Amazing Tunes, Amazing Women, DJ Amazing Grace!

We all live busy lives packed with El trains, Bears games, walking our dogs, attending street festivals, gorging on popcorn….you name it.  I know there are some Wednesdays where I feel too spent to go to DDPP – like I can’t muster anymore energy out of this 33 year old body.  Usually I pull the wool over my tired eyes and head to class on auto pilot because the women, the energy and the sweet azz dance music NEVER disappoint!!  Even our DJ this Wednesday said she gets home at 6pm, scrambles to feed her family and then HIGHTAILS it out the door to make it to DDPP!!  Such dedication is inspiring and I know those of us who GET the wonderment of Dance Dance Party Party can relate.  We are super women who know what is important in life.  Under our yoga pants and sensible exercise clothing we are SUPER HEROES with pink hooded capes and thigh-high boots that turn heads – and don’t you forget it!

DJ Amazing Grace (after brewing up a quick meal for her kids, busting over to the DDPP studio and calmly finding where her mix was on her MP3 player) served all of us ladies a healthy dose of ethnic beats, vitamin packed jams and a ton of familiar anthems to seal the deal.

 

	SONG	ARTIST
1	Rocketeer	Far East Movement
2	La Vecina	Los Amigos Invisibles
3	Blow	Ke$ha
4	Dynomite	Tao Cruz
5	Let’s All Chant	Michael Zager Band
6	Raw	Technotronic
7	Lose Control	Missy Elliott
8	Work my body over	DSK
9	Native love	Divine
10	Give me everything	Pit Bull / Neo
11	Bostich (New life mix)	Yello
12	On the floor	J.LO
13	Party Rock Anthem	LMFAO
14	Scheibe	Lady Gaga
15	Dancing Queen	Abba
16	Summer madness	Kool and the Gang

Thank you to all women who love and support Dance Dance Party Party!!  Our busy lives would be totally out of balance if we didn’t have this freeing, zen-producing space to rock our socks off with you twice a week!  Let’s do it until we’re old and grey and start making T-shirts with our favorite DJs on them!

Dance Dance Pahty Pahty

Anyone who knows our illustrious den mama (and last week’s DJ!) Kelly, knows that she loves one thing more than pretty much anything else in the world. In case you’re struggling, I’ll give you a hint:

That’s right. She loves to pahty. And why not? The Urban Dictionary definition makes it sound like the best idea ever!

Pahty:

A perpetually positive state of mind. An emotion, a lifestyle, an exclamation. Excited? Stuck in traffic? Tipsy? Baked? Sober? You’re pahtyin’! It is all a choice you make to have a good time whatever you are doing. Party pronounced with a combined Boston and Australian accent. Who’s ready to pahty? I just tripped outside, and didn’t spill my Diet Dew. Pahty! I hope you’re pahtyin’! - “Are you going to happy hour later?” - “Pahty!” I saw a crazy guy on the train this morning talking jibberish. Hobo pahty! We were out until 4:20 pahtyin’.

I clearly need to apply this to my life. I can add a new quote to the Urban Dictionary entry. “Students, don’t bother me. I’m pahtyin’!” Yes. Starting tomorrow, I will try to pahty as hard as DJ Cumberbun. Or, as the subject line of her playlist email said-

CUMBAHBUNNNNNNZZZZZZZZ!

That, my friends, is a direct quote. And also the runner-up for the title to this blog entry.

Oh, you wanna see that playlist from the email? I BET YOU DO.

Ok. Fine. Here it is.

I mean, just look at that. Just look at it. It’s like 60 straight minutes of …you guessed it. Pahty. This playlist sent me to another world multiple times. Especially during “Freedom.” Duh. But you know what I really love most about this playlist? I love that it lead me to the discovery of this video:

I know. It’s nearly 11 minutes long. And you’re thinking to yourself that you don’t have that kind of time. MAKE IT. You owe it yourself to watch this entire video. I won’t even give away the superstar celebrity cameo. I will just say this: how did I ever forget that MC Hammer is such an amazing dancer? I mean, seriously. What happened to that guy? Everyone loved his pants! He made a unitard look manly! He truly was 2 legit 2 quit!

…Not as legit, though, as DJ Cumberbun and her playlist. THAT girl is a legit pahty expert. You might even say that when it comes to playlists, she’s got the Midas Touch. BAM!

