Numbers you hate playing

[cetera]

To be honest, Sweet Home Alabama is one of those songs where I seldom see a cover band bassist actually play it correctly. They usually play it far too straight, lacking the swing, pushes etc...

 

I can't stand Mr Brightside, Sex On Fire or Oasis..... hate those tunes/bands. Overplayed nonsense for the chav brigade.... so it doesn't matter about the basslines as the songs themselves make me heave.

[chris_b]

If anyone is bored playing bass they should be looking at themselves and then the band.

 

If it's a cover band, and it's a successful cover band, I'll play anything the audience wants to hear. That's the gig. My only requirement is that we do it well.

 

For all other bands I'll express an opinion, but as I'm usually with good players I can enjoy most songs for what the guys are playing.

 

I'll enjoy anything if I'm with a good drummer. 

[Nicko]

When I was in a covers band the songs I most disliked playing were

 

Are you Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz

Rocks by Primal Scream

 

I disagree with @chris_b. There's so many songs that do the job there is absolutely no reason to play stuff that any member of the band dislikes.  IME disliking a song results in a less than enthusiastic performance of it.

 

 

[Burns-bass]

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Since the vast majority of songs I've played since I started my first band almost 50 years ago have been ones that I have written, or at least had a hand in writing, I have never had this problem.

Bet your band mates wouldn’t agree. Having spent years in originals bands there were always a few tracks I hated. Sometimes it would be a chord change I didn’t like, once it was the singer’s inflection, once it was the title track from an album and we played it for years and I got sick of it!

[gjones]

After countless rehearsals one of the guitarists in the cover band I was in decided to tell us, two days before we went into the studio to record a demo, that he hated half our set. 

 

The singer tried to be diplomatic about it and get everyone to vote on a new set.

 

I just grabbed my bass and headed for the door. 

 

What's that joke about how a guitarist changes a light bulb.....

 

 

[chris_b]

29 minutes ago, Nicko said:

I disagree with @chris_b. There's so many songs that do the job there is absolutely no reason to play stuff that any member of the band dislikes.  IME disliking a song results in a less than enthusiastic performance of it.

 

Set lists are always a compromise and we don't always get our own way, so most of us are playing a few songs we'd rather not. My view is that if we give any song less than our best then we're failing ourselves, the band and the audience. It doesn't hurt to spend 5 mins giving a bad song your best playing.

 

I've spent nearly 40 years gigging in bands via personal recommendation. That's because I give every song 101%, even the ones I'd rather not be playing. 

[Boodang]

.... actually, just remembered, the song I hate the most is Kravitz's American Woman. Such an irritating number! I just don't get it, it's like a boring riff that just goes on forever. Not helped by the fact our singer is more suited to the 'stand by me' style songs.

[asingardenof]

My current band plays Enola Gay, which is boring AF to play. Root notes on F, D, Bb and C throughout. Andy McCluskey went to the same school I did though (19 years before me, I should add) so I'm doing it to represent a fellow alum.

[bassbiscuits]

2 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

I've left many bands entirely due to dull and predictable set lists, drawn up to appeal to the lowest common denominator to whit several tunes mentioned - Cocaine, SHA, Rockin in The Free World, anything by Oasis, Mustang Sally plus Valerie, Brown Eyed Girl, Living on A Prayer, Sex on Fire, Mr Brightside, Caroline, Sweet Caroline and Alright Now. If I never hear any of these again it'll be too soon.

 

See, some of those are absolute mainstays of the function/wedding scene to get people on the dancefloor, so while I'm no fan of them, they very definitely have their place in the set of many gigging bands.

 

Oasis however, no. As a rule there's always a better song available that's not by Oasis.

[stewblack]

I genuinely enjoy all the songs in our sets.

No. Correction. I genuinely enjoy playing all the songs in the various sets. 

Even songs I would never, ever listen to, playing live, playing any music to an audience, is my thing. It's where I live.

I think it's because I was out of playing for several years and couldn't get back in. Couldn't find a band, believed I was washed up, too old. 

So when I got a chance I grabbed it like a drowning man. And I still feel grateful to be out there today.

[Leonard Smalls]

4 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Cocaine....terminally dull

But it's a classic and fun to play!

 

 

[Reggaebass]

16 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

But it's a classic and fun to play

Definitely, Robbie Shakespeare played it and like most of his basslines he varies it throughout 

[Woodinblack]

19 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

But it's a classic and fun to play

 

 

Wouldn't have a problem with that one - its the one by Eric 'who let all these brown people in here - theres someone wearing a mask' Clapton.

 

hmm.. like the Gig scene in The Wall, but way less interesting.

[Bassfinger]

Our USP is taking lightweight pop songs and reimagining them in the hard rock style, and that makes even the most dire tat palatable to listen to and fun to play. Stand and Deliver and Video Killed the Radio Star are fun to hack away at when you're hamming it up.

