Something I've noticed quite a few times at recent weddings is how surprisingly popular some throwback tunes are. Some songs which don't get much play on ordinary radio are being requested, are well known & well loved by people way too young to have experienced them first time around.
Here are some corkers that keep coming back & back:
Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary I have no recollection of this party stormer ever being a 'thing' before 2010. That might be because it was 'rediscovered' in 2010 TV's 'X-Factor' show. I've no idea how much justice the contestant did it, but it succeeded in making it into the top 70 chart the next week & has been a mainstay of weddings, anniversaries & birthday parties ever since. It's not to everybody's taste of course & I can recall at least two times in the last year I've been asked NOT to play it - maybe that terrible AA advert on the telly?
Toto - Africa Now considered a soft rock classic, Africa was first released in 1983 & appears in customers' request lists regularly. It's a great singalong tune I happen to like a lot - not for its lyrics but the composition & production of the track itself. But how do so many people, especially younger ones, know it so well? Maybe we have recent films to thank.
Hall & Oates - You Make My Dreams Come True There's no mistaking how this song got so popular with audiences who didn't catch it first time around - it's been in virtually every buddy movie since it was released. It's a firm favourite of mine too for its catchy hooks & great production. You Make My Dreams has been the last track requested at many a wedding disco I've played & it's gone down a storm.
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Tyrell - Ain't No Mountain High Enough Not to be confused with the Diana Ross song of the same name, this Motown flavoured classic seems to be more popular with ladies in their 20s & 30s at wedding discos than folk old enough to have been around when it was released. No question about the reason for this - it's one of the many oft-requested songs from the first Guardians of The Galaxy soundtrack.
What throwback tunes would you ask your DJ to play at your party? Let me know with a comment on my Facebook page :)