• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Ever hate a song so much you'd risk being fired?

#265
There have been many times that I have had to play a song I didn't like at a gig, but hey, if I am getting paid, then who cares? I would never refuse to play a song on a gig. If I am playing a bar gig, then I am getting paid to entertain the crowd, and if they are requesting that song, then obviously they like that song and will be entertained if we play it well. If I am hired by a singer/songwriter playing crappy pop songs, then oh well...at least I am getting paid to play music. I could be flipping burgers or something. And if you are playing with good musicians, you can always make it fun. Change up the groove or something to make it more interesting.
 
#266
There was no getting fired over it(hobbyist band), just butthurt- but I refused to play something(anything, actually)by Faith Hill, because after accidentally suffering through her merciless butchering of *Take another piece of my heart* I heard an interview of her wherein she was asked about the huge difference between her version & Janis Joplin's; she claimed she'd never heard it. :eyebrow: A professsional musician who has not heard that song, then covers it, is a hack in my book. Plus she'd be unknown if she wasn't hot AND married to [DEL]21st-century disco[/DEL] country royalty.
 
#274
Rockin Mike said:
What's interesting is the gap between what musicians like and what regular people like. I haven't heard any musicians in the thread say they love the song, yet clearly a bunch of civilians love it - it's a huge hit.

What happens to our taste when we become musicians?
Or is it that only people with "different" (more sophisticated?) taste have the urge to be musicians?
Click to expand...

I posted that acoustic version because I found it to be far superior to the original. The original comes off as overproduced pop drivel. The acoustic version just seems like a fun pop song. It made me realize what a lot of people were saying when they said "make it your own." The only problem is on some levels I think people like the version they are used to hearing so you have to make sure the spirit of the song shines through.
 
#275
MiJaKo said:
Bar/club scene in upstate NY.
We've had to do some tunes we're not proud to admit to for private functions, but fortunately nothing as bad as that song.
But hey, my band's genre is classic rock so the chance that someone could even request that kind of song is a longshot.
Click to expand...

Cool.

I can honestly say I can't think of a song I was embarassed to play strictly because of the song... it's usually because the band completely trainwrecked it. My favorite was doing a wedding and the father/daughter dance was "Thank Heaven For Little Girls" by Maurice Chevalier. It's a ballad with lots of chordal movement and the singer completely phoned it in... he sang it like a 1-IV-V blues. It was UGLY and it was all I could do to keep a straight face.

Generally speaking, my guess is that a lot of folks don't have a sense of humor about this stuff and somehow think it reflects on them... kind of like what car you drive. It usually doesn't until you act like it does.
:cool:
 
#276
malthumb said:
the difference btw the two (IMHO) is that Carly Rae Jepson actually has a very nice voice.
Click to expand...

I know... that's one reason why I was surprised by your hatred of the song. Seemed pretty harmless to me.
:cool:

If it were left up to me there are lots of songs I wouldn't cover but what's been abundantly clear to me for decades of gigging is pretty simple...

I'm not playing for me. To me it really is that simple. I don't think alot of people truly get that. If I were I'd include lots of "head-scratching" music and I know I wouldn't get paid anywhere near what I get paid if I got paid at all. I have no doubt that I could make it fun for the crowd but familiarity with a song can make things alot easier.

I actually like manipulating the crowd. I know of lots of bands that do music similar to what some of my better paying gigs do, the difference is in bringing a genuine groove to just about anything vs. the usual plastic stick up the orifice of your choice renderings. I could easily do that with CMM, it's basically just a hook musically. A driving hook. I don't mind playing simple, driving basslines in service of a groove.

Hope you feel better.
 
#277
dmusic148 said:
Hey, just look at what Dirty Loops has done with some utter drivel. Of course, they are quite good..... like them or not.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking when I initially read the thread.

If you can't make lemonade, was it really the lemon's fault?
;)

Most crowds don't expect note for note renditions of stuff like this (granted a Dirty Loops type version might be too over the top) but as a musician if you use your imagination who knows what you could come up with? You could morph this into a Cars song, same driving 1/8 note type of groove or any other similar song without much thought.

Boring musicians are boring. Can't always blame the song.
:cool:
 
#279
bassteban said:
There was no getting fired over it(hobbyist band), just butthurt- but I refused to play something(anything, actually)by Faith Hill, because after accidentally suffering through her merciless butchering of *Take another piece of my heart* I heard an interview of her wherein she was asked about the huge difference between her version & Janis Joplin's; she claimed she'd never heard it. :eyebrow: A professsional musician who has not heard that song, then covers it, is a hack in my book. Plus she'd be unknown if she wasn't hot AND married to [DEL]21st-century disco[/DEL] country royalty.
Click to expand...

You actually give a damn about any of that?
:)

I would bet money I could easily find professional musicians who've never heard that song. I come across people like that quite often. They're usually too young to have been exposed to some 1960's Rock.

You have to understand that everyone didn't come up listening to the same things you do.

To refuse to play any of her songs over a single song and an interview? Wow.
:hmm:
 
#280
Tractorr said:
I posted that acoustic version because I found it to be far superior to the original. The original comes off as overproduced pop drivel. The acoustic version just seems like a fun pop song. It made me realize what a lot of people were saying when they said "make it your own." The only problem is on some levels I think people like the version they are used to hearing so you have to make sure the spirit of the song shines through.
Click to expand...

IME people love when you take something familiar and make it your own. This of course hinges on your own version not sucking hindparts. And it makes them feel cool because they recognize what you did while others can't seem to figure out while it seems so familiar.
:D
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back