A Stooge’s request.
As I’ve mentioned before, I have a DJ residency at Shake, Rattle and Bowl, at the All Star Lanes in Holborn, with my DJing, band and general girly partner in crime, DD. I’m not one of those “I am DJ. No! I am GOD!” types, but there are few things more annoying than people who stand next to the booth, drunkenly shouting a list of requests while you’re trying to cue up the next record. We do play actual vinyl records (and CDs) as opposed to running off a laptop, much to the surprise of one girl who asked to “see the playlist”. She looked mightily baffled when I pointed to my record bag and (politely and cheerfully) said, “That’s my playlist”.
Very rarely occasionally they ask for something appropriate, but more often than not it’s a request for stuff like Dolly Parton, the Grease soundtrack (um, it’s a 50s / 60s night, which means music recorded in those decades, not 80s movies inspired by those decades) or for something genre-appropriate, but completely wrong for the time of night – for example, the ultra-slow “Leader of the Pack” by the Shangri-Las at peak dancefloor time.
There’s almost always that one person who comes up every four songs to ask if you’re going to play their request next and even a fairly easygoing lady like me can get a tiny bit irritated by it. Except on Saturday, that person was Scott Asheton, otherwise known as drummer of The Stooges (*squeeeeee!*). Scott wandered up to the booth a few times, and among the tracks he asked for was The Clapping Song by Shirley Ellis. We’d already played it that night, but he said “So what? Play it again, it’s a great tune.” Well, okay then:
Shirley Ellis – The Clapping Song by hells-belles
