i have listened to a lot of music over the last few days trying to judge the contest for the free room giveaway at the ace this sunday... i was introduced to a lot of new music, and while there were a few mixes that really stood out, we were forced to choose only 2.
thanks so much to everyone who made a playlist and participated in the contest!
WINNER #1 Lou: In no particular order: 1. Outcast - Good Evening (Dream Big) 2. Camera Obscura - French Navy 3. Coconut Records - Microphone 4. Dick Dale - Taco Wagon 5. Hockey - Too Fake 6. Glass Candy - Beatific 7. Luscious Jackson - Life of Leisure 8. Rilo Kiley - The Money Maker 9. Pharrell & Snoop - That Girl 10. Mickey Avalon - My Dick
p.s. I forgot to mention that my playlist comes w/ 2 bonus tracks. 11. The Streets - Geezers Need Excitement 12. Tom Jones - She's a Lady And as if this playlist isn't already the shit. It also comes w/ 1 tequila shot... and maybe a taco : )
put mickey avalon - my dick on a playlist and you have my attention, add anything by the streets and i'm really listening close... throw in a shot and a taco and you are a winner! i laughed really hard at that lou. thanks for the playlist. please come and say hello on sunday, hopefully you'll have that taco and shot ready to go when i start at 10.
WINNER #1 dana salant: below is an eclectic mix filled with soul & rhythm & funk - the perfect answer to any sunday afternoon...(ps 10 was tough) ! 1. the way you make me feel (michael jackson) 2. everybody wants to rule the world (tears for fears) 3. raspberry beret (prince) 4. respect (notorious b.i.g.) 5. here i am (all green) 6. double dutch bus (frankie smith) 7. get it together (jurassic 5) 8. i know what i know (paul simon) 9. can i kick it? (tribe called quest) 10. this is how we do it (montell jordan)
i can feel the energy from this mix just by reading the list! that is the sign of a good playlist (if you know the tunes that is!!) thanks dana! now, if you see a guy walking toward me with a taco and a shot will you please follow him to the dj booth so i can meet you too!?! i hope you'll both bring me a cd with your mix on it for the drive home.!
dana & hunter started as some of my favorite wedding buddies who have more recently just become buddies. i played their amazing wedding, laughed my ass off at their rad video, and played records at their most recent kick ass cake bash! each time we hang i like them more, and they continue to be a powerful reminder that forging your own path is the only way forward in this cooky world. this playlist is no different, they have chosen some classics and some things you have never heard but every track is uniquely them! enjoy. (up next month a desert fete!)
it has been a year since we launched the flashdance (hooray!!) & what a wonderfully hectic year it has been for all of us! i feel incredibly blessed by our success this year, thrilled by the newest members of our team, and very excited about all that we have in store for 2010. but before i get into all of that, i wanted to take a second and look back at some of the moments that made 2009 so rad for us (you know, like they used to do on family ties).
shana and rob were dream clients! such original, authentic, and absurdly fun people. it was our first official flashdance wedding and though there were a few hiccups, (like i didn't know that i was supposed to play the hora more than once through! that was embarrassing!) in the end, it was my favorite wedding of the year for so many reasons not least of which were their genius choreographed dances! they also made jesse whitney and i all cry at their ceremony... (not so easy to do to people who have collectively worked hundreds of weddings!) this wedding also made it on 100 layer cake and incidentally it made their top 10 of 2010!
i went to atlanta a lot! it makes me very happy to visit jess, whit, and gracyn! and i love getting to eat at dynamic dish and shop at sid mashburn.
i even brought the family with me on one of the trips and jesse shot some family photos...
dana (the broke ass bride) & hunter got married and it was one of the best dance parties i played this year! this video cracked me up.
these weirdos got married and my friend michelle asked me to dj. a lot of people clicked on the flashdance in the weeks to follow.
some of the fairfield contingent tied the knot in malibu and hired ALL of us! fun. see the rest of it here...
jesse whitney and gracyn came out a few times and even stood still long enough for max to click some shots...
