skankdelvar

Alan Lancaster? Nowhere to be seen. As usual

If there wasn't a market for tribute bands, they wouldn't exist. Punters like them - so live with it. Perhaps we should be asking ourselves is [i]why [/i]they're popular. IMO, it's down to two things: * Past a certain age - maybe 25 yrs old - people begin to prefer familiarity over originality. It's about emotional security and no bad thing in itself. * The tribute band proposition (generally) implies an unchallenging evening of popular, successful songs, delivered with competence and accuracy. The 'tribute' label is a convenient sh*t-filter for certain audiences. Most punters simply want a background soundtrack while they have a laugh and a few beers. The band is simply a utility. They don't want to be 'challenged'. When I go to Tesco, I want the bread to be in the usual place. I don't want the manager to 'challenge' me and put it somewhere 'original' and 'different', like next to the ice cream. Trib band audiences have made their preferences entirely clear. If we don't want their custom, that's our choice, but let's not bitch about 'reducing opportunities for originals bands' when it's clear that trib band audiences wouldn't turn up anyway.

As with everything, YMMV. Thanks to a neoprene covered guitar stand, the neck on my 90's Gibson acoustic quickly developed a spot where the finish went soft and eventually went down to the stain. Worse, you could see it spreading outwards from the initial contact point. A wire wool bodge job ensued.

I am filled with admiration for these tiny little chaps, beavering away in their factories to supply us with 'quality reproductions' at a fraction of the price of the real thing. While bloated Western companies bilk our nation's youth with overpriced tat (step forward, Mr Hall), John Chinaman has seen an angle and craftily exploited it, while politely requesting no more than a daily cup of rice as his reward. To complain that such instruments inevitably explode in a cloud of wood shards and flying screws is the act of a nit-picking pedant. Long live the PRC and its 'flexible' copyright laws.

What do I think? Townshend claims to have been influenced by the concept of 'Auto-Destruction', while simultaneously admitting that accidentally breaking a Rick one time got an interesting reaction from an otherwise sleepy audience. Bit like the windmilling arm, the feedback and the stage jumps. Moon just did it for a laugh. Daltrey and Entwistle just stood and watched. Whether it was a pretentious 60's 'Concept' or a bit of showmanship doesn't really matter. It was [i]40 years ago[/i], it's what they did at the time, it helped their career, punters liked the sense of 'occasion', it was their money and their equipment to do what they liked with. No offence intended to the OP or anyone else, but as for whether it was 'acceptable', if you don't get it, you don't get The Who. As for gear smashing, well, it's your gear, do what you like with it, polish it or trash it; no one's holding a gun to your head.

[quote name='silddx' post='948890' date='Sep 7 2010, 10:05 PM']So if you play in a "popular music" type band, when is a good time to improvise on stage? And what is the reason for your improvisation?[/quote] * When the drummer starts on 3 and a half * When there's a bit missing from the tab you copied off wowtabsbyidiots.com * When it hurts your hand too much to play the right notes. Bollocks to that malarkey. * When you're five pints down and halfway through a song, thinking "I hate the guitarist. Chips? Kebab? Pizza? Ooh, look at those hooters."

One Chuck Berry-esque band I was in, we ended virtually [i]every [/i]song with: [b]Dee[/b]-dee-dee-dee-[b]Dee[/b]-dee-dee-dee-[b]Dee[/b]-dah-duh-[b]Domp[/b]_____________________(Drop a whole tone) Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah__ Tick-Tick__Bap. It got a little wearing after a while.

[i][b](Scene: A living room in the year 2027. As the curtain rises we see an armchair. In it sits a downcast man with thinning hair. He is idly flicking through channels on the Holo-TV. A teenage girl enters, blowing the dust off a bubble-wrapped package of indeterminate vintage)[/b][/i] Girl: Hola, Pops! I just found this in the attic! WJE (for it is he): Why, it's my old Fender bass! Girl: What's a Fender bass, grey-haired father of mine? WJE: When you were no more than a wee mite, I employed it to purvey quality low-end thump in popular dance-combos of the period. Girl: Before we all moved here to the Martian Colonies? WJE: Indeed. How fortunate I didn't sell it, given that a modern 2000w rig weighs only 4 old Earth ounces and fits in your back pocket. I shall take up my calling once more! Both: Huzza! [b][i](Much joy ensues. A chorus line of little green Martians high-kicks across the stage. Finis)[/i][/b]

H'mm. If I'm spared and if Ms Starkey spawns at some point soon (which is not wholly unlikely), I'll have lived long enough to read of the birth of Ringo Starr's great grandchild. This is a disturbing thought on so many levels.

Get everyone to make a list of [i]any[/i] jump jive stuff they know. Compare the lists, find the overlaps, agree keys with the singer and shove a mini setlist back out with some web links for reference. Lean back and reflect on a job well done. On the night, greet them warmly, supply name badges and direct them to the cold buffet. Arrange for a 'Big-Leg Woman' to shimmy around in a tight red dress, hollering "Open the door, Richard!"

