WORK DJs

Jack Habegger

Ever had a job where you controlled the music? Any go-to records for coworkers and customers alike? I’m filling in two days at a vintage clothing shop on Hawthorne in Portland and I have full freedom on the speakers. What gets the shoppers in the buying spirit?

So far, I’ve treated the browsing public to:
Dale Hawkins - Oh! Suzy-Q
Hubble Bubble - Faking
Milk ‘N’ Cookies - S/T
Archie Shepp - Attica Blues
New York Gong - About Time

Mark Smith

My least favorite part of working in record stores (and having a scheduled radio show) was listening to music to music when I didn’t feel like I listening to music. To this day, if I go into a silent shop and the clerk gets up from looking at their phone or whatever, I tell ‘em, “Hey, don’t throw something on on account of me.”

Randall

Mark Smith if I go into a silent shop and the clerk gets up from looking at their phone or whatever, I tell ‘em, “Hey, don’t throw something on on account of me.”

I always hated that part of having a store. Enjoying the silence and not having to put something new on while packing orders and then some random shmoe comes in, usually looking for a bathroom, and I have to go find something to put on.

Randall

speaking of which this new thai restaurant opened near my house. I went yesterday for lunch and when I walked in I was the only customer. The three employees were talking and listening to some asian pop music. The server looked at me went over to the ipad and changed the station to new country. I could only assume this was on my behalf and was too ashamed to say anything.

Mark Smith

Randall The server looked at me went over to the ipad and changed the station to new country.

OUCH

Uptown ruler 666 420

working in kitchens I would just play dub and instrumental shit. MISFITS on Halloween.

Uptown ruler 666 420

Classic dishwasher bands: Ween, Tool, Primus, Fugazi

BARELY HUMAN

i've never held the work DJ job for long when gifted the opportunity... almost had a fight with a co-worker when i was doing this shitty but decent paid and stable data entry & production job for a kids & classical music label; i was so miserable there and wasn't able to fake smile my way through it like everyone else. this guy at 3pm every afternoon would start blasting kool & the gang's celebrate on the work stereo and try to get everyone to "shake off the afternoon slump" or whatever and i had to leave the office to stop myself from slapping the guy. fuck it was horrible. work is bad! no one likes work! don't make me try to like it!

Randall

BARELY HUMAN fuck it was horrible. work is bad! no one likes work! don't make me try to like it

100%. Forced enthusiasm is cruel. Especially daily forced enthusiasm. Was this a manager who would do this or just some random sick coworker?

Jah-Nah-Nah

I know this is not entirely on topic, but this made me think of how Ryuichi Sakamoto made this playlist for a restaurant he frequented because he was tired of shitty music in restaurants. (NY Times story on this behind paywall

Jack Habegger

Finished the shift with:
Cherry Vanilla - Bad Girl
Jobriath - S/T
The Cichlids - Be True to Your School
Downliners Sect - The Sect

Overall, people seemed most whipped into a buying frenzy by Archie Shepp and The Cichlids. Downliners and New York Gong ground sales to a standstill. I’ll experiment more tomorrow and report my findings.

Ryan Leach

For the last four or five years of my life, I've listened heavily to Robert Rental. About 25% of the music I listen to is something he recorded. Friedl can verify this. His experimental music, The Bridge, or Mute single would be my go-tos.

Su Tissue's solo record and a lot of the Editions EG material would probably go over well -- beyond Eno, people like Harold Budd, Gavin Bryars and Jon Hassell.

I mean, I could be totally off here. I've released 60 records and only a few were ever profitable. But any time I'm in a store and I can tell the person behind the counter knows their music, it makes the day better.

Mystery_Ship

Some go to’s for when the I feel like putting on tunes and there is normies in the work zone lately have been Dave Nance, Ryan Davis and Roadhouse band, Feeling Figures, the Saints and weirdly the new Cindy Lee seems to land ok. I think it being Canadian and a certified Pitchfork hit carries some weight.

But yeah I truly hate trying to have to explain what kind of music I like, and why I like it. A while ago my boss asked if the stuff I liked was like the Reverend Horton Heat and I didn’t have the gumption to explain it and just said “yeah kinda I guess”.

Emil M. Antonowsky

I was DJing last friday at a local bar and got 30-40 "normies" dancing to Sham 69

terminalsunset

Used to work in a record store so we’d have to have music on at all times. I always liked it, but I’d get in trouble sometimes for pushing it too extreme. We used to do “black metal Sundays” every Sunday night because it was dead until we got in trouble for it.

The worst part was people felt compelled to comment on the music all the time. I was playing Dub Narcotic Sound System once and a guy came up and asked what was playing. I got excited thinking he was interested in it until he cut me off saying “whatever it is sounds like SHIT.”

Worked in a video store where I played music too and typically kept it pretty indie and chill. One time I was playing Ramones and a woman complained saying I was playing “insane noisy” music. That cracked me up. She said it made her not want to browse any more and it took all my professionalism not to say “good.”

Uptown ruler 666 420

If someone complained that the ramones were too loud and noisy I’d put on MASONNA instead

paperhose

Worked in a coffeeshop during high school. Played so much I cannot remember it all, but included: Sonic Youth, Pavement, The Specials, Bob Dylan Masked and Anonymous Soundtrack, Jesus and Mary Chain, Moldy Peaches, Silver Jews.

During college I had summer work in a flower shop. Would play opera and classical music from the radio, but also brought my cd boombox and burned cds of many soulseek/mediafire acquisitions: dead c, unwanted xmas presents, hairdryer peace, V3, Gasaneta.

Jack Habegger

Day 2 roundup:

AC/DC - High Voltage
Darrell Banks - Darrell Banks is Here!
Mink DeVille - Cabretta
Mick Farren - Vampires Stole My Lunch Money
The Scientists - S/T
The Real Kids - S/T
Betty Davis - Nasty Gal

It was a pretty slow day in general but it seemed like Darrell Banks stirred the most commerce. My time filling in at the store is over, I'll miss that aux!

Emil M. Antonowsky

Im DJing at a local club/bar this thursday and im kinda nervous/puzzled about what to play. They usually have DJs playing soul/global disco but on thursdays they have this thing they call "organic groove society" to which i've been invited.
The Don Cherry reference gives a hint of what could be expected on such a night and i have a feeling that my set will be somehow out of place. I told them i'll play a mix of punk, garage, wave, electro, glam, dub,"weird stuff" etc. which they positively condoned. But still feel that i'm "out of mt element...SO
I would be very greatfull for any suggestions based from my collection (i only play records)
[https://www.discogs.com/user/mcebber/collection](https://)
here's a link to a playlist i made based on what i picked to play so far:

Jack Habegger

Emil M. Antonowsky You should play "Reggae Song" off that Gizmos record. It has crossover appeal.