melanie and sky had a fantastical rainbow of color wedding filled with so many one of a kind touches that it hurts to imagine all of the planning. it was pure magic.
i learned how to fly & got clowned for vanity in the same day! (watch the whole video to understand what the hell i'm talking about...
the smilebooth was the hit everywhere we brought it!
we threw our first sunday wedding events (a.k.a. some pretty epic parties) for the ace hotels.
but more than anything we had a blast doing what we love. we had amazing clients. we met and worked with almost all of our favorite bloggers, and vendors. we laughed our faces off and created something that we are all very, very, proud to be a part of. thanks for reading and commenting on the blog, thanks for hiring us, working with us, and caring about what you do and how you do it. i'm going to the ace in palm springs to sleep it off for a week (or maybe two.) love -MA
Dana & Hunter are the kind of people who, when you see them together, you immediately know they are meant to be together. They have a bunch of hilarious friends (who really know how to dance!) and very enthusiastic families. This is a recipe for success when you are throwing a wedding.
They had a very sweet outdoor ceremony where a close friend married them, and he played acoustic guitar and sang a beautiful song that he wrote, (dana is this song out there in the world?) while circling the guests (ok it sounds kinda corny but he was so enigmatic and the song was so lovely that it really came off charming and lovely) anyway this all took place in a lovely location right near Runyon Canyon (one of many amazing reasons to live in Los Angeles)
The best thing about this wedding was everyone had a BLAST! You can just see it in the pictures... Everyone was laughing/crying/laughing all day/night! it was a real treat to witness. There was some technical problem at the venue and I couldn't play records for the cocktail hour & dinner so I had the rare opportunity to be a guest, and what a perfect wedding this was to be a guest at! Here is some evidence...
this is a video that our friends at Digital Princess made before the wedding and it received a standing ovation! In fact, it was so well liked, that they played it twice!
Then around 9:30 they moved the whole affair upstairs and there was another rare-ish situation. Usually people ask me to play for 4-5 hours and half of that gets eaten up at cocktail hour and dinner and then I have like an hour and a half to go crazy and by the time I really get loose it's over.... They had reserved the venue until 2am and it was really nice to stretch out, and play a bunch of records from a lot of different time periods and genres... There was a whole 80's roller rink set, a new school vs. old school hip hop set, Motown soul/funk mix, Dolly Parton, Nirvana, Beastie Boys, (you name it, I played it!) there was even a couple breakdancers in the house so I got to play some dusty old B-Boy records!
I really had a blast... It was one of those nights where I felt like I could do no wrong, usually this has very little to do with me, and this was no exception! EVERYONE (I literally mean EVERYONE) danced ALL night. It was incredible! No matter what I played people stuck with me. Writing this now I just realized what it is... When your clients are creative people, they are bound to have creative friends and family (Dana & Hunter just have a lot more than most!) but if you add an amazing sense of humor to that creativity the results look like this. Looks fun huh?!
all photos courtesy of Dan Chen there are tons more stunning shots, and a slideshow on his blog
I have played a lot of different types of events over the last 15 years. From private, to corporate, weddings, to clubs, lounges to dinner parties... The following is a selection of some e-mails, press, and thank-yous that I have received from booking agents, promoters, and clients.
[Jose Villa in regards to his own wedding] (via twitter) "you made the whole forest get up and dance last night! Thank you, thank you! You Amaze me!"
dude!!
i just wanted to send a quick thank you your way -- we are still getting complements on you and your work at the wedding! it was mind blowing!
thank you for doing such an amazing job -- you are a genius at what you do. you made the party what i wanted it to be -- uninhibited, joyous fun.
x, shana (&rob)
Libby (shana's mom see above): As mother of the bride, I was uncertain about hiring a dj from LA who calls himself "the human jukebox." I am SO glad I trusted Shana's judgment! Michael was fantastic, and the music added to the beauty of the ceremony and the joyous spirit of the party. NO ONE sat down. Michael, you are awesome!
Michael - you are the man! We had so many complements on your music, your performance and ability to rock a party!!!! God damn I wish we could do it all over again this weekend - IT WAS SO SO SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!
