Wedding Cocktail Hour Playlist

A wedding cocktail hour is a time to set the mood.  A wedding cocktail hour is a transition point between the serene ceremony, and the convivial wedding reception party that is to follow.  Ingredients for a great cocktail hour mix include:  1) atmospheric selections that put guests in a good mood,  2) a mix of current and classic music, 3) an increasing energy level as the cocktail hour progresses (and the drinks kick in!);  and 4) intelligent song selections that include re-inventions of classics and some international spice.

At Ambient DJ, we do not use stock cocktail hour mixes, but rather custom program each set to reflect the unique style of the event.

Listed below are 50 of our favorites:

1) The Girl From Ipanema - Stan Getz (jazz/international)

2) Quando, Quando - Michael Buble w/Nelly Furtado (standards)

3) Besame Mucho - Diana Krall (standards)

4) Sem Contencao (Truby Trio Remix) - Bebel Gilberto (electronica/international)

5) Look to the Rainbow - Astrud Gilberto (international)

6) So Come Voce - Thievery Corporation (lounge)

7) We Have All the Time in the World - Louis Armstrong (standards)

8) Fever - Peggy Lee (jazz)

9) Here Comes the Sun (Francois K. remix) - Nina Simone (standard/electronica)

10) Whatever Lola Wants (Verve Remixed) - Sara Vaughan (standard/electronica)

11) I Only Have Eyes for You - Jamie Cullum (electronic)

12) Space Maker - Air (electronica)

13) The Scientist - Coldplay (alternative)

14) Bittersweet Symphony (alternative)

15) Thank You Too - My Morning Jacket (alternative)

16) 5:55 - Charlotte Gainsbourg (international)

17) Lovesong - Adele (Retro Soul)

18) Valerie - Amy Winehouse (Retro Soul)

19) For Once in My Life - Stevie Wonder (Soul)

20) More Today Than Yesterday - Spiral Starecase (60s)

21) Be My Baby - The Ronettes (soul)

22) Paradise - Sade (jazz)
23) I Can't Help It - Michael Jackson (R&B)
24) Giving You the Best That I Got - Anita Baker (R&B)
25) Sweet Seasons - Carole King (70s)

26) Marry Me - Train (acoustic/modern)

27) The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson (acoustic/modern)

28) I’m Yours - Jason Mraz (acoustic/modern)

29) Awake My Soul - Mumford and Sons (acoustic/modern)

30) Far, Far Away - Wilco (alternative)

31) First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes (acoustic/modern)
32) The Best of My Love - The Eagles 

33) The Blower’s Daughter - Damien Rice (acoustic)

34) Bellissimio - Ilya (New Age)

35) Only Time - Enya (New Age)

36) Thank You - Dido (vocalists)

37) Don’t Look Any Further - Dennis Edwards (soul)

38) Is It Love - Bob Marley (reggae)

39) I Belong to You - Lenny Kravitz (modern)

40) Bamako - Youssou N’Dour (international)

41) Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre) - Gotan Project (electronica/international)
42) It Could Be Sweet - Portishead (trip hop)

43) Take Five - Dave Brubeck (jazz)

44) Rise - Herb Alpert (jazz)

45) Stella by Starlight - Miles Davis (jazz)
46) Breezin' - George Benson (jazz)
47) Just the Two of Us - Grover Washington, Jr. (jazz)
48) Chameleon - Herbie Hancock (jazz/funk)

49) You are the Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne (alternative)
50) Crazy Love - Van Morrison (vocalists)

A Word About Kenny G

Kenny G?  Kenny, who is an excellent player, received a bad rap due to his own success.  Some disc jockeys overplayed Mr. Gorelick, resulting in a backlash! Two of my favorite Kenny G. tracks that occasionally make it into the mix are "Brazil" and "The Girl from Ipanema" (w/Bebel Gilberto)

About Ambient DJ Service

Ambient DJ Service is an award-winning mobile DJ service based in Central New Jersey.  Our company prides itself on its deep musical knowledge and programming skills.  To learn more about our wedding, corporate and private party services, visit us on the web at http://www.ambientdj.com or become our   Facebook Fan at http://www.facebook.com/ambientdj

1980s Music Playlist

Some have confused me as "the Eighties DJ."  That's a compliment, as I spent my formative years of  middle school and high school during the 1980s!  The Eighties was a fertile decade for music with the launch of MTV in 1981.  Here's 100 of Ambient DJs' top picks for your Eighties playlist.  Please comment with your own favorites!

