Party Favorz

I apologize for the delay, but everything has been a train wreck since the beginning of the year.  I’ve got a 2010 reset button sitting here on my desk,  but I just don’t want to hit it until I know the time is right.  While I was working up the stamina to put out this final podcast for 2009, I went ahead and put together a really kick-ass blog for our good friend Ian over at TSO Presents.  He has been putting out these awesome sets that range from electro, progressive, and trance to funky and soulful house.  If you haven’t checked him out yet, now would be a good time.  I was so pleased with the end-results from his blog design and having already designed one for another Party Favorz friend Toni (a.k.a. DJ Freeze) I decided to go ahead and offer my services to anyone interested in sprucing up their site.  Granted, I’m going to have to start charging for my work, but I think you’ll find my prices very reasonable.  If anyone is interested, feel free to contact me via email located in the “about me” section of this site or in my Facebook profile.

As promised, I made the donation to Equality Across America on Wednesday last week, but I was waiting for it to clear my bank.  I figured they would send me some sort of confirmation for tax purposes or at the very least “thanks.”  When that didn’t happen, I contacted Mark Reed (one of the organizers) who said he would look into it and I have yet to receive a response.  So, for the time being, I grabbed this off of my Bank of America statement so you guys can see that the money was in fact donated as promised.  I assured everyone that I would be as transparent as possible, so I am presenting this to you as a sign of good faith on my part.  Don’t forget, the Gay Anthem sets are still available via the sidelink on my main site http://www.partyfavorz.net or on the top tab of my Podbean site http://partyfavorz.podbean.com.

I also wanted to discuss the future of Party Favorz.  After going through my finances for last year and the year before, I realized I’m not coming remotely close to recouping the money I put into this site versus the donations I receive.  That is NOT to say that I don’t appreciate your generous gifts, because I do.  However, between hosting, music, artwork (that is not my own making) and several other miscellaneous items, this site costs me quite a chunk of change to run.  When I really started to add these numbers up, I couldn’t quite believe it; then again, I’m no accountant.  So, going forward, I am going to be asking for a $2.50 donation per mix.  Granted, I will give away the first mix in each set for free and the donation will only be for each remaining set in a series.  For instance, if I put out BPM Edition 2010 v1 and it has three sets in it, you’ll receive the first one at no cost, however a donation of $2.50 will be required for each of the last two in order to download them.  This is something I have tried to avoid, but my expenses outside of this blog have increased substantially, and I can no longer justify the cost to maintain it.  I realize I could strip out the hosting, the artwork, direct downloads, the streaming and some of the other goodies you guys may not even think about and enjoy nevertheless; but if there is one thing my mom always taught me, it’s that if you aren’t going to do something right, then there is no point in doing at all.  So, if you guys are willing to help out in that manner, that’d be great.  If not, I’ll have no choice but to shut things down.  For now, we can consider this a trial, which I’m willing to run through March.  If it doesn’t pan out, then it doesn’t.  I just want everyone to realize this is NOT meant as some form of punishment, it’s just what I have to do in order to keep this site up and running in its current state.  I have weighed all available options including a flat fee monthly donation, but that would prevent new people from discovering this site.  The per download option provided at a low (I think reasonable) rate allows me to occasionally give things away at no cost, which in turn would provide opportunities for would be followers to experience my work.  This was not an easy decision to make, but it is one that is necessary for the survival of Party Favorz.  I hope everyone can appreciate my need to invoke these changes and if you stick with me, I won’t let you down.

Finally, I want to thank each and every one of you that have supported my efforts to bring high quality dance music for your workouts, parties or personal listening pleasure during 2009.  Just over two years and counting, this site has been a blessing for me and from some of the messages I’ve received, it’s like an addiction to others;  just call me Doctor House, but I don’t make house calls .   I hope everyone’s year is off to a good start and I should be back in a couple of weeks with the first BPM edition of 2010, followed by the Winter Edition.   For now, check out the Gagalicious video by our good friend The Herminio Experience.  If you like this, you really need to check out the rest of his work.  From Madonna to Britney and everyone in between, his videos ROCK!

Until the next time . . . ENJOY!

