eight fighting over the decks? Thats gonna get messy. Yeah, weddings are about the people who wanna dance and no matter what the bride and groom might want, that goes out of the window as soon as the aunties and cousins hit the floor....plenty of tune reccomendations for you but I have a Teenage Fanclub concert to attend to first. I'll be back to you later.....

and I tended to play a couple of tracks in a similar vein back-to-back and then switch to a different genre with a couple more back-to-backs and so on. That way no one is waiting too long for "their music" to arrive for a dance. Normally the later the time the more raucous you can make it (I managed to squeeze in Spear of Destiny's Liberator after the oldies had gone to bed at one wedding).

Always play something that has an easy beat to follow. Genres I tend to go for are:

60s soul/R n B classics
The Indie Disco
80s pop
70s dad rock (rather than heavy metal)

In each case I try to opt for a less obvious choice with an obvious one in the back-to-backs so if it was The Supremes I'd play The Happening rather than Baby Love alongside Nina Simone's My Baby Just Cares For Me, if it was Blur I'd play Bang rather than Girls and Boys alongside Pulp's DISCO 2000 and so on. It seems to work out quite well and you don't feel like you've spent all night catering to a lowest common denominator.

In terms of unusual I offer

Prefab Sprout - The Wedding March
Bjork - Big Time Sensuality
M. Ward - Never Had Nobody Like You
Pixies - Here Comes Your Man
Kings of Convenience - I'd Rather Dance With You
The Concretes - You Can't Hurry Love
Crowded House - Something So Strong
Feist - My Moon My Man

and a new one:

Teenage Fanclub - Baby Lee

A sing-a-long for all ages.

Plus: Tom Jones' Green Green Grass of Home ('time to slow it right down now for all you lovely couples')

Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline

David Essex's Hold Me Close

Fairground Attraction's Perfect

Aztec Camera - Obvious

Madness - It Must Be Love

Bananarama/ ABC

Monkees - I'm a Believer

and to end a 40-minute live version of The Velvets' Sister Ray (only kidding)

Most of these songs were road-tested at my wedding and they went down a treat.

my knowledge of the sex life of voles, but I would like to suggest Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You by Andy Williams.

'William, It Was Really Nothing' by The Smiths goes down a treat at a wedding.

When I say usually... I just played it the once. At the one wedding. OK, it was a short career in the DJ game, I admit.

... the groom loves hip hop and has asked for it. The bride meanwhile likes ABBA and eighties stuff. They both want a cool wedding. Obviously all of us will be fingering our copies of Aerosmith and Run DMC's version of Walk This Way, beyond this we worry about antagonising the crowd.

Have been inflicting wedding classics on my FPO this evening. So far she has liked
- Lady Marmalade by Labelle
- Superstition - Stevie Wonder
- Le Freak - Chic

She has also suggested Livin' On A Prayer by Bon Jovi. I am fingering copies of Groove is In The Heart and Man! I Feel Like A Woman, as I am shameless but would rather not be. Good choice The Happening up there. Big Time Sensuality strikes me as a goodie as well...

Star Trekkin' and some Jive Bunny, can't go wrong!

Into the Valley, a shoutey chorus, some keen dance moves and an innuendo laden title ;)

to dance (like an eejit) at weddings, no wonder I attend few and have remained single

... but I'm not sure you'd have many people dancing:

I Don't Know What It Is Rufus Wainwright
Clair De Lune From Suite Bergamasque Claude Debussy
Holes Mercury Rev
Into My Arms Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Les Contes d'Hoffmann – Barcacarolle Offenbach
You Do Something To Me Paul Weller
High Life Counting Crows
La Cienega Just Smiled Ryan Adams
May You Never John Martyn
Northern Sky Nick Drake
Sweet Song Blur
If I Were A Carpenter Robert Plant
Of A Broken Heart Zwan
When Love Breaks Down Prefab Sprout
One U2
Falling At Your Feet Daniel Lanois & Bono
Fall At Your Feet Crowded House
Jeannie's Diary Eels
Under Your Charms Josh Rouse
breathless Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Thirteen Kathryn Williams
Baby Can I Hold You Tracy Chapman
Queen Matilda Shack
From The Morning Nick Drake
When The Stars Go Blue Ryan Adams
You've Got A Friend Carole King
You Get Me Lost Freedy Johnston
A Man And A Woman U2
Jesus, Etc. Wilco
Sweet Li'l Thing Eels
Valley Winter Song Fountains Of Wayne
Kettle's On The Feeling
Thinking of You Paul Weller
Trouble Ray LaMontagne
Orange Sky Alexi Murdoch
(Are You) The One I've Been Waiting For? Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Love Compared With You Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel
Queen Matilda Shack
Chicago Sufjan Stevens
In Your Eyes Peter Gabriel
The Morning Fog Kate Bush
Naked As We Came Iron & Wine
Willie Cat Power
Heaven DJ Sammy & Yanou Feat. Do
Crazy Love Van Morrison
Coles Corner Richard Hawley
Have I Told You Lately Van Morrison
Wonderwall Ryan Adams
Hit the Ground Lizz Wright
Songbird Fleetwood Mac
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face Roberta Flack
Sunset Kate Bush
To the Country Laura Veirs
Wonderful Josh Rouse
Never Give Up Ron Sexsmith
Bless The Weather John Martyn
On An Island David Gilmour
Here Comes The Sun The Beatles
I'll Find My Way Home Jon & Vangelis
You're My Best Friend Queen
Friday I'm in Love The Cure
She Elvis Costello
Old Thames Side Richard Thompson
The Dress Looks Nice On You Sufjan Stevens
When We Become Clem Snide
Nightswimming R.E.M.
Barfly Ray LaMontagne
Good Man Josh Ritter
Our House Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Will You Love Me Tomorrow? Carole King
Help Me Joni Mitchell
Blackbird Beatles

Started off with Ocean Colour Scene's Hundred Mile High City. Great song. Lots of guitar and drums. Makes me want to dance.

Didn't make anyone else want to dance. Apart from a brave few. How was I to know that a song in 12/8 is tricky to dance to?

What did go down a treat was the Esoteric Cheese section. Andy Williams, Carpenters, Glenn Campbell and, rather oddly, Foggy Mountain Breakdown by Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatts. I stuck on a few seconds of it for a giggle and everyone went into manic thumbs-under-imaginary-braces hoedown yee-haw mode. So I let it play. Bedlam!

Another one which caused aunties and grannies to be trampled underfoot in the rush to the dancefloor was Fun Lovin' Criminal by TFLCs.

And remember AC/DC. Almost universal appeal now.

And if you can download the History Of Dance music, that's always a giggle.

have a sense of humour this would be perfect for their first dance just for the first line alone. In my experience it sums up marriage perfectly.

Size up the crowd and play the old folks stuff early.Talk to people and get a sense of what they like to dance to.Have songs like 'Long cool woman in a black dress' ready to put on in a moments notice.Play to the crowd, if the 50's are workin play lots of Elvis, Buddy Holly, and Rock around the clock.When I did a set of 60's music I would stay in the same style ie: several Motown songs in a row and then off to Daydream Believer and see if they follow you.If they don't, play a waltz, and then build it up with another decade or Genre.
Some songs to play in case nothing works:Summertime blues,Rockin in the USA,Gloria,YMCA,Footloose,Pretty Woman,The Twist,Funky Cold Medina,Faith,and Shook me all night long.And lastly make lists of music that are danceable(at least a 100 beats per minute and more) aso that you can read the songs in case you get stuck for something to play.Don't forget to ask the crowd for requests and try to play them where they fit into your set list.Good luck

If there are 8 DJs playing an hour each what time does this do finish?? Even if you have a licence till 2am that means someone has to go at 6pm when presumably people will still be digesting their wedding dinner, possibly listening to speeches and the evening shift won't have arrived. Or is this one of those mad weddings that goes on for days?!

What you play kind of depends on what time you're on. You can play all the classic Motown and disco hits but if it's 7.30 and people are just starting to arrive for the night do you're not gonna fill the floor (and you're possibly gonna waste all the best gold that one of the other guys has lined up).

Prime dancing starts from about 9.30-10pm when people start feeling suitably refreshed...unless there is a hot buffet with filling food like curry...that is the enemy of the DJ!

If you do find yourself playing the 'early doors' shift then I'd suggest just play whatever you like but keep it upbeat and cheery and not too obscure. You're just soundtracking people chatting and getting set for the rest of the night...this is the time to just show off your cool music taste.

If you do get one of the prime time slots then you're definitely on the right lines with Chic, Stevie etc. The trick is, get the girls dancing and the boys will follow.

You *do* have to play songs people know later on or you'll just piss people off. However, it is possible to get people dancing without playing total crap like Jive Bunny or the Grease Megamix or playing stuff you personally hate. Think about reasonably well known songs that you can dance to yourself and play those. An absolute winning trio of tunes: Geno by Dexys, followed by The Specials 'Gangsters', followed by Night Boat to Cairo by Madness...watch the floor go mad.

