Christmas Eve : Rocking the Smugglers.

Songs played on a really busy Christmas Eve at The Smugglers. I'll put it up here because I know most of you won't remember any of it.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow - Michael Buble

Winter Weather - Tony Bennet

It's Begininng To Look Like Christmas - Perry Como

Big Love - Pete Heller

You're The One For Me - D Train

All Around The World (Bob Sinclair Remix) - Lionel Richie

Put Em High - Stonebridge

Rise (Eric Kupper Mix) - Samantha James
Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - King Britt
Rapper's Delight (Hip Hop Remix '89) - Sugarhill Gang
Airplanes - B.O.B.
Turn Around (5,4,3,2,1) - Flo Rida
Shake Your Body - The Jacksons
Step Into Christmas - Elton John
You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates
Easy Lover - Philip Bailey
Mr Brightside - Paul Anka
Haven’T Met You Yet - Michael Buble
Show Me Love -Robin S
Pjanoo Vs Bad Habit - Eric Prydz
All I Do - Cleptomaniacs Ghost Mix) Cleptomaniacs
Prayin' - Plan B
Too Busy (Black Tiger Refix) - Marvin Gaye
What's My Name (Feat. Drake) - Rihanna
Written In The Stars Vs Pass Out Vs Kickstarts(- Tinie Tempah Vs Example
Driving Home For Christmas - Chris Rea
Listen To Themusic - The Doobie Brothers
Hey, Soul Sister - Train
Little Lion Man - Mumford And Sons
A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealer's Wheel
Black Horse & The Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
Where Is The Love - Black Eyed Peas
Dance To The Music - Sly & Family Stone
You Can Leave Your Hat On (Dj Fashion & Sandrique Remix) - Joe Cocker
Proud Mary - Tina Turner
I Feel Good - James Brown
I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
Celebration - Kool And The Gang
Million Dollar Bill (F Knuckles Mix) - Whitney Houston
All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
Rapture_-_Avicii__Mix_ - Nadia_Ali
Who's That Chick - David Guetta Feat. Rihanna
Black Flashback (Paris FZ & Simo T Bootleg) - Simo T & Paris FZ Vs Calvin Harris
One More Time - Daft Punk
Chime – Orbital
Bitter Sweet Symphony ( snippet) Verve
Tarentella (5am mix ) – Chico Secci
Bromance – (Aviccii Arena Mix) - Tim Berg
Have yourself a Merry Christmas – David McAlmont
Fairytale of New York – Pogues
Dignity – Deacon Blue
That Slade Song - Slade
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) -- The Proclaimers
Hey Jude - The Beatles
Laid - James
The Cave – Mumford & Sons
Sweet Caroline (LIVE) - Neil Diamond
You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
Club Can't Handle Me - Flo Rida And David Guetta
Only Girl (Bombs Away Club Remix) - Rihanna
Kickstarts - Example
Illmerica - Wolfgang Gartner
Satisfaction (Discotech Remix) - The Rolling Stones
Jump - Van Halen *
Its My Life - Bon Jovi *
Ready To Start - Arcade Fire
Live Forever - Oasis *
Many Of Horror - Biffy Clyro
Little Green Bag - George Baker Trio
Paolo's Pencil Full Of Party - Paolo Nutini Vs Lou Bega
Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Rockin Around Xmas Tree - Brenda Lee
Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
Mess Around - Ray Charles
Boom Boom Boom - Outhere Brothers
Infinity (Klaas Mix) - Guru Josh Project
Beachball - Nalin & Kane
Baby Love (Halfby More Shambles Remix) - The Supremes
You're My First , My Last , My Everything - Barry White
Fan Dab I Dozi - The Krankies
Oh Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison
Valerie - Mark Ronson
Walking On Sunshine - Katrina And The Waves
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band Aid

* Drunken requests.


Back tonight for the wife's 50th Birthday Bash.  x

Back at The Smugglers : Dec 18th

Back at The Smugglers. Nice and warm out of the winter chill. A mixed bag of songs to suit the mixed ages in the bar. William Fitzsimmons cover of Katy Perry's song divided opinion with one person feeling it was just plain wrong. Personally, I feel that it is beyond criminality that Ms Perry is allowed any where near a recording studio but I don't go about telling complete strangers this. Anyway, altering the viewpoint to that of a guy changes the nuance of the song considerably. It stands up fine with a guy's voice. Lucky I didn't follow it up with the same artists cover of Kayne West's 'Heartless'.

