Our favourite weddings are the ones that are truly personalised. Thinking about what kind of wedding entertainment you want at your reception is a great place to start as this is where your friends and family can really let their hair down and celebrate your newlywed status. If you’re opting for a wedding DJ, putting together a playlist of some of your favourite songs can help them understand the vibe you’re looking for.
We caught up with James (owner of Wedding DJ agency PianoDJ) to find out the biggest house tracks played by DJs in Ibiza across the 2019 season to inspire your very own wedding playlist. Read on for the top 20 Ibiza house tracks that you need your wedding DJ to play for a night of partying that your guests will remember forever.
Ibiza is recognised as the go-to destination for clubbers who want to see the best DJs in the world playing at incredible super clubs, pool parties and beach clubs. With his unique experience, both as an Ibiza resident headline DJ and a wedding expert (James has personally DJ’d at over 2000 weddings), we asked James to record a mix of the top 20 Ibiza house tracks that will be the biggest floor fillers at weddings over the next year.
The mix includes the 20 biggest house tracks of 2019, including an unreleased track that is set to become the biggest saxophone house track of 2020.
Here are the tracks in the mix, curated by James and chosen by some of the biggest Ibiza influencers and DJs that he has spent time with over the summer.
Track 1: Heaven by The Vision, Andreya Triana
Could Heaven be one of the greatest tracks ever written? This track was suggested to me by Mark Long – a previous DJ for PianoDJ. Mark now works as the business affairs assistant for the UK’s biggest house music label – Defected. A highlight of his year was watching Ben Westbeech, KON, Andreya Triana and Dames Brown perform Heaven live at Defected festival in Croatia and no matter how many times he hears this track played, it still gives the exact same energy as the first few listens.
Track 2: Good Impression by Wayne Lineker, Damon Hess
If you have been to Ibiza this year then you will have spent at least one day at the incredible O Beach in San Antonio. O Beach owner Wayne Lineker and international DJ Damon Hess re-released their classic house track “Good Impression” this year. They changed the sound to make it current and uplifting with an incredible piano house version and it was a mega hit over the summer. NINA (Ibiza keytar player) and I played this at every CIXADA sunset party during the season and the crowd reaction was incredible.
James, Nina and Phil playing Good Impression by Wayne Lineker & Damon Hess at the exciting UK night brunch party, Brunch N Beats.
Track 3: Million Dollar Bill by Kevin McKay, Start the Party
Every now and again, a producer will remix an iconic track and bring it back to life and this is exactly what Kevin McKay has done with this amazing Whitney song. Sam Dungate, one of the resident DJs at O Beach, swears by this track as a super happy, commercial floor filler that will get everyone dancing.
Track 4: Stand Up (feat. Ramona Renea) [Extended Mix] by David Penn
With an irresistible groove, this track is a call to the dance floor with the vocal sample “Everybody Let’s Dance” literally encouraging every single person in the room to get dancing. After a 3 course meal at a wedding, sometimes it does take a bit of encouragement to get guests dancing and the repeated “Stand Up” hook gets even the most bloated guests partying!
Track 5: Lay Our Love by Block & Crown, Kiki Doll
This uplifting piano house track recommended by DJ Will Mac. It is a track that not many DJ’s have on their USB but has been a huge track for him this summer. I met Will at the beginning of the season and he helped me set up some visuals on the big screens for an event at Bay Bar Beach Club (as well as an amazing DJ, he is a technical wizard and talented photohgrapher). Since then he has spent his summer filling dance floors for regular parties in Ibiza at O Beach, Eden, El Patio, STK and Pukka Up Boat Party.
Track 6: Joys (Purple Disco Machine Extended Remix) by Roberto Surace
Every year, one track stands out in Ibiza as being the track of the summer and Roberto Surace’s track Joys was definitely this track. One of the biggest parties in Ibiza is called Glitterbox. In August, I remember Purple Disco Machine dropping their remix of Joys and the bouncy bassline and fresher groovy vibe just takes this track to the next level. As well as a firm stable in my record box, this was also suggested by DJ Sam Dungate.
