(Statesman.com) Did you know DJ Mel played Obama’s election party?
Which, election party? In town somewhere?
No, the election party in Chicago, the one we all saw on TV.
Along with the par for the course political wrangling, this side conversation spun through Austin’s social media networks in the immediate aftermath of election night 2012. The jubilant crowd dancing at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago was breaking it down to the sounds of one of Austin’s top party rockers.
“It was kind of a big deal,” Mel Cavaricci said, describing his surprisingly nonchalant response to landing the gig when we caught up with him Thursday night. Back in town for less than 24 hours, he was finishing up a day in the office at the massive local production house C3 Presents where he works as a talent buyer. In addition to DJ gigs around town including his well-loved Rock the Casbah series and a hip-hop weekly at Nasty’s that’s been running for over 15 years, he helps out with electronic dance music and DJ stages at festivals like Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. This particular DJ gig dropped in his lap a few days before Election Night. He’d spun at the California Democratic convention a year ago and Democratic National Convention earlier this year. He has a friend who worked for Obama who was pulling for him to play the big event. On the strength of his two prior political performances he was hired.
Though he thought it was ‘pretty awesome,’ he didn’t freak out. It was just another gig. “My buddy called me and was like ‘Are you interested in coming to Chicago?’ And I was just like, ‘Yeah, sure man. No biggie, I’m there.’”
The magnitude of the event didn’t...
Find out what DJ Mel's setlist after the JUMP
strike him until he arrived at the venue. He was handed his credentials and went on stage to sound check. And then he saw the press corps.
“I had never seen anything like that before,” he explained. “To actually see all that made me realize the enormity of what was about to happen. At first I was just like ‘OK, I’m going to go and do my thing and it will be like the DNC’ or whatever and then I just walked into that room and I was like ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’ What was crazy was to see all those cameras, all those reporters, from all over the world.”
The campaign gave him a playlist of about 40 pre-approved songs to cycle throughout the night. At the end of the night he was explicitly instructed to usher the president in with Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” and to send him out with Bruce Springsteen’s ‘‘We Take Care of Our Own,” other than that it was pretty open. The incredibly appropriate swagger of the Heavy’s “How You Like Me Now,” that was playing as CNN projected Obama’s win in Ohio was a case of Mel pulling a song from the approved list at exactly the right time.
It was also around that time, as Obama’s ultimate win became evident and the crowd began to go wild, that Mel realized he had run out of songs on the playlist. Before the event, he had talked to the producers about what to do should this happen. He could repeat songs, but that felt weird. His instructions were to “do his thing, but just keep it old school and be mindful of what this is.”
As the race was called, Mel decided to go with his gut. “I was like, ‘You know what, I’m not going to repeat these songs. I’m just going to do what I do and I’m going to play the right songs and just do it.’”
The screens in the auditorium lit up with CNN’s breaking news alert. Obama had won. Mel dropped the Beatles’ “Twist and Shout.”
“When I played it I realized that we’re in Chicago,” he said. “And this is a (pivotal) song in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ and I remember the crowd in the movie being just as diverse as the crowd in the venue and they were all singing along to it and dancing. After that it was just one crazy party.” He freestyled, sticking to his old school faves, striving to play what was appropriate -- Shalimar’s “Second Time Around,” George Benson’s “Love X Love,” a slew of “really uplifting songs that you could just dance and sing along to.”
“All the years that I’ve been DJing, the songs that I was playing are songs that I’ve always played and loved,” he said. “I was able to apply my experience to that night. I remember just standing there and saying yeah, these are the songs that I really, really love and everyone else in this room, they’re loving these songs too.”
Back in Austin, it’s all still sinking in. He had no cell phone reception throughout the event, so it wasn’t until afterward that he was bombarded by friends and fans congratulating him. His twitter follower count increased by 1000 in an hour. He was happy to represent for DJs on a national stage, but he’s not expecting an overnight change in his career. Three days before he left for Chicago he played to an empty room at Malverde. He understands that will happen again and he’s OK with it. He’ll still spin hip-hop at Nasty’s every Monday night and he’s not anticipating the line to wrap round the block.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it,” he said. “I’m not expecting to be famous or whatever, but I’m really thankful for the experience. It’s pretty crazy.”
The phrase that came up repeatedly in our conversation was “the rest is history.” And so it is.
DJ Mel's election night playlist
Doris Payne – Just One Look
The Supremes – Come See About Me
Martha & the Vandellas – Jimmy Mack
Martha & the Vandellas – Dancing In the Street
The Heavy – How You Like Me Now
Beatles – Twist & Shout
Aretha Franklin – Respect
The Contours – Do You Love Me
The Supremes – Can’t Hurry Love
Otis Redding – Try A Little Tenderness
Ray Charles – What I’d Say
Stevie Wonder – Boogie On Reggae Woman
The Whispers – And The Beat Goes On
Shalamar – Second Time Around
Lakeside – Fantastic Voyage
Marvin Gaye – Got To Give It Up
Michael Jackson – Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
Mary J. Blige – Just Fine (Treat ‘Em Right Mix)
George Benson – Love X Love (Koko Southport Mix)
KC & the Sunshine Band – Boogie Shoes
Beyonce – Get Me Bodied (Extended Mix)
Bill Withers – Lovely Day (DJ Eleven Remix)
Nu Shooz – I Can’t Wait
Maze & Frankie Beverly – Before I Let Go
Diana Ross – I’m Coming Out
Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons – December 1963
Teena Marie – Square Biz
McFadden & Whitehead – Ain’t No Stopping Us Now
Shalamar – A Night To Remember
Zapp – Dance Floor
Zapp – Doo Wa Diddy
Sheila E – A Love Bizarre
Tony! Toni! Tone! – Feels Good
Jean Knight – Mr. Big Stuff
King Floyd III – Groove Me
Otis Redding – It’s Your Thing
Jackson 5 – I Want You Back (DJ Z-Trip Remix)
Al Green – Let’s Stay Together
Earth, Wind & Fire – Got To Get Your Into My Life
James Taylor – Your Smiling Face
Reo Speedwagon – Roll with the Changes
Bruce Springsteen – We Take Care of Our Own
U2 – Even Better Than the Real Thing
Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Bruce Springsteen – We Take Care of Our Own
strike him until he arrived at the venue. He was handed his credentials and went on stage to sound check. And then he saw the press corps.
