There’s Nothing Wrong With Defining Your Clientele – Just Be Ready for the Fallout

Written on May 15, 2013 by in Uncategorized

Typical Abercrombie and Fitch ad. And no, those aren't my abs

There’s been a lot of controversy over Abercrombie and Fitch’s CEO Mike Jeffries‘ statements about his clothing line.  Jeffries publicly acknowledged what anyone with eyesight had already figured out, that Abercrombie and Fitch is designed for super-fit people.  You don’t run ad campaigns like theirs if you’re targeting everyman.  And you don’t limit your dress sizes to 10 and under if you’re going after every-woman.  But apparently Jeffries public statements like: ““We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends” and “A lot of people don’t belong, and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely” have pushed many people over the edge.  While Abercrombie and Fitch is certainly basking in a lot of publicity, most of it is harsh.  It’ll be interesting to see if their sales take a hit this quarter and also in the long term.  For every one Jeffries’ offended, he also may have reaffirmed to many of his customers why they love his clothes so much.

So today I saw a post on the Facebook DJ Group DJ Idea Sharing by a Texan DJ named Scott Shirley.  Apparently the original post was from a few years ago but somebody recently commented on it so it’s pushed the debate back out onto many of our timelines and so there’s been a recent flurry of new comments.  Scott has a sign that he uses at Bridal Shows and in his office that clearly states how he feels about “cheesy music.”

I have to say I have a similar reaction to both Mike Jeffries statement and Scott Shirley’s sign:

1- Kudos to you for bravely defining who your clientele is.

2-  Be Ready for the Fallout

Now certainly Scott’s sign is not as controversial, nor is his company big enough, to garner the national press that Mike Jeffries has produced.  So the comparison between the two are admittedly comical on that scale.  But I do see similarities in that both are an attempt to exclude some clientele while reassuring others.  Scott Shirley’s sign basically says “if you like The Chicken Dance or The Electric Slide or We Are Family move along.  I’m not the DJ for you.”  Fine.  That’s Scott’s opinion and he’s entitled to it (just as Mr. Jeffries is entitled to his.)  And being the ultimate capitalist that I am (and believing that in most cases, the market will decide) I say, don’t be offended, vote with your wallet.  If enough people stop buying Abercrombie and Fitch clothing they will either go out of business or drastically change their tune.  And seeing how Scott Shirley is still in business two and half years after showing the world his Cheese Sign, he clearly hasn’t hurt himself that much by defining his clientele.  In fact for every “Chicken Dance Lover” he’s turned off, he may have reaffirmed a different Bride who lays awake at night tossing and turning with visions of her guests dancing like chickens at her wedding.

Indeed some industry people who have seen my company perform at bridal shows (where we entertain and involve the guests with the YMCA, Electric Slide and a Conga Line) have asked me a similar question (albeit from the exact opposite perspective), “aren’t you afraid of turning off clients who don’t want participation songs like this?”  My answer is usually two-fold: First, yes that is a fear which we try to assuage during our sales rap at these shows (where we basically apologize for doing all those dances and let the brides and grooms-to-be know that the music at their weddings will be selected by them and they are welcome to give us as big a “don’t play list” as they want) .  And secondly, if given the choice between a bride who wants some involvement from us, or a bride that wants us to stay behind the DJ console all night and just play music, we’ll take the former.

Reading through this thread on Facebook, I see so many DJs trying to correct Scott Shirley.  Comments like (and I’m paraphrasing) “who are you to define cheese?” and “that sign is cheesier than The Chicken Dance” etc.  I have a different perspective: Good for you, Scott Shirley.  I think it’s important to know your target market and be brave enough to state it.  Maybe Mike Jeffries did offend a lot of people.  But maybe it’ll turn out that the vast majority of the people he offended wouldn’t (or in most cases couldn’t [because Abercrombie and Fitch doesn't carry their size]) shop in his stores anyway.  And maybe a bunch of brides have walked by Scott Shirley’s booth at a bridal show and thought, “well that’s not the guy for us” (although does a bride who likes cheese know it’s cheese?).  Just as, I’m sure, the Elite Entertainment showcase has turned plenty of brides off through the years.  Couples who are adamant that they don’t want the YMCA and then hear it at our shows may have already tuned us out by the time we get to the caveat in our sales rap.  But that’s ok, as I said about Scott Shirley, Elite’s still in business.

So whether you define your clientele with a sign, some public statements from the CEO or by handing out leis and leading a Conga Line at a bridal show, I say kudos to you for taking that step.  Just be prepared for whatever fallout comes next.

 

 

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What’s Your Excuse?

Written on May 3, 2013 by in Uncategorized

I saw (and shared) a great meme recently on Facebook.  It said: “If It Is Important To You, You Will Find a Way.  If Not You’ll Find an Excuse.”

There are a few axioms that I try to live my life by and this is very close to one of them.  I often say (and I’m pretty sure this is a Mike Walter original): “There’s two things you can make in life, results or excuses.”  Both my saying and the meme make a similar point: that we control our own outcomes.

Now, obviously, this is a generality and it’s meant for things in life that are actually within our grasp and possibilities.  I offer this caveat because I know of a few people who are battling some serious health issues.  If one of them should lose their fight, I’d never think for one second that it’s because they didn’t want to live badly enough.  Some things, unfortunately, are out of our control.

But the obvious and extreme cases like this aside, what I like about these life philosophies is they make us take ownership of our own predicaments.  Initially, this can be a blow to your ego.  If you’re overweight (for example) and you’ve convinced yourself that you have a slow metabolism or you’re “big-boned” (whatever that means) then changing your philosophy and admitting you are overweight because you lack the willpower and determination to lose weight can be a bit of a shock to your psyche.  Same goes for the health of your business.  If you are barely making a living and/or you can’t seem to find any good people who want to work with you, you might comfort yourself with a potpourri of excuses (“the economy is bad” or “you can’t find loyal DJs anymore” or “everyone is undercutting me.”)  But if you stop that chatter and look yourself in the mirror and repeat that meme every morning: “If It Is Important To Me, I Will Find a Way.  If Not I’ll Find an Excuse” then you are going to discover pretty quickly whether you really want to be a success or not.

So think about the last time you made an excuse for something that you weren’t able to accomplish.  And now think about that meme.  If you substitute your excuse for “it wasn’t important enough to me” each and every time, you’ll start to take ownership for your lot in life.  When things aren’t great that can be a humbling experience.  But on the flip side, when things are rocking in your life, this philosophy can be empowering.  You’ll find yourself thinking things like: It was MY hard work that got built my company.  It was MY networking that brought sales up.  It was MY vision that created my company’s unique marketing plan. Etc etc etc.

Caution: This philosophy is not for the meek or mild and like I said initially it can be a shock to the system, especially if you are used to hiding behind a fortress of “yeah, but’s” (as in, “yeah, but my market is just too small for that…”)  But once you eliminate your excuses for not getting something done it leaves only two options:  Admit it’s not important enough to you.  Or, find a way.

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Shame on Nicki Minaj

Written on March 18, 2013 by in Uncategorized

It’s been a long time since I watched American Idol with any regularity.  The season where Taylor Hicks won was the last time I really got into it.  The $11.99 I wasted, er, I mean spent on his CD was the final straw for me.  And to be honest I haven’t missed it for a moment.

So when I read this week that Nicki Minaj was late for a live show I had to look it up on YouTube. What I saw made me furious at two people. One, of course is Nicki Minaj. The second is whoever’s decision it was at Fox or American Idol who let her go on after the show had started.

Ms. Minaj is an artist. A singer/rapper who can get away with setting her own schedule most days. I mean if you’re going to see her perform in a club or a concert, you don’t really care if she hits the stage at 10 o’clock or 10:30 or whatever. And when it comes to recording, most artists are notoriously late starters who burn the midnight oil anyway.

But a live TV show is different. There’s a set start time and hundreds of crew who are ready to go not to mention viewers who are sitting down on their couches and expecting to see a show. It’s as important in our world as starting a Wedding or other special event on time.  So shame on Nicki Minaj for being late. Because even though she arrived seven minutes into the start of the show, she was really, probably, over an hour late. I’m sure the talent at these shows are expected to arrive early enough to get makeup done and be in place long before the cameras start rolling. So hitting traffic on the 405 (as Ryan Seacrest explained to the audience at the start of the show) is a pretty lame excuse.  As I said, shame on her.