You can't fail with 'Crazy in Love' by Beyonce. Stick 'There She Goes' by the Las and follow it up with The Smiths or The Stone Roses. Obvious stuff but people will dance and at least its not rubbish!
I've never seen a dancefloor not fill when 'White Lines' by Grandmaster Flash comes on, or 'Rip it Up' by Orange Juice...just great tunes that everyone will dance to. Play something people might not have heard for a while but is instantly grooveable....'Stool Pigeon' by the mighty Kid Creole perhaps! Ha cha cha chaaaa!

What you and the 7 other DJs may find is that people will hassle you to play what they want and probably between all of you you'll have what people want but be prepared to ditch the plan and tear up the script and just go along with the groove of the night.

If it was up to me, I'd just suggest rather than having an hour each the the 8 DJs work as a bit of a Tag Team and maybe take 2-3 songs each...it might work quite well and you might find you compete to see who can get the most people dancing which will work well for the newlyweds and their crowd (and remember it's *their* night!)

Dr Volume pretty much hits the nail on the head.

Assuming you're on a "dancing slot" then a particular thought (from the point of view of a guest / potential dancer) is that the first few seconds of any track are the point at which you decide whether or not to get up (or stay on). You could find the grooviest, funkiest piece of danceable Northern Soul or Tropicalia, but if people don;t know it they'll be absent from the dancefloor.

I'm afraid this is all about engaging people's feet, not their musical minds. That's why you'll probably have to play lots of well-known stuff, but still slip in the occasional token nod to the groom's wishes.

... you are completely correct here Mr Bisto. A lady pleasing "set" is what is needed here. I flat out refuse to play Robbie Williams though.

Pondering and reading what has been suggested, and bearing the time frame I'm on, I'm thinking lots of female vocalists, decent seventies and eighties pop (but not always the obvious ones), a couple of coolish tunes to appeal to the groom and his mates.

Too early for Dancing Queen and Living on a Prayer, perhaps not too early for Take A Chance On Me or You Shook Me All Night Long though is how my brain is working. Crazy In Love ought to keep the pop ands hip hop contingents happy surely? I Will Survive is now binned, people need to be drunk later in the evening for that. Ditto YMCA.

I really do want to play the KLF though. Surely Justified and Ancient would work at a wedding these days? Tammy Wynnete for the oldies, nostalgia for us thirty somethings?

The worst dj's are blokes who love music but don't love dancing. I LOVE dancing. I have 3 failsafe tips: Relax by Frankie, Crazy by Gnarls Barkley and I Don't Feel Like Dancing by the Scissor Sisters. Everyone'll think you're gay, but hey, that's never bothered me!

I frequently play in a band at weddings and have found that there's no point in trying to throw anything too obscure into the set, no matter how brilliant or "cool" the song may be. The guests will most likely be indifferent to it because they just want to hear songs they know.

The songs which get a great response are old classics like Blame it on the Boogie, Sir Duke, Signed Sealed Delivered,Sweet Home Alabama, Higher and Higher, 9 to 5 (the ladies love this one for some reason), Kiss...

But the one song which never fails to have everyone on the dancefloor is Don't Stop Believing. At the last few weddings when we played this the dancefloor was packed with everyone jumping around to it and singing along - it's definitely a crowd pleaser.

I think the plan is coming together. The key, as established above is to get the ladies dancing, and the men will follow. Here are some copper-bottomed, gold-plated, guaranteed floor savers to refill the dancefloor if the tricky mix from Iron & Wine to Cat Power has cleared the area.

Relight my fire - Dan Hartman (or at a push Take That)
Into the Groove - Madonna
All Night Long - Lionel Ritchie
Where Love Lives - Alison Limerick
Finally - Ce Ce Peniston
Free - Ultra Nate
I've Got a Feeling - Black Eyed Peas (it's got a vocoder on so can't be bad)

Scissor Sisters are definately packed. If I was on late I'd play Filthy Gorgeous, as I'm on early I suspect Take Your Mama might go down well.

Last time I wedding DJed I played 9 to 5 and like what I saw, so that's one of my fail safe's.

So what I'm hearing is gay classics and lady vocalists? I can definately do that! *packs Tainted Love and the best of Kylie*

The plan is coming together. Good lady pleasers duly appreciated...

