Hip-Hop & R&B Charts – October 2009

1. Gucci Mane ft. Plies – Wasted
2. Mario ft. Gucci Mane – Break Up
3. Drake ft. Trey Songz – Successful
4. Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind
5. Fabolous ft. The Dream – Throw it in the bag
6. Jay-Z ft. Rihanna & Kanye West – Run This Town
7. Beyonce – Ego
8. R. Kelly ft. Keri Hilson – Number One
9. Dorrough – Ice Cream Paint Job
10. Drake ft. Kanye West, Eminem, & Lil Wayne – Forever

Crossover Dance Charts – October 2009

1. Axwell, Ingrosso, Angello & Laidback Luke ft. Deborah Cox – Leave the World Behind
2. Basement Jaxx ft. Sam Sparro – Feeling’s Gone
3. Noob & Brodinski – Peanuts Club
4. Temper Trap vs. Axwell & Dirty South – Sweet Disposition
5. David Guetta ft. Akon – Sexy Bitch
6. Deadmau5 – Ghosts & Stuff
7. Cascada – Evacuate the Dancefloor
8. David Guetta, Ingrosso & Dirty South ft. Julie McKnight – How Soon Is Now
9. Mack vs. Spencer & Hill – Return of the Mack 2009
10. Ralphi Rosario ft. Shawn Christopher – Everybody Shake It

Mack – Return of the Mack 2009 (Spencer and Hill Club Mix)

Talk about bringing back a Club Classic.  Looks like Mark Morrison will rock the clubs all over again in late 2009.  Look for this in the mix coming soon

Basement Jaxx ft. Sam Sparro – Feeling’s Gone

The Basement Jaxx had a smash hit this summer with “Raindrops“, and have outdone themselves again.  This time, a smash hit with UK vocalist Sam Sparro called “Feelings Gone”.  The remixes are nice, but a bit weak on this track, I’m just waiting for an Extended Jaxx Club Mix.  This will climb the charts quickly and instantly become a floor-filler anthem. This is my track of the week for September 25, 2009.

David Guetta, Sabastian Ingrosso & Dirty South ft. Julie McKnight – How Soon Is Now

As soon as I feature one track for my weekly post, theres another knockin down my door.  The Swedish House Mafia are at it again.  It’s my track of the week for September 18, 2009 and this time with fellow european chart burner David Guetta, and non-stranger Dirty South.  Slammin track for me to feature on my next CD.  Catch DJ Meltdown’s Other CD’s on his discography.

DJ Meltdown – Mechanics of People Moving (2009)

DJ Meltdown - Mechanics of People Moving

1. Cascada – Evacuate the Dancefloor
2. Keri Hilson ft. Kanye West – Knock You Down
3. Mellefresh – Cocktail Queen
4. Oliver Giancomoto – Wasabi On Top
5. Thomas Penton – Jack’s Funk
6. Buzz Junkies ft. Elesha – If you Love Me
7. V Factory – Lovestruck
8. Wamdue Project – King of My Castle
9. The Pussycat Dolls – Hush Hush
10. Mike Candy – Insomnia
11.  Kid Cudi vs. Crookers – Day N Nite
12. David Guetta – When Love Takes Over
13. Big Ali – Neon Music
14. Sean Kingston – Fire Burning
15. Paul Van Dyk – For an Angel
16. Livvi Franc – Now I’m That Bitch
17. Dirty South – Let It Go
18. Deadmau5 vs. Zoltan Kontes – California Love
19. David Guetta ft. Chris Willis – Tomorrow can wait
20. Club Crashers – Destination Calabria
21. Cato K ft. Kelly D – U Cant Hold Me Down
22. Bingo Players vs. Chocolate Puma – Touch Me
23. Bacon Popper – Free 2009
24. Basement Jaxx – Raindrops
25. 2 Robots – Blow Ya Mind
26. Wideboys ft. Dennis G – Sambuca
27. Phonjaxx ft. Cosi Costi – Sensual
28. Kaskade – Step One Two
29. Velvet – Chemistry
30. The Daves – Not In England
31. Stylistix – How Soon
32. Guru Josh Project vs. Klaas – Infinity
33. Deadmau5 – Ghosts N Stuff