1) How Soon is Now - The Smiths
2) If You Leave - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
3) Don’t You Forget About Me - Simple Minds
4) Lips Like Sugar - Echo and the Bunnymen
5) Mesopotamia - The B-52s
6) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
7) Material Girl - Madonna
8) P.Y.T. - Michael Jackson
9) I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do) - Hall & Oates
10) Don’t You Want Me Baby - Human League
11) Need You Tonight - INXS
12) Take on Me - A-ha!
13) Electric Avenue - Eddie Grant
14) Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode
15) Sign Your Name - Terence Trent D’Arby
16) Push It - Salt n' Pepa
17) I Can't Wait - Nu-Shooz
18) Puttin' on the Ritz - Taco
19) Der Kommissar - Falco (or After the Fire)
20) Tainted Love - Soft Cell
21) I Melt With You - Modern English
22) Sweet Dreams - Eurythmics
23) Miami Vice Theme Song - Jan Hammer
24) The Pump - Jeff Beck
25) Pass the Dutchie - Musical Youth
26) Karma Chameleon - Culture Club
27) Too Shy - Kajagoogoo
28) Rapture - Blondie
29) Escape (the Pina Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes (1979, rounded up!)
30) Another One Bites the Dust - Queen
31) Rise - Herb Alpert (1979, rounded up!)
32) The Glamorous Life - Sheila E.
33) When Doves Cry - Prince
34) You Belong to the City - Glen Frey
35) Harden My Heart - Quarterflash
36) Maneater - Hall & Oates
37) One Night in Bangkok - Murray Head
38) West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
39) I Love Rock n' Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
40) Cars - Gary Numan
41) Pac-Man Fever - Buckner and Garcia
42) Send Me an Angel - Real Life
43) Love is a Battlefield - Pat Benatar
44) Sara - Starship
45) Ghostbusters - Ray Parker, Jr.
46) Head to Toe - Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam
47) Rio - Duran Duran
48) Last Night a DJ Saved My Life - Indeep
49) White Lines - Grandmaster Flash
50) Oh Sheila - Ready for the World
51) Let the Music Play - Shannon
52) Diamond Girl - Nice n' Wild
53) Rhythm of the Night - El DeBarge
54) Get Into the Groove - Madonna
55) Wanna Be Rich - Calloway
56) Tarzan Boy - Baltimora
57) Steppin' Out - Joe Jackson
58) Who Can It Be Now?  Men at Work
59) Stroke It - Billy Squier
60) Freeze Frame - J. Geils Band
61) Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
62) Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles
63) Let's Dance - David Bowie
64) China Girl - David Bowie
65) Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
66) We Got the Beat - The Go-Gos
67) Venus - Bananarama
68) Mickey - Tony Basil
69) 867-5309 (Jenny) - Tommy Tutone
70) Twilight Zone - Golden Earring
71) Hearts - Marty Balin
72) Don't Stop Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson (1979, rounded up!)
73) Thriller - Michael Jackson
74) Genius of Love - The Tom Tom Club
75) Love Shack - the B-52s
76) Some Like it Hot - The Power Station
77) Let's Go All the Way - Sly Fox
78) I Just Died in Your Arms - The Cutting Crew
79) Funkytown - Pseudo-Echo
80) Dance Hall Days - Wang Chung
81) Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
82) Like a Virgin - Madonna
83) Part-time Lover - Stevie Wonder
84) Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell
85) Footloose - Kenny Loggins
86) Maniac - Michael Sembello
87) Word Up - Cameo
88) Walk the Dinosaur - Was (Not Was)
89) Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes
90) Only the Lonely - The Motels
91) Missing You - John Waite
92) I Want a New Drug - Huey Lewis & the News
93) Your Love - The Outfield
94) Mercedes Boy - Pebbles
95) My Prerogative - Bobby Brown
96) Looking for a New Love - Jody Watley
97) Cool it Now - New Edition
98) True - Spandau Ballet
99) Take My Breath Away - Berlin
100) She Blinded Me With Science - Thomas Dolby

