What's Your Favorite Party Music?

Good stuff, Vayasteve.
(Cardinal, Never though of VU as 'party' music, although they are very good, and so is the Lou Reed solo stuff).
For parties, we play a lot of sons with a bit of salsa and some cumbias thrown in (Celia Cruz, Estudiantina Invasora, Quarteto Patria, Ruben Gonsalez, Cachao, just to scrtach the surface).
Mix in some Funk (e.g. George Clinton), Blues (sp. John Lee Hooker),70's disco makes a nice change of pace (Gloria Gaynor, KC), and to give people a chance to freshen their drinks, I like to throw in some Jimmy Buffet in once in a while.
When it's time to light the cigars, a nice round of Guantanamera or Lagrimas Negras sets the mood!

KP

Massive Attack, DaRude, Paul Van Dyk, ATB, The Velvet Acid Christ, Daft Punk, BT, Hybrid, Alice Deejay, Paul Oakenfold, Crystal Method, Webster Hall, The Chemical Brothers just to name a few. Keep the beats going non-stop!

i start out with lou reed, "songs for drella" or "death and transfiguration," then move on to the soundtrack from "until the end of the world." when everyone's in the proper mood, i switch over to modern classical stuff, preferring works by john cage and phillip glass. adding to everyones' visual pleasure, i run the dvd of "my own private idaho" on multiple monitors. usually, everybody ends up doing a line or two of prozac before heading back to the half-way house. way fun. -cfb

CFB, you forgot to mention "Metal Machine Music" which always gets things going...another good choice to break the ice and help everyone feel relaxed is anything from Einsturzende Neubauten, I like "Halber Mensch" myself. Then you can throw some video material from the Brothers Quay on the ol' tube to augment the fun tunes...

I typically end up playing DJ at the parties that one of my buddies throws. He's got a great place for big parties in an un-incorporated area i.e. NO police or neighbor problems. He also sings ( we think that's what he's trying to do ) in a band, so we've got a tri-amped PA system to play with for the music. He has everything from HUGE bonfires, a pool, volleyball, horseshoes, riding lawn mower races through a "slalom course" ( !!! ), etc... Needless to say, we always end up with kegs up the wazoo and the required "porta-potties" for bashes this big.

As to the music, it ranges from authentic 1970's disco ( on 8 track !!! ) like Brick House, Flashlight, Love RollerCoaster, Heart of Glass, Dancing Queen, etc... to country and bluegrass ala "the man in Black" ( J. Cash ), Hank Jr, whatever he's got laying around, pretty wide selection) to punk like The Exploited, 4Skins, Peter & the Test Tube Babies, Suicidal Tendencies, etc, to metal like Venom, Celtic Frost, Slayer to hard rock like Sabbath, UFO, Status Quo, Deep Purple with various amounts of alternative ( kept to a minimum but might hear Smashing Pumkins, etc.. ), some blues like Muddy Waters and some "Cab Driver" out of New Orleans ( can't remember his name right now but he's GREAT ), some Jazz via Lenny White or Mahavishnu, etc.. various industrial stuff like Einsturzende Neubaten ( which means "collapsing new buildings ), The Damage Manual and gothic i.e. The Cure, Bauhaus, some "space rock" ala the mighty Hawkwind and some good old fashioned Celtic rock courtesy of the Pogues and Skyclad thrown in for good measure.

As you can see, you never know what will be played or in what sequence, so it makes it all the more interesting. We've had people waltzing, pogo-ing, square dancing, shaking their "booties", moshing in a pit, etc... at the same party within minutes of each other. It can be GREAT fun watching how much of an idiot someone can make of themselves in such a short period of time : )

There is only ONE band that is guaranteed to be played though. This tradition has come to be known as "Mentors at Midnight". If you've ever heard the Mentors, you'll know why a bunch of drunken derelicts at a "knock down, drag out" type of party would enjoy hearing them and singing along. While the Mac Lads are a close second, nothing beats joining in with El Duece' to sing "The Four F Club".

Thanks for reminding me of what a good time i've had at these parties. I'm long overdue to get out of the house and "rock and roll". I can't wait for summer to come now : ) Sean
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