Songs you hate playing?

[BC Powder]

I'll admit it, first off...I don't mind playing Sweet Home Alabama or Mustang Sally. I played in all-original bands for so long, I haven't had to play those songs hundreds of times like some bands have. And if people are dancing and having a good time, who am I to say?? Even if I don't like playing something I know it's gonna be over with in 3 minutes and we will go on to play something I enjoy.

 

but...awhile back a bass player in one of the working bands I play in insisted on "Play That Funky Music". We struggled through it; I never liked the goddamn song in the first place so I never learned it. Not only did we play it, but I played it very badly, and cowboys and cowgirls were line dancing to it, and the bass player was snappin and poppin (not very well).

 

I wanted to DIE.

 

 

 

So...what do you hate playing??

[ZenFly]

Anything by KC and the sunshine band.

 

Not too fond of any disco

 

other than that I'm ok usually.

 

Oh, I don't do "dinner sets" or anything resembling background music anymore.

[Carbophos]

When I played in Black Sabbath tribute band, I hated playing Children Of The Grave. The final solo is an agony. 16 bars over nothing but chugging open E string. The original has at least two pentatonic wanking layers overdubbed so it sound so amazing and huge, but playing alone I always cringed trying to come up something cool. I ended up adding a lot of delay

[KHAN]

Stairway to Freebird by Seger.

[Fat Bastage]

MUSTANG SALLY.... actually I never played it. And I will never play it. Whenever I hear that song performed by any band I get angry!!!

[tdempsey]

"Laid" by James ****shudder****

[GCDEF]

I hate playing anything that makes people who are dancing sit down. We play Funky Music and it's a lot of fun. It's guaranteed to pack the floor and I put my longest, shreddiest solo in it, so it isn't a total loss.

 

Same with Mustang Sally. Make it fun. Again, there's plenty of room for guitar work in there. We usually turn it into a sing along where the band stops and the audience sings and other stuff lie that.

 

Personally, I can't really hate playing anything if people are dancing. There are some like Taking Care of Business that I'd really rather never play again, but if people want to hear it, I'll play it and be glad I'm getting paid to entertain people.

[Terry Allan Hall]

Originally posted by KHAN Stairway to Freebird by Seger.

 

Monte Montgomery actually does this "tune"...and surpringly well!

 

About the only song I absolutely hate to play is "House of the Risin' Sun"...I've never had a gig where it hasn't been requested at least once!

 

And yeah, I play it...and bitch later!

[Guitar Centaur]

Originally posted by GCDEF I hate playing anything that makes people who are dancing sit down. We play Funky Music and it's a lot of fun. It's guaranteed to pack the floor and I put my longest, shreddiest solo in it, so it isn't a total loss. Same with Mustang Sally. Make it fun. Again, there's plenty of room for guitar work in there. We usually turn it into a sing along where the band stops and the audience sings and other stuff lie that. Personally, I can't really hate playing anything if people are dancing. There are some like Taking Care of Business that I'd really rather never play again, but if people want to hear it, I'll play it and be glad I'm getting paid to entertain people.

 

Exactly.

 

If the rumps are shakin, I don't care what the song is. It's the audience I feed off of, not some intricate guitar masterpiece that only the one or two musicians in the crowd will appreciate.

 

Speaking of Mustang Sally, A friend's band did it yesterday at a bike show at a popular club we all go to, and they invited all the girls from the audience up on stage with them to sing and dance during the tune. It was major fun, but a sharp reminder to leave the "corksniffer" gear at home and just bring the basic tools to a gig. You never know when that boo-teek guitar might get toppled by a drunk chick doing the booty call onstage!

 

[Tedster]

Sigh...

 

Just gotta get my two cents in on all threads like this...because I'm on a "Mission from God".

 

The following sentence is the most important here, because invariably someone fails to read it, and gets their knickers in a knot...so please read:

 

I will NEVER say NEVER play any of these songs...

 

What I will say, is try to be creative. If you can get away without playing

 

Takin' Care of Business

Turn the Page

Old Time Rock and Roll

Cocaine

Wonderful Tonight

Mustang Sally

Sweet Home Alabama

Brown Eyed Girl

Boot Scootin' Boogie

Proud Mary

Gimme Three Steps

Freebird

Margaritaville

 

...or any one of a number of songs like that...by all means do so!

 

Does this mean not playing Skynyrd? Sure, if those tunes are the only ones Skynyrd ever popularized. How about "You Got That Right", "What's Your Name", or "Saturday Night Special" instead of "Three Steps" or "Sweet Home" for a change? How about "Her Strut" or "Katmandu" rather than "Old Time Rock and Roll"? See? It's EASY! All you have to do is learn a couple songs that bands never play... Who knows, the crowd might find that they like THOSE songs, too...

[Lee Knight]

 

Originally posted by Tedster Sigh... Just gotta get my two cents in on all threads like this...because I'm on a "Mission from God". The following sentence is the most important here, because invariably someone fails to read it, and gets their knickers in a knot...so please read: I will NEVER say NEVER play any of these songs... What I will say, is try to be creative. If you can get away without playing Takin' Care of Business Turn the Page Old Time Rock and Roll Cocaine Wonderful Tonight Mustang Sally Sweet Home Alabama Brown Eyed Girl Boot Scootin' Boogie Proud Mary Gimme Three Steps Freebird Margaritaville ...or any one of a number of songs like that...by all means do so!

