What’s the perfect crowd pleasing, dance floor-crushing, corporate event, summer concert, or wedding reception song? Who the heck knows!? “What is Pop Vinyl, Alex?!” Pop Vinyl Band is exactly what the name says; a pop music band. Pop Vinyl is a cover band for hire specializing in corporate entertainment, galas, fundraisers, summer festivals, and weddings in the San Diego and greater southern California region. We’ve been tearing up dance floors for over 10 years and we’re lovin’ every minute of it! But it’s not always the easiest job in the world getting people to lose their inhibitions and let it all out on the dance floor. Finding and executing that perfect song selection is a bit of an art, and every band, cover band, dj, or even the novice mixtape artist will tell you it is no small task.

There are so many songs, genres, decades, and tastes that go into song selection. It’s no secret that no two crowds are the same. One corporate party might be into classic rock and oldies, while another one might love old school hip-hop and R&B. One crowd could be like, totally into, like, the 80s, while another might only step out to Motown. You have your audiences that like to chill to acoustic music, and another that only likes today’s pop hits. Then you have your anthem crowds who only stumble onto the dance floor for Bon Jovi’s classic “Livin’ On A Prayer” followed by the one and only encore, Journey’s ultimate show stopper, “Don’t Stop Believin”. (These are the folks that can be heard screaming “One more song! One more song!” not realizing they just heard that “one more song”. Trust me, it’s happened more than once).

As with any business, it’s crucial to know your customers. As cover band artists, this can be extremely challenging because of the sheer volume of music out there, coupled with a seemingly equal amount of personal taste in music. Figuring out what a particular crowd is going to enjoy before seeing them or playing your first note can be daunting, to say the least. To put it in a more relatable way, being in a corporate or wedding cover band is kind of like working at McDonald’s when the customer asks for sushi. At McDonald’s, you would simply say, “um, sorry ma’am, we don’t serve sushi. Have you been asleep for the last half century? What you see on the screen up there is what we have. I can see if our ‘chef’ can roll your Big Mac up and cut it into little bite sized pieces you can dip in ketchup, if you’d like. You’ll have to provide your own chop sticks though cuz we only have sporks now…” In a corporate cover band, simply put, to be successful, you have to offer both chicken McNuggets and Dragon McRolls on the menu, just to be safe. But since we’re adding items to the menu, you’d better go ahead and add Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Jamacan, French, Brazilian, German, Russian, and every other “ese” “an” and “ian” types of food you can think of on the menu, because if you don’t, you risk losing your customer to the Subway/P.F. Chang’s/Dairy Queen down the street.

The thing that many people might not understand about music is that every different genre has a completely different “feel”. Sure, most people can understand that one genre sounds different than another, but when it comes to actually playing them, it takes years and years of training and playing them to really execute and deliver an authentic reproduction that the audience will respond to. What I mean by this is that you could have the most accomplished jazz guitarist in the world dazzling crowds for days playing jazz, but the second you put them in a Led Zeppelin tribute band, they’ll be lost. Not because they aren’t an incredibly accomplished musician, but simply because they’ve studied one particular genre and style of playing over others. On the other side, you could take an Eddie Van Halen and put him in a jazz trio, and he would most definitely clear the room with his distinct distorted finger-tapping style.

Being in a cover band in the wedding and corporate industry, we are many times expected to be able to proficiently tackle many, many… MANY styles. An accomplished musician will be able to pull off most styles to some degree. But as is the case with any business, creating a niche to cater to a specific audience is generally accepted as a more effective way of offering the best product possible. This is why the word “genre” exists, right? Guns ‘N Roses is not going to open with “Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding. Stevie Wonder is not going to encore with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”. Taylor Swift isn’t going to throw in Pachabel’s Canon in D. As corporate and wedding cover band artists, we do, or we don’t work.

This pressure to please at all costs is sometimes overwhelming. When we’re up there on stage and our audience is not responding the way we want or expect, we take it very personally and most times are our own harshest critics. Many times we get stuck in our comfortable zones and stick with what we know instead of challenging ourselves to tackle musical styles outside that comfort zone.

One of the worst feelings as a cover band artist is telling a guest or fan, “I’m sorry, we don’t know that one.” The disappointment in their eyes is only outweighed by the disappointment we feel in not being able to produce their request on the spot. Many times, you hear their request and think “geez, why DON’T we play that one?!! It’s a classic!” Again, with SO many songs out there to choose from, sometimes a few fall through the cracks and you don’t think about it until someone requests it. What comes to mind is the classic and now comedic chants of “Freebiiiiird!”