Happy sing a long stuff for the last hour as folk drifted off home or off to the club.

Back on Christmas Eve. Traditionally a really busy night with a late licence till 2am. I will start my up to the bells mix today. I already know the tunes I'm gonna use. Just a question of getting the timings and the mix right. 

Looking forward to it.

Tracks from 18th follow :                Smugglers Dec 18th 2010


  Hey, Soul Sister - Train
3 She Moves In Her Own Way - The Kooks
4 Golden Touch - Razorlight
5 Only The Young - Brandon Flowers
6 Seven Nation Army - Ben L'Oncle Soul
7 It's OK - Cee Lo Green
8 Let's Go Round Again - Average White Band
9 Never Give Up On A Good Thing - George Benson
10 Piazza, New York Catcher - Belle And Sebastian
11 Drops Of Jupiter - Train *
12 Hotel California (Latino Summer Mix - ) Nils Vs Eagles
13 Just One Kiss - Basement Jaxx
14 You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates

15 Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac
16 Dont U Worry Bout Thing - Incognito
18 Got To Get You Into My Life - Earth Wind & Fire
19 Space Cowboy (Morales mix) - Jamiroquai
20 Sensitivity - Shapeshifters

21 Heartbeat (Cutmore Club) - Enrique Iglesias

22 What's My Name (Feat. Drake) - Rihanna
23 Ridin' Solo - Jason Derulo *
24 Tightrope - Janelle Monáe

25 Pack Up - Eliza Doolittle

26 Hey Girl! - Jo Stance
27 Thought It Was You - Sex-O Sonique

28 How Can I Love You More - M People

29 I Kissed A Girl - William Fitzsimmons
30 Walk Out To Winter - Aztec Camera

31 Groovejet - Spiller

32 Million Dollar Bill (F Knuckles Mix) - Whitney Houston

33 Nothing But Love ( Vocal Mix -) Axwell

34 Rapture (Avicii Mix) - _ Nadia_Ali

35 Turn The Music Up - Players Association

36 I Shoulda Loved Ya Narada - Michael Waldron

37 Shine - Take That *

38 DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love - Usher

39 Morning After ( Moto Blanco ) - Timbaland *

40 Let The Sunshine (Joey Negro) - Labrinth

41 I Wish - Stevie Wonder

42 Blame It On The Boogie - The Jacksons

43 You Can't Hurry Love (Early Listen Mix - ) The Supremes
44 The Sky's The Limit (Wideboys Remix) - Jason Derulo

45 Club Can't Handle Me - Flo Rida

46 Tainted Love - Imelda May

47 Heatwave - Martha Reeves

48 The Flood - Take That *

49 Prayin' - Plan B

50 The World Should Revolve Around Me - Little Jackie

51 Skinny Genes - Eliza Doolittle

52 New Shoes - Paolo Nutini

53 Take It Easy - The Eagles

54 Driving Home For Christmas - Chris Rea

55 Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow - Michael Buble

56 Dancing In The Moonlight Toploader

57 Fireflies - Owl City

58 Forget You - Cee Lo Green

59 Big Love - Pete Heller

60 Why Dont You - Gramophonedzie

61 Mess Around - Ray Charles

62 I Want You Back - Jackson 5

63 Lay All Your Love On Me - Abba
64 Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough - Michael Jackson

65 Rock The Boat - Hues Corp

66 Lovely Day (Phatt Mix) - Bill Withers

67 It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Andy Williams

* Request .

At the Hub : Take Two

Phone call at 1645 to ask if I'd go down and play some tunes at The Hub that evening.Not wishing to see them stuck I obliged.

Quieter than the opening night and this evening there were still some folk finishing off their meal. So a quiet start. However, once the bar trade picked up and I turned the music up it was obvious that the sound was far from crystal clear. It is hard to hear it from where the dj stands but enough folk mentioned it to know that it wasn't the way it should be. As a result I turned the bass down and the high up as well as toning the output from the mixer down several notches. At best the result was tolerable.

Went down the next day to speak with the sound engineer who installed the system and we worked out that the connector which I plugged into, and which the bar system was already playing through had been switched to a phono input as opposed to the more satisfactory line in. This explains the comment made when I arrived saying that the sound system was muddy and unclear. This explains the too easy distortion.

All fixed now.

