Beyond the DJ Booth
Brian B and Joe Bunn tackle questions about the private event DJ industry, share music, gear/gadgets, and stories from their events.
Beyond the DJ Booth
Mike Walter Finds the Greatest Song Ever
What is the greatest song ever? A chart-topping classic? A perfect lyric? A groove that flips a room from murmurs to full-on chorus?
In this episode, Brian B and Joe sit down with one of the most respected voices in the private-event DJ industry, Mike Walter, to unpack a deceptively simple question that reveals everything about how DJs listen, select, and shape emotion on the dance floor.
Mike pulls back the curtain on his new book, a bold and deeply thoughtful journey through forty songs that matter. He explains why he limits himself to one track per artist, why some sacred staples don’t make the cut, and how real greatness often shows up on the 20th listen, not the first. Expect spicy takes on iconic tracks like Stairway to Heaven and Bohemian Rhapsody, surprising praise for overlooked writers, and a candid breakdown of how lyrics function like modern poetry.
Then we bring it back to the booth.
Brian, Joe, and Mike trade:
- Gig-proven tracks that have crushed in 2025 with our music in review
- Hooks-only edits that turn transitions into moments
- The 110–116 BPM ladder that moves a room from hip-hop to house without losing the floor
- Why doors-open programming is a brand statement, not a throwaway warm-up
- How to stack “double pops” to create late-night peaks with intention
It’s equal parts music theory, DJ psychology, and in-the-trenches perspective...exactly the kind of conversation that makes working DJs better.
We close with Mike’s next chapter: selling Elite Entertainment to his longtime right-hand man, staying active behind the decks, and focusing on the work that lights him up: books, travel, and thoughtful, legacy-level sets.
If you care about music, programming, or building a sustainable career in the private event DJ world, this episode will give you new ways to listen and new ways to lead a room.
Share it with a DJ friend, follow the show, and leave a review with your pick for the greatest song ever (we might read it on a future episode).
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Beyond the DJ Booth Podcast. I'm Joe Bunn. That right there is Brian B. And today we have a first, an actual first, the very first guest, and it would have never been anyone else, the one, the only straight out of New Jersey, Mike Walter in the building. What's up, Mike?
SPEAKER_00:Thank you so much, gentlemen, for having me on.
SPEAKER_01:How are you? Dude, I I couldn't be more excited about this. I mean, I wish you could see the amount of technology and shit that we have been setting up for two days to get ready to bring on Mike Walter as the first guest.
SPEAKER_00:You know, I actually I looked into flights to get down there and do this in person. It just was impractical, especially because I'm gonna be in Vegas next week for wedding MBM. So it just was not gonna make sense. But I would have. If I could have, I would have hopped on a plane and been there in person. I love the setup, it looks awesome.
SPEAKER_01:Dude, thanks, man. We got the little set here, and we were able to hook up a little conference camera. And anyway, we are gonna talk about a lot of stuff today. We're not gonna put time constraints on this thing. Uh, if it goes longer than our normal 30 minutes, then of course it needs to for somebody of this stature, somebody that I've learned from, Brian's learned from. I it's probably the reason that I started speaking in the first place, which then led to the DJ's vault, which then led us here. He and I did a podcast, what, Mike, five years, 300 episodes?
SPEAKER_00:We did? We did a podcast. Dude, it's still out there.
SPEAKER_01:If you if you don't know about the PHDJ podcast, it is still out there. I think there are close to 300 episodes, and it was awesome. We called each other every week, uh, Mike being in New Jersey, me in North Carolina, and so again, happy to have him as the very first guest today. Tell him what we're talking about, though, Brian. You want to tell them about why Mike is on? I mean, he's on for multiple reasons, but I think we should lead with the book and then move into the other show.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I mean, I this is news to me. I when you told me about it, I was like, oh, I'm looking forward to this, actually.
SPEAKER_01:I I want to talk about the title and then just kind of move from there, Mike, because I think this is so interesting. I just was reading it to Brian and I even read it, how it reads. So the greatest song ever? It's a question, right? And I think that's so cool. The sub, what do you call that, Mike? The the title under the title. Subtitle. Subtitle, an in-depth analysis of incredible songs with the ultimate goal of finding the greatest ever.
SPEAKER_02:I want to hear Mike's explanation of greatest. Like, is there a formula to this or am I just overthinking it?
SPEAKER_00:You know, there's no formula, Brian. To me, a great song hits you in the feels. Whether that's, you know, makes you motivated and makes you feel like you can run through a wall or leaves you sobbing in tears because it was so sad or anything. To me, a great song really has to hit you in the feels. And I think I make that point many, many times in this book. How a song can move you if you really listen to it closely and understand the lyrics.
SPEAKER_02:So you had to take off the DJ hat to put this list together, or was that part of the equation at all?
SPEAKER_00:You know, that's a great question, Brian. I obviously doing this for as long as I do, I understand the reaction that certain certain songs have to crowds, and that's an important thing as well. But I think some DJs only define music by will it rock my dance floor or not. You know, we saw that when Taylor Swift just released her latest album. The biggest reaction, the biggest comments I saw from DJ friends of mine was, Oh, I don't hear anything that's gonna work at my gigs. All right, but that's not the only thing that music can do. I don't know you as well as I know Joe Brian. I don't know how much you love music outside of just playing at events, but I know Joe and I share that passion for, you know, Joe, you go to plenty of concerts, and those artists aren't artists that you play at your events, right? Because you have an appreciation for music as a whole and the fact that some is danceable, some isn't. So to answer the question, I took my DJ hat off a little bit, but I kept it on because great dance songs are also a subdivision of great music, and I appreciate great dance songs as much as the next person.
SPEAKER_02:All right, one more pre-qualifier question. So some songs move you in a moment, but then years later, maybe that wanes a bit. It doesn't have the same effect. So is part of the equation if it still moves you, or it just had its moment and now it's gone.
