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

[pedro]

Seems to me that we're loosing track of the topic. IIRC it's not whether the song is any good or not but whether we'd be willing to loose gig by not playing. I don't personally think the song is good but it's hardly the worst and I would play it without giving it a second thought if the audience wants it.

 

[jive1]

I grew up in the 60's and play in an oldies band. I suppose you could have speculated the same thing about any number of bubble gum tunes that were popular back in the day. So-called musician dismissed much of these tunes back then and now are all too happy to play them for a very appreciative crowd for whom the song brings back lots of good memories about their youth.

Same with the 80s. I play more 80s pop music now than I did during the 80s. I'd never play Jessie's Girl or 867-5309 back then, and most bar crowds would have thrown you out if you played that stuff. Now, they eat this stuff up, including the folks who hated it back in the day.

It's nostalgia, but it's also something familiar to you in a world that is becoming unfamiliar as you get older. It's like living in another country: the stuff that was banal and taken for granted is now a welcome breath of fresh air because it reminds you of home and gives you a sense of familiarity in an otherwise foreign place.

 

[Calebmundy]

I know I'm late to all of this, but the term "get fired" to me indicates you aren't in a mutually-run band. In other words someone else is in charge and they hired you, and your playing paying gigs. If that's the case, I'd say that's one of the stupidest reasons to quit I've ever heard.

 

[Schpector]

I would absolutely refuse to play it. Your integrity should never have a value, regardless of how much the club, or bar, or whatever is paying you.

I encountered this issue in my current band and, if you are a good enough player, they will respect it and not play the song. My guys kept wanting to play this stupid Limp Bizkit song and I vehemently refused. It finally boiled down to "if you wanna play the song this bad, you can f***ing fire me and find someone else to play it. I'm not doing it. End of story".

Needless to say, we do not play that song. And you know what we lost because we don't perform it? Absolutely nothing.

 

[pedro]

Same with the 80s. I play more 80s pop music now than I did during the 80s. I'd never play Jessie's Girl or 867-5309 back then, and most bar crowds would have thrown you out if you played that stuff. Now, they eat this stuff up, including the folks who hated it back in the day.

It's nostalgia, but it's also something familiar to you in a world that is becoming unfamiliar as you get older. It's like living in another country: the stuff that was banal and taken for granted is now a welcome breath of fresh air because it reminds you of home and gives you a sense of familiarity in an otherwise foreign place.

Kinda the premise of Woody Allen's 'Midnight in Paris'.

 

[thebbconspiracy]

It only makes me think... How many bass players did the producer have to go through while recording "Call Me Maybe"?

 

[bunkaroo]

Is there even real bass on it?

 

[malthumb]

.....
The artistry of pop music in general has been on a decline for the past 10-15 years. Sure there were bubblegum type songs all the way back to the 50's or maybe even before, but nowadays you have 6 producers involved just to get "baby, baby, baby oh" .........

I know that probably sounds like typical generational stuff, but I truly believe there was more skill involved in pop music of the last millennium. For example the rise of the synthesizer had a lot of bands creating some interesting and new sounds while still producing solid and catchy 3-4 minute songs. Now it's all ready made. That goes for a lot of genres too, not just pop. Just a lot more lazy songwriting these days IMO.

Stuff like Hanson, Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen are no different than Tiffany, NKOTB or Debbie Gibson before them. There is undoubtedly better pop music available. It's just that the garbage seems to get pushed the most. Or maybe that goes to show what the lowest common denominator is for what people will listen to.

Here I go showing my age.....

When I was growing up, pop was "I Want You Back", "ABC", "One Bad Apple", "Mr. Telephone Man", and stuff like that. It had catchy lyrics, like a lot of today's pop. It was danceable, and it also had interesting music. There is still some decent pop stuff today, but the ones that seem to fly to and stay at the top of the charts are the "Baby, Baby Baby" and "Call Me Maybe" songs. Catchy lyrics? Yeah, I guess. Interesting music? Not to me. Those who like it, cool. I'm sure I like a lot of stuff oTher peopl hate.