Album : Party Favorz 2009: Year-end Edition v8 Disc : 8/8 Genre : Circuit, Progressive, Tribal, Mainstream Club Year : 2009 Total Time : 1:57:33:00

Track : 1 Title : Give Me Love (Warren Rigg Club Mix) Artist : Stephen Keyes

Track : 2 Title : Dirty Desire (Razor N’ Guido Club Mix) Artist : Utada

Track : 3 Title : I Want That Man (Alex Acosta Big Room Vox) Artist : Jenn Cuneta

Track : 4 Title : Bad Bad Boy (DJ Escape & Dom Capello Club Mix) Artist : The Perry Twins feat. Niki Haris

Track : 5 Title : Russian Roulette (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg Club Mix) Artist : Rihanna

Track : 6 Title : Be Alright (Offer Nissim Tel Aviv Club) Artist : Kristine W

Track : 7 Title : Beautiful U R (Yinon Yahel Club) Artist : Deborah Cox

Track : 8 Title : Hear You Hum (Main Floor Mix) Artist : Jeremy Word feat. Deanna

Track : 9 Title : Up Your Heart (Danny Verde Mix) Artist : Andrea Carnell

Track : 10 Title : Drop A House (Razor ‘N’ Guido Mix) Artist : DJ DeMarko! feat. Heather Leigh West

Track : 11 Title : I Want Your Sex (Mike Rizzo M2 Original Club Mix) Artist : Jipsta

Track : 12 Title : Hell No (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg Club Mix) Artist : Judy Torres

Track : 13 Title : I Can Stop The Rain (DJ Jose Spinnin’s Bearlin Club Mix) Artist : Carol Hahn

Track : 14 Title : Loca (Ranny vs. The Popstar Mix) Artist : Ranny feat. Nina Flowers

Track : 15 Title : Sundays At Heaven (Cajjmere Wray’s Heavenly Club Mix) Artist : J.Velarde & Luque & Vitti feat. Giovanna

Track : 16 Title : You Used To Know (Cajjmere Wray Remix) Artist : Andrea Carnell

Track : 17 Title : Wrong (Peter Rauhofer Vocal Mix) Artist : Depeche Mode

Track : 18 Title : Not The One (Johnny Vicious Extended Mix) Artist : Andrea Carnell

Track : 19 Title : Manhunt (DJ Jose Spinnin’ Sex In The Office Club) Artist : DJ Bill Bennett feat. Pepper Mashay

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Album : Party Favorz 2009: Year-end Edition v7 Disc : 7/8 Genre : Circuit, Progressive, Tribal, Mainstream Club Year : 2009 Total Time : 1:56:50:00

Track : 1 Title : Bring The Love (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg Anthem Mix) Artist : Nicki Richards

Track : 2 Title : Love Struck (Tracy Young Club Mix) Artist : V Factory

Track : 3 Title : Epic (Alexander & Mark VDH Mix) Artist : Ranny feat. Rachel Panay

Track : 4 Title : Into the Night (Shpank’s Big Room Club Stomper) Artist : Carol Hahn

Track : 5 Title : Loca (Alyson Calagna Sunrise Remix) Artist : Pagano feat. Wilmien

Track : 6 Title : Miss You (T. Moran & W. Rigg Drums To The Soul Mix) Artist : Ron Perkov

Track : 7 Title : That Jungle Sound (Tony Moran Remix) Artist : Alan T. vs. Ferosh

Track : 8 Title : On The Floor (Tracy Young Club) Artist : Kaylah Marin

Track : 9 Title : Beautiful (Tracy Young Monster Club Mix) Artist : Akon feat. Kardinal Offishall & Colby O’Donis

Track : 10 Title : Track 1 Artist : Donna Summer

Track : 11 Title : It Out (Altar Anthem Mix) Artist : Altar & Jeanie Tracy

Track : 12 Title : Khanty (Original Remix) Artist : Josh Riptide feat. Divo

Track : 13 Title : It’s Alright, It’s Ok (Johnny Vicious Club Mix) Artist : Ashley Tisdale

Track : 14 Title : Whateva (Peter Rauhofer Remix) Artist : Ralph Falcon feat. Alex K & Alan T

Track : 15 Title : Let Me Be Your Fantasy (Original Mix) Artist : Carl Kennedy & Baby D

Track : 16 Title : Love Story (Andy Moor’s Vocal Mix) Artist : Nadia Ali

Track : 17 Title : Forever Young (DJ Bill Bennett and Pete Masitti’s Decadance Club Mix) Artist : DJ Bill Bennett feat. Abigail

Track : 18 Title : Never (7th Heaven On The Floor Club Mix) Artist : Kristine W

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Album : Party Favorz 2009: Year-end Edition v6 Disc : 6/8 Genre : Circuit, Progressive, Tribal, Mainstream Club Year : 2009 Total Time : 2:10:36:00

Track : 1 Title : Maybe God Is Tryin’ To Tell You Somethin’ (Element 9 Mix) Artist : Sweet Feet Music pres. Soul Sista Shakti feat. Jeanie Tracy & Pepper Mashay

Track : 2 Title : Exotique (Johnny Vicious Mixshow) Artist : Safire

Track : 3 Title : Sweat (DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious Club Mix) Artist : Erin Stevenson

Track : 4 Title : Goodbye (DJ Paulo Club Mix) Artist : Kristinia DeBarge

Track : 5 Title : I Stay In Love (Ralphi’s Melodic Club Vox Mix) Artist : Mariah Carey