About Ambient DJ Service

Ambient DJ Service is an award-winning mobile DJ service based in Central NJ and servicing all of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and Manhattan.  Contact us today at http://www.ambientdj.com for a no-obligation consultation and quote.

For 80s aficionados, consider one of our most decadent packages ever, the "Miami Vice Eighties Package" where a two person DJ/VJ team dressed like Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice mix 80s videos on big screens and run an Eighties trivia contest!

1990s Music Playlist

The 1990s was an interesting decade for music with the ascension of hip hop, the birth of grunge rock, the emergence of 'Boy Bands' and the popularity of European dance music and raves. Several of these tracks were actually produced in the latter years of the eighties, but didn't hit my radar screen until the early nineties when I was a college student.  Call it rounding up!

Dance Music

Boy Bands

Rap/Hip Hop

European Dance Music

Here are 50 of our favorite tracks for your next 90s dance party.  Enjoy!

1) The Bomb (These Sounds Fall in My Mind) - The Bucketheads
2) The Humpty Dance - Digital Underground
3) Return of the Mack - Mark Morrison
4) Back to Life - Soul II Soul
5) Show Me Love - Robin S.
6) Freedom 90 - George Michael
7) Finally -CeCe Peniston
8) Strike it Up - Black Box
9) Poison - Bell Biv Devoe
10) Motown Philly - Boyz II Men
11) This is How We Do It - Montell Jordan
12) Mr. Wendal - Arrested Development
13) No Diggity - Blackstreet
14) Pony - Ginuwine
15) Nuthin' but a "G" Thang - Dr. Dre w/Snoop Dogg
16) One For the Money - Horace Brown
17) Just a Friend - Biz Markie
18) Close To You - Maxi Priest
19) What is Love - Haddaway
20) Connected - Stereo M.C.s
21) This Beat is Technotronic - Technotronic
22) What I Got - Sublime
23) You Get What You Give - New Radicals
24) Hypnotize - Notorious B.I.G.
25) The Choice is Yours - Black Sheep
26) Only You (Remix) - 112
27) It's All About the Benjamins - Puff Daddy (w/Lil Kim and the Lox)
28) 1,2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New) - Coolio
29) Insane in the Brain - Cypress Hill
30) This is Acid - Maurice Joshua
31) I’ll House You - Jungle Brothers
32) Set U Free - Planet Soul
33) Groove is in the Heart - Dee-Lite
34) Higher State of Consciousness - Winx
35) It Takes Two - Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
36) Keep on Movin' - Soul II Soul
37) Shoop - Salt-n-Pepa
38) In de Ghetto - Crystal Waters
39) Jump Around - Kris Kross
40) O.P.P. - Naughty By Nature
41) Jump Around - House of Pain
42) More and More - Captain Hollywood Project
43) The Sign - Ace of Base
44) What’s Up - 4 Non-Blondes
45) The Power - Snap!
46) Another Night - The Real McCoy
47) Good Vibrations - Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
48) Tearin’ Up My Heart - ‘N Sync
49) As Long as You Love Me - Backstreet Boys
50) Wannabe - The Spice Girls

About Ambient DJ Service

Ambient DJ Service is an award-winning mobile DJ service based in Central New Jersey and specializing in weddings, corporate events and sensational dance parties.  Let us DJ your 90s or 80s dance party.  Take the theme a step further by allowing us to spin the music videos of your chosen era.  To learn more about Ambient DJ, visit us on the web at www.ambientdj.com.