Of course. I agree a band shouldn't have to play everything under the sun. Just know your demographic and play what's appropriate. Tunes should also match the band's persona.
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Ever hate a song so much you'd risk being fired?
- Thread starter malthumb
- Start date
I just looked into trying out for a band...it sounded like a good situation. I spoke to the guy and he gave me a list of some really cool songs...Allman Brothers...Ohio Players... and, oh yeah...Lynard Skynard's Red White and Blue. I tried...I really did. But eventually I bowed out. That song is absolutely awful.
80's are over. Thank god. I used to hate EVERYTHING about Bon Jovi when I was a teenager and you couldn't escape it.
Today, I feel that a few of their songs are pretty good. Wanted Dead or Alive is a great rock song, that transcends time.
I don't have to play it, but I would.
Most of the guys in my band know Freebird. By heart. Because they played it 1000's of times over the years.
It's the LAST thing that I want to play. But, if it made someone happy, I'd play it. And have.
It won't kill me. Worst thing that happens is that you do something nice for somebody else.
Today, I feel that a few of their songs are pretty good. Wanted Dead or Alive is a great rock song, that transcends time.
I don't have to play it, but I would.
Most of the guys in my band know Freebird. By heart. Because they played it 1000's of times over the years.
It's the LAST thing that I want to play. But, if it made someone happy, I'd play it. And have.
It won't kill me. Worst thing that happens is that you do something nice for somebody else.
"Worst thing that happens is that you do something nice for somebody else." Very well said.
I'll play anything if it pleases the crowd and lines my pocket with more dollahs.
I'll play anything if it pleases the crowd and lines my pocket with more dollahs.
Man, for a few hundred bucks and a legible chart I will play a song written by an audience member called "This Bass Player Sucks and He Smells Funny".
Life is too short to get all bent out of shape over dumb stuff. If the pay is good enough and the other musicians are agreeable I will play show tunes at a bar.
I need to hang out with some of you guys live. If you are SO AMAZING that you are too good to play a smash hit for someone who really enjoys it then you must just RADIATE awesome. Just basking in your glow must be the thrill of a lifetime.
Life is too short to get all bent out of shape over dumb stuff. If the pay is good enough and the other musicians are agreeable I will play show tunes at a bar.
I need to hang out with some of you guys live. If you are SO AMAZING that you are too good to play a smash hit for someone who really enjoys it then you must just RADIATE awesome. Just basking in your glow must be the thrill of a lifetime.
Can't speak for anyone else, but I am not amazing, but still....given the following two choices......
A) Play 45 songs, 30 of which I really like, 10 of which I could take or leave, 5 of which I really don't like but someone in my band does. Audience likes what we do and we get paid and asked to set up our next date.
B) Play 45 songs, 30 of which I really like, 10 of which I could take or leave, 5 of which I really don't like but someone in my band does. Add in a song that is requested by someone in the audience, but that all in the band hate and that we've never rehearsed. Audience likes what we do and we get paid and asked to set up our next date.
Given the choice, I'll take A every time. And A is what happened at the event after which I started this thread, even though B was put on the table several times.
In any job , there will be parts of it we like , parts of it we tolerate and parts of it we hate. Music and entertainment are no different. What makes us professionals at any job is how well we cover the whole package , not just the parts we like. In most jobs , a person that refuses to do a part of it because he (or she) simply doesn't like it will be fired. If they are a prima donna , they might quit before even doing the job. In either case , they will be talked about as a sniveller and a loser after they are gone. We are entertainers and if we are playing in public for pay , it is NOT always just about us. There is a certain obligation we have to the audience and the club owners. I have seen an entire table get up and leave a club because a request they made was not played. (BTW they knew that the band playing knew how to play the song.) The club owner saw this too. I'm sure the club owner saw dollar signs walking out the door. One can only guess how much money he lost by losing a whole table of customers because a band member had a snit and wouldn't play a song.