Tracks played but barely heard are here :

                The Hub : Downstairs 11th December


1 Smokey Joe's La La   Googie Rene Combo
2 Caramellas - Aeroplane
3 74 - 75 - The Connells
4 Better Together ( Cuba Mix) - Jack Johnson
5 What I'm Looking For - Brendan Benson

6 Flowers In The Window - Travis

7 Early Morning Rain  - Paul Weller

8 Clocks Cuba  -Coldplay

9 Where Is The Love  -Black Eyed Peas

10 Love Like This-  Faith Evans

11 My Lovin' (Radio Edit)- En Vogue

12 Wake Up Everybody- John Legend & The Roots

13 Let's Stay Together- Al Green

14 Blue Skies -Jamiroquai

15 Flawless -The Ones

16 A Higher Place- Peyton

17 Boogie -Brand New Heavies

18 Turn The Music Up -Players Association

19 I Shoulda Loved Ya- Narada Michael Waldron

20 Let The Sunshine (Joey Negro)- Labrynth

21 What's My Name (Feat. Drake) -Rihanna*

22 American Boy -Estelle
23 Got To Get You Into My Life- Earth Wind & Fire
24 Move On Up -Curtis Mayfield
25 Coma Cat- Tensnake

26 The Sky's The Limit (Wideboys Remix Club)- Jason Derulo*

27 Black Flashback -( Simo T vs Calvin Harris
28 Can't Shake This Feeling (Stafford Bros Remix)- Grum
29 Dub My Disco (Vocal Mix) -Hostage
30 We Are Family (Remix) -Sister Sledge
31 Big Love -Pete Heller
32 Why (Hot Toddy Boogiefied Mix) -Joey Negro

33 Beautiful People (C.J.'S Club Mix) -Barbara Tucker

34 Nothing But Love (Extended Vocal Mix)- Axwell
35 You See The Trouble With Me -Barry White
36 Night Fever (Future Funk Squad Remix) -Bee Gees
37 Haven’t Met You Yet -Michael Buble
38 You Can Call Me Al -Paul Simon
39 Walk Of Life -Dire Straits
40 New Shoes -Paolo Nutini
41 Tainted Love- Imelda May
42 Zoot Suit Riot -Cherry Poppin' Daddies
43 Pack Up -Eliza Doolittle
44 Baby Love (Shambles Remix)- The Supremes
45 Ain’t No Love, Ain’t No Use- Sub Sub

46 Make_The_World_Go_Round (Deep Dish Mix) -Sandy_B

47 Club Can't Handle Me- Flo Rida And David Guetta

48 Only Girl (Funk D Bootleg) -Rihanna

49 Dynamite Bromance (Ipad Club B)- Taio Cruz Ft. Tim Berg
50 Lovely Day (Phatt Mix)- Bill Withers
51 You Make My Dreams- Hall & Oates
52 It's Magic- Pilot
53 Mr Blue Sky- Lily Allen
54 Do Your Thing -Basement Jaxx
55 If You Wanna -M&S
56 The Hustle -Van McCoy
57 Million Dollar Bill (F Knuckles Mix) -Whitney Houston
58 Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough- Michael Jackson
59 Don't Stop Movin' -S Club 7
60 Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow- Michael Buble

An ok assortment. This week even more impossible to hear the mixes due to the positioning of the monitorless dj area and the underperforming sound.
First time in about 10 years an owner came up to me and asked me to change the music. This was when I played Dynamite Bromance. It is fairly bouncy and came after the Funk D Mix of Rihanna which is electro house based. The sort of noise that upsets older people. But in context it was a slight divergence from the earlier happy funky stuff and I would have pulled it back straight after it if that had been required. It was also 12:15pm and the space was filled with folk around the 25 year old age mark.
Any way. I was told to go to the naughty step and keep the house music for the club upstairs.

Something to think about though!  Looking back I remember when I started to set up that the bar sound system was playing 'Shang-a-lang'. This should have been as clear a sign as having 'Red Rum' written in dripping blood on the wall that all was not well in this particular state of Denmark. Like I said, something to think about.

Agreed to do next Friday whilst I was down talking with the owner and the sound guy. I'll see how that goes and then take it from there.

More worryingly, I find myself no longer vomitting when I play Jamiroquai. This is not why I fought in the 'Punk Wars'!

Have you seen him?

The Smugglers - December 4th

Back at the revamped and upgraded Smuggs for the first time in three weeks and rather apologetically after my moonlighting at The Hub the previous evening.