Thanks!
Mike y Steph
Michael, I just want to thank you so much for your stellar DJing at our wedding - from the ceremony to the reception you were on it. So many people came up to me to tell me how great they thought you were and I just said, "I know!" Don't be surprised if you hear from a few of our friends about working at their weddings.
- Leslie Feldt
"Michael blew the roof off a friend's wedding, and my fiancee and I approached him about playing ours, on New Year's Eve. He's friendly and personable and willing to accommodate your taste in music, but what you're hiring him for is HIS taste in music. He played classy classics during the early part of the reception, making us all feel old-school and with it, and then, after luring people out onto the floor with a few choice cuts, devastated us all with a brilliant combination of funk, mash-ups, hip-hop, what have you. I'll put it this way: my 60 year-old mother got out there and shook it like it's never been shaken before. And at midnight, he played an excerpt from Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech, to ring in the new year. I cannot recommend this guy enough. We paid to see him spin in New York a few months later, and it was like returning to a happy childhood."
Jacob Ward
jake@jacobward.com
The last time Michael played I ended up in a wheelchair! Dana (aka the brokeass bride)
in response Michael is the only person who ever hurt my wife & it made me happy! Hunter (aka the fresh hubby)
Michael Antonia, aka the Human Jukebox, DJd our wedding in August 22nd, in La Jolla, California. Michael did a brilliant job, at short notice.
The music is the part of planning the evening that is the most worrisome if you actually LIKE music, lots of it, lots of kinds of it, etc. We told Michael to have a good time and take risks, and he did it.
That said, from the very first song after the toasts, folks danced like crazy.
Crazy.
We have innumerable photos of older guests boogying (the photos are blurred but there is some discernible high-kicks) and our friends jamming so hard their hair is upside down. My father - a fairly athletic guy- danced the entire time like I have never seen in my life, and reportedly limped through the airport the next day. It was a smallish affair for a California wedding (60 guests) and those ping-pong lights were powerfully bright, but no one cared in the slightest: we got a lot of compliments on the DJ, from a range of guests (my father included).
After dinner, my groom and I successfully harassed the catering staff to join us drinking, and soon enough, Michael had them all dancing! When the party rental guys showed up a little early to pick up their equipment, they too just gave in and hit the concrete patio that was the dance floor. Drenched in sweat, all the male guests in the party finally ran down into the Pacific, suits and ties flying off into the darkness. (I believe the women were still dancing). Thank you, Michael! MARY ROSS
I first heard Michael (AKA the human jukebox) spinning records at a sweet little bar in Chinatown. It was a typical warm summer night in NYC, yet despite the oppressive humidity, our group of friends could not stop dancing. Over the next year our trips to Chinatown became more frequent in hopes of catching Michael's rendition of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 and spending a few hours shaking it up on the bar's small dance floor.
Fast forward a year. I'm engaged and searching for a Band/DJ. For Brent and I, the music was going to be one of the most important parts of the entire wedding night. Immediately I knew I wanted to hire Michael, but wasn't sure if he even would agree to do a wedding. Well luck was on our side, and after hunting him down, he agreed.
On the eve of August 26, 2006 in Mystic Connecticut, not one guest at the Denzin/Ekeland wedding was sitting down. The dance floor gazebo was jammed packed with grandparents, parents, cousins, friends and toddlers all breaking it down, just as we had hoped. Actually, maybe even better than we had hoped.
And the next day and for the next couple of years, the one thing we've heard from our guests over and over again is that "your DJ rocked", "best wedding DJ ever".
Well they were right.
Michael, we'd recommend you over and over again to everyone and anyone!
Thank you again, almost 3 years later, for bringing the cool to our little Connecticut wedding (and refusing to play brickhouse).
(re: the smilebooth) This rules! Thank you so much for the quick turnaround!
(re: dj) Speaking for Rebecca as well, we had such an extraordinary time last weekend. It was everything we had hoped for, and far surpassed our envisioned celebration.