FIGHT for your RIGHT!!!

It was September 11, 2011.  I was aware of what had happened 10 years ago.  I wanted to just get through the day. Well, I thought, I have DDPP this afternoon!  That will be fun!  DJ Klingon, yay!  I remember her kickass David Bowie mix from awhile ago!

The music starts and I’m rockin’ out.  I think I screamed “TURN IT UP!” and ran to the stereo when this song came on: I was an Uptown Girl lookin’ for a Backdoor Man to Call Me and take me to my own Private Idaho!

Then, being that I’m smart and I went to skool fer a long time, I noticed a theme.  R.O.C.K in the U.S.A., America, Born in the U.S.A.  You know what, I felt a little bit teary by the time we got to Born in the U.S.A.  It was OK.  I felt like I was able to absorb a little bit of what the 10th anniversary of 9/11 meant to me.

I don’t think I will ever be able to fully comprehend the impact of all the lives lost that day.  What I do remember of that day is being just plain scared, not knowing what was going on, and wondering if and when things would return to normal.  Well, DDPP that day represented a big piece of what normal these days is like.  We have to fight for a lot of our rights, including our right to celebrate and live fully and, of course, party.  DJ Mizfit Toyz reminded us of this, celebrating her 9/11 birthday with cupcakes.  I think cupcakes, loud music and dancing are some of the best things in life and I’m glad I had it all that day!  Thanks, DJ Klingon, for the party and the remembrance!

Michelle Is My Belle (as well as my homegirl)

I googled “Chelles Belles” just to see what might pop up. Here is the answer:

Google scares me with its accuracy sometimes. Because I’m about to introduce you to the can of whoop-ass that DJ Chelles Belles opened all over us last Wednesday night.

Now when I blog about playlists, I try to make it about the music. Oh, and don’t worry, it WILL be about the music. It IS about the music! But allow me to editorialize for a moment on the restorative powers of DDPP. I’m a teacher. It was the 2nd day of school. The longest 2nd day of school in the history of education. And the last thing I wanted to do was move my body anywhere but onto the couch. But my den mother duties were calling, and I answered. And LET ME TELL YOU: I have never been happier that I answered that call.

DJ Chelles Belles brought me back to life with her playlist. It gave me the energy to jump up, down, and all around for preeeeety much the entire hour. Behold, a dramatic re-enactment of me during this playlist.

Yeahhhhhh, let that soothing whistle just wash right over you.

And the songs- oh, the songs! (Here’s where it goes back to being about the music.) Feast your eyes:

Get up offa that thing? Don’t mind if I do. Why? Because my life would suck without DDPP. Don’t bring me down, school. And you’re right, sometimes, I DO just wanna bang on the drum all day! In fact, why don’t I just bang on the studio’s trash can with DJ U.N.I.T.Y.?

At this point, you’re probably thinking to yourself “How DOES she do it?” And here to answer your (actually, my…and hopefully yours too) questions is DJ Chelles Belles herself!

Do you remember the first time you came to DDPP? And were you hooked from the beginning? 

“I actually knew about DDPP since it first started, but I never had enough balls to go by myself. So when I moved in to the city and started working out regularly, I forced myself to go for the sake of my thunder thighs. I also wanted to finally meet people outside of a spin class since I really didn’t have many friends in the city. The first time was scary, exciting, and hilarious. I’m a pretty shy girl, very wallflower-esque, but once the first two or three songs were passed and I saw all of the other girls rocking air guitars and pulling out full on running mans, I let it all out on the dance floor. When the hour was done and I was sprawled out on the dance floor, I honestly felt like it was some great spiritual awakening. Hooked doesn’t even begin to describe it! I go at least twice a month and have filled up 3 or 4 punch cards.”

What’s the greatest song you’ve ever danced to at DDPP? (It’s totally ok if it was on one of your own playlists…)  

“I get beyond excited for Florence and the Machine’s “Dog Days are Over.” Just recently, the entire group ran in a conga line circles every time the chorus got to the: “Run fast for your mother…” section. But my all-time, hands down favorite is “Jump in the Line” by Harry Belafonte. I’m so hooked to that song that I have it on my running playlist. It’ll be 5am and I’ll be sweating on the Lake Front Path, but as soon as the song comes on, my hips groove and I get in a weird DDPP induced zone.”