I've been doing this stuff for 30+ years and there are songs that to be honest , I find almost painfull to play. Mustang sally , Brown eyed girl and Cocain come to mind but the crowds seem to love them. I'm sure most drummers are tired of Wipe out but that's another one that seems to get the older crowds going. For the most part , you are going to have a good time for 3 to 4 hours playing. Is it too much to ask you to let someone in the crowd to have a good time listening to a song that gets them going even though you don't care for it? Your job is to entertain the crowd , not just yourself so every once in a while , just suck it up and as the saying goes "get er done." It's 3 minutes out of a 3 hour gig. You will get over it and you'll seem more professional to both the crowd and your bandmates.
I've been doing this stuff for 30+ years and there are songs that to be honest , I find almost painfull to play. Mustang sally , Brown eyed girl and Cocain come to mind but the crowds seem to love them. I'm sure most drummers are tired of Wipe out but that's another one that seems to get the older crowds going. For the most part , you are going to have a good time for 3 to 4 hours playing. Is it too much to ask you to let someone in the crowd to have a good time listening to a song that gets them going even though you don't care for it? Your job is to entertain the crowd , not just yourself so every once in a while , just suck it up and as the saying goes "get er done." It's 3 minutes out of a 3 hour gig. You will get over it and you'll seem more professional to both the crowd and your bandmates.
It's called being an adult. It's when you realize that everything isn't all about you.
Well, on one hand if you're a band for HIRE, the request is from a customer and you should play it or don't take the job.
Now on the other hand, I've already had a similar situation in which I was taking lessons and being taught a song that was too painful to me due to a past breakup and wound up discontinuing lessons with this person. So I can sympathize with you.
PS- After sampling the song on iTunes, I'd pass on that one! UGH!
Now on the other hand, I've already had a similar situation in which I was taking lessons and being taught a song that was too painful to me due to a past breakup and wound up discontinuing lessons with this person. So I can sympathize with you.
PS- After sampling the song on iTunes, I'd pass on that one! UGH!
You've all never been a pit player for shows or a dep player, I assume. Hell, I've played shows where I have hated every single song. I've depped for missing bass players where none of the music in the pad has titles, just numbers so you don't even know what the song is before you play it. If you are masters of your own set list, then you don't HAVE to play anything, but I work on the principle that some jobs need you to play what the audience want, and have perhaps paid for - so who are you to say they're all wrong and you are right? If the person with the money asks for the worst song in the world,because to them, it's great - and you can play it. why not? It's 3 minutes of your life, not your life savings!
BOLD: Your assumption is incorrect. I have done pit at a number of musicals. I typically enjoyed most, though not all, of the music we played. And even for some that I started out not liking, through interaction with the rest of the band and the show cast, you actually "learn" to like them. Over time you associate different songs with different cast members and different parts of the show. If you have good moments with the cast members and truly enjoy the show, it transcends the music and you experience the larger good and re-live the entire experience. By the way, I have no clue what a "dep" player is, so I cannot comment on that.
UNDERLINED: There was one show that I opted out of because I totally hated the music. Someone else did that show. I did the next one. I had established enough of a reputation for studying the music, hard work at rehearsals, and top notch playing during the productions that the producers were VERY comfortable with my decision to sit one out. All I remember is it was a very quirky original musical. After several read throughs it just made no sense and I had better things to do with my time. The producers were even a bit nervous about presenting it. I never went to see it so I have no idea if it was successful or not. But to me the bottom line is my decision to choose to NOT do something I disliked had no impact on the way the people paying me interacted with me.
Yes, a perfectly fun electronica band was killed over a new song where the singer wouldn't rewrite horribly cheesey cliche lyrics where he rhymed "you" with "I'm so-o-o blue" then "you" four more times with "true" over and over and over. A couple of us really thought it was terrible, angry words were exchanged, singer stood his ground, band crumbled.
I still think they were horrible, embarrassingly horrible lyrics. No real reason to kill an entire band over them though. Sorry about that.
