Sometimes it’s tough thinking of the perfect song request. That’s YOUR song; your contribution to the show. You want it to be perfect, something that slaps or that you just love. Well, that’s what this post is for - to help you along your journey of finding the best song request.
Reading the room when making a song request
As dueling piano entertainers with years of experience under our belts, we have to make the decision of what to play without audience input a lot, especially at the start of our shows. We want something engaging, that’s going to grab the audience’s attention and say, “Hey! We’re starting a show over here. Come check it out.”
One of my favorite “go-to” songs to start a show is Run Around Sue. It’s a classic song that most people over multiple generations know, it has a clap along element, and multiple sing along parts. More recently, I've been starting shows with Bennie and the Jets. It has one of the most recognizable first chords in music. People hear that first hit and almost instantly know what the song is. It’s fun, upbeat, and people can sing the title several times during the song. It’s a great intro song where I can teach the audience what the show is about and also gives an opportunity to throw my partner a solo to show off their piano chops a little. The song fits well in my range, and I also usually do a small funny bit at the end. It also helps me read how reactive the crowd is. Sometimes audiences are shy at the start and take a little warming up, and sometimes they’re ready to party before you even start playing. But how does that help you?
Well, for one, after we start our initial songs, we’re looking at the audience and reading the different demographics, age groups, etc., and using all of that information to decide what songs are going to go over well. If I were playing in a nursing home, for example, I probably wouldn’t bust out a bunch of Cardi B or One Direction. So, if there’s a mix of different age groups, I’m going to default to songs that are going to cater to as many of the people in the audience as possible, which is most likely going to be classic rock and popular songs from the 60s to 80s (and maybe some 90s) that a lot of them are going to know. Sweet Home Alabama, Brown Eyed Girl, Brandy, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, are all great songs that many people know and will work well in that situation. WAP, Colt 45, and Crazy Bitch will probably be pushed later into the night when the crowd shifts to a primarily younger group. Along those same lines, Say Something by A Great Big World, Let Her Go by Passenger, and Close to You by The Carpenters are not the best songs to play because they’re pretty low energy and don’t have much for the audience to do, and we don’t want them falling asleep.
So what is a great song request?
The best song request is one that a decent amount of people are going to know, but at the same time not being too cliché. Piano Man, Sweet Caroline, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Don't Stop Beleiving are our most popular request songs, and they're great tunes, don't get me wrong, but they are also really overplayed. Instead, songs like Only the Good Die Young, Forever In Blue Jeans, Don't Stop Me Now, and Lights or Faithfully are great alternative songs by the same artists that still go over well. It's ok to think outside the box, and we love it when you do! But at the same time, playing "Stump the Piano Player" by trying to request the most obscure songs you can think of usually just has going...
We know a lot of songs and love learning new ones to add our repertoire, especially B-sides or lesser known tunes that get a great reaction. If you're getting into deep cuts by Steely Dan, Depeche Mode, or Genesis though, we might know 'em if we're big fans of those groups, but we'll probably shy away from playing them unless it's a big tip because those tend to alienate a majority of the audience. Instead, think of fun songs that are pretty high energy that have a great hook. I'll provide a list of song request ideas below to help. Slow songs don't often work quite as well, but there are instances where they can absolutely slay in a room. When I Was Your Man and All of Me are great examples of slow songs that a lot of people tend to know and love to sing.
Jeremy's Song Request Suggestions
Well, without further ado, here is a list of some great song requests that are fantastic songs and very likely to go over well and get played. Comment below on some of your favorite songs to hear!
867-5309 | Tommy Tutone |
All the Small Things | Blink 182 |
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown | Jim Croce |
Bennie and the Jets | Elton John |
Blister in the Sun | Violent Femmes |
Brandy | The Looking Glass |
Build Me Up Buttercup | The Foundations |
Country Roads | John Denver |
Crocodile Rock | Elton John |
Don't Stop Me Now | Queen |
Fat Bottomed Girls | Queen |
Free Falling | Tom Petty |
Friends in Low Places | Garth Brooks |
Great Balls of Fire | Jerry Lee Lewis |
I Wanna Dance With Somebody | Whitney Houston |
I Want It That Way | Backstreet Boys |
(I Would Walk) 500 Miles | The Proclaimers |
I'm a Believer | The Monkees |
Jack and Diane | John Mellencamp |
Jessie's Girl | Rick Springfield |
Livin' on a Prayer | Bon Jovi |
Love Story | Taylor Swift |
Mustang Sally | Wilson Pickett |
My Girl | The Temptations |
Ob-la-di | The Beatles |
Ocean Avenue | Yellocard |
Old Time Rock and Rock | Bob Seger |
Only the Good Die Young | Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown |
Santeria | Sublime |
Satisfaction | The Rolling Stones |
September | Earth, Wind, and Fire |
Stand by Me | Ben E King |
Summer of 69 | Brian Adams |
Sweet Child of Mine | Guns 'n' Roses |
Sweet Home Alabama | Lynyrd Skynerd |
Take On Me | A-ha |
A Thousand Miles | Vanessa Carlton |
Tiny Dancer | Elton John |
Toxic | Britney Spears |
Unwritten | Natasha Beddingfield |
Wagon Wheel | Old Crow Medicine Show |
Walking in Memphis | Marc Cohn |
Wanna Be | Spice Girls |
What I Got | Sublime |
What's Up | 4 Non Blondes |
Wonderwall | Oasis |
You Belong With Me | Taylor Swift |
You Oughta Know | Alanis Morissette |
You Shook Me All Night Long | AC/DC |
Your Love | Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown |
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