“I had never seen anything like that before,” he explained. “To actually see all that made me realize the enormity of what was about to happen. At first I was just like ‘OK, I’m going to go and do my thing and it will be like the DNC’ or whatever and then I just walked into that room and I was like ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’ What was crazy was to see all those cameras, all those reporters, from all over the world.”
The campaign gave him a playlist of about 40 pre-approved songs to cycle throughout the night. At the end of the night he was explicitly instructed to usher the president in with Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” and to send him out with Bruce Springsteen’s ‘‘We Take Care of Our Own,” other than that it was pretty open. The incredibly appropriate swagger of the Heavy’s “How You Like Me Now,” that was playing as CNN projected Obama’s win in Ohio was a case of Mel pulling a song from the approved list at exactly the right time.
It was also around that time, as Obama’s ultimate win became evident and the crowd began to go wild, that Mel realized he had run out of songs on the playlist. Before the event, he had talked to the producers about what to do should this happen. He could repeat songs, but that felt weird. His instructions were to “do his thing, but just keep it old school and be mindful of what this is.”
As the race was called, Mel decided to go with his gut. “I was like, ‘You know what, I’m not going to repeat these songs. I’m just going to do what I do and I’m going to play the right songs and just do it.’”
The screens in the auditorium lit up with CNN’s breaking news alert. Obama had won. Mel dropped the Beatles’ “Twist and Shout.”
“When I played it I realized that we’re in Chicago,” he said. “And this is a (pivotal) song in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ and I remember the crowd in the movie being just as diverse as the crowd in the venue and they were all singing along to it and dancing. After that it was just one crazy party.” He freestyled, sticking to his old school faves, striving to play what was appropriate -- Shalimar’s “Second Time Around,” George Benson’s “Love X Love,” a slew of “really uplifting songs that you could just dance and sing along to.”
“All the years that I’ve been DJing, the songs that I was playing are songs that I’ve always played and loved,” he said. “I was able to apply my experience to that night. I remember just standing there and saying yeah, these are the songs that I really, really love and everyone else in this room, they’re loving these songs too.”
Back in Austin, it’s all still sinking in. He had no cell phone reception throughout the event, so it wasn’t until afterward that he was bombarded by friends and fans congratulating him. His twitter follower count increased by 1000 in an hour. He was happy to represent for DJs on a national stage, but he’s not expecting an overnight change in his career. Three days before he left for Chicago he played to an empty room at Malverde. He understands that will happen again and he’s OK with it. He’ll still spin hip-hop at Nasty’s every Monday night and he’s not anticipating the line to wrap round the block.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it,” he said. “I’m not expecting to be famous or whatever, but I’m really thankful for the experience. It’s pretty crazy.”
The phrase that came up repeatedly in our conversation was “the rest is history.” And so it is.
DJ Mel's election night playlist
The Supremes – Come See About Me
Martha & the Vandellas – Jimmy Mack
Martha & the Vandellas – Dancing In the Street
The Heavy – How You Like Me Now
Beatles – Twist & Shout
Aretha Franklin – Respect
The Contours – Do You Love Me
The Supremes – Can’t Hurry Love
Otis Redding – Try A Little Tenderness
Ray Charles – What I’d Say
Stevie Wonder – Boogie On Reggae Woman
The Whispers – And The Beat Goes On
Shalamar – Second Time Around
Lakeside – Fantastic Voyage
Marvin Gaye – Got To Give It Up
Michael Jackson – Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
Mary J. Blige – Just Fine (Treat ‘Em Right Mix)
George Benson – Love X Love (Koko Southport Mix)
KC & the Sunshine Band – Boogie Shoes
Beyonce – Get Me Bodied (Extended Mix)
Bill Withers – Lovely Day (DJ Eleven Remix)
Nu Shooz – I Can’t Wait
Maze & Frankie Beverly – Before I Let Go
Diana Ross – I’m Coming Out
Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons – December 1963
Teena Marie – Square Biz
McFadden & Whitehead – Ain’t No Stopping Us Now
Shalamar – A Night To Remember
Zapp – Dance Floor
Zapp – Doo Wa Diddy
Sheila E – A Love Bizarre
Tony! Toni! Tone! – Feels Good
Jean Knight – Mr. Big Stuff
King Floyd III – Groove Me
Otis Redding – It’s Your Thing
Jackson 5 – I Want You Back (DJ Z-Trip Remix)
Al Green – Let’s Stay Together
Earth, Wind & Fire – Got To Get Your Into My Life
James Taylor – Your Smiling Face
Reo Speedwagon – Roll with the Changes
Bruce Springsteen – We Take Care of Our Own
U2 – Even Better Than the Real Thing
Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Bruce Springsteen – We Take Care of Our Own
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