Occasional reader Greg has an entertaining question:
I’m working on the music selections for my wedding reception. Now, I am on strict orders to have this completed by Monday even though the big day is the following Saturday. I’m a few songs short and I was hoping you might suggest a couple of tunes, or possibly open this up to your wonderful and insightful readers. It is a casual outdoor event, we’re in our late 20s, and we listen to both kinds of music…country & western! The current list spans from Sinatara to Van Halen to various country songs so there is no “most correct” genre. Have I mentioned how wonderful your post are, lately in particular? Thanks!
No you hadn’t Greg, but I do appreciate the kind words. As for music, I suppose you’ve already got “You spin me right round, baby right round” on heavy rotation – the original version by “Orgy, ” I mean – none of your Boy George or Marilyn Manson innovations – and after that, well: The imagination wanders.
What say all of you?
Ben Folds, “The Luckiest”
A friend of mine once threatened to have AC/DC’s “Shook Me All Night Long” played as she and her husband got in the getaway car. We pointed out that that would give her mother a heart attack. She said, “That’s the idea.”?
Ben Folds, “The Luckiest”
A friend of mine once threatened to have AC/DC’s “Shook Me All Night Long” played as she and her husband got in the getaway car. We pointed out that that would give her mother a heart attack. She said, “That’s the idea.”ˇ
Greg,
This one probably won’t work for next Saturday but….
In the spirit of extended deployments and my Dad’s sense of humor. He requested it often at the Saturday night Dance clubs (We thought it was funny but I’m not sure Mom liked it). How Can I Miss You If You Won’t Go Away
http://mog.com/music/The_Charlatans/The_Amazing_Charlatans/How_Can_I_Miss_You_When_You_Won%2527t_Go_Away
Our youngest daughter is getting married this coming Saturday, June 23, also! I’ll be dancing with her to the old Kingston Trio tune, “Turn Around”.
Give it a look… it seemed appropriate to us for the father-of-the-bride/bride dance. Here’s a link to the lyrics:
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/5542/TurnAround.html
My daughter would insist that I add, no babies for awhile!
I’m a sentimental sap, so here’s a few George Strait songs I’ve been stuck on this last year:
If You Ain’t Lovin’
True
And for just plain fun dancing:
I Just Wanna Dance with You
The Steal of the Night
And as long as this is an all-country, mostly-sappy list… Randy Travis’ “Forever and Ever, Amen.”
*swoon*
[I now return this blog to people of more taste, refinement and musical diversity than I
]
Shipmate,
Well, if it’s a C&W wedding theme, then there has to be mentions of rain, mothers-in-law, dogs, trucks, and prisons…
“It rained the day my momma got out of prison”… that sort of thing.
Personally, I’d go heavy with the Goth & Industrial stuff. Marilyn Manson, Sisters of Mercy, Soixsie & the Banshees, Switchblade Symphony… and then go for the heavy stuff after the alcohol starts to take effect.
Alternately, Kid Rock & Hank Jr is always popular, especially with a strong NASCAR-Barbecue-Bud theme, especially if you can get the Jack Daniels Whiskey waterfall centerpiece..
heh…
Weddings… save your money for the honeymoon. And put some aside for that “family car” she’ll be asking for soon enough…
Respects, and good luck!
A C&W gal I most decidedly ain’t but – Butterfly Kisses – I think that’s the name of it, a father singing about his little girl growing up. Its a beautiful song and I always thought it would be great for a wedding.
Homestead in my Heart, by The Amazing Rhythm Aces; A Certain Girl, by Warren Zevon; Sugar Magnolia, by The Grateful Dead; From a Jack to a King, by Ricky van Shelton (Or Elvis); I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, by The Ramones.
Oh yeah, when its time to liven things up a bit… may I suggest Jump/Van Halen and I Want a New Drug/Huey Lewis
Congrats on the upcoming nuptials.
“I hope you dance” By Lee Ann Womack
How about “I’ve Got a Brand New Pair of Rollerskates, You Got a Brand New Key.” I think it’s zydeco, and we heard it first in New Orleans in the 1990s. Don’t even know if’n any of you Northerners have ever been to New Orleans, but Cajuns surely do love zydeco, and it’s a cute, catchy song with a wicked eyebrow lift.
Marianne Matthews
Have the band/DJ play “Wind beneath my wings” and stand up before hand and dedicate it to your new wife. Might even get you lucky that night!
Lex,
Not to be picky with song stuff on ya (again) but I don’t think Boy George ever recorded “You spin me round,” AND it was originally done by Dead or Alive (who’s lead singer did have that Boy George androgynous (sp?) thing going).
