This one struck me funny. On what planet does a DJ think accepting a song dedication like this is appropriate? Just wow.
Know when to say "No" to a song request
- Thread starter rickryan.com
- Start date
Sounds like the marriage was doomed from the start, but if a DJ really did that, they are an idiot.
I won't say the DJ was an idiot unless they knew that the person asking for this song was the brides ex. My question is why was her ex at the wedding? Were they still good friends or do they have kids together?
Then if the DJ played the guest request without knowing what the song was about, then that's a big mistake.
Then if the DJ played the guest request without knowing what the song was about, then that's a big mistake.
The DJ was an idiot. He knew what the song was about "the music stops, and the DJ says this song is from Jeff to Katie, and says he still loves her, and that it should be him. Queue “it could’ve been me” by Billy Ray Cyrus BLASTING all over the hall. " Regardless of who made this request. it was the wrong thing to play and announce.
I learned a long time ago to be very cautious of requests from the best man or maid of honor. I once did a wedding for a very religious couple. The groom was in the Military and had his buddies in the wedding party. Everything is going great until the best man asks me to play I'll make love to you by Boyz II Men. He told me the groom loved that song. I play it and most of the crowd responds well and begins slow dancing to it. It wasn't until the second verse that I realized this wasn't the best song for this crowd. The groom came running across the dancefloor asking me to turn it off because there are kids in the room. I was never so embarrassed at a gig. The groomsmen thought it was hilarious but I was pissed. In case you are wondering, here are the offending lyrics.
"
Girl relax, let's go slow
I ain't got nowhere to go
I'm just gonna concentrate on you
Girl are you ready?
It's gonna be a long night
Throw your clothes on the floor
I'm gonna take my clothes off too
I made plans to be with you
Girl whatever you ask me you know I can do"
This was back in 2012. I've played that song at many other events but this crowd was not the crowd for that song. As a DJ you are solely responsible for the music that is played. You can't say "so and so told me to play it" and expect the client to forgive you. If it's a parent of the couple making the request then maybe but not always.
"
Girl relax, let's go slow
I ain't got nowhere to go
I'm just gonna concentrate on you
Girl are you ready?
It's gonna be a long night
Throw your clothes on the floor
I'm gonna take my clothes off too
I made plans to be with you
Girl whatever you ask me you know I can do"
This was back in 2012. I've played that song at many other events but this crowd was not the crowd for that song. As a DJ you are solely responsible for the music that is played. You can't say "so and so told me to play it" and expect the client to forgive you. If it's a parent of the couple making the request then maybe but not always.
Man...I mean I understand being very religious, and this family cotters the kids to the best of their natural ability, but this song isn't even bad. I could pick just about any song today on the Hot 100, and it will likely be worse with the lyrics than I'll Make Love To you was. That was a super popular slow dance song. I even slow danced to it with a girl at a middle school dance in 1994 when I was 12! LOL. I don't think any of that was your fault.
I had to turn off "Alcohol" by Jamie Fox once at a party...even though it was radio edited. It was because it was a Sweet 16 Party, and one of the custodians happened to be a school principal, and he felt that the song was too much with the talking about drinking alcohol and it being a teen event. I did switch the song out as fast as I could and honored his request to change the song. It was like in 2008 or 2009 when the song was hot on the charts. Of course today, you would see a Sweet 16 party, and SHOTS would be played no problem. The DJ would even play the dirty version of Mo Mamba and 90%+ of parents won't care.
Of course that can also be attributed to less and less people practicing religion these days. Every year Routine Church attendance declines, and more and more people are becoming agnostic, or "Spiritual, but never ever go to church" which is probably what most DJs could be categorized as LOL
I agree, and maybe I am stereotyping or generalizing it, BUT It seems to me that people/families who go to church EVERY WEEK and participate in Church functions are generally going to be much more uptight with what bothers them in regards to how people act, what TV shows are "appropriate", what music is okay or bad and offensive.
People who routinely go to church and participate in church functions seem to be far less likely to have potty mouths, cuss in public, or walk around with their pants hanging below their wastes. Per haps being a participant in church often yields better manors in Public Society? However, that can also have something to do with overall family structure, and ones upbringing and environment.
I prefer my Christians to be more like Jesus not believe they are Jesus
I know many church going families that are like any other 'normal' family in society. I also know many church going folks that are hypocrites - they look down their nose at you for your cussing, while cussing - similar to other people in society.
My buddy told me about a job he just did on Saturday. It was for a pastors anniversary. It was in the big room in the Galloping Hill Inn. He was surprised by what the pastor wanted him to play. He wanted some Earth Wind & Fire, Con Funk Shun, Kool & The Gang and Brass Construction to name a few. It was a church function and he said he had to get on the mic and try to get people up to dance.
I remember we did a surprise 50th birthday celebration for a pastor at the Robert Treat Hotel in Downtown Newark, NJ. That crowd was a blast to play for! The event went into overtime and we kept the crowd dancing the whole time including the pastor and his wife. That was one of the best events we ever did. To get to where the room the event was in was a mess. It was o the second floor and the elevator wasn't working.
So not all church people are stuck up and only want to hear church music. I had a friend who got caught into her religion and called any non religious music circular music.
I remember we did a surprise 50th birthday celebration for a pastor at the Robert Treat Hotel in Downtown Newark, NJ. That crowd was a blast to play for! The event went into overtime and we kept the crowd dancing the whole time including the pastor and his wife. That was one of the best events we ever did. To get to where the room the event was in was a mess. It was o the second floor and the elevator wasn't working.
So not all church people are stuck up and only want to hear church music. I had a friend who got caught into her religion and called any non religious music circular music.
So, I read the OP, and it's about a bad request to play.
Scroll down to make my comment, and it's a religious discussion.
?
Anyway....like others have said, it was a HUGE mistake to play the song...
and a bigger mistake to make the announcement that went with it.
And the content of the song makes it a poor choice to play at a wedding...
even IF there was no soap opera attached to it.
Scroll down to make my comment, and it's a religious discussion.
?
Anyway....like others have said, it was a HUGE mistake to play the song...
and a bigger mistake to make the announcement that went with it.
And the content of the song makes it a poor choice to play at a wedding...
even IF there was no soap opera attached to it.
That's my fault for mentioning a story where a played a bad request for a very religious client.
Actually had the same thing.
A wedding for a Jamaican(?) couple who didn't want offensive songs.
Played a song with NO bad words, but the content was about "doing the nasty".
Even though it was an older song, and very tame by most standards,
they asked me to stop playing it immediately.
You didn't do anything wrong. The subject is about playing a song that's not appropriate for the type of event you're doing. Is there anybody here that has never made the mistake of playing a song that's inappropriate for the event. I remember at one time all I had to say was I don't have that song if it's inappropriate for the event. Now with a DJ being able to go online and play a song, that cuts that line out considering the DJ can get online and play a song.
What's wrong with telling the person who's making a request that you can't play that song because it's inappropriate for the type of event you're doing?
And let me guess, were you in the dog-house afterwards? That's one thing I hate about DJing. You can provide a stellar party and something comes up that really shouldn't be an issue creates tension and non-approval from the client and you end up trashed for it.
Actually, I was NOT.
At first, they seemed a tad upset...
(the adults were the ones who approached me)
but they really knew how to have a good time, so everyone was quite happy at the end.