SPEAKER_00:I can only write this book from my perspective as a middle-aged man who's you know dealing with looking at 60 next year and the other issues in my life. And one song specifically that I can think of, I talk about that. The it hits me differently than it did 30 years ago or 40 years ago when I first heard it, because I'm coming at it from a perspective now of a middle-aged man as opposed to when I first heard it, I was a kid. So um, yeah, that absolutely songs hit you in different I mean, any art form hits you in a different way depending on where you are in your life.
SPEAKER_02:So to work your way up the list, if it has held on longevity-wise, does that help move it up the list of numbers? I mean, is it okay?
SPEAKER_00:It's yeah. I listen, I think that's one of the defining factors of great songs. There's a lot of, and they're usually pop songs that you love when you first hear it, and then five listens, ten listens later, you're like, meh, that song's not great. And conversely, I think most great songs don't grab you right away. That it takes a while to kind of bury into your soul, and then you start going, oh wow, that's a really great song. I get what the artist is trying to do there. It didn't come to you immediately, but it took a while for it to really grasp you.
SPEAKER_02:You might have to ask another one. Yeah, sorry. How many did you put in the book? 40. And they are ranked in that way, or no?
SPEAKER_00:It's just no, I I I point this out in the book that the first 39, I honestly put them into a Spotify playlist, I hit random, and I put the songs in that order. And I did that specifically for the first 39 because I I thought about doing chronological order, I thought about doing alphabetical order, but I just wanted some random effect. The 40th one I did save for the fact that you put a gun to my head and say what's the greatest song ever? It would be the 40th song that I write about. I think the first 39 are all great and deserve consideration as the greatest song ever. But if you forced me to decide, it would be the 40th one that I read. And you gotta read the book. So I saved that one specifically. And you gotta read the book. You gotta read the book. Damn right, you did.
SPEAKER_02:So was there any honorable mention ones, or was it easy to come up with this list of top 39?
SPEAKER_00:No, it wasn't. As a matter of fact, I thought about putting this in the in an addendum, but I I just didn't do it. There were over 200 songs that I listened to and considered and researched and really gave some soul searching about. So from over 200, I've narrowed this down to what I consider to be 40 of the greatest songs. That's amazing.
SPEAKER_08:Can I can I put this word in a fucking interview?
SPEAKER_01:Can I do you mind if I ask my mentor and and uh the legend a couple of questions? Is that okay? Cool, cool. Um, so Mike, you are an author. Like you've put out multiple books now. It's kind of run the gamut. Originally you'd made a lot of um uh let's call them video books or instructional things for DJs. The last book, is it on this day in music? Am I saying it right?
SPEAKER_00:On this date in music.
SPEAKER_01:On this date, I remember that's right, because you couldn't get the URL or something. On this date in music, which I used ad nauseum for multiple TikToks over the years. What brought on this concept? Like, how do you parlay from it? And by the way, just for the listeners that aren't familiar with that book, and I'm sure you can go out there and get it still on Amazon on this date in music. It was awesome because every day of the year, 365 days, Mike basically pulled a song and associated it with that date and then told the story behind it, and it was still is sitting on my coffee table. No, it's right there. I knew it was somewhere near me. It's right here between us. It sits right here between us. There it is, right there. And here it is, right here between us. So it sits here on the table as a reminder of where we came from. But how do you parlay from that book to this book? How does this come about, this concept?
SPEAKER_00:This latest book, The Greatest Song Ever, is actually inspired by On The State in Music because a friend of mine recently online said he loved On the State in Music, but he said you really didn't offer many opinions about the songs. And I didn't. It's a very factual book, and you know, this happened on this date, and here's an interesting thing that happened behind the scenes or whatever. But I didn't offer a lot of, and this song is great because, or this album is worth listening to because. And so I thought, hmm, I wonder if there's any value in just offering almost like a music critic, which is funny. I call myself that on the back of the book because there's no true definition of what a music critic is. You don't have to have everything a lawyer that you have to have passed apart. So yeah, I'm gonna use that title for myself. I think I'm a music critic. You are, and I think my opinion is of value, and not that everyone's gonna agree with that. I'm sure most people are gonna read this book and disagree with certain songs that I put in and say, Oh, I can't believe you didn't put this, but that's part of the fun of any kind of list like this, right? The things you agree with and the things you disagree with. So it was more about taking some of the facts from On the State and Music, but also offering my opinion about what makes the song so great.
SPEAKER_01:So speaking of, do you factor in or you know, put in this equation, this this Mike Walter formula, melody, rhythm, lyrics, all of the above, or do you focus on one thing? Or even like Brian was saying, like, do people throw ass to it? You know what I mean? Shake their ass to it?
SPEAKER_00:All of the above, but melody and rhythm are extremely important. But if if the lyrics don't hit me and hit me hard, and again, it doesn't have to be emotional, it can be that shaking your ass on the dance floor. I mean, there are a number of songs in here that we'll all know as gig songs because they get the dance floor moving, but that isn't the only deciding factor for me about what makes a great song. And to me, the lyrics just have to get me somehow. They have to make me go or wow or yeah, or just some kind of reaction from what the writer wrote. I mean, you also know I released a book of poetry uh about a year ago. I've made a whopping like$40 off of that. It was amazing. Nobody buys poetry. And I actually talk about that in the forward of this book that I've always believed music is a gateway to get people to read poetry or listen to poetry or be moved by poetry. I happen to read a lot of books of poetry, but most people don't do that. But when you listen to lyrics, it's really like appreciating poetry.
