I made three mixtapes for Michael & Elisabeth Mainelli’s wedding, which were used at the informal party on the Sunday after the formal wedding. I kept track listings (dated 12 May 1996) and can therefore recreate the experience, 25 years later, in embedded YouTube form. Occasionally such embeds get moved, removed or delisted, but you should be able to hear most if not all of them.
Here’s Tape Two, which comprised my idea at that time for a dance party mix with a bit of a 1990s feel to it but mostly rooted in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, which is the era of dance music for which I sensed that most of the guests, like ourselves, could not resist dancing if they heard the right sound.
Frankly, looking at the mix today, 25 years on, I would still happily put this mix on if I wanted to get people dancing. Might need a few leaning props around the dance floor and some stretcher-bearers on standby for people of my generation.
Michael & Elisabeth Wedding Tape 2 Side A: Dance Fast
We Are Family, Sister Sledge
Twist & Shout, Chaka Demus & Pliers
Harvest For The World, Isley Brothers
I Feel For You, Chaka Khan
Sex Machine, James Brown
Love Machine, Miracles
Incredible, M-Beat Featuring General Levy
I Want You Back, Jackson 5
This Old Heart Of Mine, Isley Brothers
Backstabbers, O-Jays
Pump Up The Jam, Technotronic Featuring Felly
Harlem Shuffle, Bob & Earl
Land of 1000 Dances, Wilson Pickett
Michael & Elisabeth Wedding Tape 2 Side B: Dance Varied
La Bamba, Los Lobos
Stayin’ Alive, N-Trance featuring Ricardo da Force
Sexual Healing, Marvin Gaye
Now That We’ve Found Love, Third World
Proud Mary, Checkmates Ltd
Ride On Time, Black Box
You Never Can Tell, Chuck Berry
I Knew the Bride…, Dave Edmunds
Easy, Commodores
I Say a Little Prayer, Aretha Franklin
Do You Love Me?, Contours
54-56, Toots & the Maytals
Shake, Otis Redding
If You Don’t Know Me By Now, Harold Melvyn & The Bluenotes