Do You Hate Your Playlist?

[SmokinJoe992]

The solution to your problem is to work on your singing. Then when they say ‘The singer can’t do that one’ you can say ‘ No problem, I’ll sing it’.

 

[Hambone70]

Man, I find these threads depressing! Not too sure I even want to be in a band again!

 

[JGbassman]

I have a handful of songs I'd rather not do again, but they either go over well or the singer does a good job at them. Either way, you play the same songs long enough, and they start to lose their appeal. As long as the musicianship is good, it makes it more fun.

 

[LBS-bass]

I looked back at our setlist from last week and out of 38 songs we played eight of them were ones I wanted or wrote:

Loving Cup
Deal
Let Love Rule
Land Down Under
Hymn 43
Soul Kitchen
Trouble (original)
Quinn The Eskimo.


Since we are a five piece I actually got more than my share at 21% this time.

You have great taste

 

[LordRyan]

I was in a band led by a drummer who picked most of the material apparently based a lot on how much he liked the drum sound on the recording. He was picking quite a few songs by Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, and The Lovin' Spoonful. He also picked some lesser-known songs by Springsteen, James Taylor, The Who, The Band, and a few others. One thing I noticed is that the records he picked by the afore-mentioned three artists is that the songs he picked were all engineered or produced by Roy Halee who had some fairly unique drum production techniques. I called him out on this but he said he didn't know who Roy Halee is. Anyway, due to dissent in the band he went his way and the rest of us stayed together for quite a while.

 

[john_g]

The solution to your problem is to work on your singing. Then when they say ‘The singer can’t do that one’ you can say ‘ No problem, I’ll sing it’.

This. I never sang until my last band. Ive been working on it at home and discovered Im not half bad. I think if I worked hard on it I could be a good lead singer, or at least cover a good portion. You wouldnt believe the difference being a solid singer makes in a band dynamic. As just the bass player, stuff I suggest has just been met with crickets at times.

 

[Ric5]

I recently left a band that I helped start, but never really had any influence in. This included auditioning several drummers, losing much time,before ever finally becoming a solid unit.
The self-acknowledged leader of the band, a truly talented, experienced, and committed guy, also became the one who decided what material we would play. At the beginning, I was all for learning new, current material that I hadnt played before, having always been an 80's metalhead. But the songs we were picking up made no sense to me in terms of commercial popularity. Many werent danceable, too slow, or just didnt get a rise out of the audience.
Also, the songs were always dropped down from original key, not just detuned.
I came to hate playing our list, and it seemed that anything new was absurdly out of context for a rock and roll band. (Love Yourself, by Justin Beeber??? And OMG that damn Seven Nation army- we passed out kazoos for audience participation.)
When I started the band, the leader and the singer were always talking about a previous bassplayer who was always critical of their material choices, ("Why do you want to learn THAT song?") Not wanting to be "that guy" I accepted the songs and learned them without comment. My mistake.
Further, any ideas I had about song endings, transitions into other songs, etc. were never implemented.
Every time I would suggest learning a song, It was- Can you sing it? Its too high for our singer.
I soon felt like an orbiting planet rather than an integral member of the band, and consequently, my interest soon diminished to the point that the band was just another obligation, especially with the three-hour setup time and additional hour to town. A whole day burned over a three or four hour gig.
I didnt make an issue over the drive, but three hours for setup when it could have been done in an hour to 90 minutes ...
I guess my main gripe is not having any say, yea or nay, about the band's musical image. It wasnt that I wanted to make decisions, just that I didnt like the decisions that were being made.
Everybody has songs they dont want to play, but the band that I invested two years of my life in helping create had become something I never wanted.

Hey …. I played in a band like that too … more than once

 

[DJ Bebop]

Seven Nation Army with kazoos and audience participation.
That needs to stay in. Seriously.

I hear what you are saying. It sounds like as you say the leader is playing what he wants to hear unless that stuff you play goes over well.

Like the Seven Nation Army thing if that goes over. Around here that would be a big night ender, folks would go nuts for that, with kazoos, Standing Ovation right there.

And that's the point, what does your audience want? That is how you gain a following and gigs, playing what folks wanna hear not what you or your leader wanna hear unless that IS what they want. I think you see that. The trouble is, as you know is, getting everybody else on board with that thinking.

 

[Omega Monkey]

Love Yourself, by Justin Beeber???

The moment someone suggests something like that is the moment I silently pack up my stuff and leave without saying a word. I need to be able to trust my bandmates. There are bad ideas, then there are horrible ideas.

