointed to Jeff Buckley Hallelujah and have claimed it is the closest to perfection of any song ever.

Jeff Buckley Hallelujah Mp3

      Hallelujah

It did not enjoy any commercial success when Jeff Buckley was alive but many years later. He died in 1997 and Jeff Buckley Hallelujah gained popularity in 2006 and then went viral in 2008 reaching the top of Billboard’s Hot Digital Songs. Jeff Buckley Hallelujah has been featured in many films and TV shows expressing both the joyful and sorrowful aspects of his rendition.

Jeff Buckley Hallelujah Live Music Video

Cohen himself sang different lyrics live than he recorded on the original studio version. He has embraced the various different versions in style and lyrics that have been recorded and performed since by all the artists interpretation of the song creatively alternative to its original.

dancing through the storm with Jeff Buckley Hallelujah Rhode Island Wedding DJ

As a professional DJ, I play Jeff Buckley Hallelujah whenever it makes sense and fits the energy of the event. I like to play this as a closing song, again in situations where it fits.

K.D.Lang Hallelujah Live Performance at Winter Olympics

{embed]http://youtu.be/rVq0L4kkpKM[/embed]

Here are the lyrics to the 1988 version via Leonard Cohen.

Baby, I’ve been here before.
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor.
I used to live alone before I knew you.

Yeah I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch,
But listen, love is not some kind of victory march,
No it’s a cold and it’s a very broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, (Hallelujah…)

There was a time you let me know
What’s really going on below,
Ah but now you never show it to me, do you?

Yeah but I remember, yeah when I moved in you,
And the holy dove, she was moving too,
Yes every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Maybe there’s a God above,
As for me, all I’ve ever seemed to learn from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.

Yeah but it’s not a complaint that you hear tonight,
It’s not the laughter of someone who claims to have seen the light
No it’s a cold and it’s a very lonely Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

I did my best, it wasn’t much.
I couldn’t feel, so I learned to touch.
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come all this way to fool you.

Yeah even tough it all went wrong
I’ll stand right here before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

 

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young

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One of the marvels of the technological age in the music industry is the various ways a song can become a hit. Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young went from #48 to #3 on Billboard HOT 100 this week, it is the highest ranking yet for the group Fun..  Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young has been featured on TV shows “Chuck” and “Glee” and was still not a hit. It took a Chevy commercial during the Super Bowl with Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young for this song to receive the notoriety it deserves.

 

I also find it entertaining that folks insult each other over how they found out about the artist or song. To me, the source is not important. If you like a song or found it increased the enjoyment of a TV show, movie or commercial, good for you! Music has the magic of shifting anything into something special with the right song. This is the job of a good professional DJ. We take traditional occasions and turn them into a lasting memory and an event to talk about with excitement. Music can do that.

Fun Wedding Celebration with Bride and Groom with New jersey Wedding DJ Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young

Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young is a fun video and creative in its presentation. I appreciate the unique story they tell in the video, while continuing to hold the energy of the Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young. Have fun.

Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young Music Video

Fun. featuring Janelle Monae We Are Young is a song recorded by American band Fun for their second studio album Some Nights (2012). It was released on September 20, 2011 as the lead single from Some Nights. Musically, “We Are Young” is an anthem that incorporates the genres of indie pop, alternative rock, and power pop. The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, with many noting the song as a breakthrough for the indie genre and praising the song’s catchiness. “We Are Young” has attained commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in several countries.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Boomtown Rats I Don’t Like Mondays

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It was on this day in 1979 that Brenda Ann Spencer started shooting at the elementary school across the street from her house. She killed two and wounded nine others. The gun was a .22 that her father gave her for Christmas. When asked why she did it, her response was simple, “I don’t like Mondays”. It was one month later that The Boomtown Rats performed Boomtown Rats I Don’t Like Mondays written by bandleader Bob Geldorf for the first time.  He was inspired for Boomtown Rats I Don’t Like Mondays during an interview when it hit him, “It was such a senseless act. It was the perfect senseless act and this was the perfect senseless reason for doing it. So perhaps I wrote the perfect senseless song to illustrate it. It wasn’t an attempt to exploit tragedy.”

 Boomtown Rats I Don’t Like Mondays Music Video

For several years the radio stations in San Diego, the place of the crime, would not play Boomtown Rats I Don’t Like Mondays on the radio to honor sensitive listeners who may not appreciate Geldorf’s peculiar humor.

