50th birthday celebrations generally bring a very mixed bag of feelings as there are reflections on loved ones no longer with us, children growing/grown up, the career decisons we make, the friends that remain and those that have moved on, etc etc. All of this was evident at Jane's very thoughtfully prepared 50th birthday celebration where the guest ages ranged from 15 or so young teenagers to a large group of her peers.
Guests were welcomed with a bar tab (always welcome) and the viewing of a great range of family photos, spanning several generations of family, running on a big screen. This was a very effective way for guests to greet, mingle and chat. I kept the music low key making sure to incorporate the many requests from the 80s but also branching out to include other major numbers from that era - see full playlist below. Blue mood lighting was selected.
As guests took leave of the excellent buffet the tempo of the night gradually increased and at the end of the buffet Jane switched off the picture presentation and together with my lighting adjustments we shifted focus into the celebratory phase of the night but not before Jane, her husband Martin and their boys all made lovely speeches. From here we sang a rousing Happy Birthday and danced the night away!
Dancing was good throughout the evening, not only to classic tunes from their 'growing up' days but also to a range of modern tunes. There was also Irish interest and a few select tunes were incorporated accordingly - see the full playlist below. Requests are always welcomed, and I had a good number beforehand and more on the night.
The full playlist for the evening was as follows:
Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out With Him
Mr Big - To Be With You
Mutya Buena - Real Girl
Boy George - Everything I own
Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song
Earth, Wind & Fire - Fantasy
Shanice - I Love Your Smile
Keane - Everybody's Changing
Moby - Porcelain.
Lily Allen - Smile
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
Blondie - The tide is high
Tears for Fears - Shout (Album Version)
Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)
Prince and The Revolution - Kiss
Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere
Johnny Hates Jazz - Shattered dreams
Sydney Youngblood - If Only I Could
Happy Mondays - Step On
Monie Love - Its A Shame
Madonna - Vogue
Incognito Featuring Jocelyn Brown - Always There
Rozalla - I Love Music
George Michael - Flawless
Byron A Stingly - Get Up Everybody
S Club - Don't Stop Movin' (Jewels & Stone Radio Mix)
M People - One Night In Heaven
Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You
The Clash - The Magnificent Seven (Album Version)
UB40 - One in Ten
Jazz Jamaica - Shank-Kai-Chek
Etta James - Blowing In The Wind
Julie London - Fly Me To The Moon
Peggy Lee - The Boy From Ipanema
Louis Prima - Just A Gigolo - I Ain't Got Nobody
Charlie Rich - Mohair Sam
Ben E King & The Drifters - Up On The Roof
Marvin Gaye - Lucky Lucky Me
The Temptations - The Way You Do The Things You Do
Erma Franklin - (I Get The) Sweetest Feeling
Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Third Finger, Left Hand
Pete Seeger - Guantanamera
Carly Simon - You're So Vain.
Pogues - Dirty Old Town
The Saw Doctors - Bless Me Father
The Dubliners - (The Bonnie) Shoals of Herring
Police - Roxanne
Rolling Stones - Start me up
Bruce Springsteen - Glory Days
The Real Thing - You To Me Are Everything
Gwen Guthrie - Ain't Nothing Goin' On But The Rent
Whitney Houston - I'm Every Woman
Stevie Wonder - Happy Birthday
Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
Alison Limerick - Where Love Lives
Robin Thicke ft. Pharrell & T.I. - Blurred Lines (Super Clean)
Wham! - Freedom
The B's - Love Shack
The Beatles - Twist and Shout
George Harrison - Got My Mind Set On You
Madness - House Of Fun
David Bowie - Let's Dance
Human League - Don't You Want Me
Duran Duran - Wild Boys
Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now
Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
Maroon Featuring Christina Aguilera - Moves Like Jagger
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass
Beyoncé - Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
Pharrell - Happy
Mark Ronson Feat. Amy Winehouse - Valerie
EMF & Reeves & Mortimer - I'm A Believer
Jam - A Town Called Malice
Madness - One Step Beyond
The Blues Brothers - Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
Mark Ronson Featuring Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne - Rather Be
The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just wanna Have Fun
Rufus and Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody
Luther Vandross - Never Too Much
Jocelyn Brown - Somebody Else's Guy