"Taming the Savage DJ"

By Joe Donato,
all rights reserved © 2010

Ever been to a wedding and get the sense that DJs have a hidden agenda to inundate the world with Frank Sinatra, Hip Hop, Disco, and nothing else in between? Sometimes that can happen. It's not that DJs love disco and hip-hop. They are simply playing what, in their experience will get the party started. But how can you get the DJ to play a greater variety of music you can Ballroom dance to, without bringing your collection of “Dancing with the Stars” CDs along with you to the wedding, and playing music that nobody else can enjoy?

 

The fact is all good DJs depend on response from you. They love it. It makes their job so much easier. So you should never feel inappropriate or out of line for requesting music. But if you go up to a DJ and say "can you play a Foxtrot" or "can you play a Hustle", odds are, there is a good chance they won’t know what to play.

 

 Even though Ballroom dancing has been around for hundreds of years, it has only just recently experienced a new “boom”, and the DJs have barely had a chance to become ballroom dance music afficionados. So don't put the burden all on the DJ. Go In with a song title in mind. If you say "can you play a Cha Cha", odds are you'll get that version of "tea for two" from the 1940's, when you could be dancing to Santana, or the B52s, or the Black Eyed Peas or even ACDC.

 

If you ask for a swing, surely you'll get "In the Mood" and "Jump Jive and wail". But who knew you could just as easily swing to "Crocidile Rock", "Lido Shuffle" or "Footloose". All great swing rhythms.

 

If you ask for a Foxtrot, will he look at you like you got nine heads, or will he be able to whip out Harry Connick Jr's "Had to Be You" or Bobby Darin's "Under the Sea" or every other Frank Sinatra song without a blink? And surely if you ask for a Rumba, you won’t get "Under the Boardwalk" or "My Girl" or "Stand By me" or Sting's "Field's of Gold". But you could. They’re all great rumbas.

 

You could ask the DJ to play a Waltz. Sure, he might know which songs are a Waltz, or they might put on the one Edelweiss instrumental they have from their “Ballroom Standards” cd. Or he’ll search and not have anything. But if you say "Can you play Aretha Franklin's "Natural Woman" or Eagles "Take it to the Limit". And then go out and Waltz to it, surely you’ll light up the dance floor. In addition, the DJ will now know that people can waltz to those songs for his next gig.

 

I have never seen a time when a couple took to the floor and did some ballroom moves that it didn't light up the room to some degree and add and extra touch of class to the affair. So, I strongly encourage you to work with your DJ. Go in prepared with some song titles that other people will also enjoy.

 

"But Joe," you ask. "How in the world are we supposed to gather up a list of which songs are which dance? If the DJ doesn’t know, how can we?" Here's a start. I’ve made two lists below of 100 songs that I have culled mostly from "top requested wedding songs” DJ websites. The first lists songs by their title, and gives you the artist and the dance most appropriate for that song. The second just lists the songs grouped in the type of dance you want to dance, so you can browse. As I said, this list is a start. If you have any other song titles of great popular songs that you can ballroom or rhythm dance to, that are not on this list, feel free to email me and ask me. Maybe we could have the largest online list of popular songs that people can request at weddings, right here at BallroomJoe.com...

   

SONG TITLE

ARTIST

DANCE

All I Want is You

U2

Rumba

And We Danced

Hooters

Swing

Beyond the Sea

Bobby Darin

Foxtrot

Black Magic Woman

Santana

Cha Cha

Best is Yet to Come

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

Blue Skies

Bobby Darin

Foxtrot

BrickHouse

Rick James

Hustle

Brown Eyed Girl

Van Morrison

Swing

Cant get enough of your love

Barry White

Hustle

Celebration

Kool & the Gang

Hustle

Change the World

Eric Clapton

Rumba

Come Dance With Me

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

Come Fly with Me

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

Crocodile Rock

Elton John

Swing

Da Butt

E.U.

