Well I know you guys are always looking for the latest and greatest when it comes to songs to use at your upcoming event. Whether it’s a wedding or a quinceanera, you always want the newest or the most popular.

This year March was a blessing to me. In actuality all this year has been a blessing. I’ve stayed busy every weekend of the year (Except for the weekends that I take off to spend time with my daughters) and am booked all the way up to July (With a couple of dates to fill, and many Fridays still open) as I type this article. And I’m even thinking of raising my prices just a bit since I normally do A LOT more for my customers than most DJ companies in Houston.

So what I am going to do this post is write out the more popular songs that have been used by my brides and a few quinceaneras for their father daughter dances as well as for the first dance and any other traditional dances. Now I will not include every single on, but just the top songs that I enjoyed and I thought were really emotional.

OK, let’s get to it.

Bride and Groom First Dance

1. Aerosmith - I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing
2. Mana & Juan Luis Guerra - Bendita tu Luz
3. Etta James - At Last

Father and Daughter Dance

1. Rascal Flatts - My Wish
2. Stephen Curtis Chapman - Cinderella
3. Bob Carlisle - Butterfly Kisses

Mother and Son Dance

1. Boyz II Men - A Song For Mama
2. Josh Groban - You Raise Me Up

This is just to give you an idea of what’s been requested recently. For a more comprehensive list of songs, check out my extensive
Song List.

Thank you.

–
Happy Planning

Francisco H. Perez
Your Wedding DJ in Houston

Recently, I was asked by the Houston American Disc Jockey Association to give a presentation about the different genres of Latin Music. This was pretty simple since I am pretty familiar with all the different sounds of the Latin Music world. I had done all the hard work before, when I was beginning my road down my DJ journey. I needed to sort all my music in a way that would be easy for me to find and in a way that I could have all the music of the same Genre in the same folder. Since I’ve always used a PC for storing the music, I did this step in the very beginning and it took me a few months to perfect, but I have been using this layout for the last 8 years, so apparently it works.

The firs thing I did was to break it down into the main groups that I could think of which are; Mexican Music, Latin Music, and Tejano Music. These are the main groups of people here in Houston, so I had specify which music went with what group. That does not mean that Mexican people do not like listening to Latin Music or Tejano Music and so on.

Mexican Genres:

I did Mexican music, because a lot of the Latin music here in Houston is from Mexico. Even in the Mexican Music group you have a lot of genres to cover. Here is how I broke the Mexican Music Down:

Huapangos (Song Names)

1. Redoblando
2. Entrale En Ayunas
3. Tamaulipas, Tamaulipas

Cumbia

1. Fito Olivares - La Cobra
2. Kumbia Kings - Sabes a Chocolate
3. Control - Cumbia con la Luna

Norteñas

1. Duelo - Un Minuto Mas
2. Pesado - Ojala Que te Mueras
3. Intocable - El Amigo Que se Fue

Norteno Cumbias:

1. El Poder del Norte - Enamorate de Alguien
2. Palomo - Mi Verdad
3. Cardenales de Nuevo Leon - Para Olvidarme de Ti

Corridos

1. Los Tigres Del Norte - Most Songs
2. Los Invasores de Nuevo Leon - Mi Casa Nueve
3. Los Traileros - Cuando Nadie Quiera

Banda (Artist Names)

1. Banda el Recodo
2. Banda Machos

Sonidero

1. Aniceto Molina - Cumbia Cienaguera
2. Sabor Kolombia - Ritmo de Bota y Tambor
3. SupermerK2 - Que Calor

Huaracha (Song Names)

1. La Huaracha Sabrosona
2. El Gigante de Hierro
3. Paloma

Duranguense

1. Horoscopos de Durango - Mi Amor Por Ti
2. Montez de Durango - Pasito Duranguense
3. Patrulla 81 - Como Pude Enamorarme de Ti

Spanish Rock

1. Mana - Me Vale
2. Enanitos Verdes - Lamento Boliviano
3. Hombres G - Marta Tiene un Marcapasos

Latin Music

Latin music is probably a lot more extensive than this list, but as far as weddings in Houston go, a DJ only needs to be concerned with these top genres.

Salsa (Top Artists Names)

1. Sonora Carruseles
2. Marc Anthony
3. Jerry Rivera

Merengue (Top Artists Names)

1. Elvis Crespo
2. Oro Solido
3. La Banda Gorda

Punta (Top Artist Names)

1. Kazzabe
2. La Gran Banda
3. Los Roland’s

Bachata (Top Artists Names)

1. Aventura
2. Optimo
3. Xtreme

Reggaeton

1. Daddy Yankee - Rompe
2. Don Omar - Salio el Sol
3. Angel y Khriz - Ven Bailalo

Latin Dance (Top Artist Names)

1. Shakira
2. Ricky Martin
3. Enrique Iglesias

Tejano Music

Tejano Music is very popular here in Houston, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi. For a DJ to be from Houston or any of these cities and not know Tejano Music, it’s pretty rare. Almost any party or any wedding that has a Latin crowd will dance to the most popular Tejano songs.

