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June 2016 B-Boy Spotify Playlist

It’s time for the June 2016 B-Boy Spotify Playlist release. We skipped May due to a full event schedule so we made up for with this month’s release. Al of our Florida based DJs along with our owner have contributed a few songs they are enjoying this month. Not all of these are meant for event purposes (although many are); they represent what our team of event DJs are listening to. From brand new stuff (some of which hasn’t even had mass radio airplay yet) to a few throwbacks to some great indie feel music, this particular month’s playlist has a little something for just about anyone’s musical palette. If you haven’t subscribed to our Spotify channel, do it today!

revise 6-16 playlist

 

DJ Brian B (Owner/Executive DJ)

  • Summer Nights – Tiesto feat. John Legend
  • Talk – Dj Snake feat. George Maple
  • Be As You Are (Jordan XL Remix) – Mike Posner

DJ Irving G (Associate DJ)

  • Hand Clap – Fitz And The Tantrums
  • Hallelujah – Andy Grammar

DJ Dan Davis (Associate DJ)

  • Runaway – Janet Jackson
  • Toothbrush – DNCE
  • Bubble Butt – Major Lazer

DJ Josh Bausch (Associate DJ)

  • Electric Feel – MGMT
  • The Sound Of Silence – Disturbed

DJ Shawn (Associate DJ)

  • Come Down – Anderson .Paak
  • I Need A Forest Fire – James Blake feat. Bon Iver
  • Man – Skepta

DJ Charles (Jr. Associate DJ)

  • Jelly – Opiou
  • Doomsday – MF Doom
  • Loveless – X Ambassadors
  • Holding On – Gregory Porter
  • Exchange – Bryson Tiller

DJ Josh Weck (Jr. Associate DJ)

  • No Broken Hearts – Bebe Rexha feat. Nicki Minaj
  • Middle – DJ Snake feat. Bipolar Sunshine

DJ Rhoda (Jr. Associate)

  • The Sound – The 1975
  • Don’t Let Me Down – The Chainsmokers feat. Daya
  • Just Like Fire – P!nk

DJ Jae Richie (Jr. Associate)

  • For Free – DJ Khaled feat. Darke
  • Body – Dreezy feat. jeremih

 

Wedding First Dance Song Suggestions 2016

Looking for the perfect wedding first dance song for your reception? Having moved through the first quarter of 2016, our DJs are starting to dial in the songs that are working and what’s coming down the pike. When it comes to the soundtrack to possibly the most romantic portion of the reception, the first dance, we’ve got you covered!

First Dance Song Ideas

Dancing for the first time as husband and wife, it’s understood that picking the perfect song is of supreme importance. In the endless sea of song suggestions from websites and blogs, (like this one) paralysis from too many options is probably becoming more common than ever. One trend that seems to possibly remedy this malady is a moving away from traditional, mass produced songs. It seems that couples are moving towards the indie genre where they have a personal connection to these gems that are not your typical top 40. This trend makes predicting future trends even more difficult! Another trend as of late has been an influx of great country ballads. In an effort to ease the process, see below, a list of song suggestions that covers multiple styles with some of our thoughts listed under each one. Enjoy them!

Over and Over Again – Nathan Sykes feat. Ariana Grande
A beautiful ballad in the same vein as John Legend’s “All of Me” This song was made for a wedding!

You Are The Best Thing – Ray Lamontagne
This track sounds like a 60’s soul jam that keeps finding its way back to the reception; whether it be during dinner or in this case, the first dance. Don’t see this one going anywhere anytime soon.

Home – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes
Indie track that’s been around for a minute but still is a popular choice for the off-the-beaten-path couple.

Bright – Echosmith
From 2015 and still carrying its own. This feel good track is still a great first dance option.

Yours – Russell Dickerson
This straight forward country tune aims for the heart and is a perfect country option.

Die A Happy Man – Thomas Rhett
Another country song with a really chill feel that has been one of the most popular this year. Check it out here.

Always – Chuck Wicks
Romantic slow dance song that has the perfect lyrics for a first dance.

From The Ground Up – Dan + Shay
These guys have been tearing up the charts as of late. Another solid country option.

DJ’s April 2016 Spotify Playlist

It’s time for the B-Boy April 2016 Spotify playlist release – just in time before we fully jump into May. These selections are from some of our working DJs who have given us a few of the songs they are enjoying this month. Not all of these are meant for event purposes (although many are); they represent what our team of event DJs are listening to. If you haven’t subscribed to our Spotify channel, do it today!

