Woo-hoo!!!!
OMG, I think that might have been the best Pink Saturday so far! Yippee!!!!
We loaded up the car in the afternoon and crossed the bridge (in scary high wind - eep - but of course the BF got us there safely.) We headed over early because Hypergirly was spinning in the Faerie Freedom Village - her first public gig! She did GREAT, totally had people dancing and I was super proud of her. We parked the car with just about every piece of gear I own (and the majority of the CDs I spin off of too) in it in a fancy parking lot that was mostly full of the large expensive cars of people going to see the Lion King musical. I crossed my fingers, made sure the doors were locked and paid 15 bucks. (I wasn't TOO worried because it was one of those lots where there is always someone there, and the massive SUVs and minivans completely hid our car from sight of the street too.)
Worked like a charm and we had a great time hearing Hypergirly's set. Yay! (She looked hella cute too.) After that we made our way back to the car and the show got out at the same time. It was funny going from the Pride celebration (which was big and loud and crowded but full of friendly people, most of them dressed funky and fun) to the sidewalk full of suburban type peeps getting out of the Lion King musical, many of whom seemed to disapprove of my pink hair (probably afraid their little girls would want it too.) Culture shock in downtown SF.
Over to the Castro, where we set up and I started out my set. I usually play lounge or downtempo early, while it is still light and I like to start off with a jazz version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by a friend, Saya Saito. I spun vintage lounge for about an hour and a half. People seemed to enjoy it. Then suddenly I looked up and there were 6 people dancing, all women I know. Looked like the dyke march had ended and my friends came and found me. I switched gears into my dance set and oh what a blast I had spinning! I played disco, a little funk, and a bunch of gay club classics (which always goes over well at Pink Saturday). It was great!
The sound permit was for music until 1am, but I never really know how long I'll get to spin. Every year it is different. Last year they also had a permit for sound until one but just after midnight the cops came by and made us shut it off (despite the Sister with the permit having it in hand and trying to talk them into letting us have all our time.) He always lets me go as long as the cops will allow, which I really appreciate. Once we stop it's over for the whole year, so we may as well dance as long as they'll let us. I always bring the Art of Noise's Peter Gunn theme for him, he loves it (and it always gets other people moving too.) I feel so fortunate to have this as a regular gig! It's my favorite night of the year for DJing.
This year, it turned out that they let us go until 1:44! So I had a six hour and 45 minute set. Whee! I got to play so much great music I love and it Went the Fuck Over. People were jumping up and down and *screaming* by the end of it, and I was jumping up and down behind the decks. Every new track they would shriek like their heads were falling off!
Did I mention this is my favorite gig of the year?
Now for a partial and somewhat unordered setlist (it was impossible to keep things in order and I played multiple tracks off some CDs so this is just what I remember).
90 minutes of lounge, starting with Over the Rainbow and including Tipsy, Senor Coconut and a lot of vintage classics. Eartha Kitt's version of My Heart Belongs to Daddy was especially well received. Once the girls showed up I played the Eat Static version of Caravan (love it!) and started to really enjoy the presence of my lovely new subwoofer.
Then I got my dance set going. Here's what I remember (in as close to the right order as I can get it, but there are definitely holes in this list, and possibly some things out of order):
Planet Home - Jamiroquai
Gett Off - Prince
Hunk of Heaven - Lemuria
Ain't No Stoppin Us Now (en Espanol) - Charanga 76
Second Time Around - Shalamar
I Don't Want to be a Freak (But I Can't Help Myself) - Dynasty
Take Your Time, Do it Right - SOS Band
No Parking on the Dance Floor - Midnight Star
L.O.V.E. Got a Hold on Me - Denis Roussos
Beautiful People - Barbara Tucker
Every Now and Then - Masters At Work
Breakfast for 2 - Ultra Nate'
While this great track was playing, a cute girl in a red pvc minidress and red fishnets came up and gave me quite a show, dancing all sexy on the police fence for me! Oh My!
Suite 56 - Ann Nesby
Angel in my Pocket - Change
Smack Dab in the Middle - Janice McClain
Dr Love - First Choice (oh yeah!)
Take Me Home - Cher
Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) Sub Sub w/Melanie Williams
You are the Universe - Brand New Heavies
He's the Greatest Dancer - Sister Sledge
Free - Ultra Nate'
Where Love Lives - Alison Limerick
Uh-uh Ooh-ooh Look Out, Here it Comes - Roberta Flack (!) and Steve Hurley - LOVE this track!