As for the bold type, I definitely agree with that perspective.

 

[bunkaroo]

Here I go showing my age.....

When I was growing up, pop was "I Want You Back", "ABC", "One Bad Apple", "Mr. Telephone Man", and stuff like that. It had catchy lyrics, like a lot of today's pop. It was danceable, and it also had interesting music. There is still some decent pop stuff today, but the ones that seem to fly to and stay at the top of the charts are the "Baby, Baby Baby" and "Call Me Maybe" songs. Catchy lyrics? Yeah, I guess. Interesting music? Not to me. Those who like it, cool. I'm sure I like a lot of stuff oTher peopl hate.

As for the bold type, I definitely agree with that perspective.

It's funny you mention ABC. Every week I play trivia at a bar, and they play this song during the "spelling" question. Every time I hear it, I'm always impressed with bass line. Really like the instrumentation in the song. I can't remember the last time I was impressed by the instrumentation in new pop song.

 

[malthumb]

Same with the 80s. I play more 80s pop music now than I did during the 80s. I'd never play Jessie's Girl or 867-5309 back then, and most bar crowds would have thrown you out if you played that stuff. Now, they eat this stuff up, including the folks who hated it back in the day.

It's nostalgia, but it's also something familiar to you in a world that is becoming unfamiliar as you get older. It's like living in another country: the stuff that was banal and taken for granted is now a welcome breath of fresh air because it reminds you of home and gives you a sense of familiarity in an otherwise foreign place.

Very interesting spin here! I think I have seen a lot of this in action. A lot of the songs we play fit the description. And I'm willing to bet a lot of our crowds also fit the description.

 

[malthumb]

I know I'm late to all of this, but the term "get fired" to me indicates you aren't in a mutually-run band. In other words someone else is in charge and they hired you, and your playing paying gigs. If that's the case, I'd say that's one of the stupidest reasons to quit I've ever heard.

I'd say it would be equally stupid to stay in a band where opinions are not respected (3 out of 4 vote "don't do the song", but there is an attempt to sneak it in anyway)

I would absolutely refuse to play it. Your integrity should never have a value, regardless of how much the club, or bar, or whatever is paying you.

I encountered this issue in my current band and, if you are a good enough player, they will respect it and not play the song. My guys kept wanting to play this stupid Limp Bizkit song and I vehemently refused. It finally boiled down to "if you wanna play the song this bad, you can f***ing fire me and find someone else to play it. I'm not doing it. End of story".

Needless to say, we do not play that song. And you know what we lost because we don't perform it? Absolutely nothing.

I am surprised that very few in this thread get that.

 

[hudpucker]

Yep.

D-bag rhythm player several bands ago wrote an ultra-misogynistic song called 'She's So C*nty' which I refused to play at all. He wrote it to try to get on the Howard Stern Show. I told he and the bassist that if they ever attempted it in public with the band that I'd walk-off stage and quit right there on the spot.

Idiot couldn't figure out why it was such a bad idea.

 

[pedro]

Here I go showing my age.....

When I was growing up, pop was "I Want You Back", "ABC", "One Bad Apple", "Mr. Telephone Man", and stuff like that. It had catchy lyrics, like a lot of today's pop. It was danceable, and it also had interesting music. There is still some decent pop stuff today, but the ones that seem to fly to and stay at the top of the charts are the "Baby, Baby Baby" and "Call Me Maybe" songs. Catchy lyrics? Yeah, I guess. Interesting music? Not to me. Those who like it, cool. I'm sure I like a lot of stuff oTher peopl hate.

As for the bold type, I definitely agree with that perspective.

Funny how we mostly remember the good stuff from the era but I could name a lot of 'pop' tunes from the 60-70's that were more forgettable that 'Call Me'.