Samba

Dancing Queen

Abba

Hustle

Does anyone Really Know what time it is

Chicago

Foxtrot

Evil Ways

Santana

Cha Cha

Father and Daughter

Paul Simon

Rumba

Fields of Gold

Sting

Rumba

Footloose

Kenny Loggins

Swing

Get Jiggy With it

Will Smith

Cha Cha

God Only Knows

Beach Boys

Swing

Good Love

Grateful Dead

Swing

Heat Wave

Martha Reeves

Swing

Hey Ya

OutKast

Swing

Hips Don't Lie

Shakira

Samba

Hot Hot Hot

Engelbert Humperdink

Merengue

I Heard it Through the Grapevine

Marvin Gaye

West Coast Swing

I knew the Bride when she used to Rock n Roll

Nick Lowe

Swing

I Need to Know

Marc Anthony

Cha Cha

In My Life

Beatles

Rumba

In the Mood

Count Basie

Swing

In Your Eyes

Peter Gabriel

Samba/Mambo

Into the Groove

Madonna

Cha Cha

It Had to Be You

Harry Connick Jr.

Foxtrot

It is You

Linda Rondstat

Waltz

It Takes Two

Rob Base

Samba

Jump in the Line

Harry Bellafonte

Samba

Jump Jive & Wail

Brian Setzer

Swing

Kind and Generous

Natalie Merchant

Samba

Kissed By a Rose

Seal

Waltz

La Bamba

Los Lobos

Swing

Lady Marmalade

Moulin Rouge Sndtrk.

Cha Cha

Last Dance

Donna Summer

Hustle

Lets Get Loud

Jennifer Lopez

Cha Cha

Leave a Tender Moment Alone

Billy Joel

Foxtrot

Lido Shuffle

Boz Scaggs

Swing

Livin' La Vida Loca

Ricky Martin

Mambo/Salsa

Locomotion

Kylie Minogue

Cha Cha

Love Shack

B-52s

Cha Cha

Mac the Knife

Bobby Darin

Foxtrot

Mambo #5

Lou Vega

Mambo/Salsa

Margaritaville

Jimmy Buffet

Rumba

Moon River

Various

Waltz

More than a Woman

BeeGees

Hustle

Moondance

Van Morrison

Foxtrot/Swing

Mustang Sally

Wilson Pickett

West Coast Swing

My Everything

Barry White

Hustle

My Girl

The Temptations

Rumba

Natural Woman

Aretha Franklin

Waltz

New York, New York

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

Nothin' But Flowers

Talking Heads

Merengue

Oh What a Night

Frankie Valli

Samba

Old Fashioned Girl

James Taylor

Waltz

Old Time Rock & Roll

Bob Seger

Swing

One of these Nights

Eagles

Rumba

Oye Como Va

Santana

Cha Cha

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.

John Cougar

Swing

Rock around the Clock

Bill Haley & the Comets

Swing

Runaround Sue

Dion

Swing

Save the Last Dance for Me

Michael Buble

Cha Cha

September

Earth, Wind, & Fire

Hustle

Sexy and Seventeen

Brian Setzer

Swing

Shook Me all Night Long

AC-DC

Cha Cha

Smooth

Santana w/Rob Thomas

Cha Cha

Stand By Me

Ben E. King

Rumba

Stayin' Alive

Beegees

Hustle

Still the One

Shania Twain

Rumba

Still the One

The Orleans

Swing

Sway

Michael Buble

Cha Cha

Sweet Caroline

Neil Diamond

Foxtrot

Take it to the Limit

Eagles

Waltz

Tequila

Champs

Mambo/Salsa

the Game of Love

Santana w/Michelle Branch

Cha Cha

The Way you Look tonight

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

The Way You Move

Outkast

Cha Cha

Under the Boardwalk

The Drifters

Rumba

Vogue

Madonna

Hustle

Volcano

Jimmy Buffet

Samba

We are Family

Sister Sledge

Hustle

What I like about You

Romantics

Swing

What the World Needs Now

Various

Waltz

With or Without You

U2

Rumba

World on a String

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

You Light Up My Life

Various

Waltz

You Make me Feel So Young

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

You've got a friend

James Taylor

Rumba

Zoot Suit Riot

Cherry Poppin Daddies

Swing

 

DANCE

SONG TITLE

ARTIST

Cha Cha

Black Magic Woman

Santana

Cha Cha

BrickHouse

Rick James

Cha Cha

Evil Ways

Santana

Cha Cha

Get Jiggy With it

Will Smith

Cha Cha

I Need to Know

Marc Anthony

Cha Cha

Into the Groove

Madonna

Cha Cha

Lady Marmalade

Moulin Rouge Sndtrk.