 

[Gerben]

Been in the same situation also (who doesn't...). We had a rather solid band, with the occasional gigs and a happy audience all the time. We played songs we really liked ourselves, mainly Muse, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Royal Blood, Rage against the machine, stuff like that.
Anyway, it all ended rather quickly when our singer decided she wanted "more songs to please the audience" and came up with Ike and Tina Turner, and similar stuff I played 40years ago.
Long story short: she proposed songs like that in our band app, I reacted the way I wanted and that was that for this band. Onwards and upwards now.

 

[nilorius]

Not currently, but had a playlists with different bands - i hated.

 

[two fingers]

I have never understood self-indulgent musicians. Sure, break one off just for your self every set. Fine.

But the vast majority of songs in a cover band should be CROWD PLEASERS!

Now, there are some crowd pleasers I despise. But at least I get the joy of seeing people having a good time. But if I hate it, and THE AUDIENCE hates it, why would any band PLAY it?

I recently had to kind if "coach" out female singer on this. She loves 90s female country songs..... not the smash hits mind you.... but deep album cuts most never heard..... or haven't heard on the radio in years.

Funny story. She actually suggested (via group text) that we do "What I Loke About You". I texted back "Original key"? She simply said "Yep".

A couple weeks later we had a rehearsal. Among the many new songs we al showed up ready to rock out "What I Like About You" by The Romantics. I was even prepared to sing it if it didn't fly with female lead vocals. We started the song and she stopped us. "What are ya'll pkaying????"

We were as confused as she was. She whipped out her phone and held it up to her vocal mic as a Trisha Yearwood song called "THAT'S What I Like About You" started to play. None of us had ever heard it.






Needless to say we had a conversation about hit songs.

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

I try to pick songs that fit in with our repertoire but at the end of the day I am not the one singing em so I mostly let the singer decide. When he gets too obscure or brings too many I-IV-V shuffles on board, I point it out. Other than that, fairly happy at present.

 

[Resonance129]

I'm pretty annoyed by quite a few of the songs we play. Then again, there are a few that I really enjoy playing (of course, those are the ones most of the rest of the band hates playing).
One thing that helped me, and helped keep me from just leaving the group, was to join another group that DOES play stuff I like. Of course, even in another group, I'm not gonna love every song on the list, but it's cathartic to play music you genuinely enjoy playing in a live setting.
If starting your own thing or joining another group who plays stuff you like aren't options, it comes down being cool with 2 of the 3 things everyone else mentions on here:

- The Money, The Hang, or The Music

Apparently, the music isn't cuttin it for you, so if the money and hang aren't worth stickin around for, it may be time to walk away. It's unfortunate all that happened, but the precedent seems to have been set..

 

[Basstigator]

We went democratic when we started our band. We created an Excel worksheet and all members selected 10 songs that they wanted to play. The input was then consolidated into one worksheet and everyone voted points "0" (No Way) , "1" (Ehh), "2" (Could Probably Play), or "3" (Red Hot Must Play) for each song.The votes were then tallied and only the highest ranking songs were considered. The understanding was that the crowd also had to like them - so, there was a fail-safe built in. Everyone gets something they like and there's buy-in on all the others. Anyone voting a "0" on a song killed it dead from the get-go. It has worked so far. Everyone seems to like it.

 

[Crazy_Jake]

There are a couple songs in my current band that I dont really enjoy playing - BUT - they always fill the dance floor so I play them to keep the crowd happy and to keep us getting booked back.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Sounds like the band was no longer a fit for you. I recognize that I am performing for the pleasure of the audience, not me. I also would rather play good gigs with good musicians than my favorite tunes in my basement, or in front of ten people.

 

[lfmn16]

Not to beat up on you, but you ignored every warning sign and some of them were bright neon and flashing. Next time don't join/start a band where you aren't respected.

 

[Medicine Man]

The fact is, our tastes as a musician are likely not the same as the non musicians we are being hired to entertain. Not one thing my band plays would be caught dead coming out of my car speakers. If you can find joy in playing and performing, it shouldn't matter how much you love the material. Play for love of entertainment, not to serve your vanity or ego, and you may find the material doesn't matter so much. Many bands suffer from thinking that stuff they like will be well received. If anyone's taste in music on this forum includes cover band classics I would be very surprised.

 

[brianrost]

Most bands I have been in over the last 40 years have at least a few songs I really didn't like because they always felt dead when we played them. In one of my current bands, the BL has me playing a bass solo on a song that bores me to tears just because the recording has a solo.

Oh well, put the money in my hand and I will rock