It went down an absolute storm, I was really pleased, cos I was really nervous:

Get It On/T Rex
Need You Tonight/INXS
In Between Days/The Cure
Fools Gold/Stone Roses
I'm Free/Soup Dragons
Hippychick/Soho
Rocks/Primal Scream
Connection/Elastica
Pump It Up/Elvis Costello
Teenage Kicks/Undertones
Cool For Cats/Squeeze
Gangsters/Specials
Israelites/Desmond Dekker
Green Onions/Booker T
These Boots Were Made For Walkin/Nancy Sinatra
Satisfaction/Stones
Blockbuster/Sweet
Queen Bitch/Bowie
Jungle Rock/Hank Mizell
Nutbush city Limits/Ike and Tina Turner
Knock On Wood/Amii Stewart
Doin' The Do/Betty Boo
You Spin Me Round/Dead Or Alive
Atomic/Blondie
Footloose/Kenny Loggins

... that truly is excellent. It's pop, its not obvious, and surely folks would dance (apart from the middle of Cool For Cats of course, a true leg tangler if ever I heard one).

Thanks massive! I genuinely think I have a vague idea of what I want to do now.

Ramones - Baby, I Love You (for our first dance)
John Paul Young - Love Is In The Air
Wannadies - You and Me Song
Beatles - I Saw Her Standing There
Rolling Stones - Get Off My Cloud / Jumpin Jack Flash
Dusty Springfield - Little by Little
Stephanie Mills - Never Knew Love Like This
Average White Band - Lets Go Round Again
A Taste of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie
Sister Sledge - He's the Greatest Dancer
Brothers Johnson - Stomp
Barry White - You're The First, My Last, My Everything
Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Madness - Baggy Trousers
Blondie - Heart of Glass
Small Faces - Sha La La La Lee
Blur - Girls and Boys

amongst others.

My brother had this at his reception. All of the original version! Well done to him. Danced like a monkey accordingly.

expecting music to be ace , two DJ's combined age 132 worst shindig I've been to for a long while.
My recommendation .........hire a good band.
(And partake of several sherberts)

Play the first 20-30 seconds of Robbie Williams' Angels then abruptly stop it, announce down the microphone "All those currently dancing are to be escorted out of the building to be shot out back", then drop in.......

Marvin Gaye - How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You

As the song fades, do an over-elaborate bow and saunter to the bar for a steady flow of free beer and nods of respect.

Who needs an hour. Less is more.

but you can't go wrong with Relight My Fire and Rule the World is the perfect slowie. Also, always guaranteed to get the aunties on the dancefloor is Hey Ya by OutKast, Respectable by Mel n Kim and Song 2 by Blur.

Take advice from Dr Volume - he has DJed under some dreadful circumstances and always got them dancing!

... but I make an exception for weddings.

You just want to fill the dancefloor. That's it. Not impress. Not educate. Not broaden horizons. Just get people up and moving.

Bear in mind here that you are dealing with an age range between about 8 and 80, so when you're picking songs ask yourself whether they would work on both your nephew and your granddad.

For my own wedding, the remit was to avoid the top 10/contemporary pop and just go with the old school dancefloor fillers/singalongs. The Monkees, Groove is in the Heart, Come on Eileen, Build Me Up Buttercup, Crazy in Love, Hey Ya, maybe the odd bit of the Stones etc etc.

I've been to weddings where people have played their own stuff (including one where 5 separate Velvet Underground records featured at one time or another). The effect, in my experience, is an empty dancefloor, and a wedding will always be worse for an empty dancefloor.

So my vote is to loosen up your usual quality control, cut some rug and make sure that at midnight you're pogoing up and down with your arm around the bride's dad screaming the chorus of Livin on a Prayer.

You can always take a long shower and listen to some Cocteau Twins the next day if it helps.

Dear lord, that's amazing. Are they still married?

I can say I was once in a pub (not a goth type bar, an actual pub) which was playing The Black Angel's Death Song over the system and it wasn't even closing time. People were blinking in bewilderment.

the absolute classic Earth, Wind & Fire song In The Stone!
Fantastic all the way, but especially the euphoria that sets in after ca 2:50 when they start singing;
"Never, never my darling, never you'll be alone
Ever, forever my darling, true love is written in the stone..."
Not the finest english perhaps, but sentiment, brass to die for and melody combined do lift everyones spirits like very few other songs; AND you can dance to it!