Track 7: Wish You Well (Benny Benassi Remix) by Sigala, Becky Hill
Throughout the summer, I travelled back from Ibiza to the UK / France / Italy / Spain every weekend to DJ for weddings. Wish You Well by Sigala has been a huge commercial house track at weddings this year – not surprisingly as it reached 8th position in the UK charts. The Benny Benassi remix, for me, takes this track to the next level with a more upbeat piano house arrangement and this has been a killer song to play near the beginning of my DJ sets in Ibiza.
Track 8: Teardrops (feat. Sash Sings) by eSQUIRE
Hands down, one of my favourite producers for remixes is a super talented DJ and producer called eSQUIRE. This reworking of probably my favourite 80s track Teardrops by Womack & Womack is so powerful that I knew I had to get my hands on it when I first heard Mark Robinson play it in Ibiza. Next year, Mark will be celebrating 25 years of DJing internationally with a huge tour and his experience in the industry and his amazing list of contacts means that he is always the first to get his hands on exciting new tracks. This is an incredible track and I have seen crowds in Ibiza go completely wild when this is played.
Track 9: How I Feel (feat. Hayley May) [Extended Mix] by Martin Ikin, Hayley May
Halfway through the summer I bumped into a DJ called Friend Within on the plane to Ibiza. I regularly play his tracks and we ended up next to each other on the plane. The day escalated and I ended up hanging out with him and Maxinne Garman backstage in Eden for one of the big Toolroom parties. At about 4am in the morning, this track got played and I heard it for the very first time. I fell in love with it immediately. The vocals and the piano sound are so euphoric and the beat is pumping. Maxinne has just released and mixed a compilation for Toolroom records called Best of Toolroom 2019 and this track is on the album.
Track 10: You Little Beauty by Fisher
I moved out to live in Ibiza in March and one of the first DJs I met was Richard Bright aka Doctor Feelgood. He gave me lots of useful advice and really helped me find my feet on the island. As well as playing regularly at Café Mambos, Eden and Es Paradis, Richard also plays for weddings and so I thought he would be the perfect person to ask to suggest some big Ibiza house tracks that would work well at weddings. You Little Beauty is a huge track by Fisher and this is a big heavy house anthem that just makes dancers go crazy on the dance floor.
Track 11: We’re Gonna Dance (feat. MasterSax, NINA) [Extended Version] by BadCat
During the summer, DJ Mar Flores invited me to do an interview on Pure Ibiza Radio, and something she said in this interview inspired me to write the track We’re Gonna Dance – a grooving, percussive saxophone house anthem. The official release date for this track is spring 2020, but it has been played by DJs at so many parties in Ibiza this season that it definitely makes the 2019 list. Essentially, if there is a sax player at the event then this track will be played. It looks set to become a big saxophone house anthem, along with other greats such as Jubel (save me) and Man With The Red Face. I am looking forward to my DJ debut on Pure Ibiza radio next year on Alina Grinberg’s Musicology show.
Track 12: Nasty Girl (David Penn Remix) by Henry Hacking, Inaya Day
Released at the beginning of the year, David Penn’s remix of Nasty Girl is a groove heavy production with tribal influences and great funk inspired breaks. This is another suggestion by Mark Robinson and it is exactly the kind of track that he plays when he opens up the main room (The Box) for his residency with The Gallery at Ministry of Sound Nightclub London. It is an amazing moment to be standing behind the decks as 100s of people pile into the main room when the doors are opened and this catchy track is just the thing to convince them that they are going to have the night of their lives.
Track 13: Big Love (David Penn Extended Remix) by Pete Heller
Fans of house music and Ibiza will be super familiar with the 1999 classic house track Big Love by Pete Heller. One of the greatest house tracks of all time and a staple of most DJ’s playlists. 20 Years later, David Penn has dared to remix this iconic track and his version is incredible. Richard Bright plays regularly at both Café Mambo and Savannah and is regarded as one of the most experienced DJs playing on the sunset strip. He put forward this track as one of the top Ibiza house tracks of the year based on the love for this remix by the crowds of people of all ages that flock to watch the sunset in San Antonio every night during the summer.
