Give me some ideas for a new project

[pedro]

As I mentioned in my other thread my little soul band has come to an end. We have a couple of gigs booked but that will be it. I am a member of another band that started as an oldies band but has added in recent times a few less ancient tunes. The goal of the band is to play out 1-2 per month and I'm not sure that's enough for me so I'm thinking of putting something else together.

I'll tell ya what I got, and what I do and don't want and perhaps the collective here can suggest some options for me to think about.

What I don't want is any kind of jam/blues/blues rock thing. I really don't want to play I IV V all night while some guitarist tries to become the next SRV or Jimi Hendrix.

What I do want is to see a full dance floor all night long and folks having a great time.

Off the top of my head I know an excellent guitarist and absolutely GREAT drummer (first rate pro all the way). But neither are singers. I know we're gonna have to look for singers and perhaps a keys player and do the whole audition thing but I think we'd best have a direction first.

[jonas_24112]

Motown and Soul. Top picks for money gigs ala weddings and country clubs.

Since I know I'll never get to use the idea, I'll give you my favorite idea. Play all the tunes from Dirty Dancing (the movie) and call the band Johnny Baby after the two lead characters.

[pedro]

Originally Posted by jonas_24112

Motown and Soul. Top picks for money gigs ala weddings and country clubs.

Since I know I'll never get to use the idea, I'll give you my favorite idea. Play all the tunes from Dirty Dancing (the movie) and call the band Johnny Baby after the two lead characters.

LOL!! I remember the movie had lots of great music but its been a while since I saw it. I'll have to see it again. Thanks for the input.

[Bert Slide]

Originally Posted by jonas_24112

Motown and Soul. Top picks for money gigs ala weddings and country clubs.

Since I know I'll never get to use the idea, I'll give you my favorite idea. Play all the tunes from Dirty Dancing (the movie) and call the band Johnny Baby after the two lead characters.

I like it and it would def drive the chicks wild. How bout add the tunes from Flashdance and Footloose also and call it the Dirty Footloose Flashdance Band?

[pedro]

Originally Posted by Bert Slide

I like it and it would def drive the chicks wild. How bout add the tunes from Flashdance and Footloose also and call it the Dirty Footloose Flashdance Band?

A theme band. Pretty cool. Maybe flex repretoire between various 'chick flick movies'.

[Ubersheist]

Originally Posted by pedro

A theme band. Pretty cool. Maybe flex repretoire between various 'chick flick movies'.

You'll get sick of playing "That Lovin' Feeling" for sure!

[Icey101]

call it "Dance Flicks for Chicks"

[Stewie26]

I think the success of a cover band is determined by the set list. Like it has been said here many time before, get the ladies shaking and dancing and everything else will naturally fall into place. Now the guys are happy and buying themselfs and the girls drinks which now makes the venue owner happy etc,etc. This may sound a little weird, but my BL and myself run our song selections by his GF and my wife before we even bother to rehearse a song. They rate them for chick appeal and so far they have been batting 1000.

[SeaBassTheFish]

Find someone who does keys and sampling, and have him (or her) just use occasional samples for voices and get down and make some groovy funky electronic dance parties. I'm not saying all the way electronica, just a bit, mixed in with some solid musicianship from the whole group. And you'll need a dirty bass pedal or two, but used very sparingly. Keep it upbeat and danceable. The kind of danceable where people who hate dancing can't help but tap their feet. Stay as far away as possible from bluesy-jammy and (the same old same old same old same old) so-called classic rock. I think there's a lot of room for the kind of euro-inspired poppy dance-ish music that's become popular over the last handful of years to be melded with some solid instrumental playing (with occasional virtuosity) from seasoned pros.
Mixed in the right proportions, of course, which is where all the difficulty lies.
You don't need a singer because no one cares, and actually the singer is always mic'ed in a really harsh, annoying way anyway, so it would be refreshing to go without. But people get bored when it's strictly instrumental, so that's where the vocal samples come in.

Don't hate if it's not your thing. Actually, it's not my scene either, but you asked for ideas.

[pedro]

Originally Posted by Stewie26

I think the success of a cover band is determined by the set list. Like it has been said here many time before, get the ladies shaking and dancing and everything else will naturally fall into place. Now the guys are happy and buying themselfs and the girls drinks which now makes the venue owner happy etc,etc. This may sound a little weird, but my BL and myself run our song selections by his GF and my wife before we even bother to rehearse a song. They rate them for chick appeal and so far they have been batting 1000.