And whoever’s decision it was to allow Ms. Minaj to take her judge’s seat after the show began is as culpable as she is. In my opinion, the precedent should have been set that as soon as the show began and she wasn’t in her seat, that seat should have remained empty the whole night. Allowing her to join the show after it started simply told her, the rest of the judges and heck, even the young talent that is competing that start time is a fluid thing. Come and go as you please — we’ll just have Mr Seacrest make an excuse for you and you can join the show whenever you get here. That’s exactly the opposite message that should have been sent.

In our industry, we should have a zero tolerance for lateness. The last two MCs I had to fire from Elite were let go for tardiness. Both were talented people but their Achilles Heal was they had no respect for a firm start time. I urge my staff to live by the credo: if you’re early, you’re on-time and if you’re on-time, you’re late. But these two never quite got that down. A seven o’clock start meant arrival at 6:30 was acceptable to them (as opposed to the hour to hour and half before start time that we all shoot for).  And cutting it that close, if they did “hit traffic on the 405″ it meant they might actually start playing music after the event had officially began.

So here is my open plea to anyone in our industry who struggles with arriving on-time: get out of our industry.  Understand that there is no room for your casual nature with other people’s schedules. If you can’t get this basic level of professionalism under control then look for another profession. Please. If you love music that much, start producing your own dance tracks. While you struggle to do so no one will care what time you get started. And if you produce a hit and can get booked at clubs to perform it, you’ll probably have a flexible enough start time that it won’t really matter when you show. But meantime you won’t be jeopardizing some poor bride’s Wedding, or some poor family’s Mitzvah, or any poor client’s event, by arriving whenever the hell you damn well please.

Our industry has enough hills to climb before we get to national respectability. Every time any of us displays a lack of professionalism we all take a hit. And in the world of entertainment, when there’s a firm start time, arriving late is the ultimate sign of unprofessionalism. Whether you’re Nicki Minaj or Mobile DJ entertaining at someone’s special event, shame on you if you can’t respect that.

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Running a DJ Training Workshop at ARM DJs 6.0

Written on March 5, 2013 by in Uncategorized

I’ve already made my semi-serious video promoting this great opportunity but I wanted to share even more information about this so I thought a blog would be the right format.  Here’s the deal:

Up until a few weeks ago I wasn’t scheduled to speak or appear at ARM DJs 6.o (which takes place June 17-19th in Greeneville, TN).  And even though the educational line-up looks amazing this year (including sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer) I didn’t think I was going to be able to attend.  I’ve got a lot on my plate already, including getting married later this month (and of course a honeymoon) as well as some already-planned speaking engagements later in the year.  But then a few weeks ago Randy Bartlett created a bit of a stir by posing a question on Facebook about tying workshops into DJ conventions (by the way, I provided the link to this discussion but before you click on it be warned, with over 1,000 responses you may get sucked into a vortex if you start reading it.  Make sure you have plenty of free-time!)  This discussion led to some action by some show producers, including Dr Drax adding a Randy Bartlett led workshop at the ADJA DJ Show in Las Vegas in September.  It also got Robbie Britton (producer of ARM DJs) to start thinking about how he could make it more worthwhile for Multi-Op owners to bring their staff to ARM DJs this year.  And that’s when he reached out to me.

Without sounding too cocky, I think one of the things I do best is work with talent.  It’s something I’ve got a knack for and it’s one of the reasons I’ve been so good through the years at training DJs.  I can watch and listen to an MC on the microphone and immediately give him or her a few solid pointers about how to improve.  I’m never overly critical, I always outweigh the bad with the good and I can help a mediocre MC become good.  And a good one to become great.  By the way, this is also the reason that when I produced my Training DVD I included footage of me working with talent — because I think almost everyone could do this if they just learned how.

So the workshop(s) I’ll be running at ARM DJS this year will be run like one of my training sessions.   I’ll have no more than 10 attendees in a room with a sound system.  Everyone, myself included, will have multiple opportunities to speak on the microphone.  We may do bridal party introductions, or make a slow song announcement, or lead a line dance.  After each person performs I will offer some feedback and suggestions.  The reason we are limiting attendance to 10 per hour is to insure that everyone will be able to perform and get some constructive criticism from me.  The reason I wrote  “workshop(s)” is that if we fill one, we are going to open another.  And maybe a third. Robbie implied the other day that we may have to open a fourth, which I’m okay with as long as I don’t miss Jeffrey Gitomer.

I believe this will be a great workshop for Multi-Ops to bring their DJs to.  I also think anyone who still performs regularly would benefit from it.  So even though Robbie’s original idea was that this would be for staff members, I see no reason why business owners wouldn’t avail themselves of this opportunity as well (accept for the fact that there will be other seminars going on during these workshops).  Robbie said he would create a way to sign-up for the workshop (which will be included in your  ARM DJs pass – this isn’t a workshop that will cost you more money to attend) so if you’re interested, get your pass now (for you and your staff) and let Mr. Britton know you want to attend the DJ Training Workshop with Mike Walter.  I hope we fill at least 2 workshops (although 4 might be pushing it :-)

See y’all in Greeneville Tennessee!

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The Roles of a Mobile DJ

Written on February 19, 2013 by in Uncategorized

When was the last time someone said to you: “So, how’s the DJ thing going?”

Or, “Still spinning records?”

Or worse, “Is that all you do?”

The answer to that last one is a very simple, “No.”

That’s not all we do.  Not by a long shot.  Most Mobile DJs do so much more than just “spin discs.” Indeed most of us never even touch a disc anymore.

So let’s look at some of the roles we fill at an event and let’s recognize the fact that if we are doing these things, we should be marketing these services and charging accordingly for them.  After all when you go to get your car washed they don’t detail it for you, change the oil and wiper blades and rotate the tires, and then only charge you five bucks for the car wash, do they?  No, a full service like that would market itself, and surely charge, accordingly.  And so should we.

 

COORDINATOR

We’ll start here because this is usually where the interplay with the client begins.  Most Mobile DJs, before they ever even load in a piece of equipment or play a single song, spend some time with their clients coordinating and planning the event.  For some, this is a phone call or a video chat using Bridelive.  For others, it’s a face-to-face meeting (or meetings.) Still others go so far as drawing up itineraries and meeting with the other professionals involved in the day (banquet manager, photographer etc).

Whatever your level of coordination, this is a service.  And more than likely your musical knowledge and experience will be tapped during these conversations.  A Bride may ask you: “I’d like to do a special dance with my Step-Dad.  Can you suggest something?”  Or a Bar Mitzvah family might say, “We’re having a sports theme so we need an appropriate introduction song.”  These questions make you not just a coordinator but something of a music advisor as well.  And hopefully you are experienced enough and have seen enough to offer insightful answers.  Sometimes the success of the event is determined right then and there in these consultations and if you master the art of coordination, you are almost guaranteed referrals from the client.  No one else at the event may realize all the time and effort that went into the pre-planning (in fact a well planned event should look effortless and spontaneous so no one should realize) but your client will always know.  And when you play that perfect song they’ll be reminded that it was you who helped them select it.

 

THERAPIST

Along with coordinating, we often find ourselves in the role of counseling.  Calming our clients down and being a voice of reason for them.  It’s natural.  Planning an event with the size and scope of a Wedding or Bar / Bat Mitzvah can be extremely stressful.  With weddings, your clients not only have the reception staring them in the face, but the major life change of actually getting married.  Bar and Bat Mitzvahs often carry a level of social pressure as families attempt to “outdo” other families in their temples.  And corporate parties are also a high stress event since everyone there is going to look at the person who put the event together as responsible for its success.  How often do you have clients say, “Just make me look good.”

The best way to be a therapist is to show your clients that they have nothing to worry about when it comes to the entertainment.  To reassure them that you are the true professional they thought you were when they hired you.  There are a few ways to do this:

First, be agreeable when you meet.  When a client asks me not to play “The Chicken Dance” I usually tell them, “No problem, that song is kind of cheesy isn’t it?”  But when a client asks me to play “The Chicken Dance”, I change my tune: “Oh that’ll be great fun I’m sure.”  The way I see it, if they have already made up their minds, why should I undermine their decision?

Another way to reassure your clients is to prove you are the expert by offering good, quality suggestions.  If a Bride-to-be asks you for suggestions for dancing with her Father and all you have to offer is “Daddy’s Little Girl” then you should do some homework.  The same goes for lighting.  If she asks questions about your up-lighting and all you can say is that it makes the room look colorful, you’re not being very thorough.