Track : 6 Title : You Without Me (Chris Cox Club Mix) Artist : Tina Sugandh

Track : 7 Title : Drama Queen (Texting U) (Barry Harris Big Club Mix) Artist : Simone Denny + Barry Harris

Track : 8 Title : I’m Not Getting Enough (Ralphi Rosario Vox Mix 1) Artist : Ono

Track : 9 Title : Paparazzi (Peter Rauhofer Club Mix) Artist : Lady GaGa

Track : 10 Title : Bulletproof (Razor N Guido Vocal) Artist : La Roux

Track : 11 Title : Sweet Dreams (Steve Pitron & Max Sanna Club Mix) Artist : Beyonce

Track : 12 Title : I Didn’t Know My Own Strength (Peter Rauhofer Club Mix) Artist : Whitney Houston

Track : 13 Title : Did You See Me Coming (Ralphi Rosario Club Mix) Artist : Pet Shop Boys

Track : 14 Title : Why You Wanna Hurt Me So Bad (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg Booty Mix) Artist : Nicki Richards

Track : 15 Title : Cover Girl (Joe Gauthreaux’s Runway Anthem) Artist : RuPaul

Track : 16 Title : Love Is The Look (Rosario K-Y INTRIGUE Club) Artist : Kristine W

Track : 17 Title : It’s Over (Edson Pride Club Mix) Artist : DJ Scott Mann feat. Amuka

Track : 18 Title : Video Phone (Spin Sista Remix) Artist : Beyonce

Track : 19 Title : Body Rock (Tony Loves Manny Mix) Artist : Oceana

Track : 20 Title : Devotion (Original Mix) Artist : Bingo Players

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2009 was certainly a divalicious year!  As I had previously mentioned, Lady Gaga was the shit last year.  However, no one was more prevalent than Miss “put a ring on it” Beyonce.  With the release of her third solo album “I Am . . . Sasha Fierce,”  it was like the gift that kept on giving throughout the year.  She released no less than nine, yes nine singles from that album; four of which landed in the top spot on the charts.  The video alone for “Single Ladies” is worth it’s price in gold.  Often imitated, but never duplicated, that song started a global dance craze with video after video on YouTube paying homage to the funky dance moves culminating in an appearance on Saturday Night Live with Justin Timberlake in tights, acting as one of her backup dancers.  Sadly, NBC pulled the plug on embedding, however you can still view it here.  Even more memorable, is Shane Mercado’s dance perfect performance of the song in his apartment which garnered world-wide attention.

But wait, there’s more!  We finally witnessed the return of the queen of all divas, Whitney Houston.  Despite what other’s have said about her vocals, she can still sing circles around 90% of the artists in the Top 40.  Janet released a double disc of number ones which spans her career from the late 80’s to present day.  Rumor has it that she has teamed up with her former cohorts Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for her next album.  As someone that grew up with Janet, I have high hopes that this might actually bring her back to the charts, with some tough funky electronic beats.  Mariah released a new album to mixed reviews.  Frankly, I think it tried a little to hard, though I don’t fault her as much as her label trying to capitalize on her resurgence several years back.  I say put her in the studio and let her rip without trying to mold her into some Top 40 tween.  Regardless, Mariah is a HUGE marketing machine with her name attached to a whole lot products.  Eventually, I think she’ll release an album of material that reflects who she really is and not what some label execs think she should be doing.  Hey, I can dream can’t I?

Then, we have Madonna.  She has finally wrapped up her contract with Warner Brothers and signed a massive deal with Live Nation.  She released the greatest hits package “Celebration” with the title track as a new single.  Catchy enough, it failed to garner the excitement that previous efforts like “Hung Up” did.  The remix package along with it’s follow-up “Revolver” are pretty dismal, which may have more to do with WB than Madonna herself.  Nevertheless and once again, she also went on to  have the largest tour of the year.  The Sticky & Sweet tour trucked on through countries that most had never heard of and sold out every single venue, making her a good bet for Live Nation.  Reports have her working with Lady Gaga for a 2010 release.  With the pairing of two of the most dynamic performers in music history, this will be very interesting to see what they come up with. 

Several years in the works, we finally saw the release of the “Power of Music” by the hardest working woman in clubland, Kristine W.  This amazing album which already contained four number one club hits (Walk Away, The Boss, Never and Love Is the Look) by the time of it’s release, managed to spin out another one “Be Alright,” during the summer.  With the recent release of the single and mixes for “Power of Music” I fully expect this to be Kristine’s sixth number one off of the album, with several more to go by the end of the year.  If you’re into solid dance music with a pop edge and powerful vocals, the “Power of Music” is an album not to be missed.  I also recently viewed the “Ultimate Music Video Collection”  Kristine released in December, which was a fabulous trip down memory lane and contained a 2008 re-work of “Feel What You Want.”  What makes this so special to all the other bootlegs floating around the internet is 1) I never knew this existed 2) it’s a perfectly executed mashup with the original version of Loleatta Holloway’s “Love Sensation” and 3) I gotta HAVE IT!  The video collection also contains short episodes of several live performances from her much anticipated album “Straight Up with a Twist.”  If you’re into familiar club tunes re-worked into a jazzy collective, you WON’T want to miss this once it’s released. Without a doubt, 2010 is going to be Kristine’s year.