100% Pure Love - Crystal Waters
Learn to Love Yourself - Kim English
Lovin is Really My Game - Ann Nesby
Get on the Funk Train - Munich Machine
Work that Body - Larry Levan and Taana Gardner
Skin - Charlotte
Dance to the Drummer's Beat - Herman Kelly & Life (remixed!)
Vibeology (Hurley's House Mix) - Miss Paula Abdul
I Wanna Be Your Lover - Prince
Glamourous Life - Sheila E
Tell it to my Heart - Taylor Dayne
(I rarely ever play 80s but it just seemed right for some reason - and the crowd totally ate it up and begged for more! Someone even thanked me for "playing the songs other DJs don't have the guts to play." Heh. Naturally while I was spinning all this stuff that I swear I never spin, a bunch of my friends showed up, including two adorable giant bunnies!)
Rhythm is a Dancer - Snap!
I Thought it Was You - Sex-O-Sonique
(it's getting late)
We are Family - Sister Sledge
Peter Gunn Theme - Art of Noise (which I always play for a favorite Sister)
It is now just after 1am. At this point I am looking over my shoulder for the cops and every track could be the last. Oddly enough, I absolutely LOVE spinning under these conditions! It's exciting! and, I really got 'em going, I must say.
Love Hangover - Diana Ross
And just as I was trying to decide which direction to take it next, a pretty girl leaned over the fence and said "Play "It's Raining Men"
What a good idea! Normally I hate it when people make requests because they usually want something I consider cheesy (you may be wondering just what that might be in light of some of the above listed tracks but believe me I have my limits) or something that just doesn't go with what I'm doing, or a whole bunch more of one particular artist. But I try to stay open because occasionally people will actually have good ideas. I grabbed it, popped out the CD I had in and cued it up. Naturally the crowd went off for it!
This lead to Do Ya Wanna Funk With Me by Sylvester
Knock on Wood - Amii Stewart
Then I spun Back to Life (However Do You Want Me) because it was now well after 1 and I was trying to let them down gently... at least a bit. And if they did shut me down it would be a good last track.
But they didn't shut me down, so I played Love to Love You, Baby (Donna Summer) next - the long one!
But not *ALL* of it, I knew time was tight and I wanted to play Lost in Music (Sister Sledge). What a great track. I paused at the end to let people know we were winding down. They cheered for me and then screamed as the next track began:
Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor
I Can't Get No Sleep - India and Masters at Work
And then the pretty girl was back, asking for Last Dance by Donna Summer. Sweet!
As it was ending and I was wondering what I could possibly top that with the cops finally arrived and told us to stop. I looked down and it was 1:44. At that point it was almost a relief as I was starting to run out of material. People were SCREAMING for more! I gestured to the cops who made "no" gestures back. I finally managed to convince some of the more ardent screamers that we were already 45 minutes over our permit and the police had been very nice to let us do what we did do.
I handed out so many business cards and promoted my Faerie Village set. I found the pretty girl and told her "you should be a DJ, you have great instincts!" Her ideas were both brilliant choices and perfectly timed.
DAMN but it was a GREAT night!!!! Did I mention this is my favorite gig all year? ;-) I also saw a ton of people I know, of course. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention how fucking HOT my fabulous boyfriend was in his leather chaps and vest, dancing and being helpful all night long! Not to mention how much fun it was being thanked by people for playing beautiful music that I adore, or the lovely moments of singing along to a track and catching the eye of a dancer singing along too and smiling our love of the music and the occasion to one another, and being flirted with and danced to by friends and strangers alike. I also very much enjoyed sipping champagne as I spun, and having pink hair for the occasion!
Oh, and someone thought I was Page Hodel. I was dead flattered as Page Hodel has been a San Francisco DJ for just ever, I used to go hear her spin at the Kennel Club on Divis when I first moved to town. I'm proud to be a San Francisco DJ (even though I live in Oakland) and to be so privileged as to be able to play some amazing and historic music for pride. I love disco, and I think you can tell what kind of disco from my setlist (if anyone is even still reading this and they haven't all unfriended me for being long-winded and cut tag averse!). Disco is so maligned, just reflexively mocked, but it is still going strong and has never really stopped, it just changed it's name to "dance music" and "house" to get away from all the slander. People want to dance and so much newer music is *made out of* disco, the basslines, the vocals, so many things have been so sampled. I love to play tracks like "Dr Love" and other stuff from Salsoul and other little-known classics so people can hear this music in its original context.
Well, it is now 1 *pm* on Sunday and I have to go get ready to spin at the Faerie Freedom Village. It's only an hour set and will probably be much more chill than last night (I'm on between a trance DJ and a chill DJ so anything is possible, and I'll choose what to do depending partly on whether people are dancing when I go on.) Better sort my CDs, put on something cute and get down there!