So how do corporate entertainers and cover bands go about selecting songs to get people on the dance floor? Moreover, how do they keep them there? With so many songs for cover bands to play, how do we choose the best ones? While it sometimes might seem like the easiest job in the world, believe it or not, song selection and song flow can make or break a performance, and ultimately, in some cases, a bands reputation. The best song selectors know it’s almost a steady and subtle manipulation of the crowd. For that particularly shy group, you’ll need to meticulously ease them in with a nice and easy song to groove along to and loosen them up, like The Temptations classic “My Girl”, or maybe “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac, and you can never go wrong with the sultry rasp of Bill Withers-”Lovely Day”. From there, you string your audience along as you gradually build them up over the course of your set. Once you see them getting into the groove, you ever-so-gradually step things up with a Brick House or a MJ-Rock With You.

There are many factors that go into a good flow. BPM, or “beats per minute”, genre, and key signature, are some of these ingredients. Any DJ will tell you that one of the number one rules of their craft is to never jump too many BPMs, and a good rule of thumb is never go more than 6-8 beats per minute in either direction. An example of this would be going from Earth, Wind, and Fire’s “September” (125bpm) to Taste of Honey’s “Boogie Oogie Oogie” (120bpm). When you go from song to song to song without a pause between them, as Pop Vinyl does, and as DJs do, this keeps people’s internal clocks flowing on the same wavelength. If you were to go from September to, say, The Commodores “Brick House” (108bpm), you automatically create a drastic skip in their clock that can be difficult to recover from and find your groove again. Believe it or not, that tiny little pause can be the difference between someone staying on the dance floor or looking at their partner and saying “Ah, that was so much fun! You wanna go grab a drink?!”

While the BPM is probably the most crucial element of good set flow, genre is a close second. For the same reasons you wouldn’t want to go from a faster tempo September to a slow and funky Brick House, you wouldn’t want to transition from, say, The Beatles “Twist and Shout” right into “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo. It just wouldn’t make any sense, even if they happened to be within the margin of BPM error. That’s not to say you can’t play those two songs at some point, just not back to back. It’s too jarring and makes the crowd think “what in the world???” This goes back to the idea that no two crowds are the same. And while that may be true in some cases, many crowds actually are a lot more similar than we would think upon first glance. In fact, many crowds are made up of the same kinds of tastes, they just don’t happen to all be on the dance floor at the same time.

One thing we always ask is “what’s the age range of the group we’re playing for?” to get a better idea of what genres we can or shouldn’t play. Sometimes the coordinator or promotor will respond, “Oh, I’d say between 21 and 70…” 21 and 70?!! That’s up to 7 decades worth of music!!! Ok, ok, calm down and don’t panic. In these situations, you simply need to be prepared to run the gamut and pull out as many crowd pleasing classics as possible. Its key to remember that you’re never going to please everyone all at once, but you can choose as many familiar danceable songs as possible to please what I like to call “the greatest common denominator”. A person in their 60s is probably not going to get down to the Wobble, and a person in their 20s is likely not going to leave their seat for Mack the Knife. The key is to find their happy medium and transition gracefully between genres with “bridge” songs linking and interweaving through time. The 70s disco and funk tend to be a great bridge genre that most people are familiar with. Keep in mind that as one age range slowly filters out, the next age range will hear that one special song and won’t be able to stay away. So the idea is to keep as many people on the floor at any given time throughout the event, while not alienating any one group for too long.

With so many cover bands in San Diego and southern California, how does one choose the best cover bands ever to entertain their group? While the obvious first question might be “how much do cover bands charge?”, there are many other factors potential customers should pay attention to first. Reputation, press kits, reviews from customers, coordinators, and promoters alike are vital and should not be overlooked when hiring cover bands for weddings, corporate events, festivals, and galas. But if what you are looking for in corporate and wedding bands in san diego is to lose all inhibitions and dance the night away, song selection is one of the most important aspects of choosing the right cover band. The ones that do it well will have your group partying like Lionel Ritchie… All Night Long!

Without further ado, here are a few hits from across the ages that are sure to keep your dance floor packed ‘til they’re screaming “Don’t Stop Believin’!”