Edited March 29, 2023 by Bassfinger

[Dad3353]

The number I like least is '28'. Here's why...

 

An aging comedian retires to a retirement home for retired comedians. On his first day there, he goes down to lunch, and there’s a bunch of retired fellow comics sitting around the table.

The conversation they’re having puzzles the newcomer somewhat. One of comics at the table announces “12..!” and everybody laughs. Then another one says, “44..!” and there's slapping of thighs and guffaws all around.

During a lull in the conversation, the new guy introduces himself, and asks, “What’s going on..? What’s so funny about calling out numbers..?”

One of the comics says, “Oh, you’re the new kid on the block, eh..? Let me explain. We’ve all been retired for many years. We’ve been telling and re-telling the same old jokes for so long, we’ve assigned them all numbers. To save time, instead of telling the joke again, we just say the number..!”

“Wow,” says the new guy. “I’ve never seen that before. That’s pretty smart. Mind if I join you..?”

“Certainly,” the other comic says, and beckons him to sit down.

The newly-arrived comic is eager to fit in. So five minutes later, he calls out, “28..!” Nobody laughs – you could’ve heard a pin drop.

His voice quavering, he asks, “What’s wrong..? Isn’t number 28 a good joke..?”

“Yes, it certainly is,” replies another comic. “But it’s the way you tell it."

Edited March 29, 2023 by Dad3353

[Waddo Soqable]

I seem to recall that for some reason I thoroughly disliked Mamma Mia on the occasions I've been cajoled into playing it

[gjones]

9 hours ago, Rich said:

I had to play Dance The Night Away by the Mavericks for a dep gig once. Worse still, I had to sing lead vocal on it too which meant I had to play it more than once in order to practice it.

5 notes....

E  Ab  B  Ab   B  Eb  F#  Eb

E  Ab  B  Ab   B  Eb  F#  Eb

E  Ab  B  Ab   B  Eb  F#  Eb

E  Ab  B  Ab   B  Eb  F#  Eb

over and over and over and over...

 

I still wake up screaming. 

 

EDIT: I've just looked out my notes, and at the top of my lyric crib sheet I've written "E Ab B Ab B Eb F# Eb repeated ad nauseum".

So if Ed Friedland calls you to dep for him on the next Mavericks tour, I assume you'll be washing your hair? 🤣

 

 

[itu]

13 is slightly complicated, but 7 and 9 doable. Every now and then I even play 7 when there's maj7, and vice versa. My bad, and I don't actually hate them.

[StickyDBRmf]

I can't believe Dad3353 beat me to the "28" joke. I read this whole thread to make sure no one had done any "number" jokes.

Oh, wait! 

86753o9. I hate that number.

[Steve Browning]

Moondance. Hideous song.

[martthebass]

13 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I think the one of the biggest contributing factors to leaving my previous band was having to play Rockin' in the Free World. 

Yep that would make me leave a band.

[Downunderwonder]

10 hours ago, cetera said:

To be honest, Sweet Home Alabama is one of those songs where I seldom see a cover band bassist actually play it correctly. They usually play it far too straight, lacking the swing, pushes etc

Did you notice that the rhythm guitar lacked the corresponding swagger? Takes two to Tango.

[lozkerr]

7 hours ago, Bassfinger said:

Our USP is taking lightweight pop songs and reimagining them in the hard rock style, and that makes even the most dire tat palatable to listen to and fun to play. Stand and Deliver and Video Killed the Radio Star are fun to hack away at when you're hamming it up.

I'd love to see that! When and where is your next gig?

[Jackroadkill]

14 hours ago, bassbiscuits said:

I have an unnatural dislike of them; having missed them in their heyday

 

I have an unnatural dislike of them, having not missed them in their heyday.  They were poop then and they're still poop 20 years on.

[lozkerr]

Interesting to see the amount of dislike of Oasis on this thread. I'm quite happy to play any Oasis song, with one exception:

 

Wonderwall.

 

God, how I detest that racket. It should have been called Caterwaul. It's the one Oasis song I would instantly veto when picking songs. There are plenty of better songs - Cigarettes and Alcohol, Little By Little, Don't Look Back In Anger, Songbird, Roll With It, Champagne Supernova, even Stop Crying Your Heart Out, but Caterwaul? Faggeddit.

 

The only other song I hate as much is Sherry. If it ever got to the stage of 'play it Laura or you're out of the band' I'd switch off my IEMs so I wouldn't have to endure the horrible noise.

 

Those musical atrocities aside, I can usually get something out of the simplest bass lines - German Film Star and Bad Moon Rising for example - as it's the overall performance that counts. Thankfully, I'm in an 80s post-punk covers band, so I get to play some decent stuff.