casapete

It certainly was, and Gerry Marsden was one of the main culprits …….

Nice studio stuff with Bob Babbitt now on Sky Arts, playing with Phil Collins in a Motown tribute thing.

I discovered this on NYE! Mistakenly took a strap on the gig that didn’t have two different holes for the end strap pin - usually have the higher of the two for sitting down and then move to the lower one for standing. I had to compromise between the two on this strap and to my amazement it actually worked well for both playing positions. Looks like Billy was right…..

That is fantastic - anyone gigging at 75 needs respect but particular drummers IMO. The physicality of playing drums is even more demanding with age, so good on him!

I had exactly the same problem with my Hohner B2A. I ended up selling it due to this, which was a shame as otherwise I really liked it. I only later found out that there were brackets available ( which were originally designed for Stenbergers I believe) that when fitted moved the strap button making the bass bass hang in a better position on the strap. Read about them on here too, called them ‘Strap hooks’.

Probably the main reason I detest musical theatre, although there are plenty more….

Yes he does and yes he's a lovely bloke. I’ll miss him when I leave.

Great post. I’m sure a lot of singers feel that swapping styles/genres is a doddle, but from my experience of working with a lot of them, it really isn’t! One of my pet peeves is when classical/opera singers try to do pop/rock stuff, and just don’t get it at all ( Michael Ball, Alfie Boe etc ). Likewise pop / rock singers trying to do swing/jazz (Rod Stewart and everyone else).

I thought so too, the bass player and the drummer were spot on. The Sugababes vocals were also excellent, although I couldn’t help wondering if they were being ‘helped’ in places?

I’d have to disagree with you - I thought in his prime period ( early 70’s) there were few to touch RS as a vocalist. Loved The Faces, one of my favourite bands. Saw him in the 70’s and he was tremendous - okay, sometimes a bit pitchy but it kind of didn’t matter, such a distinctive and soulful tone to his voice. I hated the swing stuff he did, and not sure if his forthcoming collaboration with Jools will be much better TBH. I saw him again in summer 2023, and he was surprisingly good, if a bit cabaret at times.

AFAIK Rylan first appeared on TV as a contestant singing on X Factor.

This year’s programme was recorded in mid December. I’m watching it now on iPlayer and enjoying what I’ve seen so far.

Right back at you Dave, all the best for 2024.

Played a dinner dance with friends last night at a nice hotel in Scarborough. Usual type of stuff, so we started off with some jazzy standards only for a lady to come over and request ‘some Quo’. Quite surreal for me to be singing ‘Rockin all over the world’ at 8.30pm on NYE sitting down & dressed in a dinner suit, but the customer is always right! The 12 o clock thing was supposed to be done by the events manager using the BBC feed from London, but gremlins meant we had to do the countdown and Auld Langs Syne bit so we duly obliged. Out by 12.45, home by around 2am. Roads very quiet so an easy drive home. Bit knackered today so it’s going to be watching Hootenanny for me this afternoon. Happy New Year to all the people on here, all the best for 2024.

There’s an hour long ‘TOTP Review of the Year 2023’ currently on iPlayer, hosted by Clara Amfo.

We’ve always done it this way in our band. Start with a ‘front room session’ with just acoustic guitar or piano to accompany sorting the harmonies out. No hearing issues or places to hide! When we’ve decided on the arrangement we either record it or write it down so nobody can change their parts afterwards. We then organise two days of rehearsals - first with just the core band to make sure the vocals work in a larger setting, and then the next day with all of us to finalise things. After that, no excuses 🤣

I guess it’s inevitable that my acoustic duo gets many requests for S&G stuff. We do ‘The Boxer’, ‘Mrs Robinson’, ‘Homeward Bound’ and ‘59th Street Bridge song’. We’ve done BOTW a few times too. In my last band we did ‘You can call me Al’ (which I despised as I could never nail the bass solo!) and also my favourite Paul Simon tune ‘Late in the evening’ with the great brass figure. On our last duo gig someone asked us for ‘Baby Driver’ which we have down to sort, and I fancy doing ‘Keep the customer satisfied’ too, another great song.

I caught only a bit of it last night, but what I saw looked great. It’s currently on iPlayer so going to fully watch it over the weekend. Sometimes the BBC only show movies for a limited time on iPlayer so would recommend watching it soon if it’s of interest.

I needed an AB pedal a while ago, and settled on the Fender ABY which can currently be had for £31 new. Silent switching and battery only required for the LED. Great pedal, solid and no fuss. Thomann also do what looks like a similar version ‘Lead Foot ABY’ for £19.40, has good reviews. Handy pedals to have around. I’m not currently using mine but if I sold it no doubt I’d need another one soon after!

Do it!

That’s what I do Phil, main bass is active / passive back up.

Are you sure it’s the pickup that needs replacing - I had an Elfin and the pickup sounded great, loads of bottom end etc. May be worth checking the wiring / pots first?

Always have a spare with me, but never use it. My spare isn’t as good a bass as my main one, but good enough to use should it ever be needed. I probably subconsciously chose it to be like that to stop me being tempted to swap around during the show! I get using two or more basses if they are varied ( 4/5 string/fretted/fretless etc), but as I only use a standard 4 string I couldn’t be arsed to mess around on stage with similar instruments.

I’m sure it’s probably universally hated on here, but the Springsteen version ain’t too shabby either.