The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Arts & Entertainment => Topic started by: side_show on September 12, 2008, 04:17:58 am
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Hey folks,
Seems I need about 1.5 hrs more music for the wedding reception iPod shuffle. Please offer your suggestions, remembering music must apeal to folks 20 -50 with a cluster of 70-86 yr olds also attending. We're looking for background music, not dance music. The central music has been focused on: the Beatles, Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and an assortment of popular songs about love from the 50's - 08 such as Billy Joel - Always A Woman, Neil Young - Harvest Moon, Willy Nelson - Always on My Mind) basically the sort of popular tunes that are/will be classic enough to be palatable to a broad demographic without totally disgusting the SO and I's dislike of shitty stuff. Either recognizable or too beautiful to not be enjoyed is basically what we're aiming for.
Suggestions?
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I recently attended a wedding reception where half the attendees were of retirement age.
"Baby Got Back" was played by the DJ.
My jaw dropped. Best to avoid such mistakes.
I'd suggest throwing in some of the slower softer Stones stuff. "Angie" "Wild hosss" that sorta thing.
Ben Folds' more romantical stuff?
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I think ive recommended Leslie Feist here before as background music. I stand by this decision. Completely inoffensive, soft voice, unobtrusive beat.
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Love Will Keep us Together, obviously and Muskrat Love. You Are So Beautiful to Me (Joe Cocker), Lost in Love (Air Supply), You've Got it All Over Him (The Jets).
LFM, don't underestimate the old people.
~Paul
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Well, first off, I want to say "Do You Love Me"-- The Contours.
But that's definitely a Dancing song, not a Romancing song.
Crazy Love-- Van Morrison
Fever-- Little Willie John or Peggy Lee
Try a Little Tenderness-- Otis Redding
When a Man Loves a Woman (?)-- Percy Sledge (I guess it is kind of Corny. I have a weakness for sappy love songs, just try to imagine all the motown songs i have censored from this list)
Hallelujah and I love her So-- Ray Charles
Sam Cooke-- (ain't that) good news, almost anything else.
Dedicated to the One I love-- the shirelles
stevie wonder-- any number of things
the beatles-- All I've Got to Do (I love this song so much, oh my god.)
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Sam Cooke-- (ain't that) good news, almost anything else.
Sam Cooke, that is another guy I would load up on.
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lately I am working on this theory where... for a long time I have been into punk rock, indie rock, metal, whatever. And those are things that... maybe they're your thing, maybe they aren't your thing. if they are, you'll know it, and you'll like it.
But my theory is that if you've grown up in the English-speaking world, you like soul music. it is one of the basic musics of no offense to anybody.
What I'm saying is, I kind of think if you can't like soul music, there is something wrong going on in your brain.
Yeah, yeah. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp3JOzcpBds)
Maybe it isn't what you want to listen to every day. Maybe it isn't what you want at your wedding. But, come on.
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Dan, we are not for the most part 19 year olds who grew up on the Backstreet Boys and now think Coldplay rules. You don't have to really work that hard to convince us that Sweet Soul Music, or soul music in general is awesome.
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i know. I just... wow. It is some good stuff.
Apparently out of my friends I am the only one whose parents didn't listen to this stuff throughout their childhood. So. I am coming to it late in life.
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i know. I just... wow. It is some good stuff.
Apparently out of my friends I am the only one whose parents didn't listen to this stuff throughout their childhood. So. I am coming to it late in life.
I find the last part of this statement extremely, unintentionally, humorous.
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yeah. I mean. oh.
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I was thinking the other day how lucky it is to be able to find old music and relive an entire musician's career on-demand. There is a world of music in history that other people had to wait for, and now I just throw an entire lifetime on my ipod.
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There is a world of music in history that other people had to wait for, and now I just throw an entire lifetime on my ipod.
That is an interesting way to think of it. Usually if I find some group that doesn't exist anymore I am sad that it will never come out with another recording. A-Cap sees the glass as half full.
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- Beyond the Sea is always a good one. I prefer Royal Crown Revue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRIdpblFlN8)'s version, but there are tons of good ones.
- Dave Brubeck plays well to everyone. Take Five (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faJE92phKzI) is great, of course, but there are some other (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ohyd0EDVKA) great (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8PQBYEkHHg) songs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ2tfn7GOxM). I can't find a link for my favorite, Symphony, but it was on the Paper Moon album.
- The Beta Band - Dry The Rain (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsbR2dEmHGc) and B + A (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSBjtE7ZdIM) are probably my favorites off of The Three EPs. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppJAkN4m9bY)(Yes, this is why I own that album)
- You already have A Kiss to Build a Dream On (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUR67gpDyJQ), of course. Right?
- Slow down, you move too fast. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuoOTOhjDcs)
- Chris Cornell probably isn't the voice you're looking for, but give Sunshower (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayimKtWlmms) a listen.
- You could probably sneak some Led Zeppelin in if you try (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Gf9LT5_Ww) hard enough (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TGLjWPZ9wM).
- They may not exactly fit for a wedding, but my completely un-hip 67 year old mother likes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSMD51bAXMs) Lemon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G89aIQDlbB4) Jelly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p1JazmClm4).
- I like Vanessa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vSUaDveIxY) Carlton (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySQ8ndKJpVE).
- Surprisingly, Phish have recorded at least one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1T0Bpmoyzc) okay song.