 

ROADIE

Ever notice that equipment is heavier on the load out? That after the gig is over your speakers weigh more and your top half is bulkier?  I look at my sound system sometimes after a party and wonder if it would be easier to just leave it there and buy a whole new one tomorrow before my next gig.  Such is the life of being an entertainer and a roadie.

There are DJs and companies that have roadies but the vast majority of the Mobile jocks I know load in their own gear.  Then we set it up and sound check it by ourselves too.  And yes, after dancing around for four hours, we all load the thing out instead of buying a new one tomorrow.  Some of us have an assistant to help lift the heavy stuff and hold the doors, but let’s face it, when it’s your gear, who else is going to carry it?
DISC JOCKEY

Yes, we do still spin discs.  And though they aren’t made of vinyl anymore, the mixing of music is one of the most important things we do.  Keeping the “sound track” of a party flowing smoothly and seamlessly is one of our most important tasks.

It is true that our level of artistry may vary from the most proficient mixers to the most basic segue-ers.  Nonetheless, the “disc jockey” role that we play at parties is essential.  And no successful Mobile jock can exist without at least a rudimentary idea of how to mix.

 

PROGRAMMER

Mixing is important.  Mixing the right music is just as important.  Pacing a party and peaking a party are talents that every successful Mobile jock possesses.  Also, working with a client’s request list and maximizing that list for the best results are abilities that we all are proud of.  Radio stations have full-time program directors that decide the same things we do.  Yet they do it in the quiet and solace of their offices after studying charts and ratings and with no immediate pressure on their decisions.  We do it on the fly, with a million other things going on and the pressure of a full dance floor weighing on our shoulders.

 

MC

When I train new DJs I tell them their voice is their number one tool.  Being a “Master of Ceremonies” means utilizing your voice to maximize every moment at the event.  We direct people.  We move people.  We motivate people.  And if we are good at what we do, our voice is never annoying.  It is always assuring and confident.

Peter Merry says that the MC at a party is a “spokesperson” for the families and the guest of honor.  That description puts the onus on the DJ to act according to the family’s wishes, which is why I love that point and teach it to my recruits.  Finding out what “style” of spokesperson your client wants is your first job (and should happen in the coordination phase).  Delivering that style at the event is an essential part of being the MC.

 

RING LEADER

When I was young I used to work at the local church doing maintenance work and odd jobs.  The head maintenance man there, a man named Brendan Holihan, was a real salt-of-the-earth kind of guy.  He taught me more about management than any book I’ve ever read and I find myself repeating him more often than I’m even aware. One of things Brendan used to say was that if you showed up somewhere with a clipboard you could steal just about anything.  He exaggerated of course but his point was the clipboard makes you an authority.  It makes people think, That’s the guy who knows what’s going on.

At parties, it’s not the clipboard as much as the microphone.  Once people see you with the microphone and hear you make announcements, they assume you know it all.  How many of us get asked to turn the Air Conditioner up.  Photographers ask us when Cake Cutting will be.  It’s all about the microphone which makes us the de facto authority.

Being the ring leader at a party is not a bad thing.  For me, I’ve always seen it as a way of expanding my “coordinator” role and making sure that nothing happens at an event without my knowledge.  And when banquet people and photographers in your market learn that you can deliver a smooth and efficient party, they’ll respect you and more importantly, many of them will refer you.  And so what if I have to point out to some people where the bathrooms are.

 

As the professionalism in our industry continues to rise, and as our rates climb accordingly, it is becoming more and more important that we understand our roles and market them correctly.  Throwing a great party is not your only job and surely if you have had success as a Mobile DJ it is not the only thing you do.

 

 

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Sir Paul McCartney and His “Coolness”

Written on December 13, 2012 by in Uncategorized

I made a statement last night during one of my 121212Concert posts on Facebook that Paul McCartney was uncool. Some people took offense so please let me explain.

But before I do I openly admit I am more of a Lennon fan than a McCartney fan. Once they started writing songs mostly separately (rather than”eyeball to eyeball” like they did early on) it’s the John Lennon songs on Beatles albums that I gravitate to. I’ll take “Across the Universe” over “Let It Be” any day.  Or “Come Together” over “Yesterday.” Or “In My Life” over “Penny Lane.”

So, to Sir Paul’s uncoolness: I think the reason The Beatles are the greatest band ever IS the fact that they had this incredible ying and yang and push and pull. Lennon’s pessimistic edginess countered by McCartney’s saccharine pop sensibility. Lennon’s anger, like a tectonic plate grinding against McCartney’s happiness.  It’s this Constant Friction that made The Beatles so amazing (and then throw in George Harrison who probably could have led a band on his own and you’ve got a pretty scary combination of talent and artistry).

John Lennon couldn’t tie Paul McCartney’s shoes when it came to writing a pop melody or even a catchy hook. McCartney’s gifts in that department are right there with some of the best and most prolific writers this world has ever known. But c’mon, he isn’t cool. I mean, of course he is way cooler than any of us.  He is a rock star who’s has seen and done it all and traveled the world and played in front of millions . . . so he stands head and shoulders above any DJ in terms of coolness. But in terms of rock star legitimacy, he never was and still isn’t the coolest guy in the room (especially when it’s a room like last night with true Rock Gods in the building like Richards and Daltrey and Springsteen). I always felt Paul McCartney would have been happier writing show tunes or radio jingles.

I don’t mean this as an insult and again I think the true genius of The Beatles is that they had both influences – both sides of genius if you will.

Here are the two clearest examples I can give you: First, during the Sgt Peppers song “Getting Better” when McCartney is singing: “I’ve got to admit it’s getting better, a little better, all the time” and Lennon provides not only the the counter melody but the counter philosophy with his background “it can’t get no worse.” That, in my opinion, encapsulates the entire essence of these two men and their outlooks. Another example is the Christmas songs that each one penned separately.  McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmas Time” while catchy and happy is a transparent pop throwaway. Kinda like 99% of our Holiday songs. They make you smile and sing along but God forbid they make you think. Lennon’s, on the other hand, while lacking a catchy melody or any holiday escapism, grabs you around the throat and asks “what have YOU done?” Remember he wrote “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” in the middle of his bed-ins for peace with Yoko. The two of them were so active against the US government and the Vietnam war that the Nixon administration commissioned an investigation to get them thrown out of the country. Meanwhile McCartney was with The Wings singing “My love does it good.” I don’t know about you but it’s easy for me to see which one of these is cooler.

And the truth is, as much of an optimist as I try to be in life, when it comes to rock stars, their negativity and anger are what makes them cool. Who wants a rock star who leaves their hotel room in pristine condition? Or who shows up on time and smiles for every question in a press conference? No, that’s a pop star. We want and expect our rock stars to be damaged (remember John Lennon had an absentee father and his mother was hit by a car and killed when he was a teenager, in case you wonder where that anger came from). We also want our rock stars to test the limits of drugs and alcohol and excess, mainly so we don’t have to. We want our rock stars to have attitudes and to write about misery or even just apathy. We want them to remind us of our lost teenage years when everything in the world seemed wrong and we were alone on an island, just us and whatever music was blasting through our bedroom speakers, keeping us tethered to earth because finally someone, somewhere understood our angst and loneliness (or was that just me?) We want our rock stars dirty and smelly and unkempt. NONE of these things are right up Paul McCartney’s alley. He seemed much more comfortable in the early years of The Beatles when Brian Epstein was forcing them to wear matching suits and smile and be “witty” in their interviews. Once Epstein passed away and the group had matured and were taking on their own personalities, McCartney always seemed a little awkward in their hippy phase. Plus, he didn’t experiment with hallucinogens so while Lennon and Harrison were off tripping and writing songs about “newspaper taxis” or weeping guitars he was still writing his four or five catchy pop songs per album. Sure, the themes of those pop songs matured through the years, from holding hands to “black birds singing in the dead of night”, but they were still the catchier and more accessible songs on any Beatles offering. And to me, the songs that initially catch your ear when you first listen to an album are rarely the best songs. There’s a reason pop songs come and go so quickly. They are the chewing gum of music. Sweet and satisfying at first, but they quickly become overplayed. The better songs usually take a while to grow on you before you “get them.”  But when they hit, they usually knock your socks off.  I remember running one day listening to Abbey Road and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” came on.  I had to stop running (literally) as the passion in this song finally hit me (after years of skipping over it because I couldn’t wait to get to that awesome side two of the album.)  “I Want You” isn’t a song that Top 40 stations would play and it’s certainly not something you’ll find yourself humming along to.  But if you’ve ever had an unrequited love you might understand why Lennon is screaming and changing tempos and repeating himself over and over and over.  “I Want You” stands in perfect contrast to McCartney’s “love song” from Abbey Road: “Oh! Darling.”  Both are bluesy and filled with angst and a long way from “Love Me Do”  but there’s something real about “I Want You” that I don’t hear in “Oh! Darling.”  It’s like McCartney read a book about pain and has written a song about it while Lennon just wants to open his shirt and show you the scars.

