There have been terrific suggestions regarding beginner party contra dances (eg, David Kaynor's booklet - http://www.davidkaynor.com/booklet.html - which I recently received and have enjoyed very much). However, most of the gigs that I have done have not included live music. As a beginnning contra dance caller (I mostly call square dances), I would find very helpful suggestions to specific "purchasable" recordings (and cuts within the CDs) that people have enjoyed using for specific contra dances - especially contra dances appropriate for beginner parties. As a made-up example (since I don't have the CD in front of me), "for a teenage crowd I really like to use The Privy Tippers - cut 2 - The Curvy Line for Haymakers Jig - except that the music starts at A1 with no pickup, and at 4:15 it is a somewhat short". I'm especially interested in high energy and good quality recordings that could project nicely through a decent sound system. Any suggestions - or places to look for this kind of info? (I'm aware of Dudley Laufman's collections and of the New England Dancing Masters.) Thanks very much. And apologies in advance if this is an old question that is being re-asked for the n-th time. (So many topics do seem to be unintentionally revisited yearly on mailing lists. :) Peter Ostapenko (San Diego, CA) http://www.pirkadat.org/caller