Over that time he has done it all – pubs, clubs, bars, boats, weddings, schools and birthday parties – you name it he’s been there and played the tunes! Having previously held down long-term residencies, he now focuses on mobile work. Aside from DJing Joff works in children's book publishing. It's a new decade then, and it seems the very word 'decade' is something that has always been synonymous with music, perhaps more so than any other recreational activity.
The decades have, of course, been defined by specific styles of music. However, they have also become a way of categorising music in their own right, albeit a strange way. Ten years is a long time in music and technology can change rapidly. 'Pump Up The Volume' couldn't be any less similar to 'Shaddap You F ace', yet we sometimes lump them together purely by the decade in which they were released.
So it is perhaps a curious way to divide music, but divide we do. I'm sure we've all run decade-specific nights, or even played at venues with a decade-related music policy. But, as time moves on, it seems these parties and venues aren't moving on themselves. Despite a plethora of 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s nights, we still seem to be scared of revisiting anything postmillennium.
We find ourselves – unbelievably – in 2020. A whole 20 years since 'Who Let The Dogs Out' came out (are we still playing this?). 2000 to 2019 has just gone like that, but what do we, and our punters, remember? Music from the ‘60s to ‘90s is hard to forget, even though it was much longer ago.
Multiple replicated compilations, specific TV channels, TOTP on BBC4 and ‘Gold’ radio stations, mean that us DJs, as well as the public at large, are reasonably well-versed in these decades. Indeed, my New Year gig just gone only really picked up when I 'got the ‘80s on' , despite the average age being pretty low. So why are we not looking back at the ‘00s and the ‘10s so much? To begin with, I would imagine it doesn't help that we can't even agree what to call them!
I've heard a variety of different terms used. Personally, I plump for the ‘noughties’ and the ‘teenies’ . Noughties, of course, works pretty well should one be moved to do such a themed night – ‘naughty noughties’ sounds great. So great in fact that I've copyrighted it as the name for an up-coming podcast!
As for the teenies, I can't help feel a bit uncomfortable with that one. I think perhaps you might get the wrong crowd there, or the very wrong crowd! So, how about the 'tens'? Well, 'Tens Night' really doesn't cut it, does it? ‘Top Tens’ maybe?
But then that sounds like a knock-off version of a certain card game. Maybe by the end of the ‘20s there will be a generally agreed name for both. But is there another reason for the apparent widespread dismissal of the past 20 years of music history? Is it because the music media are stuck in the past?
Are the public stuck in the past? Are us jocks stuck in the past? Or has all the music that came out over the last two decades been total crap? In the late ‘00s, when I was still burning the mp3s I bought to CD, turning them into my own compilations, I decided to give the many Maplin (RIP) bags I was carting to gigs an overhaul.
I remarked to my then, clearly disinterested, girlfriend that I only ever seemed to play music from either the ‘60s, ‘70s,’ 80s and ‘90s or whatever was current at that moment in time. Everything else just came and went. I don't know about anyone else, but I still find this to be largely true at my gigs. So in this respect has the music from the last 20 years just not got the longevity to stick in our collective conscience?
The rise in the use of the word 'cheesy' over the past two decades to smear anything remotely upbeat and memorable probably hasn't helped, as the media became more bothered about being credible than catchy. It also doesn't help that the ‘00s and ‘10s didn't really have any big ‘scenes' like past decades. Where the ‘70s had punk and disco, and the ‘90s had rave and Britpop. The 00s?
Well, they had, um... bassline? Which was meant to be some big new thing yet produced virtually nothing except 'Heartbroken' by T2. We also had the 'Clubland' brand explode and for a while thumping commercial dance music was actually allowed in the charts. I guess there was also the arrival of reality TV singing shows and their consequent chart domination.
But there were no real 'scenes' or 'sounds' . I was tempted to suggest UK Garage, but that was rather 'flash in the pan' and actually began in the late ‘90s anyway. I may have forgotten some glaringly obvious musical genre that was born post-2000 here, but I'm old – this is my 25th year of DJing – so senility is setting in. If this is the case, please feel free to write in and nudge me.
As for the ‘10s, it seems to be epitomised by grime and all its other identical variations, which the media seems to think everyone in the country is now crazy about. Even if one accepts grime's current popularity, it's not a new sound – just rap made even worse – and there is no way in thirty years’ time Hen Dos will be requesting you play Stormzy, like they still do now with Whitney. Let's not be too downbeat though. While writing this piece, I spent some time ferreting around in the archives and found that there are actually some decent party staples to be found.
So come with me as I look back at these two seemingly unloved decades and attempt to make them into something worthy of their own night at the very least, if not an entire chain of bars! I now present two playlist / set / mix ideas, one from each decade, the 2000s and the 2010s. It may well be that you're playing lots of these anyway, in which case keep it up! If not, I hope you're starting to agree that they need a boost and some kind of identity.
"has the music from the last 20 years just not got the longevity to stick in our collective conscience?" 2000s • Spiller – Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) • S Club 7 – Reach • Modjo – Lady (Hear Me Tonight) • Darude – Sandstorm • Bomfunk MCs – Freestyler • Anastacia – I'm Outta Love • Sweet Female Attitude – Flowers • Robbie Williams & Kylie Minogue – Kids • Lonestar – Amazed • Blink 182 – All The Small Things • Kylie Minogue – Spinning Around • Destiny's Child – Independent Women Part 1 • Tom Jones & Mousse T – Sex Bomb • Toploader – Dancing In The Moonlight Now, clever readers might've noticed that as well as being from the ‘00s, they were also all from 2000 itself.
From a quick scan of one of the nine years I've found all that lot, all of which should get some sort of response from your crowds. It's also a decent crosssection of genres too, so there should be something for everyone. Moving on to the last decade then... 2010s • Pharrell Williams – Happy • Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk • PSY – Gangnam Style • David Guetta – Titanium • LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem • Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe • Katy Perry – Roar • Cee Lo Green – Forget You • Daft Punk – Get Lucky • Maroon 5 – Moves Like Jagger • Pitbull – Give Me Everything • Clean Bandit – Rockabye (The 'No Rap Edit' if you could, please) • Rihanna & Calvin Harris – We Found Love • Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You • One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful Those are cherrypicked from the whole decade – not just one year – and you may well be thinking “yeah I play most of those still!” .
This could be the case, but how about making something of the fact they're all ‘10s hits? Tell punters you're going back to the 'tens' and make a little set! The message, then, is this: keep playing the ‘00s and ‘10s hits you're already playing, add in a few forgotten gems and make a thing of it. Then, why not look for some ideas for themes that will remind your punters of these past 20 years.
Could you revisit the peak days of Guetta and Harris? Could you actually make a decent playlist on a Reality TV theme? Do it! Have a go!
Help define these decades! Give them their dues! As DJs, we have the power to do something, because as much as I love the ‘80s, I'm not sure that when I hit another 25 years of DJing I still want to be digging out Whitney and Tiffany every night... "I'm not sure that when I hit another 25 years of DJing I still want to be digging out Whitney and Tiffany every night..."
