First Dance Friday – The Magnetic Fields

As well as giving you ideas for your first dance I hope that this little feature might also introduce you to some music you’ve never heard before. I absolutely adore The Magnetic Fields. Stephin Merritt’s lyrics, delivered in his casual baritone, have always struck a chord with me.

I… I love it when you bring me things

You… You ought to bring me wedding rings

This song is from the album ’69 Love Songs’ which, rather unsurprisingly contains 69 songs, although the tone isn’t so much about love in the classic sense. ‘The Book of Love’  has a sentimentality that’s down to earth.  For me its all about warts-and-all love rather than cliched platitudes.  Its simple, humble and beautiful…

First Dance Friday – Al Green

This one isn’t exactly a curve ball but there was no way I was ever going to get through this series without including it.  Its effortlessly sexy and cool… plus its really easy to dance to; the classic Al Green song ‘Let’s Stay Together.’  Its from the brilliant 1972 album of the same name.  If you don’t know much about Al Green except the hits then you have to check this album out – his vocals are up there with the finest ever pressed to vinyl.

It’s been covered by hundreds of people including tina turner, michael bolton, boys II men and Northern Ireland’s own wee Brian Kennedy… for me, nothing will ever come close to the original.

First Dance Friday

Couples often ask me for ideas for their first dance.  The first dance is made out to be a big deal so couples tend to agonize over what song to pick.  The thing is, like most aspects of your wedding, the more personal it is the better it will be…

Its very easy to pick your first dance.  Think of a song that you both truly love.  It doesn’t matter if you think the song is ridiculous or weird, too pop or too obscure;  Its YOUR first dance so it is all about YOU and no one else.  Don’t worry if the song is hard to dance to – its not a dancing competition – but equally, if you want to do a routine or something different then go for it!!! Don’t worry if its too slow or too fast.  So long as the song means something to you both then it is the right choice.

Still stuck?!?  Ok, every Friday I’m going to post up a beautiful song as part of my rather cheesily named ‘First Dance Friday’ feature.  Some of the songs will be ones that i’ve previously been asked to play for couples and others are just beautiful songs that mean something to me…

So here goes… First Dance Friday Numero Uno…. the beautiful ‘La Ritournelle’ by Sebastien Tellier which I used at a wedding 2 years ago.  It really stopped everyone in their tracks.

Top Tune! – Mama Cass – Dream a Little Dream of Me

This song really doesn’t get requested enough at weddings but I guess it’s because its a bit downbeat – that doesn’t stop it from being absolutely beautiful though!  It’s one of my favourite female vocal performances of all time.  Her voice is silk.  A beautiful lullaby….

You’ll have to ignore the bizarre acting in the video.  Not quite sure what’s going on there!

Dance Til Tomorrow Mix April 2012

A new month and a new mix. Kicking off with an excellent alternative first dance song from the Ramones and fitting in everything from the Bee Gees to Nirvana. Harry Belafonte finishes things off with ‘Jump in the Line’ which I’ve only thrown in because I seen it in Beetlejuice recently and had forgotten how great it was:D