Who’s your favorite artist to include on a playlist?

“Well, I try not to do doubles, BUT I may have included Dexy’s Midnight Runner’s “Come on Eileen” on at least 3 of my playlists. Also, Moby. I have a strange and undying love for Moby. Like, it’s actually an ongoing argument on which Moby song I will put on the playlist.”

What’s the process like when you’re making a playlist? Anything that especially inspires you? 

“I start early. As soon as I’ve got a date, I go through my old playlists so I have an idea of what I have played already. I dont like to do repeats unless I’m really in the mood for a certain song or artist. And then it’s a mix of shuffling my ipod and searching for songs I dont have but am willing to buy for the sake of DDPP. My boyfriend also provides a good amount of input, but mainly he sits there and judges me when I propose “Walk Like an Egyptian” and try to explain how perfect it is! I listen to mainly indie pop/electronic, so I listen to top 40 or read the charts to see what’s popular now that I might enjoy, and I try to add some oldies too. I want everyone to have at least one or two songs on my list that they love. Oh, and I love themes. My birthday mix has been my favorite. I started at 1987 and represented every other year up until 2011. I think my next DDPP playlist will be famous cover songs, so be on the look out for that (Sunday, October 9th!).”

Nice plug, Chelles Belles! You’re a true professional. And really, what else is there to say after that? Except for this, of of course…

What day is it?!?!?!?

I am not ashamed to admit that after this DDPP session with the one & only DJ MOO-VE IT, I was confused as to which day of the week it was .  Rather I should say I left thinking it was Friday & not Wednesday (Or I wished).  

It felt like a Friday night where we grabbed our “Boogie Shoes” &  dance like we lost ourselves cause ya know “this is how we do it”.   MOO-VE IT knew she was “gonna make you sweat” and it was easy peasy “ABC” to make us work like “Supermodels”.  “Straight Up”, I tell ya no lies, I was heaping sweaty mess from the awesomeness that is this playlist.  My only regret?  It was not actually Friday…ah well, I will have the memory of leaving it on the dance floor as if it were a Friday.

Rupaul says it best…YOU BETTER WORK!

Check the playlist:

You say goodbye, we say hello….

Well, hi there, blog readers. You might’ve thought we’d forgotten you, what with this nearly THREE WEEK LAPSE in posting playlists. We won’t make excuses: we’ll just say we’re sorry, like this kitten here:

And I, for one, know how sorry I am to have delayed posting the fantastic playlist put together by first-timer DJ Suga Snap. It was a sort of hello-goodbye kind of thing, as she has since headed off to New York to start school, but dang if we aren’t glad that she left us with these songs to remember her by. Here, just take a look:

 

Funky Days Are Back Again - Cornershop
Unstoppable - Foxy Shazam

Bidi Bidi Bom Bom - Selena

Last Night - The Strokes
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Alternate Mix) Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

Love Man - Otis Redding
How Will I Know - Whitney Houston
Mala Gente - Juanes
Cat Empire

Hey Ya! - OutKast
Love Lockdown - Kanye West
Ready for the Floor - Hot Chip
Tennessee Girl - Redbone
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
The Edge of Glory - Lady GaGa
Like U Crazy - Mates Of State

I mean, really! That playlist had us ready for the floor from the very start. I must confess, though, that there was a brief lull in the dancing mid-set, but that was only because–and the other den mamas can back me up here–every woman in the studio had stopped moving so they could plant their feet and really BELT that Whitney Houston song. It. Was. Amazing! The rest of the playlist had us acting out high mountains and low valleys, putting our love on lockdown and then, in a final burst of energy, going to the Edge of Glory and back approximately six dozen times. While we’re on the subject of apologies, I should also probably publicly apologize for pointing to everyone in the studio and yelling that I was on the Edge of Glory with YOU! and YOU! and YOU! like I was Oprah saying that EVERYBODY GETS A CAR:

I don’t know what came over me…it was Like I Crazy.

So thanks, DJ Suga Snap, for bringing us such sweet and snappy tunes. Can’t wait to see your killer moves back in the studio in January. Study hard, but make sure you find some time to keep on dancing. Kind of like this guy: