We just returned from another whirlwind trip to Saskatchewan, this time to Saskatoon for the wedding of another niece, Celeste Lynch. We left early yesterday morning in hopes of getting there for the ceremony at 3:00 which we did with time to spare. Then after a couple of hours of visiting with family in the hotel room we headed to the hall for the banquet and dance. In summary, a good time was had by all, lasting till the wee hours, making it difficult to arise this morning to go to the gift opening before heading home.
Now, I have nothing against the choice of hiring DJ's for wedding dances, Lord knows that hiring a live band is so expensive it's out of the question these days, what with all the other expenses involved. But I have to wonder if there is some unwritten code somewhere compelling every DJ, no matter what the occasion, no matter what city, to play the same group of songs. It's almost as if there are DJ "standards" and judging from the crowd's response, they are quite welcome. There are, of course, the requisite "silly" songs like the polkas and the chicken dance and that obnoxious "Macaroonia" thing. But then they play some pretty obscure stuff that seems to be almost in a cult standing of their own. There's the YMCA song by a bunch of "swell" guys, (why is this so popular?) and then that flirty thing from Grease that I don't even know the name of. Then they drag out that "Rasputin" dirge that I swear, I never heard on any top 40. Of course at Christmas time you get Boney M and the "Jingle Bell Rock, but that's to be expected. So I got to wondering what they played before all these popular tunes came out. Did they drag out "Minnie The Moocher", or give "In the Mood" one more spin? But then, I am forgetting, in my day we were treated to "live" bands, some of which were so bad that it didn't matter what they were attempting to play you could never recognize it anyway. If I am ever in charge of arranging the music for a dance (say for instance a wedding in this family) I think I'll throw in some of my favorite music, Big Band Swing, and see what kind of a response I get. Whatever it is there'll be at least one person dancing.
Next time I should have some pix from the wedding for anyone interested.

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