First off,

I am relatively new here, never introduced myself, so here me am.

Anyways, I been swinging in seoul and i have been asked to DJ for a swing night. I have never done this, I just complained about a previous Dj who never changed anything up, he played the similar songs for 3 hours. It was killing me. Anyways, I wanted to slide the MOS DEF Caldonia track in, is that good? (sick track get it if u havent) I assume many of you are djs and use this music for your sets. How do you go about selecting tracks that are different than your average swing tracks. I have been dancing for 7 months. I suck at life and everything else below it, but i am goign to give this Dj thing a shot.
In Seoul there isn't much music that goes beyond the standards...I want to come out them from left field with swinging music from other genres.

I would like your advice and suggestions.

Great site, Great people

peace.

Welcome Omsuperhoops.

I was DJ for 10 years.

When I played music (since 1988 to 1998), trying to make it as varied as possible. Within this includes disco pop, country rock, Ska, Rock & Roll and slow. I hate disco music today, but I love the disco music of the 80s.

With respect to swing music, neo swing, retro swing I had not experience. Maybe some time (perhaps several times ...) I've played In the Mood, but the mixed version.
In what I call Rock & Roll I played Twenty Flight Rock (Stray Cats) or Jailhouse Rock (Elvis) or I Saw Her standing there (Beatles) or Great Balls of Fire (JL Lewis).

So this is my expertise. I do not know if it serves a lot, but....

I think varying music styles is important as long as your still vibing with your audience. Wish me luck, im going to see if I can do better then dude that djed last week...

C`mon! U can do It! Just feel It! Today`s DJ (mostly) Didn`t know history of rock (when started, WHERE STATED, WHY STARTED!) Remember: (since my humble position) You have to do what You feel. I trhink if You are an Ibiza`s DJ (for example) You have NO CHANCE to play swing!!!! Is all disco music. But if you're getting used to people listening to some music and dance, no doubt you'll do fine!

Good Luck!

I think a good swing DJ needs at least the ability to identify what kind of dance a song stands for. From Lindy Hop to Charleston, from Balboa to West Coast Swing, you should always know a few fitting songs. You don't need to be a dancer for yourself, but certainly this helps a lot. There are a lot of incredible songs I love to listen to, but are awkward to dance to. This is true for all DJs playing stuff for certain types of classic dancing, whether it is Rock'n'Roll, Ballroom, Latin or Swing.

A few more tips from a guy who spend some time as a DJ in clubs on on the radio

Spinning the wax is fun! So you're a lucky when you got the chance! Go for it and have fun! The audience will know. But remember: You're an entertainer and therefore have to entertain people...you're not booked by the club to impress the people with your knowledge of unknown tunes...that kind of behaviour makes most of the audience feel like there are newbies or not belonging there. I really don't like DJ's who don't wanna play Sing, sing, sing anymore because everybody else does the same

Another tip: Be prepared! don't shoot your best ammunition all at once in the beginning! You have to built the set. Keep some real smoking tunes for at the end or at times the party is going slow...

just a few general tips on my account...there are a lot more but you don't wanna run before you can walk

Thanks friend, much appreciated!