SPEAKER_01:You were kind of one of the people that we talked about it on the on the old podcast where you know you're riding around in the car and for whatever reason, let's say you're on a throwback station and Brick House comes on, you're like, oh no, I can't do that one. You know what I mean? Gig songs. How many of the 40 would you put into that category of gig songs? Shit, we play. I would say September is definitely a a gig song, right?
SPEAKER_00:100%. So that's that's covered in it. It's his favorite, it's his opener. Uh Respect, Aretha Franklin. Would you consider that song?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I do.
SPEAKER_00:Would you consider Usher? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:100% a gig song. Not at all. Just kidding.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. That's three. I think those are probably the only. Oh, I talk about hypnotize by Biggie. That to me is one of the greatest rap songs. I just love everything. I didn't agree more song, and I delve into the lyrics of that and I delve into the legacy of that. So yeah, probably four, maybe five.
SPEAKER_02:Did you find yourself sticking with one genre primarily, or it kept coming reoccurring? Like there's actually a singer-songwriter genre. I'm surprised that that wouldn't dominate because the lyrical content is usually so poignant. Yes, that's the word. Thank you. Great word.
SPEAKER_00:I did my best, Brian. Just like on this date in music, I did my best to spread the love throughout different eras. The oldest song in this book goes back to the 1930s. The most recent is just two years ago. So I tried to spread the love through different timelines and but also genres. There's country song, hip-hop, rock, folk, singer-songwriter. There I tried to cover as many genres as possible.
SPEAKER_02:Follow-up. Did one artist seem to dominate?
SPEAKER_00:Only one per artist. And listen, everyone knows me as a Prince fan. Of course, there's a Prince song in here, but only one. Probably the only artist that you could say is represented twice. I have a Beatles song and also a solo John Lennon song. So you might say I overweighed the Beatles a little bit, but I think if any band deserves to be overweighed in a book like this, it's the Beatles.
SPEAKER_01:So talk about avoiding like the cliches or how do you avoid the Stairway to Heaven or Bohemian Rhapsody? Or maybe you didn't. I don't know. Maybe they're in there. I only have a chance to glance at it.
SPEAKER_00:But here's my thing, Joe. First of all, I think that those songs have been given enough flowers through the years, written about, admired, adulted, everything else. But I don't think Stairway to Heaven is a great song. I know that might be sacrilege, but I think it's a very good song. I don't think it's a great song. I think it's a little over the top. I think it's a little self-indulgent. And I think Led Zeppelin has four or five better songs than Stairway to Heaven, in my opinion. I feel the same way about Bohemian Rhapsody. I think Bohemian Rhapsody is a great song. In my opinion, it's not even the best Queen song. And I just think it suffers a little bit from overexposure, if you will.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, I couldn't agree more. As somebody that really likes both of those bands and listens to songs even to this day and all through high school, you know, stuff that came out way before my time. I don't know. Not way before my time, but before my time, I would still pick three, four songs from Zeppelin or Queen before I would pick either one of those. But yes, they have been written to death, played to death, talked about to death. I mean, movies made about the songs, literally.
SPEAKER_00:Back in the day, there used to be a rock station in New York. I forget which one it was, maybe WNEW. And on I think it was July 4th, they would do like a top 500 countdown of the rock songs. And I loved listening to it. We would have barbecues and we'd have it on all day long. Once you got to the top 10, you could turn it off because you knew it was going to be some semblance of order of Baba O'Reilly and Stairway to Heaven. Like you pretty much knew, and again, not that those songs don't deserve to be in that placement, but maybe it's just overexposure to me. It wasn't hard for me to eliminate some of those cliche songs because they wouldn't have made my list even if I'd never heard them before.
SPEAKER_02:Well, with the music that's out today, I mean, obviously, just my own personal opinion that great songwriting is starting to suffer. Do you carry that same take in the sense that music today, the emphasis on great songwriting isn't there? And on the flip side, are there any artists that are out there currently that you think could make a list like this come 10 years from now? Damn, that's good.
SPEAKER_00:I disagree with the first thing. The thing is that great songwriters are not represented on the pop charts anymore. I mean, there's not even a rock band, I think, in most like most times when you look at the top 40 or whatever, you don't you're not even seeing any rock music or singer songwriters or things like that. So I think they're still out there, but I just don't think they're represented well as far as the pop charts go. Yeah, I mean, you guys have heard me talk about this young artist, Jake Wesley Rogers. I think he's a great example. I just saw him over the summer perform live. He actually opened up for Cindy Lopper on her last tour. The kid is an incredible artist, incredible lyricist. He's kind of a modern-day Elton John because he's very flashy and showy and plays piano. And I mean, he's another one that he put he released an album earlier in the year. It's my favorite album of the year. I've been listening to it nonstop, but it didn't make a blip on the pop chart. So I think you just have to look for those. If I wrote a book like this 25 years from now, would any of today's artists get in? Yeah, I mean, there's Alana Del Rey song in here. That's the most recent song, is Alana Del Rey song. I love it. She's an incredible lyricist, incredible artist. So those artists are still out there. You just got to look a little harder for them.
SPEAKER_01:So, Mike, what can people hope to learn, you know, if they buy this? And they are going to buy it. But what what is what's the the end, you know, what's the end goal for them as a reader to to pick this book up?
SPEAKER_00:I hope what they come away with it is a a deeper appreciation for songs that they might have heard their whole lives. You know, this a lot of the songs in here are going to be very, there's maybe three or four that people might go, oh wow, I'm not even familiar with that song, or I barely know that song. But most of the songs in here are going to be songs you go, wow, I've heard that song hundreds of times throughout my life, but I never noticed that lyrical pun or that lyrical twist or that guitar solo or the way the drum drops out there that emphasizes this lyric, that type of thing. That's the type of analysis I give to each one of these songs. And hopefully it's gonna give the reader a deeper appreciation for what I consider to be some great, great songs.