Other divas we adored in 2009 were Deborah Cox whose “Beautiful U R” was one of the biggest club hits of the year (according to Billboard Dance/Club Play Charts); Niki Haris was working it out with “Bad Bad Boy” and “This Time Baby;” 80’s disco diva Carol Hahn continued her streak of big anthems with “I Can Stop the Rain” and “Into the Night;” Britney had a successful year with her “Circus” tour and a double set greatest released late in the year; The most famous person in the Asian community who doesn’t get radio play (scratch head) Utada with “Come Back to Me” and “Dirty Desire;” Suzanne Palmer, Nadia Ali, (Yoko) Ono, Abigail and Andrea Carnell were also a huge presence in 2009.  We were also treated to a tour by Kylie for the first time in like a cugillion years as well as by the mother of all divas, Grace Jones.  All in all, 2009 delivered the goods when it came to the women we love!    

I realize I am WAY behind on getting the last four sets up for you guys, so I plan on posting two more tomorrow without comment and I’ll wrap things up on Sunday with the final edition.  I’ll also be discussing the Gay Anthems donation I promised and the future of Party Favorz.  Until then, have a fabulous weekend and as always, ENJOY!

Album : Party Favorz 2009: Year-end Edition v5 Disc : 5/8 Genre : Circuit, Progressive, Tribal, Mainstream Club Year : 2009 Total Time : 1:49:32:00

Track : 1 Title : Diva (DJ Escape & Tony Coluccio Vocal Remix) Artist : Beyonce

Track : 2 Title : This Time Baby (Myke Rossi Mix) Artist : Eddie X pres. Niki Haris

Track : 3 Title : Bad Romance (Aaron Paetsch Club Mix) Artist : Lady Gaga

Track : 4 Title : Everybody Shake It (Ralphi’s Big Room Mix) Artist : Ralphi Rosario feat. Shawn Christopher

Track : 5 Title : Crazy Possessive (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg Explicit Club Mix) Artist : Kaci Battaglia

Track : 6 Title : Come Back To Me (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg Club Mix) Artist : Utada

Track : 7 Title : Miles Away (Johnny Vicious Club Remix) Artist : Madonna

Track : 8 Title : Circus (Razor n’ Guido Vocal Mix) Artist : Britney Spears

Track : 9 Title : I’m The Sht (Ralphi Rosario Vocal Mix) Artist : Bebe Zahara Benet

Track : 10 Title : Love Sets You Free (DJ Escape & Tony Coluccio Club Mix) Artist : Charlie

Track : 11 Title : More Is More (Ralphi Rosario Dirty Club Mix) Artist : Heidi Montag

Track : 12 Title : Let The Music Play (Chris Cox & Trent Cantrelle Remix) Artist : Shannon

Track : 13 Title : Million Dollar Bill (Freemasons Club Mix) Artist : Whitney Houston

Track : 14 Title : Nothing’s Impossible (The Str8jackets Asylum Rub) Artist : Kim English

Track : 15 Title : Radio Active Love (Warren Rigg & Reed McGowan Radioactive Club) Artist : Paul James feat. Carol Jiani

Track : 16 Title : You Are (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg Club Anthem) Artist : Tony Moran feat. Frenchie Davis

Track : 17 Title : Breaking Dishes (Ralphi & Craig J Mix) Artist : Rihanna

Track : 18 Title : I Believe (Ralphi Rosario Club Vocal) Artist : The Absolute feat. Suzanne Palmer

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When I was a kid, I used to mow lawns for money to pay for my records.  I never received an allowance and my dad wouldn’t pay me to mow the lawn (though I still had other chores), so I started mowing all the neighbors lawns.  I charged $10 a job, unless they had an extra large yard, in which case the rate was $20.  Every weekend, I would hop on my bike with the money I had earned and ride several miles to the nearest record store to buy the latest 45’s.  Much like my willingness to bike several miles for my music, to this day, my dedication and passion for music has never faltered.  I’ve always paralleled music to various points in my past.  The good, the bad and the so-so, music is like a soundtrack to my life.  The first time I kissed a girl, the first time I kissed a boy (and liked it), when my brother died, when I went off to college, it’s all there like a bad episode of “Cold Case.”