Tejano (Polka?) (Artists)

1. Hometown Boys - Mire Amigo
2. Emilio Navaira - Como Le Hare
3. Jaime y Los Chamacos - Puerta Negra

Tejano Cumbias

1. Selena - Como La Flor
2. Shelly Lares - Soy tu Amor
3. La Mafia - Un Millon de Rosas

It’s important to note that the method I used to separate these genres is by the way they are danced. What I mean is that all these sections are danced exactly the same way. They speed on the song may vary, but the way they are danced are the same. The Cumbia step is the same for all Cumbias listed above, however I broke even that down into several sections. Some DJ’s prefer to have ALL their Cumbias together, but I find it that if I go from one Mexican cumbia to a Tejano cumbia, I lose some people on the dance floor. Not always, but generally speaking. Why? Because they would probably like to hear another Mexican cumbia, that they know.

If you pay attention to the Tejano, the same artists will sing a Cumbia and a Polka. Now polka is not the official name, it’s just how I differentiate the steps. The tejano cumbias are danced the same way as any other cumbia, and the rest of the tejano is almost like a Polka step, and it is a lot easier to dance.

Another recommendation of mine, if the DJ is able to Beatmix, or keep one continuous beat going from song to song, the dance floor will remain full all night. However, if there is any gap between songs, a lot of people will go sit down. Sometimes, the dancers are waiting for a small break in the music to go sit down.

That’s all my knowledge of Latin music, anybody can feel free to email me and correct me if I am wrong or misrepresenting anything on this article.

–
Happy Planning!
Your Professional Bilingual DJ in Houston

P.S. Don’t forget about our new Photo Booth Houston Rental Business

Saturday February 9th, 2008, was my sister, Veronica’s, Quinceanera, or sweet XV (15). Boy do they grow up quick !!! I have 2 of my own so I have to start preparing… now… YIKES!!

What I will try to do here is summarize my experience from both sides, the side of the coin: the side of the consumer and the side of the vendor. I will use my magical insight into the world of this service oriented industry so you can form some insight of your own to use during your own Quinceanera, or wedding, planning journey.

I actually had little to nothing to do with the whole planning process. I know what you’re thinking, “Oh, great and how are we supposed to learn from you?” Let me tell you how…

I was there, the day of the event, so most of this will cover that day and maybe I will go into detail of some of the unexpected things that you may run into from your vendors.

THE BUDGET…

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As a former member of the American Disc Jockey Association and the Houston Chapter of the American Disc Jockey Association I have been able to transform my passion of music into what I love and enjoy doing, week after week. They have given me tools, resources, demonstrations, personal advice, personal assistance and personal care to be able to do it every weekend and to do it good. It is also thanks to them, and a few individuals, that I have been able to acquire the confidence necessary feel good about what I do and to start charging what I deserve to make as a professional entertainer.

What we do as DJ’s is more than just put in a cd, sit down, let the song play, and repeat the process all night long. We study, we practice, we visualize, and we do anything necessary to ensure that we are prepared before every event. Some times we devote up to 20 hours to a single event; Sometimes more and sometimes less. So when asked why we charge $600+ for a 4-5 Hour event, that is the answer we will usually give you. It’s not only 4-5 Hour of enjoyable work for us and time away from our families (my wife, my daughters) whom we work so hard for. It’s also all that time that does not go accounted for, planning the schedule, driving to meetings, reading and learning new activities, organizing the the entertainment agenda, arriving 1-2 Hour before the event, leaving 1-2 Hours later, and not to mention our accumulated knowledge and experience of how to make an event fun, enjoyable, and overall exciting for everyone.

So what have people started doing?

The newest trend is to rent out small DJ equipment, purchase or use an existing Ipod, downloading the music and letting the Ipod do the entertaining.

Good alternative right?

See for yourself, the American Disc Jockey Association has released a video of an actual wedding where they decided to use an Ipod for their reception.

See it here:

“What you need to know BEFORE you choose an ipod for your event.”

Happy Planning!

–
Francisco H. Perez
“Simply Frank”
Your Hispanic Houston Wedding DJs

Finding that special song to dance with your father is part of the planning process. It has to say the right words and it must represent the relationship between the father and the daughter. I’ve just come across two new songs that can be used as a father and daughter dance, whether at a Wedding or a Quinceañera. They are absolutely wonderful. Check them and remember, these have not been over-used and if you are looking for something new that nobody else has played as their father and daughter dance, you might have just found that special song

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This month is my birthday…. YAY!!!! (09-25 for those of you wondering… )

Well September is a slow month in this industry, mainly because of back to school, preparations for the upcoming holidays and so on. I only have 1 Quinceañera this month and it is at the end of the Month (September 29th, 5 days after my birthday). However, I have met up with Gina, the quinceañera’s Mother, and discussed the music she wants played at her daughter’s Quinceañera Reception.

This Month, the new song by Soulja Boy - Crank That (Soulja Boy). It includes a great dance step to it, which was demonstrated to us in the September Meeting of the Houston Chapter of the American Disc Jockey Association. The dance steps were demonstrated by a dance group who I will find out their name and website and post it here later. I don’t have their business card.

I actually got it requested at two different events in August; My August 5th Wedding was the first time I heard about it, and on my August 18th Quinceañera. This song can be found on the September Rhythm Radio Issue of Promo Only, track #13 and it is radio edited for content.

So what are the Popular Quinceañera Songs of September 2007?

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