Standards

The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra
At Last – Etta James
Unforgettable – Nat King Cole
What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
Girl From Impanema – Stan Getz
Fly Me To The Moon – Frank Sinatra
Mack The Knife – Bobby Darin
Summertime – Ella Fitzgerald
That’s Amore – Dean Martin

Oldies

Sweet Caroline – Niel Diamond
Twist and Shout – The Beatles
I Saw Her Standing There – The Beatles
Gimme Some Lovin’ – The Spencer Davis Group
Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
Hound Dog – Elvis Presley
Great Balls of Fire – Jerry Lee Lewis
The Twist – Chubby Checker
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Frankie Valli
Surfin USA – The Beach Boys
Rock Around The Clock – Bill Haley
Johnny B Goode – Chuck Berry
Louie Louie – The Kingsmen
You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling – Righteous Brothers
La Bamba – Ritchie Valens
Wooly Bully – Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs

Motown/Soul

Signed Sealed Delivered – Stevie Wonder
Shout – Isley Brothers
Proud Mary – Tina Turner & Ike Turner
Where Did Our Love Go – The Supremes
My Girl – The Temptations
Think – Aretha Franklin
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye and Tami Terrell
Stand By Me – Ben E King
Respect – Aretha Franklin
Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
Soul Man – Sam & Dave
Sittin’ on the Dock Of The Bay – Otis Redding
I Can See Clearly Now – Johnny Nash
Ain’t Too Proud to Beg – The Temptations
I Want You Back – Jackson Five
Dancing in the Streets – Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) – The Four Tops
You Send Me – Sam Cooke

Classic Rock

I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction) – Rolling Stones
American Pie – Don Mclean
Hotel California – The Eagles
Tiny Dancer – Elton John
You Really Got Me – The Kinks
One Way or Another – Blondie
Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Start Me Up – Rolling Stones
American Girl – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Free Ride – The Edgar Winter Group
China Grove – The Doobie Brothers
Back In Black – AC/DC
Should I Stay Or Should I Go – The Clash

Disco/Funk

Get Down Tonight – KC and the Sunshine Band
Le Freak – Chic
Ladies Night – Kool and the Gang
Boogie Oogie Oogie – Taste of Honey
September – Earth, Wind, and Fire
Strayin’ Alive – The Beegees
Play That Funky Music White Boy – Wild Cherry
Lady Marmalade – Patti Labelle
Brick House – The Commodores
YMCA – Village People
Celebration – Kool and the Gang
Boogie Shoes – KC and the Sunshine Band
SuperFreak – Rick James
Get Down On It – Kool and the Gang

80s POP

Billie Jean – Michael Jackson
I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Whitney Houston
All Night Long – Lionel Ritchie
Tainted Love – Softcell
Come On Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Love Shack – The B-52s
Love Is A Battlefield – Pat Benatar
Hungry Like The Wolf – Duran Duran
Take On Me – A-Ha
Everybody Have Fun Tonight – Wang Chung
Kiss – Prince
Holiday – Madonna
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper
Africa – Toto

80s Rock

Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N Roses
Livin’ On a Prayer – Bon Jovi
Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC
Fight For Your Right – Beastie Boys
Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield
Walk Like an Egyptian – The Bangles
Pour Some Sugar on Me – Def Leopard
We Got The Beat – The Go-Go’s
I Love Rock n Roll – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey

Old School Hip Hop and R&B

This Is How We Do It – Montell Jordan
Busta Move – Young MC
Push It – Salt N Pepa
It’s Tricky – Run DMC
Jump Around – House of Pain
Poison – Bel Biv Devoe
Hip Hop Hooray – Naughty By Nature
Whoomp There It Is – Tag Team
Shoop – Salt N Pepa
Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice

90s Pop

Hit Me Baby One More Time – Britney Spears
I Want It That Way – Backstreet Boys
Wannabe – Spice Girls
Gettin Jiggy Wit It – Will Smith
Don’t Speak – No Doubt
No Scrubs – TLC
Livin La Vida Loca – Ricky Martin

2000s

Crazy In Love – Beyonce
Hot In Herre – Nelly
Let’s Get It Started – Black Eyed Peas
Smooth – Santana feat Rob Thomas
Gold Digger – Kanye West
Cupid Shuffle – Cupid
Yeah – Usher
Hey Ya – Outkast
The Way You Move – Outkast
Single Ladies – Beyonce
Since You’ve Been Gone – Kelly Clarkson
Bad Romance – Lady Gaga
Umbrella – Rihanna feat Jay-z
Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani

2010s

Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
Happy – Pharrell Williams
Can’t Stop The Feelin’ – Justin Timberlake
Truth Hurts – Lizzo
All About That Bass – Meghan Trainer
Wobble – V.I.C.
Uptown Funk – Bruno Mars
Despacito – Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee
Shut Up and Dance – Walk The Moon
Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke, T.I., Pharrell
Fancy – Iggy Azalea feat Charlie XCX
Gagnam Style – Psy
24K Magic – Bruno Mars
Get Lucky – Daft Punk feat Pharrell Williams