You may be asking yourself, why the heck is he talking about “when he was a kid?”  I’m glad you asked.  With four more sets to go, I HIGHLY recommend that you take these mixes and back them up somewhere for future enjoyment.  I promise you, 10, 15, 20 years from now, you’ll want to dig them out and remember the time you were fierce, flawless and on top of the world.  Maybe 2009 was the year you came out of the closet, maybe it was the year you fell in and out of love, or even the year you lost your job.  Whatever the reason, you’ll dance, you’ll sing and will be telling your friends “remember when music was good.”  I realize that everyone thinks I’m the energizer bunny, but I won’t be here forever, nor will these time capsules of your life, unless you save them.  It’s entirely up to you, but I would certainly trust me on this one.   

I also thought that now would be a good time to talk about the “Gay Anthems” four mix set I put out last November.  If you remember, the proceeds from these kick-ass mixes were to go to Equality Across America.  This organization is leading the fight to garner equal rights for the LGBT community here in the US.  If anybody here follows Towleroad, you’ll understand the bigotry and hatred that is spewed against us from various groups, including our very own representatives in the United States Congress.  Winning (as if this is a game) my equal rights along with every other gay, lesbian, bi or transsexual person, for now and future generations, is something that I am deeply passionate about.  In fact, if we don’t start receiving some serious concessions from our government, I see this heading to the streets of America in the very near future.  Mind you, not the bread crumbs that President Obama keeps throwing out to keep us placated, but out right full equality in life, work, home, health and yes marriage.  We won’t stop until we are given FULL EQUALITY with equal protection under the Constitution. 

The good news is that with your help, I have officially reached my goal of $500.  In fact, I just tallied up the donations this morning and we currently stand at $530.91.  WooHoo!!!  I will officially be making a donation in that amount on Wednesday this next week.  However, if you haven’t had a chance to download these great mixsets, never fear.  I have added a link to the side of my blog titled “Gay Anthems” and a tab at the top of my Podbean page for easy access to all of the mixes.  I also went back and placed an “add to cart” button so you can purchase everything all at once.  If we can push this thing over $600 by next week, that would be SUPER- DUPER FABULOUS!  I want to thank everyone that has contributed to my efforts to give back the only way I can at the moment.  Let’s keep it going!

I also have other plans for future donations that include my Chrome Edtion.  I was looking at Billboard’s “Best of the 2000s” in the Dance/Club Play category, and was pretty much appalled.  It starts out decent enough, but once you get into it, it’s pretty shameless.  As someone that has followed the charts all of my life, I understand how they determine year-end rankings.  Based on a numerical assignment for each week a song is on the charts with bonus points for making the top ten and even more for the number two and one position, more often than not, important songs are left out of the tally.  So, I’ve decided to create my own “Top 100+” of the past decade.  I will spread them out through the year so as not to hit everyone at once.  I’ll lower the donation amount for each mix, in hopes of getting more of you on board.  If you read the first two paragraphs of this post, you’ll appreciate the significance of this project.  I promise this will be SPECTACULAR!  I was thinking of setting up voting every other week that includes a list of personal picks and a write in (just in case I overlook something) for the best songs from each year within the decade.  Once those are tallied up, then I can begin the project.  I would really like to get everyone on board with this as I think that together we can make one hell of a decade long best of!

Finally, I want to mention a very worthwhile project that one of Party Favorz’ very good friends Lovett is involved in.  He is working through an organization called “El Porvenir” who work to improve the standard of living of poor people in Nicaragua through sustainable self-help water, sanitation and reforestation projects. In its 14 years of operation, they have completed 350 projects and served over 14,000 people.  He has a goal of raising $1,100 and is currently at $200 as I write this.  Here’s is the request he forwarded to me:

Subject: Please help me make a difference!

Hi Everyone!

The New Year brings new beginnings, and new opportunities in life.  I, along with a group of leaders in South Florida, are standing to make a difference for a community in rural Nicaragua.  Our goal is to create a clean water source for a village that does not have one.  I am asking for your donations to help make a difference for these people, and to show them how powerful people can be when they come together.  Any amount you can donate WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

I’ve created a fundraising page, which you can access with the following link:  http://www.facebook.com/l/ca0b4;www.firstgiving.com/FL164

I would like to thank you in advance for giving what you can, and creating a better world for ALL to live in.

Thank you, and much love!

Lovett

I personally donated to this worthwhile project and hope that you guys can muster up a little something to help out.  At the end of the day, it’s not always about us, but those we can help that don’t have the means to help themselves.

That’s about all I got for today.  This will be the last of the BPM year-end edition and I will begin to rollout the Original Party Favorz year-end edition early next week.  Those waiting for the best of the mainstream circuit of 2009, it’s coming soon.  Until then, try to stay warm, have a fantastic weekend and as always, ENJOY!