My last point about McCartney’s uncoolness (especially when compared to Lennon’s) is a point I wish I didn’t have to make. Or couldn’t make. Indeed these benefit concerts make me so sad sometimes because I have always believed (starting with Live Aid back in 1985) that had Lennon lived, eventually The Beatles would have reunited. If not for a world tour then certainly for events like this. They were too worldly and charitable not to put their differences aside for the greater good. But unfortunately Mark David Chapman saw to that (may he rot in hell).  And the sad truth is, if you’re a rock star and you want to lock in your coolness for all eternity, die young. We got to see just enough of the fat Elvis to offset all the years of his uber-coolness and forever change our perception of the first rock star. But for so many other rock stars, sad as it is, we will never have to bear witness to their 60 or even 70 year old selves up there on a stage trying to recreate some of that decades-old magic. Last night Paul McCartney was wearing mom jeans. We’ll never have to see John Lennon in mom jeans. We’ll always remember Jim Morrison in his leathers and Jimi Hendrix in his psychedelically patterned bell-bottoms . Kurt Cobain will always be cooler than Eddie Vedder.

But the simple truth is this: Paul McCartney, while wildly talented and incredibly prolific, never really was cool. And now he’s just an old crooner who doesn’t look or even sound the part. If that comes across as cruel I don’t mean it to. Believe me I’d trade for his life in a heartbeat (not that I want to be 70).  The man has written more unforgettable and catchy songs than anybody who was on that stage last night (Billy Joel might give him a run for his money, it would be close).  But cool? No Sir. Never was and he certainly hasn’t aged into it.

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Halloween and The Mobile DJ

Written on October 24, 2012 by in Uncategorized

Halloween is a week away.  Not that I have to tell you that.  One trip to the supermarket where you’ll see aisles and aisles of candy, or the mall where all the temporary costume shops have moved in, will remind you.  So as you decide on your costume and where you’re going to show it off, allow me please to share with you a theory I have held close for a long time:

People love Halloween for the same reason they love DJs:  Escape.

Another Reason Men Love Halloween

I heard Bill Maher joke once that Halloween gives women a chance to get in touch with “their inner slut.” And while that’s clearly not universally true, you can certainly see his point at any costume store or Halloween party. Naughty Nurse and Sexy Cat are just two of the many costumes designed to let women get a little raunchy on this holiday. And they are obviously big sellers. (I also read an article this week entitled “Sex Halloween and The Almightly Dollar”  which bemoaned the fact that almost every costume available for women includes some kind of revealing take on a traditional costume — kinda confirming Mr. Maher’s joke)

And when you stop and think about it, that’s the attraction for most people on Halloween. The opportunity to be someone they aren’t. The chance to dress sexier than usual, or to be a zombie or a caveman or a football player. This allows that person to act a little freer, cut loose a little more than usual. It’s why Halloween parties are often raucous affairs, because people can hide behind their masks and be wilder than they usually are. I’ve DJed my share of costume parties to know.

What we do, each and every weekend is something quite similar. Your average guest at a private party, whether it’s a wedding or a mitzvah or whatever, probably doesn’t “go out dancing” all that often. That’s something reserved more for the young and it becomes rarer and rarer as most people age. You don’t see a lot of fifty-something’s going clubbing every Friday night.

So when they attend a party, and they get a little more dressed up than usual, some people look for that same “escape” that marks this holiday of Halloween. Maybe they have a few more cocktails then they normally would. Couples slow dance for the first time in a while. And then we take over, playing upbeat party music, hopefully from a variety of eras so that we reach everyone in the room. I see it when people dance and laugh and sing along. This isn’t normal behavior for most people. It’s “escape behavior” and we as the DJs are the conduit. We create that atmosphere that tells everyone, “It’s ok. You can cut loose. This is safe.” That’s why I never make fun of someone on the dance floor. Even if it would get a laugh from some people, I’d destroy that person’s escape. And that’s the opposite of what my job should be.

So next week, as you answer your door to trick-or-treaters, or maybe DJ a costume party yourself, pay close attention to that euphoria that comes from escaping. If you have kids, watch them become a Power Ranger or Princess and see how they too love the escape (even though kids don’t have to wait all year to do this, they can pretty much put on a costume and make-believe any day.)  And realize the next time you pack a dance floor you are providing the same escape that those costumes do. It’s one of the true joys of our careers. Embrace it!

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Wanna Bet I Can’t Break My PR?

Written on October 22, 2012 by in Uncategorized

I’m going to run a 5K on Sunday November 4th and I want to PR (which means I want to break my best personal time ever for this distance)  And I want all my family and friends to help.  And here’s how you can:

Bet me.

That’s right, bet me.   Bet me that I can’t break my PR.

Pledge a certain amount of money for every second either under or over my PR that I finish.  If you bet (for example) $5.00 / second and I finish 3 seconds ahead of my PR then you’ll owe $15.  BUT if I finish 3 seconds behind my PR then I’ll owe $15.

Who’s gets this windfall?  A great charity which is near and dear to me called Autism Speaks.

I will not be collecting money personally for this so if I break my PR I will leave it up to you to make the contribution yourself (the honor system) I will let you know when the race is over if you owe money and if so how much (I’ll also humbly let you if I’m the one who owes money and how much)

BTW in case you are wondering my PR is 20:32 which I set in June of this year.  I recently attempted a 5K and came in at 20:42.  So there’s a good chance I could go broke throwing this challenge out there. Although if I hit my goal of $100 / second that might just be the incentive I need to run like the wind (assuming the wind blows at a 6:30 pace)

So go ahead.  Respond to this post with your monetary bet.  Bet me a dollar a second.  Or $5 a second.  Come on, there’s no way I break my PR by more than 5 seconds (or is there?) so why not do $10 / second?

Go ahead.  Bet me

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The Skinny on Being Healthy

Written on October 10, 2012 by in Uncategorized

I was giving my latest seminar last week at The Wedding MBA.  The seminar is called “Ten Things You Can Do To Have a Better Day.”  It’s a collection of suggestions and tips that I can offer the listener to help them organize their day better, eat a little healthier, pay it forward if things are going well for them, and generally just, well, have a better day.  There is some health and fitness content in the seminar but it’s not like the whole thing is about losing weight and exercising.  So at one point, while I was talking about the advantage of counting your calories for a while (I usually suggest people do this for about 2 weeks just so they get a better feel for how much they are consuming) a woman interrupted me and asked “Are you saying the only way to be happy is to be skinny?”

My first thought was “Wow, where did this woman get that from?”  The seminar isn’t called “How to Be Happy” and besides, in my introduction I let people know that I don’t suppose to have all the answers and that these are things that work for me so maybe they’ll work for you.  I forget exactly what I said to her on the microphone but in essence I asked for her patience, that I would explain why I was mentioning the health and fitness stuff and tie it all in.  I guess I handled it well because after the seminar a few people complimented me.  One woman said, “when that bitch interrupted you I thought you showed a lot of class.”

So here’s the point I make in the seminar and also in the mini-book I’ve published by the same name (available now at the low, low price of $5 with free shipping and handling!!!):

It's a cute little mini-book!

Besides generally feeling better, focusing on your health and fitness is also a time management solution.  First of all, healthier people generally need less sleep.  Eight years ago when I was carrying about 40 extra pounds around with me, I needed a solid 8 hours of sleep every night.  Now, even though I do a fair amount of running which you would think would make me tired, I can get by on 6 to 7 hours with no problem.  So that’s an extra hour to two hours every day that I’ve put back into my schedule.  Plus, throughout the day, I have more energy.  I used to need a mid-afternoon nap or at the very least, jolt of caffeine to pep me up, but not anymore.  And finally, you can actually be productive while you work out.  I mean there are many times when I just listen to music on my morning run and zone out.  But when I need to, I can actually utilize that time to get stuff done.  For example, when I have a seminar to present, I will often use the week before to rehearse while I run (my dog Shea who is my running partner probably knows my seminars as well as I do).  Or if I have an article to write I will start my run with the seed of an idea and by the time I get back home I’ve got it mostly written in my head.  So that hour or so that you spend at the gym or cycling or running, can be productive.

