In honor of my daughter’s fifth birthday last weekend, we’re going to take a look at songs you can play when announcing birthdays at your sporting events.  Even though “Happy Birthday To You” is still ok to sing in public, there’s a few songs you can play to change things up a bit.

Birthday – The Beatles is a classic as the opening guitar riff is very familiar, you don’t always need to get to the lyrics, but it provides you with a nice bed to make the announcement.  You can also loop the opening to create a bed if you’re apt to have a multitude of birthdays.

Clubhouse Birthday Party – Mickey Mouse (They Might Be Giants) is totally Mickey, great for kids parties and nights you have a lot of kids.  This is a happy song that kids will enjoy.

Happy Birthday – Lenny Kravitz is a song that’s designed just for something like this.  A great big sound, but a little slower tempo than some other songs.  Give it a listen, as it’s not easily recognizable, but it’s right in line with being something different.

Happy Birthday – New Kids on the Block a very 90’s birthday song.  And with the 90’s being a hit right now, this slower song would be good to have ready to play just for fun under your birthday reads.

Happy Birthday – Stevie Wonder is the song that you’ll say, “oh yeah, that’s right” when you hear it.  It’s currently one of our hidden favorites for just that reason.  It’s upbeat and fun.  You should have this song.

Happy Birthday – Weird Al Yankovic is very Weird Al.  You should have this for the comedic value of the song.  A little edgier, maybe play it for a more mature crowd, which seems kind of strange when talking about Weird Al.

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen – Neil Sedaka is a 70’s hit that fits well if you’re celebrating someone’s 16th birthday.

Songs to avoid

Birthday – Dougie featuring Pitbull fits in the same category as In Da Club.  It’s a fine song, with a great beat, but the content isn’t family friends.

Birthday – Katy Perry is a great upbeat song and a lot of people played it when it came out two years ago, however it’s not really about celebrating a birthday.

Birthday Sex – Jeremih is only included on this list because of a story in which a 9-year old asked me to play this at a party and when denied, the little girl’s mother got upset with us.  It’s obvious by the title why it’s not for public consumption.

In Da Club – 50 Cent is about partying like it’s your birthday, and a lot of other stuff.  Great bass line and beat and instantly recognizable, so if you wanted to use this as a music bed, you could.