Album : Party Favorz 2009: Year-end Edition v4 Disc : 4/8 Genre : Mainstream Club, Electro-pop, BPM Year : 2009 Total Time : 1:48:07:00

Track : 1 Title : Bad Boys (Moto Blanco Vocal Mix) Artist : Alexandra Burke feat. Flo Rida

Track : 2 Title : T.O.N.Y (Mark Picchiotti Mix) Artist : Solange

Track : 3 Title : I Don’t Know Why (Viale & DJ Ross Remix) Artist : Moony

Track : 4 Title : Say It (Warren Clarke Remix) Artist : Booty Luv

Track : 5 Title : Boys And Girls (Moto Blanco Club) Artist : Pixie Lott

Track : 6 Title : Takin’ Back My Love (Jody Den Broeder Club Mix) Artist : Enrique Iglesias feat. Ciara

Track : 7 Title : When Love Takes Over (Original Mix) Artist : David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland

Track : 8 Title : I Gotta Feelin’ (David Guetta Remix) Artist : Black Eyed Peas

Track : 9 Title : Gonna Make U Sweat (Summer Party Mix) Artist : Pronto

Track : 10 Title : Everybody (Club Mix) Artist : Rudenko

Track : 11 Title : Clothes Off (Soul Seekerz Club Mix) Artist : Miami Starfish feat. Jermaine Stewart

Track : 12 Title : Get Shaky (Ian Carey Original Mix) Artist : The Ian Carey Project

Track : 13 Title : Don’t Upset The Rhythm (Go Baby Go) (Soul Seekerz Club Mix) Artist : Noisettes

Track : 14 Title : I Will Be Here (Wolfgang Gartner Remix) Artist : Tiesto & Sneaky Sound System

Track : 15 Title : Magnificent (Dave Aude Club Mix) Artist : U2

Track : 16 Title : Left My Heart in Tokyo (Pete Hammond Contemporary Remix) Artist : Mini Viva

Track : 17 Title : I Do Not Hook Up (Bimbo Jones Club Mix) Artist : Kelly Clarkson

Track : 18 Title : Hush Hush (I Will Survive) (Dave Aude Extended Mix) Artist : Pussycat Dolls

Track : 19 Title : Remedy (Stonemasons Club Mix) Artist : Little Boots

Track : 20 Title : The Sound Of Missing You (Extended Mix) Artist : Ameerah

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2009 was the year that online dance music retailers really solidified and grabbed their slice of the ever-growing music market.  As online legal distribution for dance music begins to really take off, there are now a plethora of these sites vying for a piece of the pie.  No one has been more successful at putting out quality house music that you won’t find in your local record store than Beatport, Traxsource and Juno.  Oh wait, I forgot, there is no such thing as a local record store, so let’s just say iTunes or Amazon.  With literally thousands of dance labels around the globe, these three companies do a great job of not only promoting the music you might not otherwise hear (or maybe you danced to it at your local club but didn’t know where to get it), but breaking them down into specific genres so the individual can hone in on their specific taste.  For me, I go straight to the “house” category in Beatport, “soulful” in Traxsource and the “funky” category in Juno.  That’s where I know I’ll find some gem that’s not being heard anywhere around here and is something I can share with you guys in my podcasts. 

Of course, with everyone trying to grab their share in a crowded and quite frankly limited field, we also witnessed the demise of XpressBeats and the merger of Juno and DJdownload (though, I’m not really certain what purpose that served).  I’m guessing there will be a couple more casualties this year.  Even though I won’t go into speculation, I have a pretty good idea who’s on their last legs as I write this.  Ultimately, the success of these online dance music retailers relies on three key factors: 1) Identifying the niche that’s currently being underserved by major distributors and filling it with the content that consumers are begging for 2) Layout and design that’s easy to navigate  3) Speed, speed, speed!!!  People don’t want to spend forever and a year looking for something.  Your search must be fast and intuitive in case of misspelled words.  If I had to add one final suggestion, that would be 2 minute previews as opposed to the 30 seconds you get from the majors.  Frankly, the only service that has mastered all of the above is Beatport.  Juno has definite layout and speed issues that rely too much on your systems cache, which causes frequent inoperability with their player.  Traxsource is pretty fast, but the layout is not particularly great nor do they do a good job of breaking up the genres for specific interest.

The one online service I really and I mean REALLY want to see succeed is Masterbeat.  Only two years old, they are the ONLY online distributor that has managed to negotiate with the big labels to sell Beyonce, Rihanna or Madonna and other big name artists with dance remixes.  The problem they’re having at the moment is that those very same labels are pretty much dictating how they run their business and have forced them to add additional servers to accommodate their entire music catalogue.  As you can probably realize, that not only costs money, but detracts from the original purpose of the site, which is to target more mainstream dance music along with popular underground house.  As a result, the front page is confusing at best with a top ten chart that’s pretty much irrelevant.  I think a good redesign of the layout would go a long way to help fans sign up for what they want and target the consumer’s specific interest.  It’s doable, but once again there’s that pesky money investment factor.  Hopefully, Brett will be able to work this all out in the near future.  Frankly, if the labels would stop using the remixes as a loss lead by floating all this stuff out on the internet, they might actually be able to make some money; I digress, what the hell do I know?

In some cases, you can go to iTunes for specific dance mixes by an artist, but then they want to sell you videos, books and soon concert tickets, perfumes and clothing lines by that artist, not to mention the results have everything they ever appeared on, including karaoke.  If you don’t believe me, give it about a year, because that’s the direction everything is heading.  With more artists signing with Live Nation, that’s how they make money by reinvesting the artist’s name into everything imaginable that can’t be bootlegged on the internet.  Hey, I’m all for capitalism and grabbing your piece, I just don’t want to be bombarded with everything by an artist when I’m only looking for one thing.  Regardless, I expect iTunes to turn into the Wal-Mart Superstore of online entertainment.  So, if you love to one-stop shop at Wally World then you’ll probably appreciate it.  If you’re like me and detest the mega-shopping experience, then it won’t have any appeal.  If information overload and mega this and mega that is what it takes to get you the consumer to open up your wallet, then so be it; just count me out.   

Whew!  I am so glad I got that off my chest.  I know, I know this is just bloviating on my part, but with a background in business management and retail that successfully targeted a niche market, this is something that has great interest to me.  The only time you guys probably think about it is when you go to spend your money online and have a bitch of a time finding something you know is there.  So, let’s forget all of that and get on with the music of 2009!  Before you do, I thought I would go ahead and share another memorable moment from the year.  In case you missed it, here is Stevie Bishop’s take on Lilly Allen’s fabulous song “Fuck You.”  Enjoy!

Album : Party Favorz 2009: Year-end Edition v3 Disc : 3/8 Genre : Mainstream Club, Electro-pop, BPM Year : 2009 Total Time : 1:52:00:00

Track : 1 Title : Release Me (Cahill Club Edit) Artist : Agnes

Track : 2 Title : Human (Armin Van Buuren Club Remix) Artist : The Killers

Track : 3 Title : Waking Up In Vegas (Manhattan Clique Bellagio Remix) Artist : Katy Perry

Track : 4 Title : Windmills (Club Mix) Artist : Meck

Track : 5 Title : Your Love (Original Mix) Artist : Max Vangeli & Digital Lab with Simone Denny

Track : 6 Title : Music Matters (Axwell Remix) Artist : Faithless feat. Cass Fox

Track : 7 Title :  Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer) (Club Mix) Artist : Freemasons feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Track : 8 Title : Addicted (Club Mix Re-edit) Artist : Serge Devant

Track : 9 Title : Paparazzi (Dave Aude Club) Artist : Lady Gaga

Track : 10 Title : Make Me (Dave Aude Club Mix) Artist : Janet

Track : 11 Title : Bottle Pop (Moto Blanco Club) Artist : Pussycat Dolls

Track : 12 Title : My Man (Cahill Club Mix) Artist : Jade Ewen

Track : 13 Title : Evacuate The Dancefloor (Cahill Remix) Artist : Cascada

Track : 14 Title : Chillin (Bimbo Jones Club Mix) Artist : Wale feat. Lady Gaga

Track : 15 Title : Bad Romance (Dave Aude Club Mix) Artist : Lady Gaga

Track : 16 Title : Let It Rock (Tony Arzandon Remix) Artist : Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne

Track : 17 Title : The Fear (Stonebridge Club Mix) Artist : Lily Allen

Track : 18 Title : Tik Tok (Fred Falke Club Mix) Artist : KeSha

Track : 19 Title : Boom Boom Pow (David Guetta’s Electro Hop Remix) Artist : Black Eyed Peas

Track : 20 Title : Lala Song (Tocadisco Remix) Artist : Bob Sinclar feat. Sugarhill Gang

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2009 was a good year for the DJ/Producer.  As I mentioned in my first post, David Guetta was successful in bridging the gap between electro-house and radio.  Not unlike the 70s when disco bubbled up from the clubs and became mainstream, electro and funky house are well on their way to becoming the new Top 40 du jour. 

No one appeared more often on remix productions than Dave Aude.  There is no doubt he had his hand in better than half of the massive club hits of the year.  He was often paired against Moto Blanco who continue to whip up their sugary-disco confections.  More often than not, those productions fell flat as they became formulaic opening up Dave’s work as the favorite for dancefloors across the globe. From Beyonce to Lady GaGa and everyone in between, Dave was the guy you went to for a guaranteed floor filler; and boy did he deliver! 

