Hoboken Rock City - The Official Blog Of DJ Mike C.

It was ten years plus one day since my first-ever public DJ gig--I add the word "public" because, hey, I'd been playing DJ at home since around age four--and I wanted to make sure the music was great.

Even for a good DJ, this can be harder than it sounds. For all your good intentions, so many factors can derail your plans: if you don't get your usual crowd, or it's more crowded than expected, or less crowded than expected, or equipment doesn't cooperate, or...anything. Spinning for a crowd is completely different than on the radio or the net, of course. In most live situations, the worst thing a DJ can do is plan a full set and stubbornly stick to it. The best way to DJ for a crowd is to go in with a plan, but to be ready to chuck that plan, or at least large portions of it, as needed.

I DJ all over the place, but for the past seven years, my home base has been my a tremendous local bar in my neighborhood, The Goldhawk. I've DJed more than 500 gigs--maybe closer to 600--and this comfy two-room bar/lounge run by true music lovers has been home to probably more than 50 percent of them. Yet each night brings something new in terms of crowd, vibe, and surprises. Though no dance parties broke out on this last Friday before Memorial Day weekend, many of those in attendance seemed enthusiastic about my choices.

I started an hour early, at 9 p.m., since my first gig ten years ago had also been a 9:00 start. This gave me an extra hour to get my ya-yas out, and in that first hour I didn't play anything newer than 1999, to approximate an hour of what could have been a set I'd played a decade ago. In that first hour and throughout the night, I sprinkled in some of my favorite segues I've ever come up with (I'll leave you all to guess which ones) and as many songs and artists that were important to me as I could.

Even with an extra hour, there was a lot I wish I'd gotten to in the course of the night. Really wanted to play "Praise You" because it was the biggest song going around the time I started DJing; it woulda fit in around midnight when I was playing the likes of Stereo MC's and Deee-Lite, but I didn't want people walking in at the peak of the night to think that we were playing a mix tape from 1999. Meant to throw on "Buffalo Stance" because I remember it being a hit at my first gig. Wanted to play Elvis Presley but didn't. The list goes on.

New stuff was pretty well represented, with Phoenix, Metric, Matt & Kim, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, White Lies, and a fine new Green Day album--less than a day old!--all supplying great energy toward the middle of the evening. Love T. Rex, but wouldn't have predicted they'd be the only band I'd play twice this particular night--there was a "Jeepster" request after 1 a.m. and even though I'd already played "20th Century Boy" a couple hours earlier, there was no reason to say no. (Sticklers will note that I played both New Order and Joy Division as well, also hours apart.) Wish I played The Stooges, but at least I got to The Dictators and The Damned; those who remember my Neat Neat Neat nights at Manitoba's a few years ago can connect the dots there. Didn't get into a proper '60s/'70s soul set either; James Brown, Sly, Stevie, and The Supremes all shoulda been in there. Oh well. As Steven Wright said: "You can't have everything. Where would you put it?"

Why did I close with "With A Little Help From My Friends" by Joe Cocker? So many reasons. Because in ten years of slinging discs, I'm pretty sure I'd never played it before. Because it was written and originated by my favorite band of all time, and in some ways echoes the nearly two years early on in my career when I closed nearly every night with "Hey Jude." Because it was lyrically and thematically appropriate. Because it was performed by a group of high-school kids in some sort of show during evening rush hour at the Port Authority Bus Terminal the day before, and their performance was good enough to make me stop in my tracks and listen. Oh, and because it kicks ass.

So this is how my second decade of DJing began. Many set lists don't look as good on paper as they sounded in person, but I couldn't be happier with the way this one sounded and how it looks.

Thanks to all the bartenders, barbacks, doormen, managers, owners, promoters, and everyone else in the nightclub world for so much support over the years. And of course, special thanks to anyone who's ever called themselves a fan. Lots more to come, of course. Upcoming dates at both The Goldhawk and NYC's Motor City Bar will be announced soon. Check the home page for details as they become available.



