I am having a Shrimp Boil / Party at my house in early June. Invited will be Co-Workers and Folks that work for me. I want to make a Party list to play as semi background music during the evening. I went through my library and pulled out selections ranging from Lady GaGa (I do have teenagers) for the younger crowd to Merle Haggard / Dixie Chicks for the country crowd to Donavon for the older crowd. I am wide open to suggestions from you guys.......

"Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot...it ain't a party till you've got that song!

Are you leaning towards 'dance' music or 'listening' music, Rob?

I seriously doubt there will be much if any dancing - however if the music is good, it goes in the mix....

My god, how did they party before 1992?

With smaller butts, and I cannot lie.

I'm older and I like Lady Ga Ga better than Merle Haggard. Go figure.

You'll notice a lot of Classic Rock here, I don't listen to pop/crap/ or hippity hoppity music....

Classic; Tom Petty, Eagles, Bruce Springstein, Foreigner, Cars, Jackson Browne, Beatles, BTO

Alternate Rock; Midnight Oil, Tragically Hip, Live, Pearl Jam, Crannberries

Easy Listening; Sundays, Diana Krall, James Taylor, Sade, Norah Jones, Roy Orbison

Celtic; Loreena McKennitt, Enya

Music to scare teenagers with; Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson, Mike Oldfield, Barney the Dinosaur theme song

Barney the Dinosaur theme song would probably scare me too.

Problem is, I love pop/crap but not sure what hippity hoppity music is. If it's Rap, then I don't like it either.

Led Zeppelin II and IV.

If someone can suggest a decent place to host a text file, I can post up my 80's playlist. ALL kinds of music we're embarrassed to know and worse...like. It's got a few hundred songs IIRC.

Robs having a rave? Cool!

I don’t remember if you have M80s but if you do don’t forget a few selections to make them happy.

Slammin' our sour

bumpin beats

When I have dinner parties and game nights (usually Scrabble), popular selections have been: R.E.M., the Cars, the Police, Blondie, Tom Petty, the Traveling Wilburys, the Beatles, Green Day, Rilo Kiley (thx pmbuko!), and Juliana Hatfield.

Here's my CV impression: "I recommend Regina Spektor, she is so awesome, and also there's Feist, Martina and the Diamonds, and Catatonia."

How'd I do?

crap...rap, hippity hoppity...hip hop(if you like, you can call it crap too, I don't mind).

Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz. Cool enough for the young, mellow enough for the old.

Physical Graffiti!!

Why dontcha just hand out ambien at the door. Oh, wait....
ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz......

If you want your music in the background I suggest you listen to these 2 albums from the Beastie Boys: The In Sound From Way Out! and The Mix Up. These 2 albums are really not like the typical Beastie Boys sound we are used to. They are both instrumental kinda funky and jazzy. They are great album to keep the crowd awake but not to disturbed by the music.

You can't beat Pandora or Grooveshark for parties. Spend a couple of sessions getting the mix dialed in, then just sit back and relax.

Yep, but only once. Never spoil a good thing...

I just got back from a hockey tournament in Brainerd, Minnesota.
For 4 years no one brought any method by which we could play music in the "hospitality" suite (aka the rented, overly large, free booze, after party room by the lake side).
This year i brought down a vintage setup (Mission speakers, Kenwood amp) plus a laptop loaded with 37 GB of mp3s of various sorts.
I let people play what they wanted. Search for a song, add it to the playlist and it comes up.
Worked great.

I should mention that "Baby Got Back" was one of the first songs selected on the night.
Good call Spiff.

I hosted a similar shin dig last week and just let VH1 greatest hits of the 80's go on random. it went over just fine. After more drinks were in everyone the sing alongs were awesome

Some great suggestions - I will have to try some of the more obscure ones - I already had Wilburys, Beatles, Eagles, Cars, Petty, Browne, Blondie, Petty, Some that have not been mentioned - B52's, 5th Dimension (gotta love Marylin McCoo), Fiona, Pink, Highway 101, Confederate Railroad, Joe Diffie, and more. I plan on picking the daughter's brains.
Trick is I am not too experienced in entertaining - and in the same vein that I put way too much thought into my Axiom purchase....I am putting too much thought into the playlist. I was hopin to get some specific song names?

Dean....not 80's but 60's with a 500. I plan on taking them for a walk at some point in the evening......

Ha ha, I do like all of those, except replace Martina with Marina. It would take me a long time to try to compile a mix for a party, though. I'm pretty sure most people would just wonder what in the hell they were hearing with a lot of my choices.

Free....All Right Now
BTO.....Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, Takin' Care of Business, Let it Ride...
Midnight Oil...Blue Sky Mine, Beds are Burning, Bull Roarer
Pearl Jam...Alive, EvenFlow
Crash Test Dummies...Superman's Song, Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm, Swimming in Your Ocean
Foreigner...Hot Blooded, Double Vision, I Want to Know What Love Is
Blue Rodeo...Hasn't Hit Me Yet, Try, 5 days in May
Beatles/Stones...take your picks
Led Zeppelin....ditto(I like the Physical Grffiti album)
Sade...ditto
Diana Krall and Norah Jones...ditto
Tragically Hip...lots to choose from, but not too well known in the States, try a couple of songs like Locked In The Trunk of a Car, Blow at High Dough, Fifty Mission Cap
James Taylor...Shower the People, Fire and Rain, Carolina in my Mind
Sundays...I Feel Fine, Wild Horses
Cranberries...Linger, Dreams, When You're Gone
Sinead O'Connor...Nothing Compares 2 U
Enya...Orinoco Flow, Carribean Blue, Only Time
Loreena McKennitt...Mystics Dream, The Old Ways, Gates of Istanbul, Mummer's Dance
Dire Straits...So Far Away, Sultans of Swing, Brothers In Arms
Live...Turn My Head, Operation Spirit, Lightning Crashes

Hope you find a few selections there, Rob! good luck!

B-52s are awesome party music!

Rock Lobster
Love Shack
Roam
Butterbean
Song for a Future Generation

John Butler Trio. You can practically play the whole CD (first two anyways) because he throws so many different genres into his mix.

ROTFL. I don't know about Barney, but I can see the potential in the other three. This concept needs its own thread.

Shane

Noooooooooooooo!!!
::runs away screaming::

I lived next to a guy that blasted that song way too loud EVERY morning when he got up.

Alone.

If you're planning on buying some music for your list, and are looking for some things slightly off the beaten path, I'd recommend the following. All are fun and I think would appeal to most age groups:

New Shoes by Paolo Nutini.
Chelsea Dagger by the Fratellis.
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song by the Flaming Lips.
Shine On by the Kooks.
Float On by Modest Mouse.
Little Sister by Queens of the Stone Age (not so off the beaten path, but a good party song).

You can probably preview all of these on ITunes.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned our home-grown Canadian . . . David Wilcox. Can't have a party (especially one serving a few wobbly-pops) without throwing on "The Best of David Wilcox"!

Maybe I'm too old. Oh well. Back to my Irish Rover's "Wasn't That a Party"!