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​🗑️​Bapu's Random Thoughts For The Day


Bapu

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On 11/5/2019 at 12:49 PM, Mesh said:

The last song I heard this morning (in the Van Pool), was "Walk like an Egyptian" B|

We just learned that song. Making the backing track was a bit of a challenge but it turned out well.

I know, it's about time we learned that one. When you gig for the yacht club, country club, retirement development audience, the requests are a little behind the times.

When we started playing that crowd in the mid 1980s, it was Big-Band Jazz, Frank Sinatra and you couldn't even sneak in an Elvis Presley song. But those folks are gone now, new people enter the "over 55 year old" group, and so we are still learning 20-40 year old songs for the incoming group along with a few pop crossovers to that market.

It seems that the over 55 group wants to hear songs of their youth. Nothing wrong with that, there are good songs written in every era (and bad ones to, but the good ones are mostly the ones that last through the decades)

It's a good gig. With the night clubs going to karaoke, open mic nights, sports on TV, and DJs, I'm glad I moved into this market when we did. We're established and still gigging steadily.

It's a fun way to make a living.

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For the nudist camps all you need is your birthday suit (actually we wear minimal clothing for that).

For the yacht& country  clubs, sometimes a tuxedo, sometimes suit and tie, sometimes Hawaiian shirt. Same for the retirement developments.

Here in South Florida it's a big market. Many more of these hiring bands than night clubs. Of course they are one-nighters so we get to move gear a lot. But then I get to lift heavy things without paying for a gym membership ;)

With setup and tear-down every gig they make for longer jobs but if I can bag 2 a week I can make as much as I can 5 or 6 nights in a club. I the winter we do 3-5 a week, in the summer we're lucky to get 1 or 2 a week. But that gives me time to write aftermarket software plug-ins for Band-in-a-Box.

Plus I'm doing this with my wife/lover/best-friend. I met her when we were in different bands, both broke up at the same time so we did a trio and a 5 piece band together. Then due to personnel problems in 1985 I bought my first MIDI sequencer, started making my own backing tracks, and we've never looked back. We did cruise ships and night clubs for the first few years. Then we got a house-gig band for a year at a Yacht club, and that spoiled us. 

We also just learned Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark", played it last weekend, and it went over really well. I like singing and playing the sax on that one so it's good for us too.

Next? Perhaps Katrina and the Waves' "Walking On Sunshine". Thinking about it anyway.

Notes

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2 hours ago, bayoubill said:

Ok what’s this about an all nudist band that will only play for free in Florida? 

I can understand needing warm weather 

We don't play for free. It's our business.

Well actually there are a couple of exceptions:

  1. For a charity event IF nobody else is getting paid and IF it isn't a profit making gig disguised as a chairty
  2. The VA. Once every couple of  years we go to the nursing home at the VA hospital about 50 miles away and give the vets in the wheelchair nursing home area a free afternoon of music.

 

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On 11/8/2019 at 7:50 PM, Notes_Norton said:

I still think that I look better with my clothes on though.

That's true of 99% of the World's population.

On a related note, when I googled "Sophisticats" it comes up with a chain of strip clubs in London*. What aren't you telling us Notes? :D

 

 

 

 

* No, I don't have a history of searching the internet for strip clubs in London.

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