So am I saying the only way to be happy is to be skinny?  Not at all.  I never suffered from depression when I was overweight, in fact anyone who knew me then would hopefully describe me as very happy.  (Plus I know plenty of skinny miserable people.)  But let’s all be honest with ourselves and admit that our own health is something we control (for the most part, I’m not ignorant to the fact that healthy people get sick).  And most people feel good about themselves and are proud of their own achievement when they either lose weight or keep themselves in good shape.  So why not spend a little extra time thinking about our overall health and also doing something about it?  That’s one of the messages I try to convey in my new seminar and book.  And it’s something I’ll stand by, even when I’m rudely interrupted.

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Remembering Today

Written on September 11, 2012 by in Uncategorized

Everyone reacts to this day differently. Everyone has different memories of this day eleven years ago. Some, like myself, were spared from knowing anyone directly who perished in the terrorist attack, yet we still mourn for the innocent lives lost and the families and friends they left behind. Others, were touched personally, losing a cherished friend or family member to the inane violence of that September morning. Those people, I’m sure, have a completely different experience every year on this date.

It wasn’t until last year on this day that I found out I knew an early responder. Last year, (on the 10th anniversary of 9/11) I was invited to the Cowboys/Jets game by a fellow NJ DJ named John DePalma (who owns All Star Entertainment).  John already has a special place in my heart because he is one of the few DJs outside of Elite Entertainment who has ever covered an Elite gig. A number of years ago I found myself in a bind when one of my DJs decided 5 days before an event that he “wasn’t up to DJing” that event (yes, he’s a former Elite Entertainer now). It was a busy day and we were booked out so I found myself in the rare position of needing to go outside the company (or “sub-out”) to cover the event. John wound up being available and bailed me out.

John is an avid sports fan with season tickets to both his beloved Yankees and his beloved Jets. It was nice of him to invite me since he knows I’m a Cowboys fan, although as things turned out I’m sure he enjoyed himself that much more driving home from an opening day win with a long suffering Dallas fan sulking in the backseat.

But it was on the way up to Met Life Stadium that John and I got to talking about 9/11 (what else does one talk about on September 11th?) and I found out that he was an early responder. John is a County Officer (besides being a great DJ – what a combination of talents!) and on the morning of September 11th, 2001, when he first heard the news, instinct took over and he headed into New York to help. That was the amazing thing about that day, wasn’t it? People put their own well being and comfort aside and just wanted to help. And that’s exactly what John did. He got to the pile (what was left of the two Trade Centers after they collapsed) and, along with hundreds of other first responders, he began to dig. On the ride to the football game last year he shared with me that at first they were digging in hopes of finding survivors. But after awhile that hope diminished. Still they dug. Pulling steel and concrete away as if to show the world that America could not be reduced to a pile of rubble. We would clean it up and rebuild and that began in lower Manhattan by clearing the pile. And John was there to help.

I found out in that car ride that John attends the 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero every year on September 11th. He has to, he told me. And he will for as long as he’s alive. I don’t doubt him.

So today, no matter how you remember this day eleven years ago, join with me in recalling that post 9/11 spirit of unity that that tragic day brought out in all of us. Thank a first responder like John who let instinct take over when common sense would have told him to stay home. Think of those innocent souls lost to the violence of that day and maybe say a prayer that someday we will see an end to wars and destruction.

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Here Comes the DJ Expo

Written on July 16, 2012 by in Uncategorized

As one of the best weeks of the year approaches I’ve got some exciting news to share about the DJ Times International DJ Expo.  And what better place to share that news than right here on my very own blog which caters to the DJ Industry. So here goes:

Monday August 13th – I’ve been asked again to host the Monday Night Mobile party at The Casbah. This is the 11th year in a row for me and I couldn’t be prouder about that fact. Either DJ Times is so happy with the party every year or they just don’t want to look for someone else to take my place. Either way, I’m thrilled to be back.

Marshall Moore

I will however have a new Co-MC this year. After helping me for 9 of the past 10 years (he missed one year being on a cruise) Dominic Sestito has asked to sit this one out. After careful consideration of who could fill his shoes, I asked fellow Elite Entertainer Marshall Moore if he’d like to give it a shot. If you attend the DJ Expo you’ll recognize Marshall. Along with Corey Fox he’s been providing the sound and introducing some of the seminar speakers for the daytime education the past few years. Marshall starts getting excited about the DJ Expo in about January every year so I knew he’d jump at the opportunity. I’m looking forward to having a new co-host this year and am excited to see what Mr. Moore brings to the table.

As usual the Monday Night Mobile Party will feature a number of MCs from across the country leading dances or games. Thrown into the mix will be a handful of past DJ Times DJ of the Year winners. Also Party Percussionist John Donovan will be helping us open the room along with Johnny K who returns from the DL this year. We also have a special performance from dance legend Jade Starling of Pretty Poison fame.

Jade Starling

On Tuesday August 14th -  I’ll be delivering Part Two of my Running Your Multi-Op seminar. This will be the first time I am debuting this material which is culled from my book of the same name and also from the questions I received after delivering Part One last year. I’m grateful to DJ Times for believing in me that I had more solid material to talk about and having me back. Apparently some show producers felt 90 minutes was all I had on the subject of running a DJ company. Why, I’ll show them :-)

Then on Wednesday August 15th – I’ll be back on the stage in The Casbah hosting The DJ of the Year competition. This is my 11th year in this role as well and again, I’m thrilled to be back.  Preparation for this evening includes narrowing down the finalists, organizing the show and selecting the judges.  And then the night of the event I find myself MCing and making sure the show goes off well and ends on time. It’s a fun yet stressful night and just like Monday I’ll have Marshall Moore helping me out in a co-hosting capacity.

This year, Chauvet has stepped up to provide a great prize for the winner. Besides the exalted title of DJ Times DJ of the Year, this year’s winner will walk away with an Intimidator Spot LED 150  valued at $560.

You still have a few weeks to decide if you’re going to attend this incredible show. This blog is only about the events that I am personally associated with. If you want education, the DJ Expo has it, with 3 and 1/2 days of incredible seminars. If you want networking, the DJ Expo has it, with over four thousand attendees from across this great nation and beyond. If you want new gear, the DJ Expo has it, with hundreds of booths from the world’s top manufacturers.  If you want night time entertainment, the DJ Expo has it, with Tuesday night’s Promo Only party that always features some of today’s hottest singers and artists.  So make your plans now to attend.  Hope to see you there!

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“You’re Still Mad About That?”

Written on July 1, 2012 by in Uncategorized

One of the best life lessons I ever learned was from something John Murphy said to me. I had just started working for John at Star DJs so this must have been late 1988. He hired me to do sales in his office (as well as DJ on the weekends) so I had moved out to New Jersey and was living on my own for the first time in my young life.   One day I made plans with the cable company to come to my apartment and hook me up.  My schedule that day had me starting in the office at 1pm so when they promised me a 9am to noon window for the technician to show it was perfect.

As you can imagine I waited and waited that morning and finally got a call about 11:45 that they were running 2 hours late. Seething, I told them to cancel the appointment and headed in to the Star office.

I was still upset when I got in and I’m sure I wore that expression on my face. John greeted me and could tell right away something was wrong. When I explained to him that I’d sat at home all morning waiting for cable and They Never Showed!!! he tilted his head and asked, “And you’re still mad about that?”

Being a small business owner myself now for almost 20 years I get that John’s goal was to cheer me up. Quickly. Nothing worse than a disgruntled employee especially if he’s doing sales. “What do you want?” isn’t exactly the best start to a sales call and I’m not sure I had the wherewithal to muster up much more than that that day. So I’m sure John was just trying to change my mood a bit  with that question and not intending to teach me some important life lesson. And certainly it’s not something I learned right then and there in the bright fuchsia sales offices at Star DJs. No, it would take years for this lesson to really sink in and change my attitude towards, well, attitudes.  And it’s something I still struggle with from time to time.  But on that day, with that one simple question, John Murphy planted this seed in my head: I control my moods. I do. Completely.

When the cable company leaves me waiting for hours and I sulk about it, that’s my decision to hold on to that experience. When someone cuts me off on the road and I blow my stack, that’s my decision to react impulsively. When someone lies to me and cheats me in business and I spend days pissed off about it, that’s my decision to cling to that anger.