Track 14: Move Your Body by Marshall Jefferson, Solardo
Marshall Jefferson, sometimes known as the father of house music, was the first person to use piano on a house music track when he released Move Your Body in 1986. When he took the track to record labels, they told him that it wasn’t even a house music track because “no house music tracks have piano”…which is so incredible as now there is barely a house music track that doesn’t have a piano part! This version with Solardo was released this year towards the end of the Ibiza season and it brings the track bang up to date with the current vocal house sound. An amazing track loved by everybody.
Track 15: One Night (feat. Raphaella) by MK, Sonny Fodera
To make it as a DJ now, you have to be able to produce tracks as well as spin tunes in clubs. After a non-stop summer packed with back to back gigs, DJ Will Mac has returned to the UK to lock himself in the studio for the winter. Out of all the DJs I met over the summer, he seemed to be the hardest working, with many projects running simultaneously. As well as some exciting new releases coming out next year with Damon Hess, he plans to have two whole albums of tracks ready for Ibiza 2020. Watch this space! When I spoke to Will, he definitely had his production head on and was raving about One Night which he rates as the best produced song he has heard all year.
Track 16: Pump It Up [Extended Mix] by Endor
Every summer, there will be one new track that appears just as all the DJs have found their big anthems for the year. Up until now, Endor has been a prolific producer on the underground scene, but his track Pump It Up is a killer dance floor cut. The electrifying bassline and adrenaline charged drop, combined with the insatiable chant has made this an incredible anthem and it recently reached number 20 in the UK charts. This track was quickly snatched up by all the DJs in Ibiza and now that the season has finished, it is being played nightly in almost every club in the UK and around the world.
Track 17: XTC by Solardo, Eli Brown
This track is another great pick by Mark Long who has spent a lot of the summer travelling the festival circuit with Defected. Chatting about his summer, Mark said that he has lost count of how many DJs he heard playing XTC and it always got an amazing reaction. On the subject of festivals, Defected are running a festival in Ibiza in May 2020 to celebrate 20 years of Defected in Ibiza and this is going to be one of the biggest opening events in the history of Ibiza with parties at Hi, Eden, El Patio, Destino and Café Mambo.
Track 18: SOL [Extended Mix] by KC Lights
On a Tuesday in San Antonio, after all the beach bars, pool parties and clubs on the West End close for the night, everybody heads down to Itaca to party at SOKO until the early hours of the morning. SOKO is a party run by the legendary DJ Damon Hess who has developed a unique style for blending filthy tech house tracks with catchy, driving house music. I am super excited to be making my debut DJing for SOKO in Ibiza next year and Damon’s track suggestion SOL is a perfect example of the thumping grooves, tribal drums and vocal licks that have been so popular at his night throughout the season.
Track 19: 5am Techno (V1) by Arcade Club
One of the great things about Ibiza is that you get to play all sorts of different music and 5am Techno is a big late night, main room, super club power track. Mark Robinson picked this track because of how it can completely tear up a dance floor as the vocal phrase “Do you know where my teenager is?” is turned into a furious phrase that results in complete dance floor destruction when the rolling tech bass line drops. Literally a weapon of a track – only to be used in the right circumstances for the right crowd.
Track 20: Red Light Green Light (feat. Shaun Ross) by Duke Dumont
Red Light Green Light is another huge track suggestion by Damon Hess. This tech house track by world renowned DJ and producer Duke Dumont is equally clever, playful and aggressive and it is brilliant. From the opening conversational vocal question that results in a bouncing bassline to the start and stop green light / red light playful element that results in whole dance floors freezing. Everything is so well thought out and sounds amazing – and all lighting engineers love the “hit the strobe” moment!
Piano DJ is a wedding DJ agency for those with a passion for music and will be exhibiting at our ExCeL London show on 4-5 April.