 

 

You forgot "What I Like About You". I dispise that song. They say it's like the Kinks... yeah right!

[hankypanky]

'Everything is Automatic' by Matthew Good. It's part of our regular set list and always sounds great but I find it an absolutely repugnant song and shudder when it's coming up.

 

I think it's because we don't have Matt Good in our band...

[TheAtomicJeff]

I listed an ad to join a classic rock band. My preference (which was stated) was to perhaps hook up with guys who don't play the same ol' tired, radio-worn, overcovered songs.

 

So many bands are playing Mustang Sally, Cocaine, Simple Man, etc. I've got an offer to audition for a well-known local band that sure enough has those songs listed above in their set list. It pains me that there are so many great songs by artists that are easily recognizable and are not burned out that aren't being considered. I'm wondering how open these guys are to playing other tunes? A band who plays the same ol' sh*t others are playing really won't stand out, IMO.

[eightball2]

Originally posted by Tedster Sigh... Just gotta get my two cents in on all threads like this...because I'm on a "Mission from God". The following sentence is the most important here, because invariably someone fails to read it, and gets their knickers in a knot...so please read: I will NEVER say NEVER play any of these songs... What I will say, is try to be creative. If you can get away without playing Takin' Care of Business Turn the Page Old Time Rock and Roll Cocaine Wonderful Tonight Mustang Sally Sweet Home Alabama Brown Eyed Girl Boot Scootin' Boogie Proud Mary Gimme Three Steps Freebird Margaritaville ...or any one of a number of songs like that...by all means do so! Does this mean not playing Skynyrd? Sure, if those tunes are the only ones Skynyrd ever popularized. How about "You Got That Right", "What's Your Name", or "Saturday Night Special" instead of "Three Steps" or "Sweet Home" for a change? How about "Her Strut" or "Katmandu" rather than "Old Time Rock and Roll"? See? It's EASY! All you have to do is learn a couple songs that bands never play... Who knows, the crowd might find that they like THOSE songs, too...

 

 

we play a lot of skynyrd and trust me the popular ones go over well, the not so popular, you get a lot of blank stares...

[ratthedd]

Originally posted by eightball2 we play a lot of skynyrd and trust me the popular ones go over well, the not so popular, you get a lot of blank stares...

 

You're absolutely right. People will dance to tunes they are familiar with. I'd love to do Ballad of Curtis Loew, but I'm sure there'd be nothing but chirping crickets in the audience by the time we were done.

 

I hate Jimmy Buffet and any song he's ever done, but we keep playing Margaritaville to people who think it's the greatest song since Stairway.

 

I recognize that most here have played Play that Funky Music and Brickhouse to death, but every time we play those tunes the dance floor gets packed and women come up after the set fawning all over us for playing those tunes. Again, I'm not sure what the big atraction is for them, but I know why I'm playing them...

 

Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy fills the floro even faster than the old disco tunes, and the young girls like them too.

 

The bottom line is if you want to get paid you have to play the tunes your audience wants to hear, not the obscure songs that are fun to play. Around here nobody's gonna sit around while you play side 1 of 2112 note for note or do any of the tunes from Pink Floyd's Animals. If you're playing the bar circuit, like most cover bands, your job is to get people to keep buying drinks and Tedster's list, which happens to coincide almost title for title with our third set, sells the drinks.

[TheBoatCanDream]

If I have to play another Weezer or Matchbox 20 song, I tell you.....

[Badside]

What you have to remember is that, although YOU have been hearing this song every friday/saturday night for the last 5 years (playing it actually), THEY have not! There's not that many people that constantly go every weekend to the same bar to listen to the same old songs. They happen to be there that night and they don't freaking care that you've played the damn song yesterday, they feel like hearing it tonight!

 

When you are getting paid to play, it becomes a job, and you have to do the job! And mostly, when you're a cover band, nobody cares about your musical integrity, you give them what they want or they'll hire a DJ next time!

 

The problem some have is that it is hard to stand out if you play the same songs as every other band. Believe me, there are tons of way to stand out without altering your set list! For once, interact with the audience! I've seen too many cover band playing for themselves on the stage, not caring about their audience, wearing everyday clothes, and mostly not talking to the audience except for presenting the next song. If your band doesn't stand out when playing Freebird, it won't stand out when playing an obscure unknown song either!

 

At the places I play, the "common" songs are quite different (never been asked to play Freebird or Brown Eyed...), I could probably play Killing in the name or Bro' Hymn in my sleep, we've been playing the damn songs at EVERY gig for the last 3 years. But whatcha' gonna do? As soon as the audience hears the intro, they go wild and tear everything apart! I don't play music for people sitting on a chair, I play music for those that get their asses up and rock with us! They're the ones who will buy a round of drinks during the break and come back next time we play.

 

That said, there are some ways around those standards: medleys!

There are so many songs that people want to hear but we would rather die that play the full-lenght version! I mean, 2 minutes of Sweet Home is much more bearable than the full 3 verses + solos. So we mix all those boring songs that everyone wants to hear in a few medleys which are also sprinkled with songs that we play for ourselves. Everyone wins!