We heard so many comments from guests about the "awesome, killer, amazing" music, so a sincere thanks for livening up the crowd and bringing life to the party.
We're here if you need any "references" for future clients, and will keep your company in mind for future professional events, as we both are always in need of talented musicians for parties, galas, etc...
All the best,
Brad & Rebecca
310-200-8186
@radbrehak
Hi Michael!
Just a quick note to tell you how amazingly awesome you were at our wedding. EVERYONE was going on and on and on about how incredible you were, especially me and Christian. I just wish I had had more time to shake it with everyone on the dance floor…crazy day, but so perfect! Also, the smilebooth was superb! People got nuts, one of our guests even mooned the camera – good times.
Also, we did receive the pics from the smilebooth, but was wondering when you were planning on sending the master cd that you recorded that night? I want to include a copy in everyones thank you cards…
Thanks again, you made the night so fun. Ok, I am officially out of adjectives… Big hugs.
Ashley
Michael,
Sarah and I are both in awe. I cannot tell you how many times we heard from nearly every one of our guests, "he is the best dj I've ever heard!".
Seriously, we cannot thank you enough for providing the centerpiece of what was truly the most amazing evening.
We haven't stopped talking about how big of a difference it makes to have had you and your style vs a "typical" dj (where a song that is not particularly well-received sucks the energy out of the room and people retreat from the dancefloor). That, literally, did not happen once.
We're soooooo happy that Paige convinced us to plan our whole wedding around you schedule!! :)
Very much look forward to working with you again soon.
Sincerely,
Michael & Sarah
Finally met The Flash Dance DJ Can now die and go to heaven. Rumors do not lie: He doesn't just make the party, he IS the party. anne sage / citysage
Alli (The Dry Bar) you are a music god! U rocked the sox off my bro's wedding. Completely blown away! NEVER have I danced as much in my life!
"DJ" isn't an adequate word to describe what Michael does, so let's just say he'll make you dance your pants off and he may very well keep your grandparents on their feet all night, too. Kathryn of SNIPPET & INK
Michael, Brent and I wanted to thank you for doing such an amazing job...really, all of our friends and family cannot stop raving about you!! I just wish we had even more time to dance, but unfortunately the ceremony got a late start. Good thing we had an after party planned, cause you had everyone all reved up and ready to keep dancing!!
Kristen Ekeland
TESTIMONIAL FOR THE HUMAN JUKEBOX
Natalie & Rob's Wedding. May 31, 2008. Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. Amherst, MA.
My husband works in the music industry so music was one of the most important decisions as we planned our wedding. After having seen the Human Jukebox at a few gigs in New York City, we - and all our friends - quickly became huge fans. There's just something about mixing Tears for Fears with the Beatles and Biggie - and no one can do it like him. We honestly could not have been happier with the music at our wedding. We luckily have some video footage to capture all the magic. It's priceless to see the dance floor's reaction to each incredible mix. He played music for everyone, from oldies to french jazz to 80s pop to rock ballads to hip hop. We go down amongst friends and family as having hands down the best music at any wedding before or since. His music collection is incredible and he went above and beyond what we could have imagined. Michael is amazingly talented, professional, and great to work with. Any wedding would be better with him!
From one NYC club booking agent to another...
Hi Lynda,
I'd like you to meet this DJ I know named Michael
Antonia--aka The Human Jukebox. I think I told you
about him the last time I saw you. He DJs for me on
Saturday nights at Happy Ending and I've been thinking
that he would be a great match for Sway if you have an
opening on Fridays.
This guy is not really a personal friend and I don't
owe him any favors, but frankly he is just simply such
a joy to work with that I would go out of my way to
set him up with a good situation. And I think you can
trust that I know what Sway is about and what you
would expect from a Friday night DJ.
Michael is a pro. He shows up early and has his own
reliable transportation. He brings his own equipment
including a top of the line Rane mixer, a CD console,
and effects processor. He does six hours behind the
tables for me without a break. He has a couple of
drinks during the night (literally, like 2) and always
keeps it together. His rates are fair and reasonable.
