DJ Memories – Motorcycle DJ | DanceworksDJs.com

DJ Memories – Motorcycle DJ

April 13th, 2010 | Author: admin

If you have read my other articles on How to Be a Great DJ on my website, you already know that I constantly emphasize the subject of the People, in phrases like “Know Your Client,” or “Listen to the Audience.” If you are ever to reach the elusive goal (and I don’t claim that I have, or ever will) of being a “Great DJ,” you must follow this advice, wherever it leads you. I could give you an example or two of times when I failed to follow this advice, but they didn’t turn out pretty, and I try to forget them as much as possible. Maybe it would make me feel better to give you a positive example: I took a call from a motorcycle “gang” one time, who said that I had been recommended by a friend, and they wanted me to play for a wedding reception of one of the couples in the group, and that the reception would be held on the shores of a houseboat community in the San Francisco Bay Delta.

OK, the average DJ might have steered clear of this event, even if it paid well, because no event is going to pay well enough to pay for a trip to the hospital or, more likely, the destruction of much of your DJ equipment. However, I have had at least four motorcycles myself in the last 3-4 years, and currently ride a 2007 Gold Wing 1830, one of the biggest bikes on the road. So, I calmed myself down, and forced myself to go through my checklist, and listen to the client. Come to find out, the group was not the Hells Angels (not necessarily bad people, but known to be a little rowdy at times), but an ordinary group of blue collar and office workers who got together regularly and rode. I agreed on the spot to do the job, and took a ride (on my Wing) out to the Delta to see the site of the wedding and reception. I was encouraged by what I saw: Everyone in the houseboat community was clothed, sober, and friendly.

I came home and made sure I had every piece of motorcycle music ever written in my repertoire (not difficult for me, since I play from a digital platform), which included “Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots” (not for dancing, but got a great laugh), “Harley-Davidson Road Songs” by Ted Nugent (great guitar work, of course), “Motorcycle Driveby” by Third Eye Blind (from the City by the Bay, my back yard, and a group, as its name implies, that has great thinking songs, and great poetry), and, oh yes, not to forget, “Motorcycle Mama” (two choices: “Stick around the house the rest of your life, or be the Queen of My Highway, Motorcycle Mama, you’ll see the world from my Harley”—check it out; I couldn’t make this stuff up), and a host of others. Everyone, including me, had a fantastic time (no broken equipment), and I would play another Motorcycle Wedding in a New York minute. Yes, the bride & groom rode off on Harleys. If you are a DJ, and ever get the opportunity to play a motorcycle-themed wedding, the favorite song of the night: “The Motorcycle Song,” by Arlo Guthrie (but don’t play this one at a Hells Angels wedding).

If you have a great DJ story, or if you have shared an experience of being in the presence of a DJ who transformed your party, please jot it down in the comment field, and I’ll share it with other DJ’s and clients here on my website.

–Dave Crosby, San Francisco