HEY, DJ
Songwriting covers many topics: falling in love, breaking up, hopes and dreams, nostalgia, and rebelling against all that’s come before all come to mind. One regular and repeating theme, that goes around and around again and again, is the DJ. And why not?
Spinning a platter or selecting a tune for an audience’s delight is synonymous with the listening experience. And even if the listener seldom goes near a radio these days, they’ll have doubtless attended a function, been to a club, or come across at least one of the bigger names in the industry.
Music is a pleasure that brings joy, creates memories and accompanies us through life, so there’s little wonder that the people associated with serving up that music – who curate the soundscapes to those moments – should serve as a muse and become a topic all of themselves. I have nothing against plumbers, but it’s hard to imagine them generating the same level as inspiration. In fact. I’ve just had to Google to see if there are any songs about plumbers. Weird Al Yankovic did one, apparently. But DJs, on the other hand – well, there’s loads of songs about them.
Let’s start with a gentle, modest one: ‘God Is A DJ’. To underscore our theme here, this doesn’t even refer to one song. There are two of them. 1998’s song by Faithless, and then Pink had a go with a completely different song by the same name in 2004.
The inspiration for the Faithless song came about when their guitarist, Dave Randall, wore a T-shirt with the phrase emblazoned across it to a rehearsal. Which, of course, means someone uncredited came up with the idea elsewhere, slapped it on some apparel, and likely didn’t make a lot from it.
And yet, it provoked a song where Maxie Jazz delivers a sermon on club-life as a spoken word vocal, creating a thumping hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
Pink’s version isn’t a cover but instead treads its own course. Where Maxie Jazz saw the club as his church, Pink proclaims that life itself is the dancefloor. Either way, that’s putting the humble DJ on a mighty high pedestal.
Maybe we went too big, too quickly, there. How about we tone it done a little and just make the DJ a first responder. One of the emergency services. Although they did release other songs, Indeep are generally known as a one-hit wonder for their 1982 hit ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’. Sung by Réjane Magloire and Rose Marie Ramsey, it describes a ...
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You’ll also get full access to this article and the last year of articles, reviews and play lists via the Pro DJ App
Spinning a platter or selecting a tune for an audience’s delight is synonymous with the listening experience. And even if the listener seldom goes near a radio these days, they’ll have doubtless attended a function, been to a club, or come across at least one of the bigger names in the industry.
Music is a pleasure that brings joy, creates memories and accompanies us through life, so there’s little wonder that the people associated with serving up that music – who curate the soundscapes to those moments – should serve as a muse and become a topic all of themselves. I have nothing against plumbers, but it’s hard to imagine them generating the same level as inspiration. In fact. I’ve just had to Google to see if there are any songs about plumbers. Weird Al Yankovic did one, apparently. But DJs, on the other hand – well, there’s loads of songs about them.
Let’s start with a gentle, modest one: ‘God Is A DJ’. To underscore our theme here, this doesn’t even refer to one song. There are two of them. 1998’s song by Faithless, and then Pink had a go with a completely different song by the same name in 2004.
The inspiration for the Faithless song came about when their guitarist, Dave Randall, wore a T-shirt with the phrase emblazoned across it to a rehearsal. Which, of course, means someone uncredited came up with the idea elsewhere, slapped it on some apparel, and likely didn’t make a lot from it.
And yet, it provoked a song where Maxie Jazz delivers a sermon on club-life as a spoken word vocal, creating a thumping hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
Pink’s version isn’t a cover but instead treads its own course. Where Maxie Jazz saw the club as his church, Pink proclaims that life itself is the dancefloor. Either way, that’s putting the humble DJ on a mighty high pedestal.
Maybe we went too big, too quickly, there. How about we tone it done a little and just make the DJ a first responder. One of the emergency services. Although they did release other songs, Indeep are generally known as a one-hit wonder for their 1982 hit ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’. Sung by Réjane Magloire and Rose Marie Ramsey, it describes a ...
To read the full article, you’ll need to have a physical copy of the magazine which you can sign up for here for 6 issues delivered to your door from just £16!
https://store.promobile.online/products/pro-mobile-magazine-6-issue-1-year-subscription
You’ll also get full access to this article and the last year of articles, reviews and play lists via the Pro DJ App