I still think they were horrible, embarrassingly horrible lyrics. No real reason to kill an entire band over them though. Sorry about that.
Interesting thread. I don't play in a band but if I was in a cover band that was supposed to make people...dance...then I'd join with the understanding that although some songs will be fun, I might have to play some of the Greatest Crap out there. I would never join such a band because I'm not into dancing.
If I ever did join a cover band, I would go for a hard rock/classic rock band. I'm not sure if there are any classic rock or hard rock songs I hate enough to refuse to play ever. Then again, I don't listen to modern hard rock so I don't know what's out there...it could be really bad for all I know
Question for those who change songs around. Does the dancing crowd like when you "rock up" a pop/dance song? If I were to see a heavy band play, I'd be annoyed if they "popped up" a heavy song. I don't know, maybe the dancing crowd is more open-minded than me.
I'm kind of curious to hear how bad this Call Me Maybe song really is. I've never heard it & Crom Willing, I never will. Good to hear that the OP didn't have to play it but sorry to hear about the medical problem.
If I ever did join a cover band, I would go for a hard rock/classic rock band. I'm not sure if there are any classic rock or hard rock songs I hate enough to refuse to play ever. Then again, I don't listen to modern hard rock so I don't know what's out there...it could be really bad for all I know
Question for those who change songs around. Does the dancing crowd like when you "rock up" a pop/dance song? If I were to see a heavy band play, I'd be annoyed if they "popped up" a heavy song. I don't know, maybe the dancing crowd is more open-minded than me.
I'm kind of curious to hear how bad this Call Me Maybe song really is. I've never heard it & Crom Willing, I never will. Good to hear that the OP didn't have to play it but sorry to hear about the medical problem.
I play in a church band so I have no choice.....I cannot choose "not to play" a particular song....like it or not....luckily I love like or can tolerate most of what we play.....
I just make the best if it....
I just make the best if it....
I play in a church band so I have no choice.....I cannot choose "not to play" a particular song....like it or not....luckily I love like or can tolerate most of what we play.....
I just make the best if it....
Very good point. I also have played in a number of churches over the years. Some stuff I really like. Some I would personally not have ever picked. But, since I was getting paid to play, I played.
That is truly a no choice situation, so you make the best of it. I think some folks under-estimate how much choice they have when it comes to cover band material.
I would do it, but reharmonize it so that it becomes an inside joke to the band. Not to say there is a right way or wrong way to approach this, but I've played some really horrible songs at gigs over the years, and afterwards I was glad I did. ("Disco Duck" at UC San Diego comes to mind.) To me, the biggest kick at a gig is to see the listeners/dancers having fun.
Update: I just YTed it, and I feel it is no worse than tons of pop songs I played in the '80s, '90s and'00s. You could put a lot of personal touches on it to bend it around, and I bet no one would notice them while you had the harmless fun of "putting one over on 'em." What's not to like?
Update: I just YTed it, and I feel it is no worse than tons of pop songs I played in the '80s, '90s and'00s. You could put a lot of personal touches on it to bend it around, and I bet no one would notice them while you had the harmless fun of "putting one over on 'em." What's not to like?
I have personally played everything that's been thrown at me over the years. Playing bass is my rush, and as much as I'd love to do all my favorite songs live, it ain't happening. Gotta take the good with the bad. I do sort of enjoy gussying up the lines to certain tired songs that I know will be on the docket. Usually nobody even notices, and it makes blah tunes more interesting to play, so the result is that I'm more engaged in the music and the audience reacts. Win-win.
That said, there are definitely songs I'd sooner be boiled in oil as to play. Achy Breaky Heart, Old Time Rock And Roll, Johnny B. Goode. The fact they're still requested at all is proof positive that Darwin was right.
That said, there are definitely songs I'd sooner be boiled in oil as to play. Achy Breaky Heart, Old Time Rock And Roll, Johnny B. Goode. The fact they're still requested at all is proof positive that Darwin was right.