DJ Meltdown – Mechanics of People Moving (2009)

Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition (Axwell & Dirty South Remix)

Axwell & Dirty South remix of Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition.  Those Swedish House Mafia boys are really crankin out the hot tracks!  This is my track of the week for September 11, 2009

DJ Meltdown Live | September 12, 2009

DJ Meltdown Live (The Department – Joliet, IL) – September 12, 2009

Had a blast here last night.  Excellent venue.  Not sure if it was just the night or if they always have an old-school househead crowd, but they were going nuts for the new cuts like David Guetta, Kid Cudi (Crookers), Paul Van Dyk AND the old house as well.  I played Alice DeeJay, Fragma, Johnny Vicious, Lock N Load, DJ Encore and Alligator Project.

“Nightclubs” with an Indentity Crisis

Recently I have been in talks with numerous nightspots to DJ a night, and I felt the need to address one issue.  There are lot of so called “clubs”, especially here in the Chicago area, with an identity crisis.  It is completely fine to hire a DJ if you want to have music at your establishment, but if you sell alcohol and you expect your DJ or promoter to bring a crowd in, there are a few key things that shouldn’t be overlooked.

1. Don’t try and do TOO much

If I can’t walk through the door and figure out immediately that you are a nightclub, then guess what, you’re not!  There should be nothing competing for attention of the music.  If you are a nightclub your main attraction should be the type of experience you can provide for the club goer, and for the most part that means great music, good drinks and an atmosphere that they cannot get anywhere else.

• If you serve food during the day, and then clear tables out for a place to dance at night, you are not a nightclub, you’re a restaurant with an indentity crisis.
• If you have sportscenter on every TV in the place, but a DJ is still playing while nobody dances, you are not a nightclub, you’re just pissing off the people who actually want to watch sportscenter.
• If you charge a $20 cover, and $12 for a drink, but you have no atmosphere to offer your customers.  Congratulations, you just raped everyone who came through the door, not only do they think your establishment is superficial and expensive, they will not return, ever, and they also think you don’t know how to invest your money back into your establishment.

2. A well defined, warm and inviting dance floor

Nothing is worse than walking into a club packed with wallflowers.  Getting people to dance takes alcohol and/or mood-lighting.  Your dancefloor should be dark or dimly lit.  Nobody wants to dance in the middle of a grocery store aisle.  Invest in some subfloor lighting, backdrops with warm hues of red and orange and softer greens tend to make the dance floor a welcoming spot.

3. Invest in a sound and lighting system that will blow your customers away

Even though I like loud, and loud is good, I’m not talking about loud here.  Loud will do you no good if it lacks quality.  If all I can hear is bass, and the voices are garbled, your music sucks.  Invest in a high quality sound system like JBL or Cerwin Vega, while a bit more expensive then the cheaper known brands, this system will last you and your perfomers will thank you for it.  Make sure you hire a good sound engineer when it’s installed to properly “level fix” the system.  If you have no control over your peak levels, don’t expect your DJ’s to either.  While most of us know how to line balance for peak levels, the better part of our performance is spent not worrying about blowing a speaker.

It also doesn’t hurt to have a non-pretentious, friendly staff.  Nobody wants to have to argue with a bouncer to get through the door.  Nobody likes to feel degraded either.  If you’re more concerened about the “image” your business portrays than customers who are spending money, your business will ultimately fail.  I dont care if you have 3 eyes, 2 limbs, no hair, and you’re with your wheelchair ridden, adult diaper wearing step father, if you’re spending money at the door, and at the bar, and you’re not harassing other customers, you can stay.

The bottom line is that, if you’re a nightclub, be a nightclub…not a restaurant, sports bar or bowling alley.

DJ Meltdown is a 16 year veteran club DJ who has performed at many venues on the east coast and throughout Illinois, for booking please use the form located here.

Deadmau5 – Ghosts N Stuff

New stuff from Deadmau5, definetly a hot track, gonna be rockin this for a long time, look for it to climb the charts in the near future.  This is my track of the week for September 4, 2009