DJ Kicks with a Goofy Foot, v. 1

As if it weren't already enough that my friend Mike campaigned heavily for me to get a job at the record store he helps manage in downtown Omaha, he has also allowed me to horn in on his weekly DJ set at a bar in town called The Goofy Foot. We had our first joint set on Friday night, mixing his vinyl picks with tracks off of my iPod and computer.

I think we were both a little worried how it might work at first. We knew the basic plan was for him to play a record and then I would follow with a track from my collection that I thought fit the theme or idea he was going with. Our plan, at least for this night, was to start with some kind of ambient dance music, segue that into some reggae and old soul, and then come in with the classic rock and funk in hour two.

It actually went quite well, and we're planning on doing it again this Friday. I'm posting my half of the setlist, along with a handful of tracks, here this afternoon for your perusal. Regular readers of this site will recognize quite a few songs, since I've posted them here in the past. It sucks that I have no digital record of the stuff Mike was playing, because he was dropping some sick stuff, including a crazy Sonic Youth instrumental, some Charles Mingus, the Four Tops, and a classic Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd track.

THE GOOFY FOOT - 08.05.2005
ANALOG Vs. DIGITAL (digital setlist only)

1. "Crazy Disco Party" by WAGON CHRIST: One of my contributions to the trippy ambient portion of the set. If you dig this song, you should check out the whole album, "Tally Ho!" Wagon Christ is a guy named Luke Vibert, who has also released a number of discs under his own name.
2. "Vitamin C" by CAN
3. "Psychedelic Woman" by HONNY AND THE BEES BAND: One of the cool things about the analog vs. digital format is that I can steal music from Mike's CD bag in between tracks. This one was one of his suggestions. If Mike had thrown this one on from his half of the decks, I probably would have followed it with Mos Def's "Ghetto Rock."
4. "Crying in the Chapel" - mash-up of Elvis Presley and the Wailers by unknown artist
5. "Soul Rebel" by THE GLADIATORS
6. "Inside Straight" by CANNONBALL ADDERLY
7. "Express Yourself" by CHARLES WRIGHT AND THE WATTS 103rd ST. RHYTHM BAND
8. "The First Cut is the Deepest" by THE KOOBAS
9. "How Does it Feel to Feel (US version)" by THE CREATION (see post below for track)
10. "Evil" by HOWLIN' WOLF
11. "Big Brother Beat" by DE LA SOUL: Speaking of Mos Def, this track from De La's "Stakes is High" album is one of his earliest appearances. Straight butter hits. At this point in the set, it was pretty much a funky dance party. Mike and I had to turn down an offer to dance from two pretty but inebriated young ladies, one of whom wound up dancing on a table for two songs.
12. "The Clapping Song" by SHIRLEY ELLIS
13. "Make it Real (Ride On)" by BETTY ADAMS
14. "We're Having a Party" by SAM COOKE (live version from the Harlem Square Club album)
15. "Absolute Beginners" by THE JAM: It was either this or "Start!", and I didn't have "Start!" on my computer. This was actually going to be the closer for the night, but I couldn't resist and threw on one more track...
16. "Yeah Yeah" by BLACKROCK: This should open or close every DJ set on Earth. I think I got this from some amazing blog almost a year ago, and I still find myself throwing it on a few times a week. I love this track because it combines every element from what we were trying to incorporate into our set, including soul, r&b, psychedelic rock and more.

If you're reading this and you happen to live in the Omaha area, you should come down to the Goofy Foot this Friday night. Look for the two geeks sweating it out in the DJ booth in back. Oh, and please: no requests.