SPEAKER_01:Dude, I can't wait. I know I've got the PDF. I haven't had a chance to read it. I'm obviously gonna buy the heart.
SPEAKER_00:As soon as I will send you both copies. I wish I had them today so you could hold them up and show everybody, but you're both gonna get copies in the mail as soon as I get the print.
SPEAKER_01:We'll make a little video reel or whatever. So this comes out the day before Thanksgiving. This episode does. Yes. Yep. This episode that we're recording now. When does the book come out? How do they get it? Like, talk about all that good stuff before we move into the rest.
SPEAKER_00:It will be released on that Monday. So by the time you launch this, uh happy Thanksgiving, everybody. By the way, if that's gonna be tomorrow. Yeah, um, it will be available. You can get it on Amazon and it'll be the same price on Amazon as it will on my website. The difference is on my website I can sign it for you. So if you want to go to DJMikewalter.com, you can buy the book there, and I will send you an autographed signed and personalized if you want me to personalize it to you as well. And the good part about something like that is then if I die, it shoots up in value. You have a non-signed copy, it's not worth anything, but DJMikewalter.com.
SPEAKER_01:Get it signed. Yes, get it signed. All right, let's talk about some DJ shit, man. You know, you can we're not bringing Mike on here and just talk about books.
SPEAKER_00:We're talking uh we're just you guys welcomed me and you didn't give me an opportunity. I love this podcast. I've loved it since you launched it. I've always wanted to say this longtime listener, first time caller. Um, I I love it. And I love the fact that you don't just talk about DJ stuff. Very recently, Kelly said to me, my wife Kelly said, Have you heard about the Starbucks challenge? And I'm like, Yeah, I saw Joe and Brian do that with the with the cups that you were doing. Remember you guys did the episode where you heard a medium was the same as a large or grandes, and I was like, Yeah, Joe and Brian talked about that. So uh tip of the cap, Joe. I appreciate where you took your podcasting skills to an even higher level.
SPEAKER_01:Dude, I appreciate it. We wouldn't be here with it without the the years that you and I put behind the camera and behind the uh mic as well.
SPEAKER_00:So they were good training years, weren't they?
SPEAKER_01:I think we taught a lot of people. I thought people to still stop me all the time. Man, I love the PHDJ podcast. You want to talk about music? You want to do that? Hell yeah. Absolutely. That's what I want to talk about. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:So you came up with this topic, Mike. You want to walk it in?
SPEAKER_00:So normally this time of year, uh Joe and I would talk about our favorite songs of the year or the best gig songs of the year. So I thought if you're gonna have me on and you want to delve into that topic, I can be prepared and discuss it.
SPEAKER_02:Let's do it. Yeah. It looked like we all pick songs from 2025. Okay. Or at least it didn't seem like I didn't go into depth to look exactly when they got ready. Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
SPEAKER_00:I'm pretty sure the songs I sent you, although I do want to give an honorable mention. Yes, I saw that. Pink Pony Club came out in 2024, right? As far as new music goes, newer music, yeah. Pink Pony Club has been the best song of the year for me. It just rocks my dance floor, not rocks it in a high energy kind of way, but people they don't even sing along to that song, they scream along to it. Yeah, and it's a very tension release, very similar back in the day to I Will Survive. So I know I didn't include that on my list, and I I know it's not a 2025 song, but as far as newer music goes, Pink Pony Club deserves some mention.
SPEAKER_01:Just real quick before we move into the other ones. Mike, do you start it from the bat like do you play the the like the album version to start it from kind of the ballad part?
SPEAKER_08:No, no, no. Yep.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, okay. So just hard come out of something and then boom, slam that in. Exactly. Okay. Yeah. What about you?
SPEAKER_00:And as soon as they recognize the the melody, they launch into singing along, and yeah, it's just an amazing moment.
SPEAKER_02:It really depends on what part of the night I'm playing it. But usually I'm going into a mixed point of the pre-chorus, not the chorus. Yeah, me too. I think that's the one I have. Where it goes dun dun dun dun. Yeah. Not the pink, but you kinda need that little pink. It needs something, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I think that's what my own. You need that build-up too. Yeah. Anyway, just curious. Okay. What other songs? What else?
SPEAKER_02:Well, let's start with so we I the way we designed it was we got a little bit of a sample of each of these. Okay. And Mike, your first one I have, uh, round one, was uh from Lady Gaga. I'll let you kind of talk about it, then we can play a sample.
SPEAKER_00:I thought Abracadabra was a great song when it came out. I I played it a number of times when it first came out. I don't think I've been rocking it the last month or so. I think it's kind of fallen off. But as far as how many, you know, as far as new songs and how many times that I play it this year, the Gaga song Abracadabra is definitely up there.
SPEAKER_02:So if you're not familiar with it, let's hit it. Say go on.
SPEAKER_01:Ram B, did you play it? Never. Um couple times for me. It did never really took help.
SPEAKER_02:Never took help for me. That's interesting part, too. That that definitely has a jersey like that.
SPEAKER_00:So, Brian, you never played it?
SPEAKER_02:I never played it once. I had it. Wow. I never got requested for it. I never felt like can fit it in really.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Your first pick. My first pick was APT. You still rocking it? Uh no. Mm-mm. That's falling off. It just fell off for me. Yeah. Uh I liked it because it was super fast and it could go with other 150. Or is it even higher? It was something like that. Like a footloose. It sounds like footloose, kind of, or even um bright side or something like that. Shout. I don't know. We got a little bit of a sample. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Uh uh uh kissy face, kissy face, fancy phone butt. I'm trying to kiss your lips for real. Uh-huh. Red hearts, red hearts. That's what I'm on. Yeah. Come give me something I can feel. Uh uh. Don't you want me like a want to baby? Don't you need me like a need to laugh? See tomorrow, but tonight go crazy. All you gotta do is miss me. Me at the butt it.
