Real DJs Don’t Take Requests

Real DJs Don’t Take Requests

Even as I’ve mulled this line over in my head I already know the problems with it, the problems with me. It’s an old school issue; it’s a longing for the days that I went to clubs to hear the DJ play music I wasn’t hearing anywhere else. I’ve asked myself often this new year, “What’s the draw? Why would I want to spend several hours in a night club?” Ironically enough, with Philadelphia’s newly enacted smoking ban, THIS is the time to be in night clubs, (for me anyway as a non-smoker). I think I should be excited about returning to these cool spaces of nocturnal congregation, now smoke free, but I just can no longer, in my mind justify the time.

This, quite possibly is a sign of “getting old.” Although my friend is much more diplomatic, telling me my attitude is more, “been there, done that.”

More and more I am going to events where the “D” in DJ means digital, rather than disk – even compact disk – but, I tell myself, it’s not about the delivery system is it! It’s about the music. Do most people care if their beer comes from a keg or a bottle or a can? (Pass me a bottle please.) And as for the new tech DJs, I completely understand not wanting to lug crates full of vinyl from gig to gig. Even turntablism (the art of scratching, mixing, fading, cutting and all that, for those who STILL don’t know) has been adapted to a digital platform.

The Capricorn Party was fantastic! Despite the Eagles loss to the New Orleans Saints, I had a great time with family and friends. I have to give props to the DJs for coming through and playing some music for us to dance to. Their taste in music and their skills, (with a few exceptions) fluctuated between adequate and substandard. They set up a laptop, that was connected to the internet for “instant” downloads and a couple of CD decks. The practicality of it is not lost on my pragmatic side, but there was something missing. I think it was the soul and knowledge and love of the music that was missing from these guys’ performance. I think I can tell when a DJ is playing a track he/she’s only casually acquainted with, (via the radio of download or compilation CD). Pushing buttons on a computer doesn’t have the same organic mood as cuing a record or matching the beats and bringing it into the flow.

I’d say the years 1995 to about 2002, maybe 2003 were Philadelphia Golden Years for DJs. This is when things peaked. This is when people were excited and it seemed that every new restaurant was staying open past meals hours and setting up turntables on the edge of the bar. Some venues found the DJ draw to be worth building a DJ booth and hiring talent to spin and entertain patrons five out of seven days a week. However as with any phenomenon too many people started getting into the game and the market reached its saturation point. I knew it was ending when I’d hear the same tracks being played in different venues on the same night. I knew it was ending when I heard DJs playing tracks from others DJs’ (popular) sets. You know, when you walk into a club and hear music and you say, “That’s sounds like DJ A1,” and it’s DJ 4F, playing stuff he/she heard elsewhere.

They may already have digital juke boxes installed somewhere, I haven’t encountered them yet, perhaps it’s an issue of copy rights. If they are not already out there they are certainly coming. Look no further than your hard drive for the prototype. Imagine that consol on the wall of your favorite public house with so many choices they aren’t listed, but searched. You put your dollar in and you can play maybe 6 tracks, all digitally stored in a hard drive, maybe on the premises or maybe not. That’s what I see coming, (if, like I say it’s not already out there, I don’t get out much.)

Technology and diversity are two of my favorite things, however when one has virtually unlimited access and one is trying to please a diverse audience, it’s rather difficult for one to be exclusive. Indeed the concepts of diversity and exclusivity are diametrically opposed. Look no further than the wedding DJ who must be prepared to please, musically at least, the tastes of four or five generations; he/she may be asked to play anything from the Mills Brothers to Stephanie Mills to The Beatles to the English Beat to Modern English to a modern mashup or hip-hop remix. There’s no way for him/her to plan and execute an exclusive continuous set.

Real DJs don’t take requests, and savvy club kids don’t make them. Come to the party for the vibe, the music is part of that vibe, if you want to hear your favorite pop song, go turn on your radio or plug in your iPod, if you want to change the vibe or create your own, get your music and equipment together and start your own night at a venue somewhere, you might just find yourself building an audience, competing with a juke box or karaoke machine, or, as one DJ confessed of Nelly’s “Hot In Here” playing the same track three separate times in a single night.