Good for you!! Having grown up in Alaska, and having many Alaskan Native friends, both men and women, that is anything but flattering.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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.
Was in a band once that played Foreigner's "Hot Blooded". You will never feel less of a bassist than you will being on stage and playing that song.
IMO, it's a crappy song that is pseudo funk. There are a ton of other better songs with better grooves.
That's my favorite Badfinger song. So I guess I'd like to hear it
Ok but how often do you have to hear it. How often would you go see a band that plays this song every week. Wouldn't you want some variety.
This is easy for me, I'm not in a band where a singer will call the songs I don't want to play.
I'm sure their lives will be no less fulfilled if we slip in a different song and pass on Play That Funky Music or No Matter What this week. How much fun is it if you can come up with a song that the haven't heard in a while that they really like.
Again this is easy for me I don't play in a band that has a BL, or anyone who would call a song I don't want to play. Tell me about being payed to play, does the BL pay you to rehearse and perform or are you splitting what the band gets for the show.
Just to repeat from the OP, I don't refuse to play any songs. There are a select few songs I don't want to play. If I see these songs on a list when considering auditioning for a band I will pass.
If I'm already in a band and these songs come up for consideration and we can play them well then I will play them.
I guess I'm lucky in that I don't play for the money. I do expect my share of the cash but I still play for fun. I enjoy learning songs, I enjoy rehearsing and I enjoy playing shows.
Last edited:
Yeah, ive heard they have had marginal success south of the Canadian border. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for what they do, and they are unapologetically Canadian. I do feel for Gord, and I respect the hell out of him for the way he wrapped up his career on his own terms after such a devastating diagnosis.
Butch Walker does a killer cover of "In Bloom". Check it out, you might like the direction they took the song.
I played with the expat band Gigantic last year during holiday in Guangzhou for about a month n a half and one of the tunes was Don't Look Back in Anger, which I absolutely love. We get to it in the set and the drummer says "Nope ain't doing it" and Vox/Guitar says "Do what, why not" drummer says "Don't like it". so I says "Hey man, I flew eight thousand miles to play this song (not really) and we're playing it". With a BIG smile on his face he says "Then your playing it without drums" and sips on his beer. We laughed cos it was funny. So on to Billy Joel's You May be Crazy. He also refused to play Last Train to Clarksville. I didn't fight him on that one.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I'm in a band that does a lot of sruff I wouldn't listen to on my own - Pink, Smashmouth, One Republic, along with some "better" rock.
Ya know something? We get gigs, with good, appreciative crowds.
Ya know something? We get gigs, with good, appreciative crowds.
Seriously? Those are the lyrics? Never heard that song, but I could see that making me want to take an icepick to my eardrums.
My drummer is always whining that we need to play more danceable tunes. I don't disagree, yet nothing that I've suggested has made the list. Then last practice, he says "I really want to play 'Blurry' by Puddle of Mudd." Whatever...I'm down with learning new songs, even if they are not familiar to me. Then I discover it's a 78 BPM angst-ridden dirge about a father's screwed-up relationship with his kid. Yup, sure to pack the dance floor. On top of that, the guitar player will have to figure out how to pull off a 3-part loop for the harmonic intro section. I predict we'll spend months trying to get this song down (and 25% of every practice), yet never gig it because it isn't quite there yet.
That's only part of it. It's not even so much that it's corny, but it's just plain demeaning.
Because when played well "Play That Funky Music" is a stone cold jam that gets everybody's azz out on the floor. Or up on the tables. If the audience isn't throwin' down, you're not doing it right.
Agreed, except for the "crappy" part. I like the song. I think it's good. But IMO, it's only good; it's nowhere near great. Like you said, "There are a ton of other better songs with better grooves."
"Play That Funky Music" pales in comparison to so many jams, but - it's very popular, so...to each his own, and all that.
Just looked that song up on YouTube. Wow. You can't unhear something like that. Totally understand why someone would refuse to play it. It's just.......wow.
Ahab the Arab by Ray Stevens.
Last time I heard this the DJ put an apology over the air straight after... its a shocker lyrically.
Last time I heard this the DJ put an apology over the air straight after... its a shocker lyrically.
I never liked Play That Funky Music but as soon as we started it last Saturday the floor got busy real quick. Seeing that happen almost gives me a buzz. Its my favorite thing about playing music.
I would never refuse to play a song if the rest of the band wanted to do it. It seems petty.