SPEAKER_02:So you're not playing it, or are you still playing it? I haven't played it in a while. What about you? But it did well.
SPEAKER_00:I haven't played it in a while either. Yeah. I don't remember the last time. It it it hit big for a while. Yeah. Yeah, I don't remember the last time I did play it.
SPEAKER_02:So my first pick out of this is actually the latest banger for me that's crushing my floors right now. It's Man I Need, the Olivia Dean. Yeah. I do like this song. I had a version, and this was going to be an honorable mention too, but because it came out in November of 24, Messi, if you're familiar with that track. Yeah. The Gracie Adams. Yeah. So I always am looking for ways to get like two or three times the pop out of a song. In other words, like reactions. So I had this blend of that's so true over the Timberland song. And then they came out with this version of Man I Need with that as well over it. Okay. So I only hit the choruses of Man I Need and to That's So True. And I got live or you made an edit? I made an edit of it. I'm gonna play it here in a second so you'll hear both. But the beauty is like it gives me three times the pop. I get the Timberland, I get the Man I Need, and this other one all within a minute. And individually, you would not have played those songs as they stood either. No, I would. I've done them before. This is just a way, one way of playing it in peak hour.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but like sometimes I feel like I just burn three songs in one. I do that to myself all the time. Right. I don't mind. And then I got a three-hour dance set, and I'm like, fuck, I just burned three songs in one. I don't mind.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Because you're that good. No, I don't say it like that. Go ahead. And I like the fact that it's like around 115 beats per minute because you can go anywhere, you know, getting in or getting out.
SPEAKER_07:Here we go. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:But I'm just gonna play like a little bit of that pre-verse end of the hook. And I'm out. To get one more pop of the chord.
SPEAKER_01:Critical critical. Oh, I can manage. Tend it tend it. I will.
SPEAKER_02:I want to show you how it ends though, because how you can mix out. I'm out. Oh, right. See, like, so uh it that literally is like a minute and 20 seconds. Uh-huh. But those like that are easy to get in and out of. Anyway, that's good shit. Good shit, guys.
SPEAKER_00:And Brian, you mentioned that BPM. 115 in that range is so important to me because they need songs in the 110s to climb from my hip hop up to my 120s. And there's not a lot of great songs in that in that range. Right. Or I don't know them. So I still use sexy back sometimes. Not because I think it's going to work, but because that's a climb song. Like I can I can slow it down to 110 and then bring it up to 124 and it still works. So yeah, that BPM range is important.
SPEAKER_02:Round two. We all had the same pick, but I like this because we all have different versions. Oh. So you put this on your banger list that's in the Patreon. The hooks and drops only of what I would consider the song of the summer, in my opinion. The no Brook Boys. Yep. Why do you play? I saw that was on your banger list that you had the hooks and drops. Just you don't think the verse works. I don't either, but I'm just curious why. Um did you play it that way on purpose for some reason?
SPEAKER_01:I've always been playing it that way. Okay. I just didn't feel like the verse was necessary. And you always play clean? I always play clean. What does the unclean say? It has ass hair and a couple other things.
SPEAKER_02:I'm a clean guy. I'm a I'm a clean guy. And then Mike, you had the Ultimix version.
SPEAKER_00:I usually do verse, chorus, then get out. So I do that opening verse and then the chorus and then get out.
SPEAKER_02:And then the version I usually play, but I've already shared on this podcast, is that one with Glamorous. Yeah. But the other one I played recently was with Sweet Nothing, which is the Calvin Harris track. I've been doing a lot of like after parties. And again, this is just another way of getting two pops out of a song because you're kind of hitting people who want that more progressive feel, but it's not like a remix necessarily.
SPEAKER_01:And the after party vibes. You need that almost like peak big room EDM kind of feeling to keep the energy from 11 to 1 or whatever it is.
SPEAKER_02:And Sweet Nothing's good on its own. So usually I go from this right into it. You want to play a little sample of that one? You know that song Sweet Nothing?
SPEAKER_04:No broad, no new friends. I'm not putting it in my tent, ain't no love, ain't no sex.
SPEAKER_02:It's the dirty version. Then you're out. Yeah. You can put obviously I played a lot longer than that, but I'm just saying like after a chorus of that hit. Yeah. But those two work really well.
SPEAKER_00:It's the only thing that makes it a dirty version, the word ass. No, I think there's I think she said bitch.
SPEAKER_01:Something something something nasty bitch. Okay.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Even bitch. I mean, that's I mean, to me the F-word and the N-word. Like that's still looking left much, really. I mean, I hear them say they say shit on on like regular cable TV. Oh, I know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I almost fell out one time I heard that.
SPEAKER_02:All right, round three. We got uh another guy from across the pond. This is Mike's pick, Alex Warren. Okay.
SPEAKER_00:The non-remix of Ordinary, I think, is a great song. I think I had it as a wedding song earlier in the year. That's what I thought. But I also I love uh Ultimix made a made a remix of it that just really punches up that chorus and makes it danceable. I've used this a handful of times to kind of snuck it in on a crowd. Again, verse chorus, one chorus, and out, but this has worked for me.
SPEAKER_06:Oh mama.
SPEAKER_01:Kind of healthy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Okay. My third pick was also ordinary. Okay. Um version.
SPEAKER_01:I can't wait to hear what version you're playing.
SPEAKER_02:Well, again, I'm playing a lot of after parties lately. Yeah. So this is kind of like a late night one. But another way I like to sometimes bring these songs in is if they've picked this for their first dance or for a ceremony to play it again. Yeah. Like later in the dance set where they don't explain. Expect it. And so this is with um, this is my own edit of this. This is um with if I lose myself, Alesso in One Republic. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:You made it.
SPEAKER_05:Late night, they're all right.
