Floor fillers
Kelly-Anne Byrne, DJ/broadcaster
Franki Valli & The Four Seasons: The Night
“I’ve been playing this on dance floors since I started over 20 years ago. It’s a timeless record that everyone adores. When I presented my Today FM show, The Beat Goes On, it was the most requested track.”
Prince: I Wanna Be Your Lover (Dimitri from Paris Remix)
“It’s rare for a remix to be better than the original but I think this is. It’s the joyous clapping at the start and the way the record builds when the drums kick in. An absolute belter.”
The Joubert Singers: Stand on the Word
“No matter where you play it, this track works – there’s something spiritual about it. Years ago, when my grandad listened to my first ever radio show on a Walkman, I met him the following week, and he said, ‘I really loved that song with the choir’ – that’s high praise from a jazz man.”
Lapsley: Operator (DJ Koze Remix)
“I’ve recently started playing this again during my sets. There might not be a sinner on the floor and then they hear this and suddenly it’s full. DJ Koze really worked his magic on this remix and Lapsley’s sweet vocals and lyrics make for a classic tune.”
Glady’s Knight and The Pips: Bourgie Bourgie (Dave Lee Remix)
“The joy of this tune – the perfect disco track and a perfect remix. I love how Dave Lee simply enhances the original, and for me he’s up there with the greats in terms of remixing tracks.”
Alicia Myers: I Want to Thank You
“I feel every emotion under the sun when I play this track, and you can feel the same from the audience. When I lived in New York, this was the song I often played at the end of the night. I can still hear people singing it at the top of their voices.”
Dolly Parton: Jolene (Todd Terje Edit)
“This track never, ever fails. I love how Todd Terje subtly teases out the original before the vocal kicks in. You’re guaranteed a full dance floor no matter when you play it during a set.”
[ Dolly Parton: ‘I always knew how to manoeuvre in a crowd of men’Opens in new window ]
LCD Soundsystem: All My Friends
“The song describes perfectly the joy of an after-party, moments with friends you will remember for the rest of your life. I’ve never had a dull moment playing this tune.”
Aretha Franklin: Say A Little Prayer
“Aretha Franklin and Burt Bacharach – how could it not work? I call this a ‘hands-on-chest’ tune because people literally clutch their chests and sing and sway to the words until the very last beat.”
Kate Bush: Wuthering Heights
“Lately, dance floors are increasingly driven by speed, so it’s always nice to throw a curveball. I recently played a disco/house set all night and ended on this; people lost their minds with emotion. A guy said to me, ‘You’ve some balls to play that’. Well, I don’t have balls, but I certainly know a good tune.”
Romantic
Mary Coughlan, singer
Frank and Nancy Sinatra: Something Stupid
“I suppose when I was young and foolish, I imagined some guy/girl practising the words and getting it together to ask someone out and then maybe jumping ahead to the three little words a bit too soon!”
Nina Simone: My Baby Just Cares for Me
“Just that. No care for any possessions. Just me.”
Roberta Flack: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
“It captures that moment when you fall in love ... I cried buckets when my daughter sang it for her husband at their wedding.”
Gilbert O’Sullivan: At the Very Mention of Your Name
“I just love it – ‘At the very mention of your name, get shivers down my back and in my brain, the parts that used to function normally are now as you can see acting very strange at the very mention of your name …’ Years ago, Denis Desmond suggested I should sing it. I might do now that I sing it around the house.”
Mary Coughlan: I Get Along Without You Well
“Am I allowed to include one of mine? The pain of it all. It’s such a perfect song. I recorded it in London with an orchestra and because I had tears running down my face the bass player, Danny Thompson, had to stand beside me to count me in.”
Elvis Presley: The Wonder Of You
“It’s just a great sentiment. To accept the other person and all their flaws, and to love them anyway.”
Elvis Presley: You Were Always On My Mind
“Oh, God ... The regrets ... So many ... It’s a great one to think of and go put your arms around your special person more often, which is something I’m learning late in life.”
The Smiths: Last Night I Dreamed Somebody Loved Me
“Just the longing of it.”
Nick Cave: Into Your Arms
“Ah, stop. I recorded it a million years ago and listened back recently and cried and cried.”
