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‘It Shouldn’T Happen To A D.j’


Len

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This is to all those D.J's out there (Ok everyone!) - Care to share your best, bizarre, worse or all three moments with us? I'm pretty sure there must be some hilarious stories to be told.

I'll start the ball rolling —

Worse — I was D.Jing somewhere and I was just thinking the set was going "ËœA.O.K' and someone came up to ask for a request.....he said (Dead seriously)...."ÂCould you play something we like?"Â....Doh! - That threw me, I can tell ya! L

Bizarre - At the 100 Club in the 90's, I think I must have really "Ëœconnected' with one particular chap who was evidently at the height of his "ËœZone' - He leapt onto the stage, literally grabbed the mike off me and basically let everyone know he was "on top of the world!"Â — It wasn't only hilarious but also a great relief as I thought I was being attacked! Chantel (Beds) said she clocked it straight away and was ready to protect me bless her (and she was well capable of doing so!).....Somebody did later, to the poor ol' Boy's detriment but that's another story...let's just say, it don't matter how much you're enjoying yourself, you simply MUST remember "Ëœdance floor etiquette' or you may live to regret it....especially if my friend is about!

Best — "ËœPlaying Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes - Praying' at The Isle Of White Mod Rally (80's) The Mods were very "Ëœnon plussed'...But Danny Huff and The Ugly Bugglies imploded and tore up that dance floor! (I think they may have been at the height of their "Ëœzone' also! lol) Great stuff.

Another story, loosely connected with D.Jing (Promoting) I was at The Embankment Club (a local soul event I used to run) one "Ëœlegendary' night. Firstly (Which is fine) This chap asked me if I'd been before, to which I replied "A couple of times but I don't think much to the place"Â - Yep, my "Ëœirony' was "Ëœrife' even back then....(no wonder I never made very many friends over the years)....Anyway, then the guy pointed at Nina (my wife) and asked "Is she spare?"Â — I had to stop my "Ëœirony' kicking in again as I soooo wanted to reply "Yup, go for it Solder"Â (What a bizarre way of asking if someone's single!)

All the best,

Len :thumbsup:

Edited by LEN
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This is to all those D.J's out there (Ok everyone!) - Care to share your best, bizarre, worse or all three moments with us? I'm pretty sure there must be some hilarious stories to be told.

I'll start the ball rolling —

Worse — I was D.Jing somewhere and I was just thinking the set was going "ËœA.O.K' and someone came up to ask for a request.....he said (Dead seriously)...."ÂCould you play something we like?"Â....Doh! - That threw me, I can tell ya! L

Len :thumbsup:

The most regular request seems to be "CAN YOU PLAY SOMETHING I KNOW??"

Think this is probably a pretty standard question at Oldies nights up and down the country if a DJ plays something not in the top 1000 :wicked: ................always have 'House For Sale' in your box................they all know that one!!!

:D

P.S. Also 'No One There'...........just in case they fancy forming a circle, holding hands and doing the Hokey Cokey!!! :huh:

Edited by Carol J
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This is to all those D.J's out there (Ok everyone!) - Care to share your best, bizarre, worse or all three moments with us? I'm pretty sure there must be some hilarious stories to be told.

I'll start the ball rolling —

Worse — I was D.Jing somewhere and I was just thinking the set was going "ËœA.O.K' and someone came up to ask for a request.....he said (Dead seriously)...."ÂCould you play something we like?"Â....Doh! - That threw me, I can tell ya! L

Bizarre - At the 100 Club in the 90's, I think I must have really "Ëœconnected' with one particular chap who was evidently at the height of his "ËœZone' - He leapt onto the stage, literally grabbed the mike off me and basically let everyone know he was "on top of the world!"Â — It wasn't only hilarious but also a great relief as I thought I was being attacked! Chantel (Beds) said she clocked it straight away and was ready to protect me bless her (and she was well capable of doing so!).....Somebody did later, to the poor ol' Boy's detriment but that's another story...let's just say, it don't matter how much you're enjoying yourself, you simply MUST remember "Ëœdance floor etiquette' or you may live to regret it....especially if my friend is about!

Best — "ËœPlaying Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes - Praying' at The Isle Of White Mod Rally (80's) The Mods were very "Ëœnon plussed'...But Danny Huff and The Ugly Bugglies imploded and tore up that dance floor! (I think they may have been at the height of their "Ëœzone' also! lol) Great stuff.

