At Underground on Friday night, it dawned on me that the most requested song of my DJ career, which, by the way, began before today’s 21-year-olds were alive, is “Blue Monday.” No question about it, the New Order dance floor classic, which I also want to mention was already an oldie by the time I started DJing, has been requested at just about every club night where I’ve regularly played, sometimes multiple times in the course of one night. I get it. “Blue Monday” is the best dance song ever. I’ll write more about that later, but the tl;dr is that it’s over seven minutes long, mixes well with multiple styles of music and never clears the dance floor. It’s perfect. 

But, the weird thing about “Blue Monday” requests is that they’re unnecessary. If it’s a dance club where some variation of indie, ‘80s and/or synthpop are played, there’s a 99% chance that “Blue Monday” will be in the mix. Often, I’ll get the requests at 10:30 p.m. and I’m like, “wait until midnight,” because one does not play “Blue Monday” until the floor is at it’s peak. Other times, I’ll get the request after 1 a.m, at which point, the song was already played. 

Last night, I got the post-1 a.m. “Blue Monday” request. Malvada had already played the and I said that. However, the requester had spent a good chunk of time on the dance floor upstairs, so I wanted to do something nice. “But,” I said, “I have the ‘Blue Monday’ mix of ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head.’” The requester looked excited. I played the song. Everyone in the room seemed happy. Compromises can be a good thing. 

Keep reading for the set lists. 

This Friday, August 9, is the Joy Division x The Smiths dance party at Club Underground. Both floors will be open at Grand Star Jazz Club in Chinatown, where Larry G., Malvada and I will be dropping jams from 9:30 p.m. until 2 a.m. 

Click here to get your tickets now. 

As for the rest of the weekend, there’s a lot to do, including plenty of shows, parties and screenings that are budget-friendly, from Mohama Saz at the Lodge Room to classic Jamaican ska party Riddim ’n’ Brews to a screening of Caligula: The Ultimate Cut at USC. Everything listed here is under $30 before service fees and quite a few of the events have no cover. Check out the list below to see what’s happening in L.A. this week.