Another Saturday Night : January 22nd

Back at The Smugglers but only one week after my last visit. The 15th had been mobbed and again last night was just as busy. Two large groups of girls to my left and all the boys to the right. One issue is that with a bar in the middle of the pub I can easily see the groups in front of me but can't really catch sight of the others on the far side of the room. There is, therefore, the issue that you play to those you can see whilst those out of sight are definately out of mind. 
So most of the tunes were aimed at the girls. Their ages ranged from early twenties through to the late forties.
Another factor is the older patrons tend to be more exuberant whether that is because they are out less often or because they are no longer bothered about coolness I don't profess to know. It means that the older crew are more noisy, get up and dance or just wave their hands about in their seats and appear more appreciative. The theory of positive reinforcement means that as a dj faced with a bunch of happy people you are going to continue to play the songs that suit them.
However, it is a pub not a private party which means that the other customers have just as much right to hear songs they like and not solely a selection of hen party classics. The difficulty for the dj is when do you change it? No-one who has been stuck behind a bunch of cd decks armed only with a microphone knows that upsetting the sisterhood in full swing leads to anything but tears. The tears being yours.
It was with great trepidation that I musically moved away from the mainstream and went with The Waterboys version of 'On my way to Heaven'. Did I then face a mass of howls for an immediate return to 70's Disco? Thankfully not. Instead everyone becan clapping and singing along. Sigh of relief.
Chanced a few more modern songs from the Mumfords and Vampire Weekend before a couple of recognisable oldies then back to the girl's nightout faves.

Last half hour went all quiet as folk disappeared home or to the town's nightclub so I finished off with some mellower tunes. It sounded good after the volume of earlier and both Nat King Cole and Sinatra went down well.
Played Bert Jansch's 'Life depends on Love' for the first time and it sounded sweet and sentimental for a penultimate record without being too schmaltzy.


A fast night with, hopefully, something for everyone.

A week-end off next week. Back in February.

Tracks played here

1 Love Like This - Faith Evans
2 My Lovin' - En Vogue

3 Jumpin Jumpin - Destinys Child

4 Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi
5 Sara - Fleetwood Mac

6 You're So Vain - Carly Simon

7 Mr Rock & Roll - Amy Macdonald
8 Expectations - Belle & Sebastian
9 Spring Rain - The Go-Betweens
10 Long Train Runnin' - Doobie Brothers

11 Never Give Up On A Good Thing - George Benson

12 Lovely Day (Phatt Mix) - Bill Withers

13 It's Ok - Cee Lo Green

14 Prayin' - Plan B

15 I'll Be Around - Hall And Oates

16 Here With Me - Dido*

17 You're The One For Me - D Train

18 Madd Luck - Dimitri From Paris

19 Signed Sealed Delivered - Stevie Wonder

20 Get Ready - Ella Fitzgerald

21 Hard To Handle - Otis Redding

22 Loca - Shakira Ft. Dizzee Rascal

23 It Just Wont Do - Tim Deluxe

24 Better Than Today - Kylie Minogue*

25 Poison (Glam As You Club Mix) - Nicole Scherzinger

26 West End Girls (Grum Mix) - Pet Shop Boys

27 The Flood (Wideboys Mix) - Cheryl Cole

28 Flawless - The Ones

29 Gypsy Woman - Crystal Waters

30 Always There - Incognito

31 Rock The Boat - Hues Corp

32 September - Earth Wind And Fire

33 Stars On 45 (Der Zwan Remix) - Stars On 45

34 Heartbeat (Cutmore Club) - Enrique Iglesias

35 Only Girl - Rihanna

36 Superstar - Jamelia

37 Superstition - Stevie Wonder

38 On My Way To Heaven - Waterboys

39 Little Lion Man - Mumford And Sons

40 Subterranean Homesick Blues - Dylan

41 Bad Moon Rising - C C R

42 A-Punk - Vampire Weekend

43 Common People - Pulp

44 Street Life - The Crusaders*

45 I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston*

46 Hot Love - T Rex

47 Starman - Bowie*

48 Virginia Plain - Roxy Music

49 What's My Name - Rihanna

50 The Time (Dirty Bit) - Black Eyed Peas

51 Hey Boy, Hey Girl (Soulwax Remix) - The Chemical Brothers

52 Proud Mary - Tina Turner*

53 Soul Man - Sam & Dave

54 Working My Way Back To You - Spinners

55 Black Horse & The Cherry Tree - Kt Tunstall

56 Barrowland Ballroom - Amy Macdonald

57 Just Can't Get Enough - Wallis Bird

58 Valerie - Mark Ronson

59 Your Love Gets Sweeter - Finlay Quaye

60 Let There Be Love - Nat King Cole

61 Nice And Easy - Sinatra

62 Late In The Evening - Paul Simon

63 The Whistle Song - Frankie Knuckles

64 L O V E - Al Green

65 Life Depends On Love - Bert Jansch

66 New York New York - Sinatra

* request.