Another story, loosely connected with D.Jing (Promoting) I was at The Embankment Club (a local soul event I used to run) one "Ëœlegendary' night. Firstly (Which is fine) This chap asked me if I'd been before, to which I replied "A couple of times but I don't think much to the place"Â - Yep, my "Ëœirony' was "Ëœrife' even back then....(no wonder I never made very many friends over the years)....Anyway, then the guy pointed at Nina (my wife) and asked "Is she spare?"Â — I had to stop my "Ëœirony' kicking in again as I soooo wanted to reply "Yup, go for it Solder"Â (What a bizarre way of asking if someone's single!)

All the best,

Len :thumbsup:

Hey Len you have a few more ie nearly missing the event as almost got lost as sat nav ran out of power and my fav of booking the taxi for the wrong weekend. Great laugh though and your sets on those nights were superb.

Andy

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Hi Lenster! Had a good one at a recent 80s charity night i deejayed at....most people had dressed in 80s get up! etc...music for the night was electro pop etc....somebody i didnt know requested some northern soul..."dont have any of that mate" , "sorry this is an 80s night" i replied...He walked off in a huff ....you northern soul lot no how to put a dampner on a good evening dont ya.... :P

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I was once DJing at a Charity event and was asked if I had any Kool and the Gang ( think I was playing Tomangoes OVO at the time).

I said 'no, sorry I hadn't' when the punter asked ' when's the proper DJ on?' 'next' I said :thumbup:

You can't please all of the people all of the time :D

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can remember djing at a reggae 'blues'..all night house party with bar for those not into reggae!.....the house was heaving...all of a sudden its pitch black and the music goes off.....no ones put any money in the meter...while people are searching for the meter in the dark and 50p...theres a bang on the door..someone peeps out the window and theres a riot van with old bill on the doorstep...everyone goes quite..except for the giggling ...another bang on the door...old bill looking in the windows everyone getting down on the floor.....as soon as they left...they found the meter...50p in and off we go again till the mornin

can also remember supplying a sound for a rave in the middle of norfolk...in some kind of barn with netting...could feel lumps on the floor and thought it was grass...as the sun came up we realised it was dead pheasents!

did a wedding once for a friend..again when workin with a reggae sound....we had reservations but he said it would be fine...obviously not!...the look on the grannies faces when they walked in to see 18in bass bins!....after a while people gettin bored with even the most commercial of reggae,someone comes up with a ktel rock n roll double lp so my mate is playing tracks of this while the 'oldies' were jiving..all night the sound has kept going off as they had a noise limiter worked by a mic over the bar....even the noise of people laughing was making the warning light flicker...so a pissed up punter said he would sort it....climbed on the bar and ripped the mic out of the wall....and that was the end of the night..landlady went mental...a double wedding too..both brides crying...only 10pm...

all a bit tame and well behaved nowadays!

dean

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The most regular request seems to be "CAN YOU PLAY SOMETHING I KNOW??"

Yes indeed, at least "I know" is a step above "we like"....Ooo the stress of it all, why oh why do we put ourselves through it aye?! :D

Len.

Edited by LEN
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"If you're only playing modden I'm going home". :)

:lol: :lol: :lol: - That reminded me of a time this woman came up to me (Arms folded) and basically 'bellowed' at me - "The f*ckin' Modern Room is upstairs!!!" and then stormed off..... Oh deary dear....I suppose she had a point (Kind of).....But why be so aggressive? :(

Len.

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Played Sandra richardson whilst djing recently, but forgot the labels are reversed on my copy, felt a right tw*t but let it roll, and it went down a storm :ohmy::lol: :lol:

You lucky B*stard!!! :D - That's the kind of thing I have nightmares about - Yep, honestly! lol

Len :thumbsup:

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Hey Len you have a few more ie nearly missing the event as almost got lost as sat nav ran out of power and my fav of booking the taxi for the wrong weekend. Great laugh though and your sets on those nights were superb.

Andy

Ok, ok Andy, not to mention the time I led you into a Polish delicatessen absolutely convinced that it was the venue, purely on the basis there was people outside smoking. I marched us through, saying "evening" to the "ËœSoulies' outside (as you do) only to be met by a f*ckin' cheese counter!...."Um, was it Brie you wanted Andy?"Â — Doh! - I did apologise for that corker! :huh::D

Len.

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I was once DJing at a Charity event and was asked if I had any Kool and the Gang ( think I was playing Tomangoes OVO at the time).

I said 'no, sorry I hadn't' when the punter asked ' when's the proper DJ on?' 'next' I said :thumbup:

You can't please all of the people all of the time :D

Luv it :thumbup:

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I was once DJing at a Charity event and was asked if I had any Kool and the Gang ( think I was playing Tomangoes OVO at the time).

I said 'no, sorry I hadn't' when the punter asked ' when's the proper DJ on?' 'next' I said :thumbup:

You can't please all of the people all of the time :D

Which Kool and the gang was it?