We loaded up the car in the afternoon and crossed the bridge (in scary high wind - eep - but of course the BF got us there safely.) We headed over early because Hypergirly was spinning in the Faerie Freedom Village - her first public gig! She did GREAT, totally had people dancing and I was super proud of her. We parked the car with just about every piece of gear I own (and the majority of the CDs I spin off of too) in it in a fancy parking lot that was mostly full of the large expensive cars of people going to see the Lion King musical. I crossed my fingers, made sure the doors were locked and paid 15 bucks. (I wasn't TOO worried because it was one of those lots where there is always someone there, and the massive SUVs and minivans completely hid our car from sight of the street too.)
Worked like a charm and we had a great time hearing Hypergirly's set. Yay! (She looked hella cute too.) After that we made our way back to the car and the show got out at the same time. It was funny going from the Pride celebration (which was big and loud and crowded but full of friendly people, most of them dressed funky and fun) to the sidewalk full of suburban type peeps getting out of the Lion King musical, many of whom seemed to disapprove of my pink hair (probably afraid their little girls would want it too.) Culture shock in downtown SF.
Over to the Castro, where we set up and I started out my set. I usually play lounge or downtempo early, while it is still light and I like to start off with a jazz version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by a friend, Saya Saito. I spun vintage lounge for about an hour and a half. People seemed to enjoy it. Then suddenly I looked up and there were 6 people dancing, all women I know. Looked like the dyke march had ended and my friends came and found me. I switched gears into my dance set and oh what a blast I had spinning! I played disco, a little funk, and a bunch of gay club classics (which always goes over well at Pink Saturday). It was great!
The sound permit was for music until 1am, but I never really know how long I'll get to spin. Every year it is different. Last year they also had a permit for sound until one but just after midnight the cops came by and made us shut it off (despite the Sister with the permit having it in hand and trying to talk them into letting us have all our time.) He always lets me go as long as the cops will allow, which I really appreciate. Once we stop it's over for the whole year, so we may as well dance as long as they'll let us. I always bring the Art of Noise's Peter Gunn theme for him, he loves it (and it always gets other people moving too.) I feel so fortunate to have this as a regular gig! It's my favorite night of the year for DJing.
This year, it turned out that they let us go until 1:44! So I had a six hour and 45 minute set. Whee! I got to play so much great music I love and it Went the Fuck Over. People were jumping up and down and *screaming* by the end of it, and I was jumping up and down behind the decks. Every new track they would shriek like their heads were falling off!
Did I mention this is my favorite gig of the year?
Now for a partial and somewhat unordered setlist (it was impossible to keep things in order and I played multiple tracks off some CDs so this is just what I remember).
90 minutes of lounge, starting with Over the Rainbow and including Tipsy, Senor Coconut and a lot of vintage classics. Eartha Kitt's version of My Heart Belongs to Daddy was especially well received. Once the girls showed up I played the Eat Static version of Caravan (love it!) and started to really enjoy the presence of my lovely new subwoofer.
Then I got my dance set going. Here's what I remember (in as close to the right order as I can get it, but there are definitely holes in this list, and possibly some things out of order):
Planet Home - Jamiroquai
Gett Off - Prince
Hunk of Heaven - Lemuria
Ain't No Stoppin Us Now (en Espanol) - Charanga 76
Second Time Around - Shalamar
I Don't Want to be a Freak (But I Can't Help Myself) - Dynasty
Take Your Time, Do it Right - SOS Band
No Parking on the Dance Floor - Midnight Star
L.O.V.E. Got a Hold on Me - Denis Roussos
Beautiful People - Barbara Tucker
Every Now and Then - Masters At Work
Breakfast for 2 - Ultra Nate'
While this great track was playing, a cute girl in a red pvc minidress and red fishnets came up and gave me quite a show, dancing all sexy on the police fence for me! Oh My!
Suite 56 - Ann Nesby
Angel in my Pocket - Change
Smack Dab in the Middle - Janice McClain
Dr Love - First Choice (oh yeah!)
Take Me Home - Cher
Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use) Sub Sub w/Melanie Williams
You are the Universe - Brand New Heavies
He's the Greatest Dancer - Sister Sledge
Free - Ultra Nate'
Where Love Lives - Alison Limerick
Uh-uh Ooh-ooh Look Out, Here it Comes - Roberta Flack (!) and Steve Hurley - LOVE this track!
100% Pure Love - Crystal Waters
Learn to Love Yourself - Kim English
Lovin is Really My Game - Ann Nesby
Get on the Funk Train - Munich Machine
Work that Body - Larry Levan and Taana Gardner
Skin - Charlotte
Dance to the Drummer's Beat - Herman Kelly & Life (remixed!)