 

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DJ Brian B (Owner/ Executive DJ)

  • This Is What You Came For – Calvin Harris Feat. Rihanna
  • Faded (Tiesto Northern Lights Remix) – Alan Walker
  • Let It Go – James Bay

Dj Irving G (Associate DJ)

  • Pop Style – Drake, The Throne
  • Traidora – Marc Anthony

Dj Dan Davis (Associate DJ)

  • Beauville – Letting In
  • Nas Feat. Genuwine – You Owe Me
  • Depeche Mode – It’s No Good

DJ Josh Bausch (Associate DJ)

  • Victorious – Panic At The Disco
  • Got Getting Up So Down – They Might Be Giants
  • Cake By The Ocean – DNCE

DJ Shawn (Associate DJ) 

  • She’s American – The 1975
  • Touch ‘Em – Koi Child
  • Luxuries – Folded Like Fabric
  • Panda – Desiigner

Dj Charles (Associate DJ)

  • Troubled Love – Mullally
  • Sunshine – Flight Facilities
  • Champion – Kanye West
  • Obviously – Gramatik

Grand Entrance Wedding Suggestions For 2016

The flood of Grand Entrance songs of 2015 have swept through the Gulf Coast and, fortunately, left very little damage to our ear drums (inside hurricane joke for our Florida panhandle folks). With the passing of every year, there seems to be a couple of songs that are much like the belligerent guests that linger way too long after the party is over. Despite their generous advances of gear consultation and musical expertise, you can’t help but think to yourself, “Why are you still here?” Fortunately for us, the majority of good entrance songs overwhelmed the not so great.

Grand Entrance Songs 2016

We believe that the Grand Entrance is one of the most important moments of a wedding reception. It is the first real preview your guests get of what this party will be like. Like any great writer will tell you, it’s imperative to start well and end well. The Grand Entrance is the moment the superstars of the night are introduced to their guests and they, in turn, are introduced to their party. The ending or finale should be the confirmation of what was declared in the beginning. Any polished and aware DJ/MC will know how to help form this. Choosing the right Grand Entrance song to fit your style is an important aspect of the planning process. This task can be fun and off the cuff or maybe a bit stressful. The aim of this post is to hopefully give you some gems from this past year and maybe steer you in the right direction. Below is our list of the top ten most popular Grand Entrance songs of the past year in no particular order (according to our clients).

Adventure Of A Lifetime – Coldplay
Coldplay absolutely kills it with this track. If you’re looking for fresh, electronic pop rock, this is the song for you.

Shut Up and Dance – Walk The Moon
Quirky, indie/dance rock track. Great party starter for sure. *Quote from the band on the song: “We kind of wanted to write a dork rock anthem for all of those poor souls like us.” If you want to save this for your dance set, then play the instrumental (we do this often) for the Grand Entrance.

Marry You – Bruno Mars
Classic summertime pop track. Perfect for weddings. I mean it has the word “marry” in it!

Feels So Close – Calvin Harris
Catchy, synth powered ear worm.

Uptown Funk – Bruno Mars
Instant classic. Throwback Prince homage of sorts.

Get Lucky – Daft Punk
Futuristic rock with a disco/funk feel.

Cake By The Ocean – DNCE
Fun, fresh pop rock feel.

How You Like Me Now – The Heavy
You may not know this track by name, but we guarantee you’ve heard it. Check it out HERE!

Chris Brown- Zero
Fresh electronic, disco/funk pop song.

Anything we should add to the list? Comment below.

How did we get our name? | B-Boy Productions

It happens at least once a month.  Someone calls looking for B-Boys.  I’d love to say that’s how B-Boy Productions got its name but unfortunately, that’s not the case.  I wasn’t blessed with those dancing genes.

B-Boy Productions

When I first started DJ’ing in the nightclub scene, my last name (Buonassissi – pronounced: Boe Nuh See See) was obviously too long for nightclub flyers. I was also never a fan of the cheesy DJ names that people were using, though I did take on the “DJ GranMasta B” moniker for awhile.  This was partially due to my affinity for playing “Rapper’s Delight”, looping the line ” I’m the grandmaster with the three MCs” and then cutting down the loop to the first 3 words of the phrase.  It also had to do with a patron who jokingly chided me because I was so young DJ’ing in the clubs (I was 18 when I started) that he thought I had a “Bud Bundy” sort of look and it played to the sort of persona he created one season on Married With Children.

Grandmaster B

As I grew in my craft and started getting requested, the nickname “B-Boy” started making the rounds.  I’m guessing it was because my first name starts with a B and my last name starts with a B so it just worked. I  liked it!  There was a tie-in to the old school music/dancing roots and it was linked to DJ’ing. When it became clear that this was something I wanted to do as a career and needed to create a company name, I had to include it. I still can’t believe the .com URL wasn’t already taken so I snagged it and the rest is history. 20 years in, I’m proud of what our name stands for as well as the reputation and legacy we’re building.