SPEAKER_02:But then I go into the original so you'll hear it. So yeah, I'll get a double pop again, right?
SPEAKER_08:Jesus.
SPEAKER_02:Anyway, kind of got chills. That hit it does. Works all the time. It's in like that too.
SPEAKER_01:Will. Alright, that's good. Take one. Thank you, sir. Uh, round three. Oh, yeah, espresso. I just like this song. I like her. I think people like her. It's a big pop song. I think I play Chartbusters or something that just has basically a you know, 16-bar intro type thing and let it ride again, same as Mike, verse, chorus, maybe a little more if they're really feeling it, but it's not the most energetic song, I guess. When do you play it? Do you play it like it would be uh let's say first 15 songs? Interesting. You know what I mean? So so that people are not thinking like this guy's some old Fuddy Duddy 2024, you say?
SPEAKER_08:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So maybe I'm in September, or maybe I do play Boogie Shoes or something, and then maybe I would sneak it in somewhere in there. But it's like 105. Yeah, but I can make it work. I can make it work. With like a respect or something, like a redrum of respect or something.
SPEAKER_00:I've talked a lot about doors open and how important I consider that segment of it. That's critical. The original version, not a remix or anything else, but I'll drop espresso there because I don't think it's good enough to dance to, but it's got a great beat and a catchy chorus and everything else. So I've used espresso probably more in my doors open than in my dance segments.
SPEAKER_02:And then SNL, that blew it up. Oh, we know it was on there. Well, she did a whole segment where like she talks about her boyfriend who like you know do you remember that, Mike? Do you watch it enough to see that? I just so that had a huge pop on TikTok, and like everybody was asking for it at one point.
SPEAKER_01:You know, I I will say this, and and it really comes from both of y'all. Genuinely, I'm not just sitting there blowing smoke, but the doors open movement, if you will, or the importance, I would say I overlooked and still maybe sometimes overlooked forever. Just because I'm trying to get the names together. You know, I I know I need to go out in the hall and probably line up people like I've overlooked that song, but like the more that I've actually played it and played it well, and listened to you on here and listen to Mike and watch his videos about doors open, that whole behind the scenes what was it? Uh uh a wedding day with Mike Walter, the the series. What was that, Mike?
SPEAKER_00:It was a wedding with Mike Walter.
SPEAKER_01:Also available at DJMikeWalter.com. Genius. Right in there. I I really kind of uh uh overlooked that for the majority of my career, and I think it is absolutely imperative. And I started thinking about it more like as a guest. Like if I'm a guest and I walk in this room right now, we haven't been allowed in this ballroom see or whatever, and the DJ's standing up there and he's got a smile on his face and he's bopping his head and he's playing espresso or whatever, something good. I'm gonna be like, okay, this guy came to fucking play. Yeah, like he he's gonna get down tonight. If he's doing this when the doors open, like what is he gonna do at you know 10 o'clock? Yeah. Anyway, thank you guys for that.
SPEAKER_00:And Joe, when you say as a guest, we had that experience. Joe and I were both guests at Jason Jani's wedding. Was that two years ago? Yeah, I was there too. I remember when those when those doors opened from cocktail hour, you know, we walked into it, it was a full-on party already. And you know, I I've I've always had that philosophy. Whether people are on the dance floor or not, it doesn't matter. I want them just feeling it, I want them into it so that when I do open the dance floor, it's not it's not like this is the first upbeat song they're hearing all the time.
SPEAKER_02:Right, right, right. Sidebar, JSG killed that party, by the way. He did kill that. Jeff Jeff killed that party.
SPEAKER_00:And Marcello and the DMC was incredible. And Brian, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I forgot you were there as well. So we all had that chance to marry. He was incredible.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I hadn't ever heard him play a wedding before, obviously. Killed. And I was so great to see somebody that I've heard so much about. Yeah. All right, we're almost done with this. Uh, what do we got here? Round four, you're starting us off.
SPEAKER_01:I am, oh yeah, Taylor, the fate of Ophelia. Mike, are you playing that or anything from the new Taylor?
SPEAKER_00:I haven't I haven't played anything off the new Taylor. I haven't gotten any requests yet, and I haven't gotten my hands on any great remixes. So yeah, what remix of that are you playing?
SPEAKER_01:I think it's just like an intro clean. It must be chartbusters or something like that. There was nobody messed with it. You know what I mean? It was a good podcast. Have you been asked for that, or are you just trying to introduce that to your crowds? Some of both. Same. A little, a little bit of uh it's on the list, and then sometimes I'm just like, I feel like I can sell this today. You know what I mean? Right. But quick, in and out of there.
SPEAKER_02:So I picked the same song. Okay. But I had actually mixed this live with last Friday night, and it went so well that I put it over it, like made my own edit of it. You just did that live, just decided to do it. No, well, I just went in from that from that song into last Friday night, and it just worked. I was like, oh my god, this actually could be like an actual edit. So you want to hit it real quick? This is what it sounds like. And I go into Last Friday night too, so you can hear all the switches. This is where I was mixing out, you know, some of the chorus. Yeah. And that's the perfect place to go with 100%. Not the verse, because it would have been weird, but just having again, I'm always trying to find like, is there a way I can get two pops out of this track, not just one? You know? Boy's good, Mike. That boy's good. He is. That boy is good. Well, Mike, you had another one on here. Let me see which one I put in that.
SPEAKER_00:I had Mystical Magical. Yeah, I love this. You know, going back to my answer earlier, Benson Boone is one of those artists. I mean, he is a pop artist too, but you listen to his lyrics. He is an incredible writer, incredible artist, a credible performer. I mean, the guy jumping all over the stage, everything else. And Mystical Magical just has one of those hooks for a chorus that just it works.