Vibeology (Hurley's House Mix) - Miss Paula Abdul
I Wanna Be Your Lover - Prince
Glamourous Life - Sheila E
Tell it to my Heart - Taylor Dayne
(I rarely ever play 80s but it just seemed right for some reason - and the crowd totally ate it up and begged for more! Someone even thanked me for "playing the songs other DJs don't have the guts to play." Heh. Naturally while I was spinning all this stuff that I swear I never spin, a bunch of my friends showed up, including two adorable giant bunnies!)
Rhythm is a Dancer - Snap!
I Thought it Was You - Sex-O-Sonique
(it's getting late)
We are Family - Sister Sledge
Peter Gunn Theme - Art of Noise (which I always play for a favorite Sister)
It is now just after 1am. At this point I am looking over my shoulder for the cops and every track could be the last. Oddly enough, I absolutely LOVE spinning under these conditions! It's exciting! and, I really got 'em going, I must say.
Love Hangover - Diana Ross
And just as I was trying to decide which direction to take it next, a pretty girl leaned over the fence and said "Play "It's Raining Men"
What a good idea! Normally I hate it when people make requests because they usually want something I consider cheesy (you may be wondering just what that might be in light of some of the above listed tracks but believe me I have my limits) or something that just doesn't go with what I'm doing, or a whole bunch more of one particular artist. But I try to stay open because occasionally people will actually have good ideas. I grabbed it, popped out the CD I had in and cued it up. Naturally the crowd went off for it!
This lead to Do Ya Wanna Funk With Me by Sylvester
Knock on Wood - Amii Stewart
Then I spun Back to Life (However Do You Want Me) because it was now well after 1 and I was trying to let them down gently... at least a bit. And if they did shut me down it would be a good last track.
But they didn't shut me down, so I played Love to Love You, Baby (Donna Summer) next - the long one!
But not *ALL* of it, I knew time was tight and I wanted to play Lost in Music (Sister Sledge). What a great track. I paused at the end to let people know we were winding down. They cheered for me and then screamed as the next track began:
Never Can Say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor
I Can't Get No Sleep - India and Masters at Work
And then the pretty girl was back, asking for Last Dance by Donna Summer. Sweet!
As it was ending and I was wondering what I could possibly top that with the cops finally arrived and told us to stop. I looked down and it was 1:44. At that point it was almost a relief as I was starting to run out of material. People were SCREAMING for more! I gestured to the cops who made "no" gestures back. I finally managed to convince some of the more ardent screamers that we were already 45 minutes over our permit and the police had been very nice to let us do what we did do.
I handed out so many business cards and promoted my Faerie Village set. I found the pretty girl and told her "you should be a DJ, you have great instincts!" Her ideas were both brilliant choices and perfectly timed.
DAMN but it was a GREAT night!!!! Did I mention this is my favorite gig all year? ;-) I also saw a ton of people I know, of course. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention how fucking HOT my fabulous boyfriend was in his leather chaps and vest, dancing and being helpful all night long! Not to mention how much fun it was being thanked by people for playing beautiful music that I adore, or the lovely moments of singing along to a track and catching the eye of a dancer singing along too and smiling our love of the music and the occasion to one another, and being flirted with and danced to by friends and strangers alike. I also very much enjoyed sipping champagne as I spun, and having pink hair for the occasion!
Oh, and someone thought I was Page Hodel. I was dead flattered as Page Hodel has been a San Francisco DJ for just ever, I used to go hear her spin at the Kennel Club on Divis when I first moved to town. I'm proud to be a San Francisco DJ (even though I live in Oakland) and to be so privileged as to be able to play some amazing and historic music for pride. I love disco, and I think you can tell what kind of disco from my setlist (if anyone is even still reading this and they haven't all unfriended me for being long-winded and cut tag averse!). Disco is so maligned, just reflexively mocked, but it is still going strong and has never really stopped, it just changed it's name to "dance music" and "house" to get away from all the slander. People want to dance and so much newer music is *made out of* disco, the basslines, the vocals, so many things have been so sampled. I love to play tracks like "Dr Love" and other stuff from Salsoul and other little-known classics so people can hear this music in its original context.
Well, it is now 1 *pm* on Sunday and I have to go get ready to spin at the Faerie Freedom Village. It's only an hour set and will probably be much more chill than last night (I'm on between a trance DJ and a chill DJ so anything is possible, and I'll choose what to do depending partly on whether people are dancing when I go on.) Better sort my CDs, put on something cute and get down there!