Bud and Alley’s Weddings in Seaside, FL

If you’ve ever driven along 30A going from Santa Rosa Beach into Seaside, then you’ve had to come across Bud and Alley’s in Seaside, FL. We’re so excited to see more and more of our clients having their wedding receptions there.  This venue has always been an after-hours place for many of our wedding clients once everything else closes down at 10PM due to the upstairs bar that stays open till 2AM.

However, they just completed a renovation of the main restaurant and over the last year or so, a ton of wedding receptions are now being held on property. I recently got a chance to see the venue a few weeks ago and sit down with their event coordinators, Rachel and Kathryn.

This outdoor space has been redone to include a tented area for the DJ to set up under.  Additionally, they have professional grade speakers permanently mounted to the top of the tent that allows us as the DJ to tap into.  This eliminates the clutter of seeing our speakers stands, etc. On that lower level is where dancing takes place.

Bud and Alley's Weddings
There’s a raised deck that is adjacent to the restaurant.  This is where the dinner tables are placed.  This picture below doesn’t show it but the deck wraps around to the left and more tables can be placed there. They have standalone heaters for the cold months available and cafe style lighting strands are strung over the dance floor year round to give it that throwback rustic look.

Bud & Alley's Reception

If you haven’t yet seen Bud & Alley’s and are looking for a private venue that serves amazing food, make sure you check it out.  They only do 1 event per day so be sure to get your reservation in early.  We will be shooting a venue profile video and have it up on our YouTube channel later on this season.

Best David Bowie Party Song Ever

David Bowie passed last night but his legacy lives on.  His music has been a staple in our wedding and corporate event dinner and dance sets for years.  Just a couple that are in our music catalog:

  • Golden Years
  • Heroes
  • Kooks
  • Let’s Dance
  • Modern Love
  • Oh! You Pretty Things
  • Space Oddity
  • Under Pressure
  • Ziggy Stardust

However, now that our 20 something wedding clients are products of the 90s era, very few find their way on to our couples’ music request lists anymore.  Except for two.  You can probably guess which ones.  They are “Let’s Dance” and “Under Pressure”.  Both songs are upbeat (although the latter is a faster tempo).  But if you had to pick just one, what would be your best David Bowie party song ever?  Which one would rock your party the best?

David Bowie DJ Songs

From a DJ perspective, I have to go with “Under Pressure”.  The tempo (114 beats per minute) is perfect to transition between a dinner set into a dance set. You have the noticeable bass riff that has guests usually thinking you’re going into “Ice Ice Baby”.  However, I’ve found that in a wedding set, you can keep the older folks dancing longer with this David Bowie tune because they know the lyrics rather than going with Vanilla Ice’s knock-off old school rap track.  The key to this tune is not to stay with it too long.  If you get to the bridge at about 2 minutes in, the beat drops out for about 20 seconds (which can seem like an eternity for your average dance crowd) and then the track changes in feel and can be tricky getting out of without letting it play to the very end.

The best remix I’ve found to date for a wedding/corporate application is one by DiscoTech.  The song stays true to the original and is a quick 2 minutes and 30 seconds with a DJ friendly intro and outro fade that makes it easy to transition into whatever genre you want to go to next.  What are your thoughts?  Do you agree with this pick?  Or do you think another song should top the list?  Have a better remix of Under Pressure?  Comment below.

DJs December 2015 Spotify Playlist

It’s time for the B-Boy DJs December 2015 Spotify playlist release – just in time before the end of the month (and year). These selections are from some of our working DJs who have given us 1-3 songs they are enjoying this month. Not all of these are meant for event purposes (although many are); they represent what our team of event DJs are listening to. If you haven’t subscribed to our Spotify, do it today!

Wedding DJs Spotify

 

DJ Brian B (Owner/Exectuive DJ)

  • Love Yourself (KANDY Remix) – Justin Bieber
  • Sugar (HUGEL Remix) – Robin Schulz feat. Francesco Yates
  • Same Old Love (Filous Remix) – Selena Gomez

DJ Duane (Associate DJ)

  • WTF (Where They From) – Missy Elliott feat. Pharrell Williams
  • Like I’m Gonna Lose You – Meghan Trainor feat. John Legend
  • Here – Alessia Cara

DJ Irving G  (Associate DJ)

  • La Gozadera – Gente de Zona feat. Marc Anthony
  • One Call Away (KLYMVX Remix) – Charlie Puth
  • Fiesta – Bomba Estereo feat. Will Smith

