Calling all DJs and Jukebox Wizards

June 13, 2013 1:02 PM

I am looking for examples of songs that bridge genres, or help transition from one type of music to another, in the context of a fifteen-song jukebox set. Examples inside.

One of my favorite things to do is go to my local dive bar on a quiet night with some friends and play jukebox "theme" sets. Some of my recent favorites are:

-90s Hip Hop/Funk/Motown
-Old Country/Americana/Glam Rock
-Glam Rock/80's Dance Pop/Indie Dance Pop

Currently, I only have a handful of songs that work as good transition songs for the above--Prince's Kiss works well, as does Belle and Sebastien's Your Cover's Blown for transitioning between dance and other genres. David Bowie's Space Oddity and Bicycle Race by Queen both serve for Americana/Glam Rock. James Brown's Papa's Got a Brand New Bag is good between Funk and Motown, and Michael Jackson's Don't Stop Til You Get Enough is pretty versatile. If I'm really flying by the seat of my pants, Daft Punk can usually be counted on in a pinch, as can LCD Soundsystem.

I love these songs, but they're getting kinda tired...do you have any other ideas for me? Assume I'm willing to listen to almost anything (although the above is fairly representative) and that I have one of those new-fangled internet jukeboxes with which to look up songs.

posted by stellaluna to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

For Old Country to Americana, try early Neko Case, "Mood to Burn Bridges."
For Glam Rock into Dance Pop, VHS or Beta, "Don't Believe a Single Word."
posted by jbickers at 1:09 PM on June 13, 2013

check out Groove Armada, they flip around between soul, rap, rock, pop, funk, and jazz pretty easily... their hits are accessible and catchy, the deeper catalog is worth checking out.

They of course are heavily influenced by Sly and the Family Stone who were also an amazing amalgam of styles.

And of course Fatboy Slim and Moby are very skilled at getting from Blues or Funk to Booty Shaking dance music.
posted by bobdow at 1:22 PM on June 13, 2013

For country to glam rock try the current tune by The Band Perry, Forever Mine, Nevermind.
posted by COD at 1:23 PM on June 13, 2013

90s hip-hop is largely sample-based, and a lot of those samples came from soul and funk records--the kindergarten version would be to just play 'Nothin But a G Thang,' then play 'I Wanna Do Somethin' Freaky to You,' or 'Juicy' and then 'Juicy Fruit.' Better yet, play a song with e.g. a George Clinton break, then play e.g. a Funkadelic song. Or, for an even subtler transition, play a song with e.g. the 'Blind Alley' break, then something else from the Stax label, or even just another girl harmony group song.
posted by box at 1:34 PM on June 13, 2013

For a mix of 70's rock and big-band swing (although I'm not sure about the transitionals) there's Dancin', with Olivia Newton-John and The Tubes, from Xanadu.
posted by Rash at 1:53 PM on June 13, 2013

I've used Major Lazer's Pon De Floor to transition from house to dancehall. I don't know if that's what you had in mind, since I assume that the device you're talking about doesn't have the ability to actually mix songs.
posted by 1adam12 at 4:30 PM on June 13, 2013

Should you need to go from country (loosely defined) to soul, I like:

Liam Bailey - Please Love Me

and

J. J. Cale - Let Me Do It To You
posted by drwelby at 10:20 PM on June 13, 2013