SPEAKER_01:And it has been working on the dance course. Yeah. Nice. He's got such a good voice.
SPEAKER_00:I like that kid. And again, first chorus out on that, but but it's been working for me.
SPEAKER_02:He reminds me of like this generation's Adam Levine.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Or somebody like that. Like I think he's got that kind of sting.
SPEAKER_01:Or like this generation's Freddie Mercury, even. I mean, like the theatrics. Yeah, the the jumpsuits and the stage show. Like, what was the one that Mike threw in that that neither of us had played, and you were like, this seems very jersey.
SPEAKER_02:It's coming, it's coming next. Okay. It's coming soon. Yeah, I want to hear that. So round five, I have this song. I don't know if you guys have heard it. It's actually a um kind of a retake of Bel Biv DeVo's Poison, but the song's called Toxic, and it's by Chris Lake. I love it because of the fact that I can start it cold with those drum hits and get from whatever I need to anywhere else. But whereas Poison's like, I think 112 or somewhere in that BPM range. This is 124. And then I added a little rap thing to it so you can kind of hear how it is. So check it out. If I were you, I think the bass line is always nasty. And people kind of take it down. Right here. Fetty wop? Yeah, so we kind of go in and out. Can I keep you out my bed? And I felt like it needed it because that middle section where there's the turn is is you could lose people, especially the older folks, you know. But that melody of Fetty Wap is good enough to kind of like. What made you pick that particular? It just tended to work. It just worked. You know, I tried a couple different ones, but that was the one I made.
SPEAKER_00:Is that another one you made, bro?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. Jeez.
SPEAKER_00:Ah, damn. This guy's talented. He's talented.
SPEAKER_01:Isn't it so freeing, uh, Mike, to be able to curse on here? Remember, because we used to host with John Young and and and we felt like John didn't want us cursing on disc jockey news. It feels very I feel very free on this show. So you had another Taylor track. So mine would have gone either the Fate of Ophelia or Opalite. And again, pretty pretty much the intro clean version, nothing special.
SPEAKER_02:It has that hot to go energy. It does. In the sense of like sing along.
SPEAKER_01:Uh I mean, Randy sent me a video the day after the record came out. And I think it was on the list. He didn't just like, I'm gonna pull Opalite off this album that's been out for 24 hours. And the video is literally the people are singing Opalite. I mean, singing along like as if it had been out for a year. So I it's got when I first heard the album, that's the song that I thought would be big.
SPEAKER_00:I thought Opalite, as far as gig, as far as gig used agreed. I thought Opalite would be the big one.
SPEAKER_01:I think it still is. I think it's got potential. It it could be our early 2026.
SPEAKER_02:And then Mike, you had uh some Sabrina Carpenter.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I had the uh her new one, Manchild. I th I think the hook on this is pretty good. I've only played it once, I think, but I think this one has a chance to be kind of big for me.
SPEAKER_02:And you're playing this Ultimix version, right? Yeah. So you know I hit this one, Saquon? I'm curious because I can't remember how it goes if there's much of a difference.
SPEAKER_00:So they stay pretty true to the original. They do. I I'll be honest with you, Brian. That's one of the things I like about Ultimix. They they punch up the beat a little bit, which give me nice intros, but but they really stay true to the original.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's what I was telling Brian earlier. We he was like, Mike plays a lot of Ultimates. I was like, Yeah, but you you're thinking about Ultimix from back in the 90s when they used to do all that hype edit stuff. Remember at the beginning, I did too. Yep.
SPEAKER_00:I was like, Mike didn't play that shit, bro.
SPEAKER_02:No, well, they've changed.
SPEAKER_00:I'm the only one, I'm the only one that needs to hype my crowds.
SPEAKER_02:I don't need to let's end with the last round here. You had this song. It to me, when you picked this, I have had it on a request list once. I have not. Just to me, this is like quintessential jersey to me. It has that sound of like you get it.
SPEAKER_00:Really, Brian? That's I I just think it's such a great sing-along to it. And I've played it a couple times. I've played it twice by request, but I've also worked it in. And it's got people know the chorus, they sing along to it.
SPEAKER_01:I just think it's got a great So you sold it even though it wasn't on the list a couple of times? Okay.
SPEAKER_02:And actually, I'm when I say that, I'm not being disparaging here. I actually really like the song. It's a great track. I could hear this in a Jersey like bar somewhere.
SPEAKER_00:I feel like name this name of the song in uh artists. It's called Sally When the Wine Runs Out by Role Model. Go for it.
SPEAKER_07:Sally We did play this once.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's a good one.
SPEAKER_02:But you're playing this during dinner, or are you also playing this during dancing? I've worked it at the dance sets. Wow, okay. That's cool. Uh Brian, you want to work on an edit for us? Yeah, I don't even know how that did that. I I wouldn't want to mess with that one. That one's like too good. All right, can I parlay into the last segment? Well, you got one more segment. I do, can I see it?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it was um you said you've been getting a lot of requests for a reload. I have. There was a song, is it Axwell and Engrosso? Yeah, Sebastian. This thing is like 10 years old now. And for whatever reason, we've played it like three times this year. Hit it. I'm just curious. This is the original edit.
SPEAKER_02:You're playing like this is very Jersey too.
SPEAKER_01:Jersey Club. CO2 canon right here. Anyway, I don't know why it's come back. It's great for the CO2 blast, though. Reload.
SPEAKER_02:So my honorable mention this song was 2024, I believe, when it came out. And it wasn't gonna put on the list, but it is crushing my floor. Almost song of the night, almost every time. It's the song Stargazing by Miles Smith. But this is levels. Uh and this this is the Dafts Boys. This is uh Drew and Fuse. They put this edit together. Uh actually, this is Fuse's personal edit, and it's really good. It's just hooks, hooks and drops. Okay. I mean, always works. All the gents are out there just like oh hell yeah. And then when the beat kicks in, he's got a great build-up with this drum build. Drum build here. But it never goes into the verse because the verses are kind of like low energy. Yeah. So here comes the build. Yeah, yeah. I mean, send me this. You don't even need it. The verse on those, that song is crushing for me, peak hour. This was super fun.