Rhode Island DJ Dance in sunset Boomtown Rats I Don't Like Mondays

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Roy Orbison Pretty Woman

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Roy Orbison was one of our great voices in pop music. He grew-up listening to and playing Rockabilly and Country and Western in Texas.  Between 1960-1964, Orbison had 22 singles place on Billboards Top 40. He was elected into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Bruce Springsteen was his presenter. Roy Orbison Pretty Woman reached #1 on Billboard and stayed there for three weeks.

Roy Orbison Pretty Woman Music Video

Roy Orbison Pretty Woman is a great song that has been covered by many artists and still is today. Roy Orbison Pretty Woman shows up in films including Dumb and Dumber and Pretty Woman, as well as a Van Halen cover in Weird Science. Roy Orbison Pretty Woman has even made its appearance in several Bollywood films.

Roy Orbison Pretty Woman from Film Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts

Roy made a comeback when teaming up with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne to form the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys. He died of a heart attack soon after that. His first wife and two of his sons died of separate accidents.

Five years after its release, in 1969, the single was awarded gold record by RIAA. Orbison posthumously won the 1991Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his live recording of the song on his HBO television special Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. In 1999, the song was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame‘s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #222 on their list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”

Beautiful Bride Dancing with Rhode Island Wedding DJ and Roy Orbison Pretty Woman

Believe it or not, I had the “45” of Roy Orbison Pretty Woman when I was a kid. It was not a hit any more by that time though, but as a child that did not matter to me. Now I still play Roy Orbison Pretty Woman as a professional DJ.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Bush Landslide (Rooftop Version)

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Amazing version #4! I loved Landslide when it was first released by Fleetwood Mac in 1975 written by Stevie Nicks.  I had the opportunity to see Fleetwood Mac perform Landslide outdoors twice in the summer of 1977 on their Rumors Tour. I had such a crush on Stevie:)

Fleetwood Mac Landslide Music Video

Then there was an excellent cover by Smashing Pumpkins which took residence in my car CD player for a month or so.

Amazing version #3 was by The Dixie Chicks who had a huge crossover hit with it and I just recently had a request for this version.

Now, Bush has released another version that is equally as forceful and full of Soul and passion!

Bush Landslide (Rooftop Version) Music Video

Stevie Nicks wrote this while debating going back to college or what to do with her romantic and musical partner Lindsay Buckingham. She was gazing out a window in Aspen, Colorado reflecting on her choices, “looking out at the Rocky Mountains pondering the avalanche of everything that had come crashing down on us … at that moment, my life truly felt like a landslide in many ways.”

Bride and Groom Dance at Wedding with Rhode Island Wedding DJ playing Landslide

Landslide Lyrics 

I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
‘Till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life

Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I’m getting older too

Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I’m getting older too
Oh, I’m getting older too

Oh, take my love, take it down
Oh, climb a mountain and turned around
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well, the landslide will bring it down

And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well, the landslide will bring it down
Oh, the landslide will bring it down

 

Which is your favorite version of Landslide?

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

U2 Beautiful Day

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U2 Beautiful Day. On this day, December 9th, in the year 2000, U2 made their first appearance on Saturday Night Live. As much as they are viewed as a commercial band today, that was not always the case. In fact, U2 was a band that started by Larry Mullen, Jr, the band’s drummer at age fourteen. He had posted a flier at his school looking for guys to start a band.  The other three members that are still with the band showed-up along with a few other guys who either chose not to stick with the group or faded away. Their first meeting and rehearsal was in his kitchen. It was not till four years later that they received their first recording contract and were not very successful.

U2 Beautiful Day Music Video

An interesting note about the band. After their second album, The Edge, Bono and Mullen joined a Christian rock band named “Shalom Fellowship” and U2 almost broke-up over the spiritual direction of the band, long before U2 Beautiful Day.

U2 Beautiful Day with Rhode Island Wedding DJ

U2 Beautiful Day is the first track from their 2000 album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, and it was released as the album’s lead single. It was a commercial success, helping launch the album to multi-platinum status, and is one of U2’s biggest hits to date. Like many tracks from All That You Can’t Leave Behind, U2 Beautiful Day harkens back to the group’s past sound. The tone of The Edge‘s guitar was a subject of debate amongst the band members, as they disagreed on whether he should use a sound similar to that from their early career in the 1980s. Lead vocalist Bono explained that the upbeat track is about losing everything but still finding joy in what one has.

U2 Beautiful Day received positive reviews, and it became their fourth number-one single in the UK and their first number-one in the Netherlands. The song peaked at number 21 in the United States, the band’s highest position since “Discothèque” in 1997. In2001, the song won three Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The group has played U2 Beautiful Day at every one of their concerts since the song’s 2001 live debut on the Elevation Tour.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