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"Do you know Wonderful Tonight?"


Old Horse Murphy
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Just a very quick straw poll here amongst us bass Chatters.

What is the song you are most requested to play and can you beat being asked to play Wonderful Tonight 4 times in one evening by 4 completely different loved-up drunkards?

Until Sunday night, I wouldn't have thought it was possible!!

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Common requests include:

Dancing Queen
Achey Breaky Heart
Sweet Home Alabama
Smoke On The Water (no really!).

The lowest point was being asked to learn The Birdie Song for a wedding we were playing. That really sapped my will to live.

It always amazes me how people won't take "I'm sorry we don't know that one, no none of us, honestly we've never played it, we don't have a full brass/string section, 2 female singers or a keyboard player" as an answer and repeatedly say "Oh go on. Can't you just give it a go?". I think they get us confused with a DJ, or Karoke.

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[font="Verdana"]Here's my list of the worst "sorry we don't know that one :huh: " requests....[/font]

[b]Rockin' all over the world [/b](requested by a group of Aussies I seem to recall - a gig somewhere in Bournemouth!)

[b]American Pie[/b] Almost EVERY wedding gig this one is called for - usually gets sung to us anyway by about 4 or 5 drunk men and usually one half asleep fat lady who are watching us pack up after a long night!

[b]Does ya know anyz Oasis mate![/b] Usually we greet this one with a sharp, but firm, DUCK OFF


Also, another request - not for a particular song, but a reqest none the less -

[b]"Give us a go on dem drums mate"[/b] - Gets right up our drummers nose!!! :)

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[quote name='Mike' post='45307' date='Aug 14 2007, 04:32 PM']No Mustang Sally yet??

Bane of my bloody life![/quote]

Our Drummer wanted to add this to our songlist. I had to be restrained..

I'm contemplating buying a drum machine, but he's the only one with more kit than me, so he makes me feel good at the moment!!

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[quote][b]"Give us a go on dem drums mate"[/b] - Gets right up our drummers nose!!! :)[/quote]

This one always comes from the wealthy, posh audiences at weddings who dont seem to think the rules apply to them when drunk.

I alway respond with "we are not insured for you to perform or be onstage" should anyone ask to play. Kind of works

Edited by wazz
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[quote name='niceguyhomer' date='Aug 14 2007, 04:21 PM' post='45302']
There we were up on stage on Sunday night hammering out soul classics dressed in our usual groanworthy Blues Brother's outfits, and someone comes up and asks if we do any Arctic Monkeys. What [b]was[/b][i][/i] he drinking?


MB1. :)

ABSYNTH?

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[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' date='Aug 14 2007, 03:06 PM' post='45263']
Just a very quick straw poll here amongst us bass Chatters.

What is the song you are most requested to play and can you beat being asked to play Wonderful Tonight 4 times in one evening by 4 completely different loved-up drunkards?

Until Sunday night, I wouldn't have thought it was possible!!

MB1. :) The people who generally ask for this song ussualy dont look wonderful this or any night!(and this is a plea for sex). This unfortunately seems to be the new lady in red,God Forbid!

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Songs that we're always asked to play, or play anyway cos they're so popular...:

Mustang Sally (in A, which feels wrong to me)
Sweet Home Alabama
Brown Eyed Girl
Twist & Shout
La Bamba
Dancing In The Moonlight

Sweet Home Alabama is fun to play but the rest suck pretty badly, having been playing them for 12 years or so now.

My pet hate is at weddings/functions of ANY kind, where the band is packing up and trying to get out, and the punters congregate around the doorway. They see you coming, but don't move. Can they not see me struggling with an EBS bass cabinet? Honestly...

STu

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[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' post='45263' date='Aug 15 2007, 12:06 AM']Just a very quick straw poll here amongst us bass Chatters.

What is the song you are most requested to play and can you beat being asked to play Wonderful Tonight 4 times in one evening by 4 completely different loved-up drunkards?

Until Sunday night, I wouldn't have thought it was possible!![/quote]
the song we usually get asked to play is The Gambler by Kenny f***in Rogers - very popular here for god knows what reason....

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In a previous band, at the end of a 3 hour set we got asked to play Green Onions repeatedly by a friendly drunk in the crowd. I told the audience to hush and then we went straight into a latin-type jam using an adapted form of the bassline/riff from Green Onions. The audience kind of liked it.

If we all knew the song properly we probably would have just played it.

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[quote name='wazz' post='45313' date='Aug 14 2007, 04:44 PM']This one always comes from the wealthy, posh audiences at weddings who dont seem to think the rules apply to them when drunk.

I alway respond with "we are not insured for you to perform or be onstage" should anyone ask to play. Kind of works[/quote]


Hum yeah
The very worst kind of audience - you are staff. You will do what you are told and you will like it. You will also disappear during your break and eat in the other room. You are not part of the family or guests .... I'll use that "we are not insured" line next time some oik thinks my sax is a toy and our working area is their playground. ...


Well me and the drummer have been playing pop and rock and jazz and folk and loads of stuff together for 25 years .... Our lead singer/accordionist will have a go at singing anything and so we do one verse or chorus, or bass line or intro from just about anything we are asked to do - we even have a big fat karaoke book with us. You want Angels - here's the book if you want to sing it otherwise we'll have a go.
We asked with as much irony as a drunk can muster for "Smoke on the water" which we can play pretty well now - no lead break of course :) and Hotel California

I don't like playing Brown Eyed Girl but I love the positive effect you get when you just have a go at anything they think up. I even have a solo bit of Prokofiev worked out and Peaches usually gets a mention at some point ...

Seeing as our "set" consists of tunes that are frequently upwards of 200 years old that's not bad, I reckon.

Oh and the Jazz equivalent of Mustang Sally is Sumertime .. I hate playing that

Edited by OldGit
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[quote name='Mike' post='45307' date='Aug 14 2007, 04:32 PM']No Mustang Sally yet??[/quote]
Used to end up being done every week at a jam night, then the drummer & I messed with it. Try doing a verse double time :) well its something to do.

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[quote name='Stuart Clayton' post='45442' date='Aug 14 2007, 09:01 PM']Songs that we're always asked to play, or play anyway cos they're so popular...:

Mustang Sally (in A, which feels wrong to me)
Sweet Home Alabama
Brown Eyed Girl
Twist & Shout
La Bamba
Dancing In The Moonlight

Sweet Home Alabama is fun to play but the rest suck pretty badly, having been playing them for 12 years or so now.

My pet hate is at weddings/functions of ANY kind, where the band is packing up and trying to get out, and the punters congregate around the doorway. They see you coming, but don't move. Can they not see me struggling with an EBS bass cabinet? Honestly...

STu[/quote]

You can't really blame the audience for wanting to hear these songs, they are all cracking tunes in their own way (I presume we're talking Thin Lizzy Dancing in the moonlight, not the other one), and are popular for a reason! But a bands enthusiasm for any song is likely to wane after 12 years!

You've got remember that the vast majority of the audience have no idea how a band works, or the work that goes into learning each song. Most of them probably think that playing a different song is no more difficult than changing channel on the telly.

Personally I would prefer not to do requests, and on no account attempt anything you've not fully rehearsed.


And +1 for the pet hate. It's just so nice when someone asks 'do you want a hand carrying anything, mate?'.


Clive.

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[quote name='The Funk' post='45749' date='Aug 15 2007, 12:54 PM']Van Morrison - Dancing In The Moonlight. Not the note for note but utterly rubbish cover by whatever-they-were-called.[/quote]

In which case I'm sure that it is also has many fine qualities, but not quite as many as tha Thin Lizzy song of the same name.

Clive

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