He spins music from the whole range of music you would
expect to hear at Sway on a weekend night, from rock,
funk, soul, disco, metal, glam, 80s, 90s, electro, to
hiphop (they do love hiphop!). He tends to start off
chill at the beginning of the night, usually playing a
bit more to the tastes of my staff before it starts to
get crowded. Increasingly he'll switch into more
popular stuff that's selected to be fun and danceable.
More than just selecting records, however, this guy's
got turntablist skills. I don't really understand how
all of that stuff works but he does live remixes of
different music sources, but he does it in a way
that's seamless. That is, you would never think that
the way he is presenting the music is not the way you
are supposed to hear it, even when he's mixing two
apparently ironic sources like Ice-T's Colors with
Cindi Lauper's True Colors (one of his more memorable
creations).
He's good. He'd be good for you. I hope you can give
him a chance. He's been doing Fridays at Good World
but apparently they keep getting busted and management
has had to enforce no dancing rules for fear of
loosing their liquor license--not a good situation for
Michael.
Ideally, I'd have you come over to Happy Ending on
Saturday night around 1:30 when people are feeling
good and getting into it. You could judge for
yourself. But I don't imagine that is very practical.
I'd like to at least introduce you to him in the next
week or two. Maybe he'll have a CD for you or
something. And he is rather handsome, so there is
that to appreciate. I like to come by Sway on
Sundays. If you think you'll be around let me know
and I'll try to get us all together. Otherwise, I
expect we could stop by on a Monday night (Sun and Mon
are my nights off). I think he said he DJs a Jazz and
Blues thing on Thursdays somewhere in Brooklyn, but I
don't expect that would really do much for you.
You can reach me on my cell which is my former home
number (212) 929-XXXX. Michael's cell is (917)
627-6452 or you can email him through is website:
http://thehumanjukebox.com/
I look forward to seeing you. Say hello to Tim for
me.
Best,
Bob
"The day I heard this guy my faith in good entertainment was restored. He could technically mop the floor with all of his peers, and creatively he is off the charts. This human jukebox is a true revolutionary!" -Myspace comment
THE HUMAN JUKEBOX plays a broad mix of music. What struck me in particular, however, was the artful way in which he mixed it. In the earlier part of the night in particular he was putting together these audio collages lambasting war and the greed behind it, poverty, and racism. The mix of music had the hallmark of artistry and intelligence. Rather than the tired DJ-as-jukebox who mechanically plays crowd pleasing song after song, the DJ at Happy Ending worked his materials in a way that was creative and critical. -NYC City Search Review
Hi Michael-
Thank you thank you thank you, you are a genius. We are just back from our honeymoon and are still in disbelief over what an incredible job you did making our wedding AWESOME! You are a true artist and you made the night unforgettable for everyone. Brian and I are so grateful to you for your ability to keep everyone rocking out without pause and we had the best day of our lives - looking out over the dance floor and seeing literally everyone grinning and dancing is an image we will never forget. Please let us know if we can ever provide a glowing reference for you :).
Thank you again for everything.
Hadley and Brian
Hi Michael,
First of all, I just wanted you to know that everyone is still talking about the DJ from our wedding ("best dj ever" has been thrown around by quite a few!). And Greg and I completely agree. Thank you so much for making our wedding so much fun and helping me shed a few pounds probably from all the cardio I got from non-stop dancing. We could have danced to your tunes til the sun came up, had they let us.
Also, I know you dj all the time, so this is probably a long shot, but do you remember what the last song of the night was? I remember knowing and loving it, but now I just can't seem to remember. Help please!
Thanks again!!
much love,
Kate
ps- we're thinking of moving to LA so we can hire you to play at our house parties. ;)
Hi Michael
We just want to thank you again for providing us with the best wedding party ever. Our guests are still telling us that we had the most fun wedding and that you are the BEST DJ ever.
You are to be applauded on your professionalism, ability to get everyone and keep everyone on the dance floor, and for being such a pleasure to work with.
Amy and Scott were to so happy with the great time you provided. If you ever need a recommendation, we will more than happy to provide one.
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