Where's The Party At?

I added the video above for you to watch because there is a growing problem in America's nightclubs, and this video is NOT the problem. The video is from the 1984 movie "Beat Street", in which inner city youngsters do whatever they can to have a party. When the DJ gets power in the room, he immediately gets the crowd pumped up for a good time, saying "It's working!". Every time he calls out to the crowd, the crowd responds very enthusiastically. Everyone in the room wants to have a great time and dance. The effort to have a good time is well defined and everyone participates to reach that goal.

Flash forward to 2009. Pick a club. Any club in America. I can say with almost 90% certainty that you will find, on any given night, at any given club, a crowd of people that got dressed up and came to the club not to dance and have a good time, but to be seen by others and give off an "attitude". Who are we talking about? Who are these people ruining a perfectly good night of dancing? Well, I have a few suspects in mind to alert you to. Ready? Here we go:

1. The "Wanna be DJ" - This person has decided that since the moment they entered the club, they know what everyone else wants to hear. They approach the DJ while the floor is packed dancing to "Drop It Low" by Ester Dean to tell them that it's time to play "Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leppard instead...with a serious face too!

2. The "Ghost Dancer" - This person walks up to the DJ booth, tells the DJ that they need to play a song. No. They DEMAND that the DJ play that song. When the DJ plays the song for them? They decide to bounce up and down in their seat, singing the words like it's a damn karaoke night, without EVER setting foot on the dancefloor! (For the record, this person bothers me most because if they just wanted to hear the song, they should stay home and listen on their iPod or radio).

3. The "Parking Lot Pimp/Pimpette" - This person does nothing except show up to the club, wearing their best clothes...criticizing the work of the DJ, hitting on every person they see, and just basically takes up space. They don't need to dance. They want to stand up against the bar and let everybody know they are in da BUILDING! Their only real need is to wait to see who gets intoxicated beyond recognition so they can hit on them and hope they take that drunk person home (translation: desperatation.)

Now, you may know of others, but I'm writing this because DJ's all across America grow frustrated by crowds that show up, only to stand around and ruin the "party" process.

It used to be that a DJ/MC only had to ask a club crowd "Party people are you ready to rock? Let me hear you scream!" to get a positive reaction from a crowd. In 2009, I personally have resorted to telling crowds "Ugly people stay in your chairs!" or "I'm going to start calling bingo numbers to you if you don't get up and dance...how old are you?". Of course there's my favorite line to get folks to get up and dance..."We're going to start playing Country music!" That one ALWAYS lights a fire under the crowd.

The main point of this entire rant I'm spewing right now is that if you take the time to get dressed, find a designated driver, pay a cover (if you have to pay a cover), pay for drinks, drink those drinks, and put up with crowds, security, etc, shouldn't you also be there to PARTY AND HAVE A GOOD TIME?

Last time I checked, there was nothing shameful, embarrassing, or wrong with having a good time at a club. Do you know why? Because the purpose of a dance club is to make...people...dance! If you want to stand at the bar, act like you know the music better than the DJ, try to act like you are better than other folks in the club, or request songs and then not dance to them, do the rest of us a big favor, and KEEP YOUR SORRY ASS AT HOME! Thanks for reading...