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Ok, ok Andy, not to mention the time I led you into a Polish delicatessen absolutely convinced that it was the venue, purely on the basis there was people outside smoking. I marched us through, saying "evening" to the "ËœSoulies' outside (as you do) only to be met by a f*ckin' cheese counter!...."Um, was it Brie you wanted Andy?"Â — Doh! - I did apologise for that corker! :huh::D

Len.

Could have been worse,once the steam had cleared it may have been a chip shop.

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:lol: :lol: :lol: - That reminded me of a time this woman came up to me (Arms folded) and basically 'bellowed' at me - "The f*ckin' Modern Room is upstairs!!!" and then stormed off..... Oh deary dear....I suppose she had a point (Kind of).....But why be so aggressive? :(

Len.

The aggression from people is what I find so puzzling, but it can usually be put down to them possessing an IQ which numerically is smaller than their shoe size in most instances so it's never worth getting into it with them, best to just smile at them and carry on so it makes them even madder. :)

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Ok, ok Andy, not to mention the time I led you into a Polish delicatessen absolutely convinced that it was the venue, purely on the basis there was people outside smoking. I marched us through, saying "evening" to the "ËœSoulies' outside (as you do) only to be met by a f*ckin' cheese counter!...."Um, was it Brie you wanted Andy?"Â — Doh! - I did apologise for that corker! :huh::D

Len.

Ha I loved that one Len yes it was such a laugh it actually added to the night and it's good to laugh .

I also fondly remember the night of the taxi was booked for the wrong week we had to spend an hour in local wellingborough pub waiting for another taxi a local latched onto you because of your record box and offered you his collection of pop records and if I recall going on about a black lace record. It was priceless because you went along with it and was very polite. Another great night. !!!!!!!

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'Have you got Wade in The Water ?'

'No, Sorry'

'Why not ??'

'Because I don't like it myself'

'What the hell's that got to do with it, you're a DJ. You're supposed to play what we want not what you want !!'

Anybody got a copy of 'Wade in The Water' for sale ??

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Ha I loved that one Len yes it was such a laugh it actually added to the night and it's good to laugh .

I also fondly remember the night of the taxi was booked for the wrong week we had to spend an hour in local wellingborough pub waiting for another taxi a local latched onto you because of your record box and offered you his collection of pop records and if I recall going on about a black lace record. It was priceless because you went along with it and was very polite. Another great night. !!!!!!!

I don't think I had much choice! :huh: No doubt that chap enjoyed our little 'connection' through us both owning records. Why spoil it by disagreeing with him? - It would be so disagreeable :D

Len.

Edited by LEN
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can also remember supplying a sound for a rave in the middle of norfolk...in some kind of barn with netting...could feel lumps on the floor and thought it was grass...as the sun came up we realised it was dead pheasents!

Nothing wrong with that Dean - they were obviously game!

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The aggression from people is what I find so puzzling, but it can usually be put down to them possessing an IQ which numerically is smaller than their shoe size in most instances so it's never worth getting into it with them, best to just smile at them and carry on so it makes them even madder. :)

Yep - just like the prick who used to come to a club I regularly played at, and would complain to whichever DJs were on - not just about the music, but also the carpet fittings, size of room, colour of curtains draping the windows, you name it! I'm sure he'll know who he is if he reads this.

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Guest Andy Kempster

I was D.Jing at an event once from 9.00pm - 9.45pm and I just knew, no one ever danced at this particular venue before (what I call the "ËœWater Shed') 9.30p.m. In this case, I knew it would definitely not be until 9.45pm, when the next D.J came on. As predicted I was right, no matter what I tried they were not budging until that very moment and with the first record after my uncomfortable spot, the floor was absolutely rammed!...(At one point during my set a bloke did come up to speak to me though).....

....I put my records away and waded through the packed dance floor to sit down, Nina obviously "Ëœfelt my pain' and kindly asked "What did that Guy want?"Â (Thinking he had taken an interest in what I had been playing)...."ÂNina, he asked if he could borrow a pen!"Â I replied with a bemused look on my face :huh:

There's definitely "Ëœups and downs' to DJing and I suppose it's the "Ëœchallenge' that we all enjoy.....kind of :huh::D

Len.

thats classic :rofl:

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I remember when myself and Dom Bassett set up Friday and Sunday nites at Woolwich Poly during the autumn of 1984. For the first couple of weeks, most of our punters were students from the poly. If we'd let them have their way, our playlist would have consisted of every Pink Floyd track they ever released to that date!

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Here's one from the other side of the decks.

Every Blackpool Tower November weekender since the first one Richard Searling or Kev Roberts always asks for requests for what we used to listen to when we first found NS. Every single time I ask for Nine Times Out of Ten and they never have it. I know it's cheesey but when I was a kid growing up in Blackpool everywhere played it.

I will continue to ask for it.

so there!!!

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I remember when myself and Dom Bassett set up Friday and Sunday nites at Woolwich Poly during the autumn of 1984. For the first couple of weeks, most of our punters were students from the poly. If we'd let them have their way, our playlist would have consisted of every Pink Floyd track they ever released to that date!

Dom Bassett, now there's a 'blast from the past' - One of my hero's he was! :thumbsup:

Len.

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Here's one from the other side of the decks.

Every Blackpool Tower November weekender since the first one Richard Searling or Kev Roberts always asks for requests for what we used to listen to when we first found NS. Every single time I ask for Nine Times Out of Ten and they never have it. I know it's cheesey but when I was a kid growing up in Blackpool everywhere played it.

I will continue to ask for it.

so there!!!

And so you should! - Especially if they have asked for requests.....In fact, I'd go a step further and take a copy with you for them to play - D.J's just love it when that happens! :yes:

All the best,

Len.

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Guest Soultown andy

And so you should! - Especially if they have asked for requests.....In fact, I'd go a step further and take a copy with you for them to play - D.J's just love it when that happens! :yes:

All the best,

Len.

I think muriel would go down a storm at bt cant understand it,its not like kev and richard to get choosy :wicked: .

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The other one that springs to mind. I was djing at a local night in Darlington, three or four times this p*ssed up guy came on the stage and asked for Eye of the Tiger :ohmy: i did try to explain about the music policy for the night, but after about 10mins once again he came up, but this time he shouted at me and gave me a load of abuse, screaming EYE OF THE TIGER!!!!. My head went and i shouted "IF YOU DON`T F**K OFF THIS STAGE, YOU`LL GET......EYE OF THE PANDA!!!!! ranting_1.gifranting_1.gifranting_1.gif

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:lol: :lol: :lol: - That reminded me of a time this woman came up to me (Arms folded) and basically 'bellowed' at me - "The f*ckin' Modern Room is upstairs!!!" and then stormed off..... Oh deary dear....I suppose she had a point (Kind of).....But why be so aggressive? :(

Len.

Most women with their arms folded mean business Len...............next time...............just run, lol!!!

Caz

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There was the night in the Tracky club - Punter comes up to look at what was playing, peers over DJ box - Pint in hand - Drops full pint onto Decks, L.Allen on one turntable, Chapter 5 on other. rescued both records before system died in a firework display.

Never been keen on Northern nights in town centre - Friday evening in Citrus rooms Barnsley. Worst nightmare - Drunken Hen Party bursts in, have a drink & dance - One very leggy young lady in a very short dress clambers onto stage - Her request caught me out a little - "Can I have your underwear we're having a competition"

Quick as you like - "I'll swap you - yours for mine"

She caught me again - "Too late - they're gone - and demonstrated"

She returned to mates and carried on dancing - I may have missed start of next record.

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Never been keen on Northern nights in town centre - Friday evening in Citrus rooms Barnsley. Worst nightmare - Drunken Hen Party bursts in, have a drink & dance - One very leggy young lady in a very short dress clambers onto stage - Her request caught me out a little - "Can I have your underwear we're having a competition"

Quick as you like - "I'll swap you - yours for mine"

She caught me again - "Too late - they're gone - and demonstrated"

She returned to mates and carried on dancing - I may have missed start of next record.

Lucky git Derek! :shhh:

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Worst:

Downstairs at one of the Brighton Alldayers, when the decks didnt have proper centres, but those click in plastic jobs. The decks also didn't have much in the way of lighting and half way through the set instead of clipping into the record the centre flicked out never to be seen again the rest of the set was interesting. :yes: :yes:

Bizarre:

The night at These Old Shoes when one deck packed up and Jo kept up the patter whilst Martin or myself got the next record sorted. Her introduction for Little Charles and the Sidewinders on Decca was priceless, 'This ones got a pink label' :lol:

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I was once DJing at a Charity event and was asked if I had any Kool and the Gang ( think I was playing Tomangoes OVO at the time).

I said 'no, sorry I hadn't' when the punter asked ' when's the proper DJ on?' 'next' I said :thumbup:

You can't please all of the people all of the time :D

Lionel Ritchie the best request I've had.

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And a top man he was! Wonder what he's doing now?

I was just going to ask you that question! Had some crazy times when Dom was about, usually involved fighting with the locals on Mod Rallies (him, not me!)

Len - Danny Huff & the Ugly Bugglies :o) I was at that rally, & I apologise for giving you the evils lolol

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