The other winner this year was Cahill.  While the Freemasons have been busy working their magic on future releases off of their sophomore album “Shakedown 2,”  Cahill appears to have slipped in and taken up the slack where the ‘masons may have become cost prohibitive for many labels.  Hailing from Liverpool, UK, Anton Powers, Tim Condran and Scott Rosser (i.e. Cahill) are poised to become the next superstar production team.  While they left their mark on many hits in 2009, none were more prevalent than newcomer Agnes’ “Release Me.”  Of course it didn’t hurt to remix a superstar like Mariah either and it’s those kind of remixes that tend to get people noticed.  With future productions in the works by Pixie Lott & N-Dubz plus new singles from Lemar and Cascada, I fully expect nothing less than club domination in 2010 from these guys.      

While Dave was hitting the electro masses and Cahill was working their magic in the electro-pop scene, DJ Escape was pounding out the tribal beats on the circuit.  Whether he was pairing up with Tony Coluccio, Johnny Vicious or Dom Capello, DJ Escape (a.k.a. Jeff Jonas) found himself churning out many of last year’s biggest club hits.  Most notably, his work on several of Beyonce’s singles gained him the kind of notoriety that most DJ/producers can only dream of.  Since the early 90s, hard work and dedication to his craft have clearly paid off as he has become one of 2009’s most in demand producers as well as performers.  You’ll be hearing a lot of his work in the final four of this podcast series coming next week.

Finally, 2009 witnessed the return of some of clubland’s most cherished.  I’m talking about Barry Harris, Pete Hammond and Razor N’ Guido.  Barry as you know, was one half of the acclaimed Thunderpuss production team and R-n-G (a.k.a. Guido Osorio and Peter Osback) were responsible for Kim English’s 1999 hit “Unspeakable Joy”  amongst others.  Pete Hammond is the former chief engineer and producer for Stock Aitken & Waterman (SAW) and was responsible for shaping classic 80s Hi-NRG dance hits like Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” and Donna Summer’s “This Time I Know It’s For Real.”  He has now gone back and updated that sound for a whole new generation of clubgoers.  Already churning out the hits, these guys are a breath of fresh air in an already crowded field where many DJs nauseously drop an acapella over the same drum loop.  Party Favorz extends a very warm ‘welcome back’ to these masters of production and looks forward to hearing and dancing to their work in 2010.  

Working off the same vibe as my 2009 BPM series along with a little T-Dance thrown in for good measure, I bring you part deuce of the Party Favorz 2009 Year-End Edtion.  I’m doing my best to get out the first four by the end of the week, with the second half slated for next, which will be more inline with the original series.  Until the next time…enjoy!

Album : Party Favorz 2009: Year-end Edition v2 Disc : 2/8 Genre : Mainstream Club, Electro-pop, BPM Year : 2009 Total Time : 1:55:38:00

Track : 1 Title : Bulletproof (Dave Aude Club Remix) Artist : La Roux

Track : 2 Title : If U Seek Amy (Mike Rizzo Funk Generation Club Mix) Artist : Britney Spears

Track : 3 Title : Long Distance (Jody Den Broeder Club Mix) Artist : Brandy

Track : 4 Title : Already Gone (Bimbo Jones Club Mix) Artist : Kelly Clarkson

Track : 5 Title : I Need You Now (Cahill Mix) Artist : Agnes

Track : 6 Title : Show Me The Way (Original Club Mix) Artist : White Shoes feat. Sharon May Linn

Track : 7 Title : My Life Would Suck Without You (Chriss Ortega Club Mix) Artist : Kelly Clarkson

Track : 8 Title : Show Me What I’m Looking For (Haji & Emanuel Club Mix) Artist : Carolina Liar

Track : 9 Title : Halo (Gomi & RasJek Club Mix) Artist : Beyonce

Track : 10 Title : What I Cannot Change (Kaskade Mix) Artist : Leann Rimes

Track : 11 Title : Sexy People (Funk Generation Vocal Club) Artist : Lolene

Track : 12 Title : I Hate This Part (Moto Blanco Club Mix) Artist : Pussycat Dolls

Track : 13 Title : Can’t Get Enough 2009 (Original Vocal Club Mix) Artist : Soulsearcher

Track : 14 Title : Love Emergency (Original) Artist : Kurd Maverick & Sam Obernik

Track : 15 Title : Love Game (Dave Aude Club Mix) Artist : Lady GaGa

Track : 16 Title : Hang On (Pete Hammond Extended Mix) Artist : Plumb

Track : 17 Title : Battlefield (Bimbo Jones Remix) Artist : Jordin Sparks

Track : 18 Title : Nasty Little Rumor (Bimbo Jones Vocal) Artist : Shena

Track : 19 Title : Celebration (Oakenfold Remix) Artist : Madonna

Track : 20 Title : New In Town (Bimbo Jones Club Mix) Artist : Little Boots

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