9:00
I'd Love To Change The World - TEN YEARS AFTER
A Hard Day's Night - THE BEATLES
Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere - THE WHO
Local Girls - GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR
Girls Talk - DAVE EDMUNDS
All Of The Good Ones Are Taken - IAN HUNTER
Talk Of The Town - PRETENDERS
Regret - NEW ORDER
Awful - HOLE
The Emperor's New Clothes - SINEAD O'CONNOR
Ladyfingers - LUSCIOUS JACKSON
You Get What You Give - NEW RADICALS
A Girl Like You - EDWYN COLLINS
Babies - PULP
The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get - MORRISSEY
Becoming More Like Alfie - THE DIVINE COMEDY
I've Got A Flair - FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE

10:00
Better Things - THE KINKS
The Static Age - GREEN DAY
Them Kids - SAM ROBERTS
Every Summer (Remix) - U.S. ROYALTY
Island In The Sun - WEEZER
You Only Live Once - THE STROKES
Head On - PIXIES
Stay With Me - THE DICTATORS
Gates Of The West - THE CLASH
20th Century Boy - T. REX
Stay Positive - THE HOLD STEADY
The '59 Sound - THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM
Alex Chilton - THE REPLACEMENTS
Desire - U2
Cruel To Be Kind - NICK LOWE
Superman - R.E.M.
Use Somebody - KINGS OF LEON
Death - WHITE LIES

11:00
The Step And The Walk - THE DUKE SPIRIT
Lights Out - SANTOGOLD
I'm Shakin' - ROONEY
Vacation - THE GO-GO'S
Ever Fallen In Love? - THE BUZZCOCKS
Neat, Neat, Neat - THE DAMNED
Mirror In The Bathroom - THE ENGLISH BEAT
Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3 - IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS
Heaven For The Weather - THE STREETS
Crying - TV ON THE RADIO
Girlfriend - PHOENIX
Daylight - MATT & KIM
Sugalumps - FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS
Time To Pretend - MGMT
Sick Muse - METRIC
Heads Will Roll - YEAH YEAH YEAHS
The Look Of Love (Part 1) - ABC
Friday I'm In Love - THE CURE

12:00
1999 - PRINCE
Get Myself Into It - THE RAPTURE
Groove Is In The Heart - DEEE-LITE
Step It Up - STEREO MC'S
Lucid Dreams - FRANZ FERDINAND
Beggin' (Pilooski Edit) - THE FOUR SEASONS
Groovy Train - THE FARM
Only Love Can Break Your Heart - SAINT ETIENNE
Ms. Jackson - OUTKAST
Heartless - KANYE WEST
The Seed (2.0) - THE ROOTS FEAT. CODY CHESNUTT
Paper Planes - M.I.A.

1:00
That's Not My Name - THE TING TINGS
Love Will Tear Us Apart - JOY DIVISION
Don't You Want Me - THE HUMAN LEAGUE
Somebody Told Me - THE KILLERS
Crimson And Clover - JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS
Unchained - VAN HALEN
I Wanna Rock - TWISTED SISTER
Highway To Hell - AC/DC
Sympathy For The Devil - THE ROLLING STONES
Jeepster - T. REX
The Jean Genie - DAVID BOWIE
Rockaway Beach - RAMONES
United States Of Whatever - LIAM LYNCH
Any Way You Want It - JOURNEY
Surrender - CHEAP TRICK
Somebody To Shove - SOUL ASYLUM
Girlfriend - MATTHEW SWEET
Your Love - THE OUTFIELD

2:00
Heat Of The Moment - ASIA
867-5309/Jenny - TOMMY TUTONE
Jessie's Girl - RICK SPRINGFIELD
Steal My Sunshine - LEN
Cruel Summer - BANANARAMA
Touch Me - THE DOORS
Daydream Believer - THE MONKEES
Spirit In The Night (Live 1975-85 version) - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND
With A Little Help From My Friends - JOE COCKER