Members ptkbass Posted August 16, 2014 Members Share Posted August 16, 2014 Ladies and Gentlemen;I travel for work and when the weather and traffic is right, I'll busk after work for something to do. Fun and sometimes worth it. I chat people up and give eye contact especially to the little kids: they dig music and get a charge out of it. I started Bruce Springsteen's "Rosalita", and a family walked by. And that line, "The only lover I'm ever gonna need is...." ....well... you finish the lyric. Not family friendly. I didn't have the presence of mind to make up new words, but I did manage to go all marble-mouth over that part. It could have been ugly. Like at weddings people would request the big band I played in to play "Makin' Whoopee", which is a song about a guy who cheats on his wife after starting a family, but sticks it out for financial reasons. What were they thinking? And why did the band director play the tune anyway? I can't be the only one who's been caught in those situations. Any funny ones?PeacePaul K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted August 16, 2014 Moderators Share Posted August 16, 2014 Yeah, our keyboard player and I are huge Tom Waits fans, and one night he called out for me to do 'Mr. Siegal'...which I did, not knowing A: the club owner's last name was Siegel (homophone) and B: his underage daughter was there in his office (the song has some pretty racy imagery and drug references). He also called another Waits tune at a picnic one time, but I nixed it...I think it was Frank's Wild Years, which has references to the San Fernando Valley, where I live, and where we were...but is also about a guy who burns his house down with his wife in it...'never could stand that dog...' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trevcda Posted August 16, 2014 Members Share Posted August 16, 2014 I'm sure I've told it here before, but one of my first road bands needed some extra stage time before heading out on the road for a few months and agreed to do freebie benefit for a local burn victim that been caught in a house fire. We started putting together a set list for the evening and suddenly realized that we had a lot of "Fire" songs in our list. From The Doors- Light My Fire to Sammy Haggar's- My Baby's on Fire to Bruce Springstien's- Fire, the list of songs it would be in bad taste to perform kept growing and growing. We managed to get through and even fend off requests for those songs through out the evening. But there was a moment when it was feeling like it might be an uncomfortable evening. Well after the fact, I got the opportunity to tell the benefactor about it. He thought it was funny. Probably not so much when he was sitting in a burn unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted August 16, 2014 Members Share Posted August 16, 2014 My favorite true story...I played acoustic guitar and sang at an outdoor wedding ceremony back in the 1970's. The bride and groom asked me to perform their favorite songs as they approached the minister. Her favorite was "My Way". Not especially appropriate for a bride to dedicate to her husband, especially since the first line is "And now, the end is near". But the husband's choice was even worse...Englebert Humperdinck's "Release me" which starts out "Please release me let me go, for I don't love you anymore". I tactfully tried to get them to change their choices to some other more apropriate songs, but they were adamant. And since they were paying me, I did the songs they wanted. I got a lot of weird looks from the people around me, but that's show biz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve mac Posted August 16, 2014 Members Share Posted August 16, 2014 Michael, it could have been worse maybe "still haven't found what I'm looking for" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted August 16, 2014 Members Share Posted August 16, 2014 I also played a wedding, and the wedding couple asked for "Release Me" for their bride and groom dance. It was a second wedding for both, and they did it for the laughs - and it got plenty of those. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trevcda Posted August 17, 2014 Members Share Posted August 17, 2014 We always got "The One You Love" by Glen Fry requested. Pretty much the guy version of "Torn Between Two Lovers" and definitely not wedding material! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted August 17, 2014 Moderators Share Posted August 17, 2014 I do remember getting a request at a wedding [when I did wedding band 'big band' gigs] for 'Love the One You're With'...by the bride...fortunately, there were no charts in the fake books... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted August 17, 2014 Members Share Posted August 17, 2014 Yeah, most people don't really listen to the lyrics, or even if they do, they put their own interpretation on them. They like the beat and the groove and the sentiment of the title "Love The One You're With" (for example) and either don't know or don't care about the rest of the lyric. They inform the title and the lyrics with their own thoughts. Which, to a large degree, is what music should be about anyway, IMO. I would never not play a requested song because the lyric isn't entirely appropriate. Not my place, really, to judge whether they should or should not want a particular song or why they might want to hear it. And, if nothing else, it's good for some winks and nods to the few people in the audience who might be more aware. And maybe some laughs between band members backstage afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted August 18, 2014 Members Share Posted August 18, 2014 The bride wanted me to play (not sing, thank heaven) "Thunder Road" on piano as the processional of her wedding -- instead of "here comes the bride." We live in a small town and the bride and groom would be moving away, so I wondered about what they were really saying. "It's a town full of losers; I'm pulling out of here to win." I played it and played it with passion and the bride was ecstatic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted August 18, 2014 Members Share Posted August 18, 2014 The bride wanted me to play (not sing, thank heaven) "Thunder Road" on piano as the processional of her wedding -- instead of "here comes the bride." Not to get too far off topic, but I think that (thankfully) that tune and Mendelssohn's Wedding March for the recessional are pretty much dead. I've played ceremony music for dozens of weddings over the last few years and I think I've been asked to play those songs exactly once. Most have unique songs they want performed. Last night I did "Can't Help Falling In Love". (The bride wanted the Ingrid Michaelson version, not Elvis) Now if we could just get them to put "Canon in D" to rest as well..