SPEAKER_01:Mike, I do know let's let's switch topics to the to the to the closer of this podcast. And I need to, I need more clarity on your future plans in business and not necessarily life, because you have a lot of life to live and you're a traveler, and Kelly's freaking awesome. And I don't need to know about your life. I need to know about business because I was at the front row or on the front row in Atlantic City at your last seminar. And I felt like at the closing there were hints of pseudo-retirement slash uh end of speaking slash selling elite entertainment. And I need clarity for my own personal safety and sanity, and just want to know what's going on, man. And and and do I need to be happy? Am I sad? I need to know how to feel. I'm not a very feely person. Where are you going with this? It's it's just there's a lot to unpack, and I just need to hear it. It's gonna be some therapy, bro. I need to know where where we're going with this, Mike.
SPEAKER_00:Well, as far as the happiness equation, I'm I'm happy. So I hope you're happy for me. This is yeah. Uh Dominic, you everyone, for listeners who don't know, Dominic has been my right-hand man forever. He's your Randy. Yes. Um, he has uh he and I have discussed very seriously about him purchasing Elite Entertainment. The timeline looks like it's gonna line up to right around this time next year, we're gonna be closing the deal out. Okay. And then at that point, I will semi-retire. I certainly don't plan on retiring. Okay. I will continue to DJ, okay, which if I stay in New Jersey, I will always DJ for Elite Entertainment. But we're, you know, Kelly and I are not married to New Jersey. We might consider uh moving to a different part of the country. Raleigh's got some property from where. Oh, yeah, it does. Listen, I've I've visited Raleigh a number of times. I love Raleigh. Yes, he does. He does. I might be uh submitting uh applications for both of these.
SPEAKER_01:Right. Then we put another, then we get one of those triangle-shaped tables, and then it's just the three of us. We're alive.
SPEAKER_00:I'd love it. Shit. Uh as far as speaking goes, I don't know if I'm done speaking, but I know this. I never want to be the type of speaker who you pretty much know what he's gonna talk about every single time because you've heard him a number of times, and all he does is regurgitate the same shit. So I'm fresh out of ideas. This last seminar that I came up with, last dance, was pretty much me emptying my head out of everything that I can think of. If I get another inspiration and come up with another topic for a seminar, then by all means I'll speak on one someday. But until that happens, this seminar, which I'm going to be doing at next next year and also at Marquee, will probably be the last seminar that I do for the industry.
SPEAKER_01:And what am I going to do? Like, I like now I need to follow Mike's lead. Like, what how many more years behind am I?
SPEAKER_00:Like, I just you don't have to follow anything, Joe. I'm just, you know, I I looked at my life a number of years ago and I said, what part of my life do I love? What part don't I love? And I the part that I don't love, to be honest with you, is running elite entertainment. The day-to-day stress of dealing with every single machination of dealing with DJs, dealing with banquet halls, dealing with sales, dealing with that. I've done it long enough. I've been fortunate enough that I've saved up some money and I've got a nice nest day. And if I can get rid of that part of my life and just focus on the things that I love doing, maybe I've got more books in me, more travel, DJing. You know, the amazing thing is I'm laying out my finances for post-retirement or semi-retirement. And for the first five years, I'd like to continue to make about$50,000 a year. Okay. That is so easy to do in our industry. Yeah. I mean, I can do 40 weddings a year and with what Dominic will pay me, and I'll make that like how many other people are fortunate that they can say, Hey, I want to make$50,000 a year. That means I got to work 40 days. That's I mean, sometimes we have to stop and pinch ourselves that we are in such an industry that we have that opportunity. So, yeah, I mean, that's my immediate future right there. And I'm thrilled about it. So if you're if you're asking me, yes, I'm thrilled. I can't. I'm happy too then. I'm happy.
SPEAKER_02:So will you retain any part of ownership percentage? Or what went into that equation of not being just like a silent partner?
SPEAKER_00:You know, Brian, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I had a partner early on at Elite and it was a horrible, horrible situation. And Dominic even asked me about that a number of years ago. He was like, Well, what if I buy 50%? And I'm like, Dominic, as much as I love you, I don't want to be partners. I want to either own it or not own it. And so, no, he's buying 100% of Elite Entertainment.
SPEAKER_01:It's incredible. Man, this was been the greatest hour of the show. Yeah. I feel like out of all the episodes we've done, man, this is super, super fun. Uh please go get the book, DJMikeWalter.com. He'll sign up for you, personalize it for you. I mean, Mike, thank you so much for being on again, man. I mean every word that I say when I say that I've learned from you. I I wouldn't be where I am. I wouldn't be the person that I am today if not for you. Dead serious. I'm not trying to be funny. I'm not trying to be cute or whatever. I'm being completely genuine and sincere when say I would not be the DJ that I am and the person that I am and the business owner that I am without you. 100%, man.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you. Those are very kind words, Joe. And and you know I feel the same way about you. I learned a lot during our years of podcasting and doing workshops together. I learned so much from you as well. So ditto to you, man. Awesome, man.
SPEAKER_02:Well, let's thank our podcast sponsor. Hell yeah. All three use.
SPEAKER_01:We all three use DJ Event Planner. Thank you guys for sponsoring the show. It's DJEventplanner.com. If you're looking for a way to keep your leads organized and book your shows, then they are right off the beach. Right off the beach, Mike Walter style with a golden tan. You can do it right there from the beach. So thank you guys for listening. New episodes every single Wednesday. Thank y'all.