And notice I’m not talking about anything major here.  If you lose your job and then your house to bankruptcy, or you’ve been diagnosed with a horrible disease, or you’re going through an ugly divorce, it’s natural to have your mood affected.   But how many of us react as if we’ve had a major tragedy in our lives when really it’s something very minor?

My favorite Beatles song (and believe me, it is hard to choose) is “Across the Universe.”  I think it’s John Lennon at his most poetic (“words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup…”) and when he sings over and over “nothing’s gonna change my world” I relate to it.  I don’t think Lennon was saying “I’m stubborn and I’m never gonna change.”  I think what he was saying is “My belief system is rock solid and I’m not going to let outside forces change that no matter how much they try.”  And again, I’m not saying I’m successful at this all the time. Certainly I let outside influences affect me from time to time (as much as I try not to) but I’m aware that that’s my goal. To be strong enough in my own convictions, to believe firmly enough in the direction I am headed that I’ll let nothing change that. I’ll let nothing rock me enough to take me off course.

I try to be as positive and upbeat as I can. I believe that we all possess an energy and we give that energy off throughout our day and that energy can effect other people that we interact with. We can give off positive vibes or negative vibes. That’s our call. We can be the Yes influence or the Naysayer. We can touch people in a good way or in a bad way. And it really is completely our decision which vibe we emanate.

So the next time you’re left waiting for the cable guy, or your flight’s delayed, or the supermarket is out of your favorite brand of corn flakes, remember it’s your decision how long you hold on to that experience. You can either laugh it off and treat yourself to Lucky Charms or you can sulk and complain about it all day.  But just know that everyone you meet, and especially the people you tell your “Tragedy” to, whether they say it out loud or not, is probably thinking the same thing John Murphy was the day I was fuming about the cable company: “And you’re still mad about that?”

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Technology, DJ Event Planner and A Day At The Beach

Written on June 27, 2012 by in Uncategorized

I didn’t have an event last Saturday so after meeting with a client in the morning I decided to head to the beach for a few hours.  It was a gorgeous June Saturday and a few hours with my toes in the sand was just what the doctor ordered.  Even though I was off we at Elite had over 20 events.  In years past I would have brought a copy of the schedule with me and even photo copies of the contract of every party we were DJing that day.  But not anymore.  Nowadays technology and DJ Event Planner has changed my life for the better:

1 -  We have a phone service that emails me as soon as we get a new voice mail with an attached MP3 of the message (so I don’t even have to call in to listen to the message)

2 – My iPhone allows me web access from anywhere I can get a phone signal

3- And last but really first and foremost, DJ Event Planner gives me easy access to see who is working where, at what time and with what extras etc etc etc.  Even with the tiny screen of my iPhone I can get this information in moments.  I can also see who on my staff is available and even re-assign an event from one DJ to another from my smart phone.

None of these things mattered last Saturday.  The only voice mail we received was from an August client asking what their balance due was. We didn’t have any DJ Emergencies so I never did have to check DJ Event Planner and see who was available to cover a last minute situation.  The only thing I used my smart phone for was a witty update on Facebook (at least I thought it was witty.)

So why the post and the public Thank You to Troy from DJ Event Planner?  Because sometimes it’s not about having to use your back-up plans.  Sometimes, just the security of knowing they are there and in place makes life easier to enjoy.  As I said – years ago I would have brought reams of paper work with me and been checking our answering machine every few minutes.  Would I have enjoyed the beach any less?  Yes, probably.  I probably would have been a little more on edge and not able to truly enjoy my Saturday off.  But knowing that I was in complete communication and had all the information I needed at my finger tips allowed me to relax and read and nap and enjoy the scenery at the beach.

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You’re a 42 Regular, Right?

Written on June 11, 2012 by in Uncategorized

I needed a new suit recently and went to the local Joseph A Bank to see what I could see. I was perusing the aisles when a salesman approached and asked me if I was finding everything OK. “We have a good selection in your size,” he said, and then finished with, “you’re a 42 regular, right?”

I am a 42 regular in fact.  It’s something I’m proud of.  I have suits in 46 and 44 that hang in the back of my closet, long unused.  Since I’ve been running and watching my weight I’ve trimmed down to a 42. So as soon as this gentlemen said that, I perked up.  He not only guessed my size (which is pretty impressive and automatically stamped him as an expert) but he also let me know I was in luck, there were plenty of suits in my size.  Since they were also having a sale at the time, it was a win-win-win for me.

Later, I found myself dwelling on that opening sentence: ““We have a good selection in your size . . . you’re a 42 regular, right?” and I wondered, how can my initial conversation with a prospective bride (or any client) be as positive and open ended all while proving my expertise in my industry (without me actually saying: “I’m an expert, you know”)?  I’d never dare to guess a woman’s size of course (nor do I need to in my industry) but is there a way I can be as affirming AND also prove my own expertise in my field just like he did.
I’m not writing this blog because I have the answer to that question.  I’m writing it because it’s something I’m going to spend some time thinking about.  And since most everyone I know in this industry also sells their service I think it’s a good goal for all of us to have.  Can you, in an opening statement to a prospect, accomplish as much as the suit salesman?  Can you affirm your expertise and make a client feel positive about herself and her chances of finding the right service with your company?
Go!
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Happy Birthday Prince

Written on June 7, 2012 by in Uncategorized
Towards the end of my freshmen year in high school, in the Spring of 1981, a classmate handed me a cassette tape and said, “check this out, I think you’ll like it.” If you’re old enough to remember before Napster and recordable CDs and Youtube, this was the original form of “file sharing.” You bought an album and if you liked it and thought one of your friends would like it, you taped it onto a blank cassette tape. If you were nice enough you also hand wrote the track-listing on that little cardboard insert. And then you passed it along.
         I had one of the original Sony Walkman’s back then. It was only slightly smaller than a cigar box and it clipped to my belt and used up about 4 C batteries every 3 days. It was bulky and heavy compared to todays iPods but the amazing thing about life is what you don’t know you don’t know. The only thing written on this particular cassette that I was handed was “Prince Dirty Mind.” I didn’t even know if the artist was Prince and the album named Dirty Mind or vice versa. But I listened to the whole thing on the way home that afternoon (my commute to and from high school was a subway ride to a bus ride which gave me plenty of time to listen to an entire album, sometimes twice). I was amazed. It was this weird amalgamation of funk and punk with these nasty lyrics that at 15, with hormones in full on rage mode, made me long for more. Who the hell was this?
      That was my first introduction to Prince. I had graduated from my KISS phase and also my short lived fascination with Blue Oyster Cult (which not coincidently coincided with my short lived fascination with Dungeons and Dragons) and was probably subconsciously looking for something I could call my own. In the beginning of my sophomore year of high school Prince released “Controversy” which I bought on vinyl (we didn’t call it that back then, it was just “an album”) and then a year later he put out a double LP called “1999.” Even though he was starting to get some radio play and MTV exposure with hits like “Little Red Corvette” I still felt like Prince was my little secret. Not that many people were into him, especially at the all-boys high school I attended where you had your “Rush crowd” and your “Led Zeppelin group” and your “Doors aficionados” But then right after I graduated high school he blew up. “Purple Rain” was ubiquitous that summer. The singles were all hits and the movie was huge. Almost overnight Prince went from my little secret to everyone’s favorite artist.
          I was actually happy that his next album wasn’t that big. While I thought “Around the World In a Day” was great (and still do) the pop world largely ignored it. This became a trend throughout most of Prince’s career and it’s something I admire. He’d follow up a big hit record with something more niche oriented for his true fans. It was almost like he enjoyed filling his bandwagon, and then clearing it off again. But for me, from that very first listen of “Dirty Mind” I was hooked. I’ve followed his career through all it’s highs and lows. I’ve had to answer numerous times to questions like “What’s up with your boy Prince?” when he was writing “slave” on his face or changing his name to a unpronounceable symbol. But for me it’s been an incredible ride. He’s given me so much phenomenal music and so many incredible moments in concert (I’ve lost count now but I’ve seen him live over 30 times). And I’m proud of the fact that he’s stayed true to himself as an artist. He’s always been the type of musician to dabble in multiple genres and he’s never denied that curiosity even when Warner Brothers I’m sure was just screaming for more hits. He never put out a “Purple Rain 2.” He was too busy moving on to his next muse.
        I am admittedly biased but I don’t think there’s a performer alive who can touch Prince in concert. His dance moves are up there with the best, his musicianship is incredible and his confidence and stage presence are off-the-charts. I’ve sat front row twice for Prince and those concerts have been two of the absolute highlights of my life. My man can play. As a fan probably one of my proudest moments was the night he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He went in the same year as George Harrison and so when the show was ending and they got all the musicians on stage for the final jam they used Harrison’s iconic “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Despite the fact that there were plenty of great guitar players on that stage they let Prince take the final solo. And he shredded it. I watch that clip on Youtube sometimes just to see him finish the solo, toss his guitar in the air and strut off stage. That’s the brashness and cockiness that makes it impossible for some people to like Prince, no matter how talented they may begrudgingly admit he is. But it’s also the attitude I’ve loved these past 30+ years. He’s a rare talent. And he knows it.
        Happy Birthday Prince. Thanks for the great memories
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the summer of 2004 Prince’s Musicology Tour came to Madison Square Garden.  I had tickets for all 3 shows. One of them happened to be front row seats.  I smuggled a disposable camera into MSG that night and got these shots.  A night I’ll never forget!