Other good songs:

Dancing In The Moonlight - Thin Lizzy
Ring My Bell - Anita Ward
Twenty-five Miles - Edwin Starr
Long Train Running - The Doobie Brothers
Lola's Theme - Shapeshifters

If it was my wedding I would go 100% funk, but I guess that's a bit extreme. But a couple of tracks to slip in for the real dance fanatics could be;
Cineramascope from Galactic's new CD, and if you want to see a dancefloor full of people imitating hens with heads bobbing, arms flapping, clucking etc, then please play Chicken Strut by The Meters!

Have a great party!

Entrance Song:
I'll Be Your Mirror (string quartet version of the Velvet Underground song)

Signing the register songs:
Until Death Do Them Part - Paul Kelly
My Soul Sings - Delirious?

Exit song:
William Tell Overture

Reception entrance song:
One Day Like This - Elbow

First dance song:
The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf

Dancing songs:
Lets Stay Together - Al Green
All I Want Is You - Barry Louis Polisar
You Really Got Me - The Kinks
Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley
Hotel Yorba - The White Stripes
Dancing In The Street - David Bowie & Mick Jagger
I Don't Feel Like Dancing - Scissor Sisters
Dancing Machine - Jackson 5
Dancing Choose - TV On The Radio
Crazy In Love - Beyonce Feat. Jay-Z
I Like It I Love It - Lyrics Born
That's The Way I Like It - K.C. & The Sunshine Band
Lady Madonna - The Beatles
You Never Can Tell - Chuck Berry
Dancing Queen - Abba
Jump Around - House Of Pain
Reach - S Club 7
No Sex for Ben - The Rapture
Groove Is In The Heart - Deee-Lite
All Night Disco Party - Brakes
Darts Of Pleasure - Franz Ferdinand
Mr Brightside - The Killers
A Stroke Of Genie-Us - The Strokes vs Christina Aguilera
Airbag - Radiohead cover by Easy All Stars
Live It Up - Mental As Anything
Common People - Pulp
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
Birdhouse In Your Soul - They Might Be Giants
Blister In The Sun - The Violent Femmes
Chelsea Dagger - Fratellis
Mrs Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel cover by The Lemonheads
Poison - Alice Cooper
Everyone Says You're So Fragile - Idlewild
Music Is My Hot Sex - CSS
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Banquet - Bloc Party
Hey Ya! - Outkast
Call Me - Blondie
Hounds Of Love - Kate Bush cover by The Futureheads
Standing In The Way Of Control - Gossip
I Bet that You Look Good On The Dancefloor - Arctic Monkeys
Let's Dance To Joy Division - Wombats
Can't Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head - New Order vs Kylie
Smack Me Baby One More Time - Britney Spears vs Prodigy
Brimful Of Asha (Norman Cook remix) - Cornershop
Down Under - Men At Work
It Must Be Love - Madness
Hi Ho Silver Lining - Jeff Beck
Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room) - Flight Of The Conchords
Lucky Man - The Verve

So Long, Farewell - from The Sound Of Music soundtrack
I Walk The Line - Johnny Cash
No Cars Go (reprise) - Arcade Fire

This is what i'd play.......

20th Century Boy - T Rex
Fashion - David Bowie
I'm A Man - Spencer Davis Group
Loose Fit - Happy Mondays
Rock The Casbah - The Clash
Uptown Top Ranking - Althea & Donna
Aint Nobody - Chaka Khan
Groove Is In The Heart - Deee Lite
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Could You Be Loved - Bob Marley
Pull Up To The Bumper - Grace Jones
1999 - Prince

Fairly bulletproof I think!

is to only play songs that have been number 1, spread out over the decades.
My list:

Rosemary Clooney Mambo Italiano
Jerry Lee Lewis Great Balls Of Fire
Elvis Presley All Shook Up
Cliff Richard & The Shadows The Young Ones
The Beatles She Loves You
Roy Orbison Oh Pretty Woman
The Byrds Mr Tambourine Man
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles Tears Of A Clown
Mud Tiger Feet
Abba Waterloo
Slade Cum On Feel The Noize
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
Abba Mamma Mia
Elton John & Kiki Dee Don't Go Breaking My Heart
The Bee Gees Night Fever
Irene Cara Fame
Wham! I'm Your Man
The Timelords Doctorin' The Tardis
Cher The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)
Doop Doop
Hanson Mmm Bop
S Club 7 Don't Stop Movin'
Kylie Minogue Can't Get You Out Of My Head
Eric Prydz Call On Me
Arctic Monkeys I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Sugababes Push The Button
Katy Perry I Kissed A Girl
Ting Tings That's Not My Name
La Roux Bulletproof
Lady Gaga Bad Romance
Basshunter Now You're Gone