I danced with my Daddy to “Butterfly Kisses” at my wedding.
“Always and Forever” by Heatwave is the song MacGyver and I danced to.
You HAVE to have the “Electric Slide” in there as well. I think there’s a law…
So far, pretty pedestrian stuff, until I got to UW’s of course, one of my all time favorites. It’s on my Ipod.
As usual, there are two paths one may take:
1) LOVE STINKS J. Geils Band
2) Our Love Is Here to Stay George & Ira Gershwin
If you’re not over thirty, may I suggest that it’s not too late to run for the hills.
Oh BTW, Michelle, you really ARE from Canada. The 80′s have been over down here for some time now.
Not sure how appropriate it would be for you but our son is in the USCG and he and his fellow coasties as a group sang WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A DRUNKEN SAILOR at his wedding. It was a highlight for sure.
Dunno. Ben Folds Five? “Brick” comes to mind.
Good luck, there, okay?
I’d recommend “500 Miles” by The Proclaimers.
C&W theme, hmmmmm. If you are serving Tex-Mex, “Ring of Fire comes to mind. If you want a classic nice slow song for a wedding, Etta James, “At Last”.
I’d like to recommend “If You Could See What I See” by Geoff Moore and the Distance.
You might also consider the Van Halen rendition of “Pretty Woman”.
A few suggestions:
“Crazy” by Patsy Cline
“Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison
“Fly Me To The Moon” by Frank Sinatra
All good wishes, young man, on your upcoming marriage.
Veritas et Fidelis Semper
Everyone,
Thanks for your suggestions and kind words! I think several of the suggested songs will work very well for our reception.
Aw1 Tim,
We are going cheap on the wedding to save for the honeymoon to Australia. Your “family car” comment cracked me up too.
Lex,
Thanks for opening this up to your readers!
Louis Armstrong “Give me a kiss to build a dream on”
sigh.
And, as a sometime wedding musician, the much more interesting and less helpful question that is often asked by the band is “What would be the least appropriate song?”
Anyway….
Mazel tov!
I have an oil-and-water relationship with C&W, so no help there. BUT! If you can get your hands on John Coltrane’s cover of “My one and only love” (On “The Gentle Side of John Coltrane”), it is a winner. Even if you don’t use it in your wedding, it’s still worth the price of admission.
“In My Life” bye the Beatles is a winner, also.
Make the Groomsmen dance to YMCA: “OK, you’re the cop, you’re the construction worker…” etc.
Enjoy!
-DM
Late to the party here, but for what’s it worth my suggestions would be:
“Want to Make a Memory” – new one by Bon Jovi and it’s got a decidedly C&W vibe to it.
Anything by Keith Urban.
“Vision of Love” by Mariah Carey
And may the road always rise up to meet you and your new wife Greg. Best wishes for a lifetime of joy and happiness.
And in the “inappropriate” category:
“I’ve Got Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks.
Should be good for more than a few laughs.
I’m surprised no one mentioned Johnny Cash…
I know… late as ever!
If it’s not too late, try ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’ by Linda Rondstat. Guaranteed to bring tears to the eye of every bride and her mother while still providing danceable music for the Father/Daughter dance.
Or, the theme from Jaws.
Um, Right Round isn’t originally done by Orgy, Sir Lex. But by some crazy she-male dude from the 80′s. If you watch the opening sequence to “The Wedding Singer” the joke just pops right out at you(since the artist who originally did the song is playing the keyboards).
Ry – sorry but that opening scene in The Wedding Singer isn’t the original artist on keyboard; the actor is just made up to look like the original artist. Nose had it right in comment #11 above – the artist/group was Dead or Alive and the song name is “You Spin Me Round (like a record)”; lead singer was Pete Burns. The actor in The Wedding Singer WAS Alex Arquette – now known as Alexis Arquette (let’s not go THERE, OK?).
Yeah I know, I need to get out more…
Van Morrison – Moondance.
that one song should be the payback for the groomsmen for you making them wear monkey suits. with that one song, they shall certainly clinch the deal with any stray drunken bridesmaid who had not yet yielded to the passions of the day.
If we’re still doing this, and we need some contraindicated wedding music how about: Jackson, by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash; My Wife Thinks You’re Dead, by Junior Brown; Bamboozled by Love; by Frank Zappa and the Mother’s of Invention; All My Ex’s live in Texas, by George Strait; Genius, by Warren Zevon: Rodrigo, Rita and Elaine, by The Amazing Rhythm Aces; and, Little Sadie (Cocaine Blues), by The Grateful Dead, or Johnny Cash, or George Thorogood, and/or many more)
Steven Curtis Chapman – “I will be there.”
Thanks for the compliment Casca