Inside it was a nice warm evening with a friendly crowd. It was good to be back behind a dj booth where I could properly hear the music and where I could spread my laptop and mixer out safely.

Musically a bit of a mixed evening as folk came and went. Obviously a lot of folk were still checking out the new venue up the road but there was still a fair few over the door to keep the place busy.

Tracklisting here :

Track List: Smugglers 4th Dec

1 Smokey Joe's La La Googie Rene Combo

2 Caramellas Aeroplane

3 One Step Too Far Radio Edit - Faithless

4 Who Keeps Changing Your Mind ( Rox Dub Mix) - South Street Player

5 Barefoot In The Head - A Man Called Adam

6 Sweet Disposition - Temper Traps

7 Islands (Blue Nile Remix) - The XX

8 Beachball - Nalin & Kane

9 Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend

10 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths
11 Young Adult Friction - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

12 Time To Pretend - MGMT

13 Dancing In The Moonlight - Toploader
14 Golden Touch - Razorlight

15 God & Satan - Biffy Clyro *

16 Swim Until You Can't See Land -Frightened Rabbit

17 The Cave - Mumford & Sons

18 I Kissed A Girl - William Fitzsimmons

19 Walk Out To Winter -Aztec Camera

20 Tainted Love - Imelda May
21 Proud Mary - Tina Turner*
22 Come And Get It -Eli Paperboy Reed

23 Prayin' -Plan B

24 4th Of July (Fireworks) -Kelis

25 Black Flashback - Simo T & Paris Fz Vs Calvin Harris

26 Friday Night (Dbn Club Remix) - Jeremy Hills
27 Cant Judge A Book By Its Cover - Chocolate Milk
28 The Sky's The Limit (Wideboys Remix Full Club) - Jason Derulo
29 Love The Way You Lie (Part Ii) -Rihanna
30 Yeah 3x - Chris Brown
31 Do Your Thing -Basement Jaxx
32 Got To Get You Into My Life - Earth Wind & Fire
33 Move On Up -Curtis Mayfield
34 Too Busy (Black Tiger Refix) - Marvin Gaye
35 Heartbeat (Cutmore Club -) Enrique Iglesias

36 The Flood -Take That

37 Clocks Cuba - Coldplay

38 Late (Dj Spun Edit) - Paul Simon

39 Hey Hey (Df S Attention Vocal Mix) -Dennis Ferrer *

40 Finally -Kings Of Tomorrow

41 Make World Go Around - Sandy B

42 Bromance ( Avicii's Arena Mix) -Tim Berg

43 Coma Cat (Round Table Knights Remix) - Tensnake

44 Horse With No Name (Leo Zero Rework) -America

45 In The Morning - The Coral

46 Peaceful Easy Feeling - The Eagles

47 Long Time Gone -Dixie Chicks

48 Put Your Hands Up For Detroit - Tim Juke & The Jack Baker Trio

49 Not Fair - Lily Allen

50 Jackson - Johnny Cash

51 Baby Love (Halfby More Shambles Remix) -The Supremes

52 Million Dollar Bill (F Knuckles Mix) - Whitney Houston

53 If You Wanna - M&S

54 The Hustle -Van Mccoy & The Soul City Symphony

55 Night Fever (Future Funk Squad Remix) - Bee Gees

56 Just Can't Get Enough -Depeche Mode

57 Temptation - Heaven 17

58 Happy Birthday - Stevie Wonder

59 Don't Go - Yazoo

60 Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow - Michael Buble

Always a temptation to just play the same stuff as the previous night, especially as Traktor remembers your tracklist for you, but I felt I managed to change it about a bit. You can play spot the similarity, if you wish.

Still in discussion to see if I get any more gigs at The Hub but, if not, I'll be back in The Smugglers on the 18th. 

The Hub - Grand Opening Night.

First dj to play at the new Stewarton night spot, The Hub. First night, so the place was heaving as you'd expect with well wishers and the curious. I went down early to set up as the downstairs soundsystem hadn't been installed in time for a run through. Although a lot of money has been spent on the place with the furnishings and fittings all being of the highest quality, there has not been the same consideration given to the dj and the sound systems. This is never a surprise coz after all it is only some anal retentive churning out one damn song after another but it is always a disappointment. So the dj has to clear away the menus and make a small space at the side of the bar for all his equipment, avoiding the hinged bar top that threatens to fall on to the mixer and placing the laptop under the vodka optic so that any drips threaten to abort the whole shebang.