You could re-post it in 'bass guitars' or 'technical and repairs'. There's a list of luthiers here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=26654"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=26654[/url] - you could approach a few to give you a quote. Gawd knows what they'd charge for the job, but you could just give them the neck and tell them to build a DC body to fit.

[quote name='Clarky' post='928733' date='Aug 18 2010, 03:32 PM']Flame me but I thought Marcus Muller was funny for five minutes and then the joke wore off very quickly.[/quote] A difficult thread to sustain. In any event, Marcus can always re-appear under the OP's original profile. I'd very much welcome his views on a wider range of topics. BTW, Goggle's got a new, Jazz-flavoured album coming out entitled 'Kind of Balloon'. Personnel listing shows "Marcus Muller on 'Alto' Bass". Awesome shred-fest incoming!

Welcome to the forum I like your style, Herr Muller (please excuse the missing umlaut). Berlin, eh? That brings back some memories. Late in 1970, I flew to Berlin to drop off some cash for my old Red Army Faction pals Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. At that meeting, they were accompanied by a fidgety, rather nervous girl named Gudrun 'Nitro' Muller, who was their principal bomb-maker. Notwithstanding a violent twitch, Fraulein Muller was blessed with remarkably pneumatic attributes and pleasing, cupid's bow lips. Scenting interest, I turned on the old Del Var charm and matters took their course, as they will. Next morning, we parted tearfully at Tempelhof and I never saw her again By amusing coincidence, my operational cover name was 'Markus'. Enjoy your time here and welcome to the BC family.

This is so sad. I just hope his family and friends are holding up as best they can. Thanks for the post, Rich.

[quote name='tauzero' post='925146' date='Aug 14 2010, 07:46 PM']You bastard. I'd been practising that for ages.[/quote] I'm sorry, but it had to be said. It's for your own good.

'Awful' is a very non-specific appreciation. Too busy? Too ploddy? One man's meat is another man's ceiling, as we have so often concluded. For myself, I'd consider a bass player 'awful' if they suddenly broke into a contrived, shuffling dance-step, concluded with a little wave to the audience.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='924645' date='Aug 14 2010, 08:43 AM']I seem to keep having this conversation on here.... you know when you think everybody else is weird and it's just you that's normal??? Ha Ha.[/quote] Mate, you are not alone. These days, it seems like everyone's an asshole timewaster, irrespective of age, proficiency, genre or geographic location. But enuff whining from me. I love the wide mix of songs that typify the 'Mod' era(s). As someone pointed out above, there was a strong soul component with a dash of ska. So a Mod set could have quite a nice spread - back-to-back out of 'The Liquidator' into 'Kids Are Alright' into 'Heatwave'. With a chimy Tele or Rick 330 into a cooking AC30. Yum. Whether there's a market for it is debatable, but I'd give it a go. Now, where did I stash those purple hearts?

Awesome cross-dressing Japanese bassists in microskirts and pigtails? Seen one, you've seen them all.

Coming back to the original post - Fender's marketing was indeed outstanding for its time and as good, if not better than some of the big names like Ford, GM, GE, Coca Cola. Certainly better than Gibson's efforts - then or now. Fender's marketing was mostly down to the late Don Randall. Prior to his involvement, Fender's promo stuff looked pretty much like anyone else's. Blotchy mono product shot, dull serif type face, turgid copy. Dreadful. Randall was a classic marketeer and his campaigns were models of understanding one's market.

Bass player or musician? I'm a bass player, but my 84yr old Mum likes to think I'm a 'musician'. Truth is, I'm a licensed purveyor of plod. Says so over the door.

[quote name='witterth' post='910059' date='Jul 30 2010, 11:11 AM']I think its absolutey hilarious that people still use the word "crikey"[/quote] Most pertinent observation of the thread (pace Scalpy's [i]keenly [/i]observed piece. And a few others). Crikey is rather a fine word and sadly under-used. I'd welcome the reappearance of such alternative exclamations as: [b]Jings[/b], I'm surprised I haven't received ...etc [b]Man alive[/b], I'm surprised I haven't received ...etc [b]Lordy Lordy[/b], I'm surprised I haven't received ...etc [b]Jakers[/b], I'm surprised I haven't received ...etc [b]God's blood[/b], I'm surprised I haven't received ...etc [b]Great Caesar's Ghost[/b], I'm surprised I haven't received ...etc [b]Damn your eyes, Sir[/b], I'm surprised I haven't received ...etc

[quote name='wombatboter' post='907346' date='Jul 27 2010, 05:21 PM']Well : as a positive note, whether it's McCartney, The Kaiser Chiefs, The Smiths or anyone else : you can be proud of what the UK has contributed to popmusic. It beats Belgium ! :-)[/quote] [b]TRADE FEELER:[/b] Complete collection of big-name British musos 1963-2010. Trade for Belgian Beer / Chocolate / Historic Towns / Meuse Valley / Ardennes, etc. Cash adjustment from me.