The iconic sign outside MSG

Prince with saxaphonist Candy Dulfer
This is the jam of the year!
Looks like we’re in the front row!
Prince’s concerts are more like parties. One long celebration of life love and music

Tearing it up

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Michael Franti and the Lessons I’ve Learned

Written on May 30, 2012 by in Uncategorized

Today happens to be my fiance Kelly’s birthday and as coincidence would have it, one of her favorite artists, Michael Franti is performing here in  New Jersey tonight and of course we have tickets to go see him.  On my run this morning I was thinking about what a great performer he is as well as an incredibly generous guy.  And I remembered that 3 years ago I wrote an article about him that appeared in the Disc Jockey News.   So here, in honor of Kelly’s birthday and as a way or preparing for tonight, I give you a reprint of my article “Michael Franti and the Lessons I’ve Learned”

I’ve seen Michael Franti perform live three times in the past two years.  That’s an awful lot for a guy whose name I didn’t even know three years ago.  And each time I’ve seen him, I’ve learned something about being a performer and entertainer.  And even about being a business man.  I’d like to share those nuggets with you and hopefully to get you interested enough to download a few more of his songs (I know you’ve already got “Say Hey (I Love You)” in your database.)

But first a little background:

My girlfriend Kelly came home from yoga one night about three years ago and said the instructor ended the class by playing a Michael Franti song.  Did I have anything by him?  Embarrassed that my “non-DJing” girlfriend knew an artist that I didn’t know about, I went right to work and found some of his music online.  We both listened and got into his sound.  He’s a reggae/hip-hop/rocker with a central message of peace, love and save the earth. (Your typical Republican nightmare.)

What started as a single song during the final meditation of a yoga class has resulted in Kelly and I flying cross country to see Mr. Franti perform.  That, in the truest sense of the word, is grass roots marketing.

Here are the lessons I’ve learned along the way:

 

Michael Franti & Kelly outside a NY Restaurant

Even the smallest act of kindness (customer service) can win a fan (customer) for life.  The first time Kelly and I saw Michael Franti was at the Nokia Theater in Times Square two years ago.  We drove in to the city and hit no traffic so we were early.  As we walked to the theater we decided to grab a bite before the show.  We spotted this tiny little Asian place that looked perfect.  In the craziest of coincidences, Michael Franti and his band were having dinner in the same restaurant.  We didn’t want to interrupt his meal so we waited till they were wrapping up and then we told him we were big fans.  We showed him our tickets and said we were actually on our way to see him.  He couldn’t have been nicer, chatting with us for a few minutes and even taking a picture with Kelly (which she cherishes.)  And even though we loved the show that night and had a great time, it was that coincidental meeting, and how generous Michael Franti was with his time, that won Kelly and I over as fans.  As I said in my introduction, we crossed the country last year to see him live.  I’m not sure we would have done that if not for that chance encounter.

I think about moments like that sometimes.  When a zitty little guest at one of my events asks me for a Pink Floyd song for example.  My first instinct is to just blow him off.  But then I realize, I can squeeze “Hey You” into the dinner mix and no one will notice except him.  And if it makes him happy, who knows.  Maybe his acne will clear up someday and he’ll get married and then maybe he’ll think of me.  You never know.

Be true to yourself.  Michael Franti hasn’t changed.  The message in his music has been consistent since his early days in the music business.  His first band, The Beat-Nigs, released one CD in 1994.  The record company called it a “classic slab of political rap/punk/industrial.”  His next band, The Disposable Heroes of Hypocrisy, “wrote biting, progressive lyrics that railed against the injustices of the world” (I got that from Wikipedia so you know it’s true.)   Point is, though it took Franti 15 years of recording and touring to finally break the Billboard Top 20, he did it his way.  His lyrics are full of geopolitical awareness and cries for peace and love among all mankind.  Franti has organized and performed at the “Power to the Peaceful” Festival in San Francisco since 1999.  That’s the show Kelly and I traveled to in September of last year.

As a business man, and as a performer, I try to stay as true to my own self as possible.  I know what I’m good at and I focus on those things and I’ve never tried to be something I’m not.  If you asked me to sum up my success in one sentence that would probably be it.  As Michael Franti sings in one of his songs: “What I be is what I be.”

Prompts raise the energy.  If you’ve bought my training program  you know how much I emphasize prompts during certain times of the night.  Hand clapping.  Singing along.  Waving your hands.  These are classic ways to punch certain parts of songs and raise the energy in the room.  Michael Franti is keenly aware of this.  If you go to a Franti show, you better be in good physical shape.  Because he’ll having you singing and jumping and clapping all night.  I saw a clip online where John Mayer even said to him: “You get people to wave your hands like I never could.”

Never ask a crowd to do something you won’t do.  That’s another tenet of my training and it’s another area that Michael Franti and I agree on.  Franti doesn’t ask a crowd to jump and then go back to strumming his guitar.  He jumps.  When he wants hand waving, he waves his hands (in fact sometimes he doesn’t even ask for it, he just does it and the crowd mimics him.)

Franti onstage at Power to the Peaceful Sept 2009

If a line works, it’s not crime to use it over (and over.)  When Kelly and I saw Michael Franti in San Francisco “Say Hey (I Love You)” was climbing the charts.  He introduced the song by telling the crowd that in 15 years of recording he’d never had a top 40 song.  Then he delivered the punch line: “we never even had a top 40,000 song.”  The crowd loved it.  When we saw him this past winter he used the same line (although by that point the song had peaked at #18 so he changed the joke to “Top 20 song” and “top 20,000 song.”)  The reaction was the same.

I’m a firm believer in using my one-liners and catch phrases till they just don’t work anymore.  I’m a devote: “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” follower.

Maximize your opportunities.  The most recent time Kelly and I saw Michael Franti was as an opening act for John Mayer at Madison Square Garden.  We went into the show with some trepidation.  How would Franti’s act change as an opener?  It’s an unenviable position when you think about it.  Imagine being hired to play the first hour of a wedding and then handing things over to a super star DJ who everyone in the room really came to see.  Oh, and the room will only be half filled when you start because the other half of the guests don’t want to see you so much that they’d rather be late then sit through your set.

That’s mostly what opening acts deal with.  And I’ve seen plenty that look as apathetic as the crowd.  I saw Macy Gray open for Dave Matthews once.  I was really into her debut CD “On How Life Is” but her set was so boring I lost interest as fan.

But instead of getting through his 45 minute set without breaking a sweat, Franti seized the opportunity.  He brought energy and charisma to his set.  He even got out into the crowd for two songs, singing with fans draped around him.  And he finished his set by inviting some children up to the stage to help him sing “Say Hey.”

I was very impressed with that.  I guarantee he earned plenty of new fans that night for the simple reason that he seized an opportunity and made the most of it.  I’ll think of that the next time I could get away with just “phoning it in.”  I’ll channel Michael Franti and dig deep and think to myself: ‘how many new fans can I win tonight?”

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How’d We Meet? It was probably a DJ Expo!

Written on May 25, 2012 by in Uncategorized

So yesterday I’m wasting time on Facebook and I notice a friend had put in her status “In one word tell me how we met.”  I thought it was interesting so I did the same (like I said I was wasting time.)  So then I went out with some friends and didn’t look at Facebook till the next day (which if you follow me you know 12 hours is just about the longest I can go without checking in . . . yes I’m addicted.)  Well I was very surprised to see how many people responded “Convention” or “Expo”.