Stewie I agree entirely with you about picking songs that women like. And oddly enough I've been doing something very similar to what you describe in picking tunes for another project I'm in. I run all suggestions by an old college girlfriend of mine that used love to go dancing. She has a great batting average so far.

The band that is falling apart never had much of a problem because it concentrated on Motown/Soul/ etc. but the other band just didn't have the right vocalist to really pull off a night of Temptations/Four Tops/Aretha, etc. so the choice selection had to be studied more carefully.

[pedro]

Originally Posted by Icey101

call it "Dance Flicks for Chicks"

I dig it.

[pedro]

Originally Posted by SeaBassTheFish

Find someone who does keys and sampling, and have him (or her) just use occasional samples for voices and get down and make some groovy funky electronic dance parties. I'm not saying all the way electronica, just a bit, mixed in with some solid musicianship from the whole group. And you'll need a dirty bass pedal or two, but used very sparingly. Keep it upbeat and danceable. The kind of danceable where people who hate dancing can't help but tap their feet. Stay as far away as possible from bluesy-jammy and (the same old same old same old same old) so-called classic rock. I think there's a lot of room for the kind of euro-inspired poppy dance-ish music that's become popular over the last handful of years to be melded with some solid instrumental playing (with occasional virtuosity) from seasoned pros.
Mixed in the right proportions, of course, which is where all the difficulty lies.
You don't need a singer because no one cares, and actually the singer is always mic'ed in a really harsh, annoying way anyway, so it would be refreshing to go without. But people get bored when it's strictly instrumental, so that's where the vocal samples come in.

Don't hate if it's not your thing. Actually, it's not my scene either, but you asked for ideas.

I don't know anything about the kind of music you are describing. An example or two would be helpful. I will say in the meantime that keys players in this neck of the woods are almost impossible to find.

[jive1]

Since you live in Madison, I'd imagine a band that sung songs about beer, weed, and sausages would do pretty well.

On the more serious side, I remember you mentioning that you like doing requests and songs off the cuff. How about a live karaoke band?

[pedro]

Originally Posted by jive1

Since you live in Madison, I'd imagine a band that sung songs about beer, weed, and sausages would do pretty well.

On the more serious side, I remember you mentioning that you like doing requests and songs off the cuff. How about a live karaoke band?

LOL!! Sounds like you've been to Madison.

[jive1]

Originally Posted by pedro

LOL!! Sounds like you've been to Madison.

I've had people tell me that I've been there, but it all seems fuzzy to me now so I have to take their word for it.

[pedro]

Originally Posted by jive1

I've had people tell me that I've been there, but it all seems fuzzy to me now so I have to take their word for it.

LOL! Understood.

[pklima]

Originally Posted by SeaBassTheFish

Find someone who does keys and sampling, and have him (or her) just use occasional samples for voices and get down and make some groovy funky electronic dance parties.

I kind of do this with two different bands, with vocals and often without electronics. The basic idea is to play the songs that DJs spin in dance clubs a lot but bands don't play. Even if I'm playing DB we try to capture as much of the vibe of the original as we can using the tools and instruments we do have. It works great. Not sure how much our setlists would work in Wisconsin, but I think playing their rough American equivalents - C&C Music Factory instead of 2 Unlimited and Kreayshawn instead of Buraka Som Sistema - would.

An example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daW9tVR3U58

[Dantreige]

Originally Posted by jive1

I've had people tell me that I've been there, but it all seems fuzzy to me now so I have to take their word for it.

Then you must have done it right, my friend. No one remembers Wisconsin if they do it right. We are the beer capitol if the US after all.

We don't just have beer, cheese and sausages, we put beer and cheese IN our sausages! By my math, that kills 73 3/4 birds with one stone.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by Dantreige

Then you must have done it right, my friend. No one remembers Wisconsin if they do it right. We are the beer capitol if the US after all.

We don't just have beer, cheese and sausages, we put beer and cheese IN our sausages! By my math, that kills 73 3/4 birds with one stone.

I wish my band had some Madison bookings. Cool city.

[jive1]

Originally Posted by pedro

LOL! Understood.

I've been to MadTown a few times, and always had a blast there. You have about 20,000 folks in their 20s there, so it should be a decent place to start up something cool.