DJ Dan Davis  (Associate DJ)

  • Honeymoon  – Lana Del Rey
  • Downtown – Macklemore
  • Good For You – Selena Gomez

DJ Josh Bausch  (Associate DJ)

  • Adventure of a Lifetime – Coldplay
  • On My Mind – Ellie Goulding
  • Lean On – Major Lazer & DJ Snake feat. MØ

DJ Shawn Frady  (Associate DJ)

  • White Iverson – Post Malone
  • You Got Me – G-Eazy
  • Bros – Wolf Alice

DJ Che (Jr. Associate DJ)

  • Good Times Roll – GRiZ & Big Gigantic
  • Random – G-Eazy
  • Holding on To You – Twenty One Pilots

DJ Josh Weck (Jr. Associate DJ)

  • When We Were Young – Adele (original not on Spotify)
  • In The Night – The Weeknd

Steve Harvey gaffe at the Miss Universe Pageant was not what it seemed

Being in the event world and putting such an emphasis on MC’ing with my DJs, the Steve Harvey moment at the Miss Universe pageant last night seemed to be, on the surface, a very teachable moment for my crew. Steve had to have known this was the one thing to get right. How do you not take the 30-60 seconds to look at the cards and prepare before announcing the winner to millions watching on TV? Although it’s a on a much smaller scale, wedding party introductions carry the same type of magnitude. We spend the first half of our DJ training course on this specific area.

Steve Harvey

But that’s where this particular story shifts. As much as “live” TV tries to sell the general public that it is indeed live, those of us in the production world know nothing is left to chance on these sorts of things. It is always mapped out, especially when millions of people are tuned in. Think of any award show you have watched. Do the producers and directors let the host or presenters free-style? Of course not! It is scripted and placed on a teleprompter for them to read. So where I am going with this?

In an industry that demands I stay up on all the latest social media platforms, I stay connected to them all. If you’re not on Snapchat, then you may not have seen one of the snaps in the “Miss Universe” story. Steve Harvey was caught on video talking to the producers saying that the prompter showed “Miss Universe – Colombia”. Interesting enough when I went back this morning to look for it, that snap was deleted! Luckily, the web keeps all this stuff and I found the snap.

If this snap is indeed accurate, I give Steve Harvey a ton of credit. It would have been so easy to throw the production crew under the bus. Yet, he put it on himself. As MCs in the event field, we can take a cue from Steve on this. How many times does a bride/groom switch the wedding party order last minute or the planner calls an audible or a father of the bride demands we switch a song that will kill the dance floor? Do we blame someone else (though we’d have every right to) or do we take it on the chin and make it work. I’ll always go with the latter. Your thoughts? How would you have handled this?

Destination Wedding DJ Heidi Jade at Hilton Sandestin

Heidi Jade (1024x1024)

DJ Heidi Jade

Today we are highlighting Destination Wedding DJ Heidi Jade who recently was our headlining entertainer at the destination wedding of Grace and Danyel. The ceremony and reception took place at the Hilton Sandestin in Destin, FL. When asked what their ideal DJ looked like, their reply was “carefree and fun.” We then had them describe their ultimate wedding reception to which they said “party of a lifetime”.

Assigning their wedding DJ was a no-brainer. We knew Heidi would fit the bill perfectly for this wedding. Her easy-going demeanor and impressive mixing skills would be sure to amaze not only the bride and groom but their 65 guests in attendance as well. We utilized one of our DJ assistants so it would be easy for Heidi to coordinate and get out from behind the decks and into the middle of the deck for the Grand Entrance announcements.

One of the best parts of a destination wedding is that you have your closest family and friends in attendance. This usually means they have no problem letting loose and having a good time. Grace rated her crowd as a 9 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being complete party animals). The love that these guests had for the bride and groom could be felt immediately and they lived up to the party rating.

From the moment the open dancing started, Grace set the tone and danced the entire evening. Her guests followed suit and the party was officially on! With some of their guests coming from New Orleans, Zydeco and Cajun music were on the request list as well as some of the popular line dances like “Cupid Shuffle” and “The Wobble”. These were the formality song choices:

  • Grand Entrance (Bridal Party): “I Gotta Feelin” by Black Eyed Peas
  • Grand Entrance (Bride/Groom): “Everything” by Michael Bublé
  • First Dance: “1000 Years” (Christina Perri Cover) by Boyce Avenue
  • Father/Daughter Dance: “Butterfly Kisses” by Bob Carlisle
  • Mother/Son Dance: “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong
  • Cake Cut: “How Sweet It is” by James Taylor

Check out this highlight reel of Heidi that we put together from the wedding below.