Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Everybody Dance Now

This past weekend, I got to celebrate at the wedding of a friend from grad school. We've stayed in touch these past three years and I've met both her fiance and her family on a few occasions. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception, complete with tasty food, lovely flowers and excellent people.

The wedding also included a band instead of the DJ that many people opt for in the interest of savings and variety. It was a great band and included a singer whose Rick Astley-like vocal stylings did justice to Barry White. But there's just something that a band - even those that include horns, drums and multiple singers - can't do. They can't take so many requests and obscure tunes just fall by the wayside.

Since I've been invited to a total of four weddings (and counting) this summer, I think my guest expertise is on the rise. Therefore, I'd like to offer my Top Five wedding tunes in a few select categories - mainly based on their danceability as I believe the goofiness of people dancing at a wedding is worth the cost of the dress, gift, valet parking and everything else combined.

Oldies but Goodies for the Parentals & Family Friends
1. Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations
2. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
3. Joy to the World - 3 Dog Night (it's my mom's favorite song)
4. Everybody Needs Somebody to Love - Blues Brothers
5. Shout - Otis Day and the Nights (classic to end all classics)

Rap - New and Old School
1. Bust a Move - Young MC (if you were a teen in the 90s, this is a requirement)
2. Rump Shaker - Wrexx-n-Effex (hey, it's MY wedding!)
3. Hey Ya - OutKast (because most of my guest can't crump with me to Bombs over Baghdad)
4. California Love - 2Pac
5. Yeah - Usher

Dance Music for the Rhythmically Challenged
1. Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
2. Don't Stop Believing - Journey
3. Boom - Bloodhound Gang (dedicated to all my Mtn. View Toros!)
4. Tribal Connection - Gogol Bordello
5. Get Up Offa That Thing - James Brown (everyone can dance to him)

Slow Songs - It IS a wedding after all
1. Glycerine - Bush
2. Thank You - Led Zepplin
3. Mivtachat HaShamaim - David Broza
4. In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
5. All I Want is You - U2

What's your Top Five? Submit your picks in any range of categories on the comments page.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

can't forget "i want you back" or just about any jackson 5

Josh said...

"Yeah" by Usher is rap? I know Little John is on it and all...

Shtetl Fabulous said...

It's a wedding so my musical genre definitions aren't super strict. And excellent suggestion on the Jackson 5!