Gimme A Beat! PhDJ's 2009 Top 40

People often ask me (pictured above, taken by Craig Seymour) if the tracks that I spin when I DJ are songs that I love. That depends. I play requests. The management has their own. Plus, I play things for the bar staff--and for the dancers. I watch the crowd, too. If people respond to a certain kind of song, I play more of that. Still, some of those songs people expect or want to hear when they're out, I do love. I also slip some songs into my set that people generally didn't know about but would bop along to given the proper context. The PhDJ's 2009 Top 40 list I've compiled below represents both of those groups of songs. The list doesn't exactly represent what you heard when I spun this year because it charts only those songs (or new mixes of old songs) that impacted (often via blog) this year. So, the vast majority of all the Michael Jackson I've been playing--including the six hours of Michael I played the night he died--is not here. Also not here are the staples and crowd favorites that I played a lot before January. Also not here are any of the hip hop songs I've played. To keep the list somewhat manageable, I decided to stick to tracks close to each other in BPM. The order is in part based on the quality of the smile the track gave me and on the sheer number of times I played it this year. Here's Brian Mills (pictured below, from a fantastical F Word party this summer), who's all ears in anticipation.

PhDJ's 2009 Top 40 (mix name)

1. Lady Gaga, "LoveGame" (Space Cowboy remix/Chew Fu refix feat. Marilyn Manson)
2. Beyoncé, "Diva" (Whatever Whatever remix)
3. Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance" (Hercules and Love Affair remix/Chew Fu refix/PhDJ's revision)
4. Madonna, "Celebration" (Benny Benassi remix)
5. Whitney Houston, "Million Dollar Bill" (Frankie Knuckles Directors club & dub)
6. Beyoncé, "Broken-Hearted Girl" (Alan Braxe dub)
7. Ralph Falcon, "Whateva" (Peter Rauhofer remix)
8. Solange, "Would Have Been the One" (Red Top extended)
9. Beyoncé, "Ego" (OK DAC remix)
10. Britney Spears, "Circus" (Diplo remix)
11. Beyoncé, "Control"
12. Miami Horror, "Make You Mine"
13. Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody" (Dolby Anol remix)
14. David Guetta feat. Julie McKnight, "How Soon Is Now" (extended)
15. Drake feat. Trey Songz & Lil' Wayne, "Successful" (PhDJ revision)
16. La Roux, "Bulletproof" (iamxl remix)
17. The Xx, "Basic Space" (Astronomer remix)
18. Frankmusik, "Better Off As Two" (Justin Faust remix/Kissy Sell Out remix)
19. Peaches, "Lose You" (Yuksek and Brodinski remix)
20. Calvin Harris, "I'm Not Alone" (Deadmau5 remix)
21. Grace Jones, "William's Blood" (Yam Who Cosmic Jam/Axwell's MD official bootleg)
22. La Roux, "In for the Kill" (Skream vs. Foamo remix/Heartbreak remix)
23. Prince, "Controversy" (Stupid Fresh remix)
24. Beyoncé, "Sweet Dreams" (Karmatronic club/Dave Spoon vocal)
25. Britney Spears, "If U Seek Amy" (Chew Fu Ghettohouse refix)
26. Pixie Lott, "Mama Do" (Linus Loves remix)
27. Erykah Badu, "Honey" (Guy Robin & DJ Leo Underground remix)
28. David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland, "When Love Takes Over"
29. Madonna, "Into the Groove" (Sticky & Sweet Studio version)
30. Chelley, "Took the Night"
31. Beyoncé, "Halo" (Ober remix/My Digital Enemy remix)
32. Janet Jackson, "Make Me" (radio edit/Ralphi's Martini mix)
33. The Presets, "This Boy's in Love" (Lifelike remix)
34. Michael Jackson, "Pretty Young Thing" (U-Tern edit)
35. The Ting Tings, "That's Not My Name" (LA Riots remix/Soul Seekerz club mix)
36. The Hours, "See the Light" (Calvin Harris remix)
37. Antony and the Johnsons, "Crazy in Love" (PhDJ's revision)
38. The Jackson 5, "Forever Came Today" (Frankie Knuckles' Directors Cut)
39. Kelis, "A Cappella"
40. Rihanna, "Hard" (Chew Fu refix)

Crazy in Love (PhDJ's paging you right now revision) by fantasticalPhDJ