It brought to mind a conversation I had earlier in the week.  A DJ called me to ask about breaking into the speaking circuit in our industry.  He has a seminar idea and would like to present it.  In the course of our conversation I came to find out that he’d been to one DJ Convention his whole life, about 5 years ago.  So my first answer was, “You gotta attend some shows!”

And after seeing all the people I know on Facebook, and many of them who have become some of my closest friends like Marcello and Big Daddy and George Whitehouse, I would say the same thing to anyone in our industry:  “You gotta attend some shows!”

Need some more reasons:

  • Expand your horizons
  • Meet new peers in the industry
  • Test out some new gear
  • Recharge your battery
  • Get re-enthused about what you do
  • Write it all off

If you don’t have plans to attend at least one show in the next 12 months you gotta ask yourself why.  There are just so many options:

June 19th – 20th ARM DJ 5.0

August 13 – 16th DJ Times DJ Expo

September 10-12 The ADJA Las Vegas DJ Show

November 15th – 18th The Disc Jockey News Conclave 3.0

February 4th-7th MBLV1

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Donna Summer – The Queen of Disco – Passes Away at 63

Written on May 17, 2012 by in Uncategorized

Most DJs I know, when you say the words Donna Summer, think of one thing immediately: “Last Dance.“  Indeed it’s probably the song I’ve played to close about a third of my events through the years.  Besides the lyrics being perfect it’s got that great slow beginning (so you can come out of a slow song seamlessly with it) and that awesome 7 second pause before her lyrics come back and the beat kicks in. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve filled that pause with: “as the song says this one’s gonna be the last dance of the evening.”

As DJs we rely on the artists to provide us great songs and Donna Summer certainly gave us the best party closer ever.

But there was so much more (musically) from the recognized “Queen of Disco” wasn’t there?  I still play “Hot Stuff” at a lot of my events that want some 70s music (although now that my mixing skills have improved I no longer “cheat” and play the mixed version from her greatest hits that goes into “Bad Girls.”)  And when it’s time to recognize the hard working ladies at a party “She Works Hard For the Money” never fails.  Even as recently as 1999 Donna Summer was helping us pack dance floors with her version of “Con Te Partiro.”

So as you can imagine I was very saddened when I heard the news today that Donna Summer had passed away.  Her Greatest Hits Volume I and II album will always hold a special place in my heart.  Long before I was DJing, at the tender age of 13, my older brother and I were given a stereo for our bedroom.  At the time the only music I listened to was KISS, but along with the stereo I also got 2 albums: Meatloaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” and Donna Summer’s Greatest Hits Volume I and II.  Listening to those two albums NON-STOP through the winter of 1980 completely expanded my musical horizons.  And while I came a little late to the disco party (by the time I could get into clubs the hey day of disco music was long over) Donna Summer was the first to turn me on to dance music.  I still hear songs like “Enough is Enough” or “Dim All the Lights” or the hilarious “MacArthur Park” and remember trying to dance around my bedroom like John Travolta.

So to a musical legend, a woman with a voice of gold and a sense of rhythm like no other, I say Thank You for the many years and the many tunes.  And to those who have spun her music so often at our events, I hope we can keep her memory alive.  As she sang so powerfully and beautifully: “I can’t be sure that you’re the one for me but all that I ask is that you dance with me.”

Rest in Peace Donna Summer!

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It’s Like Bringing a Condom on a First Date . . .

Written on May 14, 2012 by in Uncategorized

I saw my music mixer’s face first and I knew there was something wrong. He had the look of sheer terror.  I’d just introduced the bride’s dance with her dad and that song (My Girl) was playing so I knew whatever was troubling him wasn’t about that song. I was on the far side of the room and since I live by that 1980s deodorant commercial “never let them see you sweat” I kept my game face on as I made my way back to the DJ table. The first thing I looked at was the deck playing My Girl. There was 1:54 remaining. In less than 2 minutes I’d be introducing the song for the groom and his mom.

Hopefully.

“What’s up?” I asked as calmly as I could .

“It’s not cuing!” My music mixer was pointing to my Pioneer MEP7000 and indeed the big blue “load” button was blinking and nothing was loaded on that side. I looked my mixer in the eyes and whispered, “this is not a problem.”

Even though I said that I wasn’t quite sure yet. I’d never seen my Pioneer do this so I didn’t know if it meant the unit was broken or the track we were trying to load was corrupted. We tried to load a different song on that side but now it was frozen. 1:41 left in My Girl.

I keep all my music on an external hard drive and I also have a thumb drive that not only has the essentials for DJing but also every event’s special requests. I clicked over to view the thumb drive and tried to load that on the side that was blinking but it was still frozen. 1:27 left in My Girl.

Besides the thumb drive I also back up all my special requests onto my iPhone and I have an extra channel on my mixer with an 1/8 inch jack to RCA wire. I gently pulled that wire out of my top half and stuck it into the headphone jack on my phone. 1:02 left in My Girl.

I found the playlist called “Requests for the Weekend” and located the song for the groom and his mom. In my mind I was saying “Please play. Please play. Please play.” I hit play and grabbed my headphones. The sweet sound of Rascal Flatts singing “I Won’t Let Go” came through the cans. I took my first full breath in over a minute. :38 left in My Girl.

I re-cued the song on my iPhone and showed my mixer how he was going to start it and which channel it was coming in on my board. :22 left in My Girl. I took a step away from the table and then froze. I’d forgotten one vital thing. I grabbed my iPhone, navigated to Settings and switched to Airplane mode.  Just in case somebody called me while that song was playing now it would be blocked.  My Girl was beginning to fade. I strolled onto the dance floor, got a round of applause for the bride and her dad and then asked the groom to escort his mom to the floor. I turned and pointed and wouldn’t you know, the song started and played just fine.

While the Rascall Flatts song played on my phone we tried loading the track from my thumb drive to the other deck. It froze that one too. We had to restart my Pioneer unit before we could load anything else and we made it through the rest of the night with no problem.  I’ve come to find out that the track is corrupted.

So here’s what I did wrong in this near-miss of a tragedy. I’d downloaded the Rascall Flatts song from iTunes and listened to it in my office but when my mixer and I rehearsed bridal party introductions we went through the songs for the parents, bridal party and bride and groom to come in to and then the wedding song. But we stopped there. Had we previewed the parents dance songs (which, let’s face it are just important as the couple’s first dance) we would have caught this problem in advance and set up the iPhone backup without the stress of doing it under fire. Also I should always pull that 1/8″ wire from my top half before an event so if I need it in the case of an emergency I don’t have to go fishing around for it while music is playing (and possibly dislodging a crucial wire).

But here’s what I’m proud of: I had multiple backups and I kept my cool. Since I switched to the Pioneer unit and stopped bringing CDs out I’ve backed up all my weekend’s music onto a thumb drive and onto my phone and iPad. I’ve never once had to use these sources but for over two years I’ve done it. And now I can see why.  And in keeping my cool I was able to think straight and not panic and no one else in the room (except my music mixer) knew there was ever an issue.

I’ve made the comment before that back up equipment and music is like bringing a condom on a first date.  You’re probably not going to need it but if you do you’ll be thankful you have it.  Well, it’s been a long time since I had a first date so I don’t know if that saying is true or not but I can tell you one thing, I’m thankful that I’m still so diligent about backing up my music every weekend!

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BrideLive’s Consultant Corner

Written on May 8, 2012 by in Uncategorized

A few months ago I had lunch with Bob Scott and Jay Thomson of Bridelive and they floated this idea.  They wanted to create a team of consultants who could help the users of Bridelive continue to grow their wedding businesses.  At first I thought they were asking me who I would recommend to be a part of this elite team of experienced professionals.  Then I realized they were asking me if I’d be a part of the team.

I was floored.  Me?  Really?  What an honor it was, especially when they told me the other two names they had in mind: Alan Berg and Peter Merry.  Wow!  Talk about being in some illustrious company!

So Bridelive has launched their Consultants Corner officially now and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.  Besides getting the best video-teleconferencing available for any wedding professional, Bridelive users will now get regular webinars and have the opportunity for one-on-one consultations with the three of us.  With Alan’s expertise in marketing, Peter’s in sales and mine in operations, it seems to me we can assist any wedding vendor to take their business to the next level.

If you have any questions about Bridelive in general or specifically the Consultants Corner, I direct you to the Bridelive Boys (Bob Jay and their pair of Pete’s) Contact them and they’ll be happy to answer any of your questions.  Meantime I look forward to seeing you on a webinar or talking to you one-on-0ne for a little consultation on how to grow your business!

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