Cha Cha

Locomotion

Kylie Minogue

Cha Cha

Love Shack

B-52s

Cha Cha

Oye Como Va

Santana

Cha Cha

Save the Last Dance for Me

Michael Buble

Cha Cha

Save the Last Dance for Me

Michael Buble

Cha Cha

Shook Me all Night Long

AC-DC

Cha Cha

Smooth

Santana w/Rob Thomas

Cha Cha

Sway

Michael Buble

Cha Cha

the Game of Love

Santana w/Michelle Branch

Cha Cha

The Way You Move

Outkast

Foxtrot

Beyond the Sea

Bobby Darin

Foxtrot

Blue Skies

Various

Foxtrot

Come Dance With Me

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

Come Fly with Me

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

Does anyone Really Know what time it is

Chicago

Foxtrot

It Had to Be You

Harry Connick Jr.

Foxtrot

Leave a Tender Moment Alone

Billy Joel

Foxtrot

Mac the Knife

Bobby Darin

Foxtrot

New York, New York

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

Sweet Caroline

Neil Diamond

Foxtrot

The Way you Look tonight

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

World on a String

Frank Sinatra

Foxtrot

You Make me Feel So Young

Frank Sinatra

Hustle

BrickHouse

Rick James

Hustle

Cant get enough of your love

Barry White

Hustle

Celebration

Kool & the Gang

Hustle

Dancing Queen

Abba

Hustle

Gonna Make You Sweat

C&C Music Factory

Hustle

I Gotta Feeling

Black Eyed Peas

Hustle

Last Dance

Donna Summer

Hustle

More than a Woman

BeeGees

Hustle

My Everything

Barry White

Hustle

I Will Survive

Diana Ross

Hustle

Stayin' Alive

Beegees

Hustle

Vogue

Madonna

Hustle

We are Family

Sister Sledge

Mambo/Salsa

Livin' La Vida Loca

Ricky Martin

Mambo/Salsa

Mambo #5

Lou Vega

Mambo/Salsa

Tequila

Champs

Merengue

Gloria Estefan

Conga

Merengue

Hot Hot Hot

Engelbert Humperdink

Merengue

Nothin' But Flowers

Talking Heads

Rumba

All I Want is You

U2

Rumba

Change the World

Eric Clapton

Rumba

Father and Daughter

Paul Simon

Rumba

Fields of Gold

Sting

Rumba

In My Life

Beatles

Rumba

Margaritaville

Jimmy Buffet

Rumba

My Girl

The Temptations

Rumba

One of these Nights

Eagles

Rumba

Stand By Me

Ben E. King

Rumba

Still the One

Shania Twain

Rumba

Under the Boardwalk

The Drifters

Rumba

With or Without You

U2

Rumba

You've got a friend

James Taylor

Samba

DaButt

E.U.

Samba

Hips Don't Lie

Shakira

Samba

It Takes Two

Rob Base

Samba

Jump in the Line

Harry Bellafonte

Samba

Kind and Generous

Natalie Merchant

Samba

Oh What a Night

Frankie Valli

Samba

Volcano

Jimmy Buffet

Samba/Mambo

In Your Eyes

Peter Gabriel

Swing

And We Danced

Hooters

Swing

Brown Eyed Girl

Van Morrison

Swing

Crocodile Rock

Elton John

Swing

Footloose

Kenny Loggins

Swing

Good Love

Grateful Dead

Swing

Heat Wave

Martha Reeves

Swing

Hey Ya

OutKast

Swing

I knew the Bride when she used to Rock n Roll

Nick Lowe

Swing

In the Mood

Count Basie

Swing

Jump Jive & Wail

Brian Setzer

Swing

La Bamba

Los Lobos

Swing

Lido Shuffle

Boz Scaggs

Swing

Old Time Rock & Roll

Bob Seger

Swing

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.

John Cougar

Swing

Rock around the Clock

Bill Haley & the Comets

Swing

Runaround Sue

Dion

Swing

Sexy and Seventeen

Brian Setzer

Swing

Still the One

The Orleans

Swing

What I like about You

Romantics

Swing

Zoot Suit Riot

Cherry Poppin Daddies

Waltz

It is You

Linda Rondstat

Waltz

Kissed By a Rose

Seal

Waltz

Moon River

Various

Waltz

Natural Woman

Aretha Franklin

Waltz

Old Fashioned Girl

James Taylor

Waltz

Take it to the Limit

Eagles

Waltz

What the World Needs Now

Various

Waltz

You Light Up My Life

Various

West Coast Swing

I Heard it Through the Grapevine

Marvin Gaye

West Coast Swing

Mustang Sally

Wilson Picket

 
 
   

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