- Sneaky Hendrix (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-4NuPDpvgc)
- Morcheeba isn't exactly mainstream, but they have the occasional smooth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnCS25z18pI) song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxnuCZFyp44) that makes for good background music. I particularly like their cover of Crystal Blue Persuasion.
BTW, I apologize for some of the video accompaniments here. Also: tired.
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The only song I insisted on at my wedding was Peter Gabriel "In Your Eyes".
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There will be no songs at my wedding. Only a poetic reading of John Galt's 80 page speech from Atlas Shrugged....
but seriously, i think Danny's Song is the model of a romantic song. Its easy to ignore that its about a baby.
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All excellent, I will track them down during the week and report back on my findings. I'm sorting through some Billie Holiday to add also.
Recently removed: "Let's Get It On" way too creepy to play this around the elderly, we have hip elderly folks attending, but still, something about this is a huge turn off.
"Blackbird" will probably be sung at the ceremony if I have any say in it.
"You Can't Take That Away From Me" w/ Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong is one of the best songs ever. In the world.
Also, being Canadian, a Tragically Hip is the only song I will not remove due to the F bomb:
Fireworks:
If there's a goal that everyone remembers it was back in ole' 72
We all squeezed the stick and we all pulled the trigger
And all I remember was sitting beside you
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr
Isn't it amazing anything's accomplished
When the little sensation gets in your way
Not one ambition whisperin' over your shoulder
Isn't it amazing you can do anything
We hung out together every single moment
Cause that's what we thought married people do
Complete with the grip of artificial chaos
And believing in the country of me and you
Crisis of faith and crisis in the Kremlin
And yea we'd heard all of that before
It's wintertime, the house is solitude with options
And loosening the grip on a fake cold war
Isn't it amazing what you can accomplish
When you don't let the nation get in your way
No ambition whisperin' over your shoulder
Isn't it amazing you can do anything
Next to your comrades in the national fitness program
Caught in some eternal flexed-arm hang
Droppin' to the mat in a fit of laughter
Showed no patience, tolerance or restraint
Fireworks exploding in the distance
Temporary towers soar
Fireworks emulating heaven
Til there are no stars anymore
Fireworks aiming straight at heaven
Temporary towers soar
Til there are no stars shining up in heaven
Til there are no stars anymore
Isn't it amazing what you can accomplish
When the little sensation gets in your way
No ambition whisperin' over your shoulder
Isn't it amazing what you can accomplish, eh
This one thing probably never goes away
I think this one thing is always supposed to stay
This one thing doesn't have to go away
Also, Angie? At a wedding? Isn't that just way too depressing?
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There will be no songs at my wedding. Only a poetic reading of John Galt's 80 page speech from Atlas Shrugged....
There better be a bar, too.
The Very Thought of You - Sinatra or Al Bowlly
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Too depressing?
Aren't, like, half of the songs at weddings horribly depressing songs about growing old and dying?
Call me nuts but... a song about Jagger and Bowie's bittersweet breakup is SO much less depressing than, like, "Sunrise Sunset" or whatever.
Ones about two people moving on with their lives, the other's about fuck*ng DYING.
Any song that reminds me of my mortality is instantly The Saddest Thing.
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"Baby You've Got (What It Takes)" by Brooke Benton and Dinah Washington. it's a bouncy duet from like the sixties or something, and it's basically like treasure.
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If I were to do it again (and I might) I think I would like to have "Fly me to the Moon", "Across the Sea" and songs like that, back to back for an hour, martini's only at the bar, and preferably a live swing band and crooner singing. Maybe some torch songs, too. Maybe "Can't Stop Loving That Man of Mine" type stuff. One hour of that and then rock out.
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why only martinis?
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Yeah, that would be pretty cool.
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'Cause classy music and classy drinks set a classy mood, man.
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There are other classy drinks out there, you know? I don't know. They are a bit strong for me.
Maybe my wedding will have only Gin and Tonics. That'll teach em.
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If I were to do it again (and I might) I think I would like to have "Fly me to the Moon", "Across the Sea" and songs like that, back to back for an hour, martini's only at the bar, and preferably a live swing band and crooner singing. Maybe some torch songs, too. Maybe "Can't Stop Loving That Man of Mine" type stuff. One hour of that and then rock out.
PERFECT! Yes, AD, I was missing all three of these and they are perfect. This is more or less the feel we're going for. More torch song suggestions are definitely welcome.
And no LFM, not all wedding music is depressing. So far none of the tunes we have are. They are either about love being awesome, or about ladies who are improper (Lady is a Tramp, Jolly Butcher, etc), which is sort of sad in an po-mo-feminist way, but we definitely cut out any of the heart wrenching stuff.
Also, from the Canadiana catalog : Mary Mac (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDtjq0mGVSQ) is a pretty hilarious and awesome Celtic kitchen burner befitting of the part Scotsman I'm marrying.
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How about Etta James' "At Last"...
Amazon has several CD compilations of torch songs on sale. You can check the track lists for ideas, too. Maybe even hear samples. (http://www.amazon.com/Torch-Songs-Various-Artists/dp/B0001KL4I6)
Also play some Nat King Cole.
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Hey, there's the Great American Songbook (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Songbook) which, admittedly would not include Canadian or rest of the world songs, but will have all the Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, and Johnny Mercer you will ever need. And all the rest of them, too.
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You are awesome - of course "At Last..." Nat is already on the set. The others I will look into when I'm at home. Thanks so much. Great stuff.