The house sound system rings the bar and restaurant area but from the djs point of hearing it is far from ideal. You can't hear the music, can't judge the mix and have no idea whether it is too loud or too quiet. I'll need to practice listening to the mix live through the headphones for this venue. Moans over.

The crowd was mixed and less concerned about my tunes than about the wait for the bar. None of this helped by the fire alarm going off and everyone evacuating into the ice and snow. Cause sourced to the new haze machine in the Club upstairs being positioned directly under the fire detector. Not the smartest decision.

The Club opened early and took a lot of the crowd away from the downstairs area which, hopefully, wasn't a reflection on my toons.  It all quietened down for me from about midnight and it was a straight forward run of songs through till my 1am close.

Tracks played here :
Track List: The Hub Opening - Downstairs


1 Smokey Joe's La La  -  Googie Rene Combo
2 Caramellas  - Aeroplane
3 One Step Too Far Radio Edit  - Faithless
4 Always (Ashley Beedle's Mahavishnu Remix)  - Bent
5 Stand Back -  Linus Loves
6 Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) -  Eurythmics
7 Clocks Cuba  - Coldplay
8 Rocket Man (Phunky's Knee Deep Mix) - Elton John
9 Where Is The Love -  Black Eyed Peas

10 Love Like This  - Faith Evans

11 "Love Sex Magic Rise"  - Ciara Ft Justin Timberlake

12 Closer (Freddz Close Up Vocal Mix) - Ne-Yo

13 3 Words - Cheryl Cole

14 Put Em High - Stonebridge
15 You've Got Love (Crazy Penis Mix)-
16 Heartbeat (Cutmore Club)  -Enrique Iglesias
17 Haven't Met You Yet -  Michael Buble
18 Let's Dance - Chris Rea
19 Walk Of Life - Dire Straits
20 Pack Up - Eliza Doolittle
21 Only Girl -  Rihanna *
22 Just The Way You Are  - Bruno Mars*

23 The Flood - Take That

24 Grand Steppin' - Duck Sauce

25 Get Down (Warren Clarke Remix) - Todd Terry

26 Can't Shake This Feeling (Stafford remix)- Grum

27 Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough  -Michael Jackson

28 If I Cant Have You (The Disco Boys Remix) - Bee Gees

29 Million Dollar Bill (F Knuckles Mix)  -Whitney Houston

30 Beautiful Monster - Ne-Yo
31 Club Can't Handle Me  - Flo-Rida
32 Gettin' Over You - David Guetta
33 Hard To Handle  - Otis Redding
34 I've Got A Woman -  Ray Charles
35 A Kind Of Magic (Eddie Valdez Mix) - Queen
36 Heartbeat (Cutmore Club) - Enrique Iglesias
37 Ain't That A Lot Of Love (Phats Disco Mix)  -Simply Red

38 Long Train Runnin' - Doobie Brothers

39 Mr. Brightside  -The Killers  *

40 Last Nite - The Strokes

41 Satisfaction  - Rolling Stones

42 Little Lion Man - Mumford And Sons

43 Stuck In The Middle With You  -Stealer's Wheel

44 Black Horse & The Cherry Tree  -KT Tunstall

45 Not Fair - Lily Allen

46 Jackson  -Johnny Cash & June Carter

47 Paolo's Pencil Full Of Party - Paolo Nutini Vs Lou Bega

48 Sweet Caroline (LIVE) - Neil Diamond *

49 Why Dont You  -  Gramophonedzie

50 Human (Ferry Corsten Club Mix) -The Killers

51 The Sky's The Limit (Wideboys Remix )- Jason Derulo

52 Ain't No Mountain High Enough  -Gaye & Terrell

53 You Can't Hurry Love - Phil Collins

54 A Town Called Malice- The Jam

55 Laid - James

56 Labour Of Love  - Hue And Cry*

57 Walk Out To Winter - Aztec Camera

58 Your Song - Ellie Goulding

59 Ordinary Joe - Terry Callier

60 Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow - Michael Buble

* Request.

Discussed with a punter at the bar whether Ellie Golding's take on Elton John's 'Your Song' was indeed the sonic equivalent of the appearance of the first horse rider of the apocalypse. Clearly the X Factor winner will be the second and you can assume that by next May civilisation as we know will be over.

My faves, the first two tunes and two at the end from Aztec Camera and Terry Callier.

Upstairs, Stuart was playing a different type of music.