It seems to me that too many bands spend way too much time playing what they want to hear, rather than what is right for the crowd at any particular moment. Whether this fact stems from rampant narcissism (Look at me!), an inability to read their crowd, or an extremely limited set list - the result is the same. Dancers tend to sit down when they don't know the tunes.
Conversely, some deejays and bands can't seem to make it through a single night without hauling out hoary old chestnuts like YMCA, New York New York, and The Macarena. While granting that there will always be a market - somewhere - for such tunes, these particular songs (along with Stairway To Heaven, Freebird, and anything from Mamma Mia!) run a very high risk of turning off a big chunk of your dancers. For that reason alone, they should be played sparingly (every February 29th, for example.) Alternate tunes - with a much lower "cheese" factor - exist which inspire many fewer cases of violence against music providers.
Even big-name performers can occasionally benefit from this same advice. I once sat through an entire Carlos Santana set without hearing a single tune I recognized (and I know a bunch). Now, you can add me to the list of former Santana fans.
But last night, the lovely Gina Tanner and I attended a concert performance by Gladys Knight. In a 90-minute set, Gladys perfectly balanced new songs and borrowed tunes (made famous by others) with all of her greatest hits. No matter how many times she has sung them, she knows that they are what makes the cash register ring.
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80's dance music
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