 

[pedro]

Originally Posted by Schpector
I would absolutely refuse to play it. Your integrity should never have a value, regardless of how much the club, or bar, or whatever is paying you.

I encountered this issue in my current band and, if you are a good enough player, they will respect it and not play the song. My guys kept wanting to play this stupid Limp Bizkit song and I vehemently refused. It finally boiled down to "if you wanna play the song this bad, you can f***ing fire me and find someone else to play it. I'm not doing it. End of story".

Needless to say, we do not play that song. And you know what we lost because we don't perform it? Absolutely nothing.

My integrity comes from entertaining the audience. I don't much like playing Buddy Holly songs but if the audience wants to hear 'That'll Be the Day' why shouldn't I play it?

 

[squarewave]

3 words... Achy Breaky Heart

 

[jive1]

Very interesting spin here! I think I have seen a lot of this in action. A lot of the songs we play fit the description. And I'm willing to bet a lot of our crowds also fit the description.

So I'm curious because I was just a kid during the 70s......
Did everyone hate Disco as much as they did in Chicago during that time? There were lots of public displays for the hatred of Disco, culminating in the fracas known as Disco Demolition Night. If I even played a Disco record during that time, I would have probably been tarred and feathered. But now, every wedding band knows "I Will Survive", and it's no big deal if a band does "Hot Stuff" or "Freak Out". I think there are more Disco tributes out now than Disco bands back then.

 

[jive1]

Funny how we mostly remember the good stuff from the era but I could name a lot of 'pop' tunes from the 60-70's that were more forgettable that 'Call Me'.

I think that if you compared the Billboard charts for music compared to what bands play in bars, there would be a pretty big difference. I think lots of the songs from the 60s and 70s that are covered in the bars weren't on the charts. In some ways, the cover bands are what make a song a classic. For example, Jimi Hendrix had one song chart while Helen Reddy had about a dozen, but lots more bands cover Hendrix than Helen (thankfully).

 

[pedro]

I think that if you compared the Billboard charts for music compared to what bands play in bars, there would be a pretty big difference. I think lots of the songs from the 60s and 70s that are covered in the bars weren't on the charts. In some ways, the cover bands are what make a song a classic. For example, Jimi Hendrix had one song chart while Helen Reddy had about a dozen, but lots more bands cover Hendrix than Helen (thankfully).

Mercifully I don't have to play any Hendrix tunes, albeit my integrity would compel me to do so if the crowd really wanted it. But generally speaking my observation from having played Hendrix (and the like) both in the 60's and now is that the effect is generally the same. Folks sitting down.

 

[Jared Lash]

I had to YouTube the song because it wasn't familiar but then I realized I have heard it before.

The simple answer is that no, I wouldn't want to play it.

The longer answer is that when I've been in cover bands I always tried to stress to bandmates that really the only reason to put songs on a set list is that they'd appeal to our target crowd.

A few years ago I took a gig just as the lead singer (they already had a killer bassist) for an older group of guys doing old school R&B and MoTown. And even in that relatively period and genre focused band we ended up doing some songs I didn't like. But they went over well so I never complained.

I've never done the wedding band thing (for example) but it seems like the target crowd is likely to cover a very wide range and have a high potential for requested songs that you personally dislike. But in that situation especially it isn't about what you like or don't want to play. It's about the client that hired you and what they and their friends and family want to hear. Plaster on a smile and play the songs as best you can so people can enjoy themselves.

Or find another band whose target audience's musical tastes are more in line with your own.

Personally I've done the former a lot more than the latter if only because the target crowd with musical preferences like mine is going to leave a very deserted venue.

 

[malthumb]

Funny how we mostly remember the good stuff from the era but I could name a lot of 'pop' tunes from the 60-70's that were more forgettable that 'Call Me'.

I tried to, but I .....um..........forgot them.

Double Dutch Bus comes to mind, though 'cause one of the XM Sirius stations I listen to has it in rotation now . Didn't like it then, don't like it now.