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted August 18, 2014 Members Share Posted August 18, 2014 Like Guido, whatever they want to hear, is OK with me. I may find humor in it or think it totally inappropriate, but it's their party, not mine. I'm just here to make the party more fun. I don't do weddings much anymore (I don't chase that end of the biz), but when I did, more often than not, the bride wanted some obscure song that almost nobody knows. The song on the album that got zero play on radio and TV. We'd learn the song (and I sequence my own backing tracks), putting in a weeks worth of work, play the song once, and then try it a few times on a more general audience (which in most cases falls off the end of the stage and makes a puddle of notes nobody else notices) and never play it again. So I started charging $50 per song with the stipulations that they make the request at least a month ahead, that I can find the music and/or learn it by ear, and that it works with our duo (we're good but can't learn everything). Most people don't want to pay the extra $50 so they pick a song from our songlist. Some still do, so I learn the song (it's not worth the money unless it's a song I can use in my general repertoire). Back on topic to inappropriate songs. When I was gigging on cruise ships: It was December, closing in on Christmas. We were the duo in Smugglers Lounge on the MS Jubilee (then the biggest ship in the fleet). We play a number of secular Christmas songs, never felt it appropriate to do religious ones but the secular ones are for the pagan side of Christmas. So we get to the lounge, some Jewish people come in with candles, Yarmulkes on, white ceremonial cloth and other religious items and they asked us if we knew any Hanukkah songs. Sadly we didn't know any, but we told them that out of respect for their holiday, we won't play any Christmas songs that evening for as long as they wanted to stay in our lounge. They thanked us for that and we all had a great time. It just seemed to us that playing a Christmas song then would have been the wrong song at the wrong time. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted August 18, 2014 Moderators Share Posted August 18, 2014 Aside from the Dreidel song, I can't think of any memorable Channukah tunes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members STM86 Posted August 18, 2014 Members Share Posted August 18, 2014 I've played Only The Good Die Young and a Catholic event and a memorial event. And both times people were dancing, so I guess it didn't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Howie22 Posted August 21, 2014 Members Share Posted August 21, 2014 I played a private party a few years ago , birthday party for a lady that was maybe turning 60. Someone called me a few hours before and told me the lady's mom had died that morning, but they were going through with the party anyway. When I got there, several people reminded me of the situation. The mom had been sick for some time, so it wasn't a surprise and they were prepared for her passing. Anyway , they all stressed that I shouldn't play any sad or depressing songs. No problem I played my first set, then took a break. I told them I would put on my MP3 player through the PA for break music . They insisted they would just turn on the radio instead. First song on the radio? "If I Die Young" by the Band Perry So much for the happy songs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted August 24, 2014 Members Share Posted August 24, 2014 I generally have avoided egregious song selection errors, but I recall playing A Day In The Life Of A Fool at someone's BD party, and I only sang the one verse before switching to an instrumental version. I've played Sexual Healing, and realized there were young kids in the audience, so again, I switched to an instrumental version. Boom Boom Out Go the Lights can be tricky, but I just dedicate it to the ladies and change the pronouns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted August 24, 2014 Members Share Posted August 24, 2014 Boom Boom Out Go the Lights can be tricky, but I just dedicate it to the ladies and change the pronouns. Because it's perfectly okay for women to beat up on men? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted August 24, 2014 Members Share Posted August 24, 2014 Because it's perfectly okay for women to beat up on men? I guess I'm more afraid of a militnat woman's reaction! Oddly enough, no one really seems to care, one way or the other. Maybe that's because I only play Boom Boom in places that are pretty rowdy to begin with. But regarding the first point; men that are abused seem to get little play, if they even admit to it. I know of men that have suffered physical abuse from wacky girlfriends, and they get little sympathy from anyone. Unfortunately just like woman, if a man fights back, the courts aren't very understanding. So, expecially for a guy, my second hand experience is that they either have to take it, or walk away entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted August 25, 2014 Members Share Posted August 25, 2014 In my experience, I find most men fight physically, and most women with their brains. We men are no match for that. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted August 25, 2014 Moderators Share Posted August 25, 2014 That's because our brains are fighting with the 'little head' all the time...they's plum wore out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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