Joy Division: Love Will Tear Us Apart
“The way that love tears you apart ... ‘Why is the bedroom so cold?’ Jaysus, it’s so good, so perfect. My version is more miserable and New Order’s Bernard Sumner loves it.”
- Mary Coughlan plays gigs nationwide in December. For further details, visit www.marycoughlan.ie
Eat and drink
Simon Walsh, ops supervisor and beer specialist at the Smithwicks Experience Kilkenny
Otis Redding: Cigarettes and Coffee
“The quintessential song about the enjoyment of conversation. Considering a good meal can be amplified by good conversation there is no better choice as backing music.”
Ween: Your Party
“A slow and warm track that deals with the impact of a well-put-together dinner party. Ween have always been constant musical chameleons and this brief foray into lounge music is flawless.”
Darondo: Didn’t I
“The beautiful soul harmonies and hypnotising guitar melody make this both an earworm and a perfect accompaniment to a good meal.”
Billy Joel: Scenes from an Italian restaurant
“Food is a part of everyday life and nowhere is that clearer than in this masterpiece of life and food. Billy Joel is an artist in making a rich story from everyday routines.”
John Prine: Day is Done
“The master of simple storytelling. A song full of nostalgic bliss, the mellow guitar and rich vocals make for the perfect soundtrack to a comfort food meal.”
Nina Simone: My Baby Just Cares for Me
“Nina Simone’s sultry and inviting vocals make this track particularly brilliant for a candlelight dinner.”
The Proclaimers: Streets of Edinburgh
“Food can be the key to memories, and this is a wonderful, soulful track about the comforts of home and home-cooked meals.”
Mark Geary: It Beats Me
“This beautifully crafted track from one of the most underrated Irish songwriters is set to the simple task of cleaning up after dinner. Food is a universal language and this mellow tune beautifully encompasses such a thought.”
Cat Stevens: Tea For the Tillerman
“Short, perfect and beautiful – a song dedicated to nothing more simple than the delivery of food to the table.”
Top five wacky Christmas albums
A Heavy Metal Christmas, by Christoper Lee
Yes, that’s Dracula and the mean guy from Lord of the Rings. Lee loved heavy metal and at the age of 90 he released body-crushing versions of, among other treats, Silent Night.
The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
Christmas isn’t Christmas until you’ve heard overlong flute versions of traditional carols God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Greensleeves and The Holly and the Ivy.
Shatner Clause – The Christmas Album, by William Shatner
A baker’s dozen of Christmas classics delivered in the way that only William Shatner can: dramatic interpretations with Liberal! Use! Of! Exclamation! Points!
Snoop Dogg Presents Christmas in tha Dogghouse
There isn’t a sign of festive fare here. Instead, pour yourself a gin’n’juice and nod along to Christmas in the Hood, A Pimp’s Christmas Song, and My Little Mama Trippin’ on Xmas.
Christmas in the Heart, by Bob Dylan
The Joy Jury might disagree, but hearing Dylan strangle the likes of Winter Wonderland, Little Drummer Boy and Hark the Herald Angels Sing lends new meaning to the words ‘Blowin’ in the wind’.
Top five wonderful Christmas albums
Songs for Christmas, by Sufjan Stevens
From It’s Christmas Let’s be Glad to Come On, Let’s Boogie to the Elf Dance, this one spreads Crimbo joy like snow over a mountain.
A Very She & Him Christmas, by She & Him
Gentle retro-pop takes on songs new-ish (Wham!’s Last Christmas) and old-ish (Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas) make this a genuine cross-generational favourite.
Tinsel and Lights, by Tracy Thorn
Tracy Thorn avoids the obvious by covering seasonal songs from Ron Sexsmith (Maybe This Christmas), White Stripes (In the Cold, Cold Night) and Joni Mitchell (River).
This Is Christmas, by Tim Wheeler and Emmy the Great
This album by the once loved-up pair of indie pop stars is cynic proof, with songs such as Home for the Holidays and Sleigh Me cooking your goose before you have time to switch on the oven.
A Christmas Gift For You from Phil Spector
Regarded by many as the best Christmas record ever, and with good reason: Ronnie Spector’s Christmas Baby, Please Come Home is an evergreen.
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