Notes_Norton

I played in a band with a drummer who could sing. Since I play drums, I used to sit at the kit and let him get out front to sing. I also doubled on rhythm guitar, bass or keyboards when the songwriter committed the mortal sin of not having a sax solo in the song. Switching instruments is good 'show biz' for the audience. As long as what I did didn't exceed my current skills, I could pull it off quite well. Notes ♫

I resemble that remark I'm the drummer. Drums were my first instrument, and personally, I think every pop musician should learn to play at least basic drums and the first 12 rudiments. That give the musician a good idea of the drummers job, and how to interact with the drums better. I also play sax (my primary instrument), flute, wind synth, guitar, bass, and keyboard synths. So I do my own backing tracks. I find them better than karaoke tracks, as I can put them in our key, tailor them to our needs, and if I make them myself, I know every chord, and every chord substitution so when the solo hog (that's me) gets a chance to improvise, he knows the song inside out and can play a better solo. I also use those skills to make and sell aftermarket styles for the Band-in-a-Box app. But I repeat: Rule number 1 - it's always a cable. Insights and incites by Notes ♫ Notes ♫

I did all those clubs, plus Porky's, Ocean Mist, Newport Seven Seas, Peppermint Lounge South, Cellar Door, and more. My personal favorite was the Big Daddy's on Commercial Blvd, I think it was subtitled "Brother Jim's". Both the acoustics and the single girls were very nice. I was in a 6-piece band when we did those rooms. Mrs. Notes and I did Carnival Cruise Lines. 3 Summers, 3 different ships, back in the late 1980s. It was our first steady gig as a duo. We recently left a 5-piece band due to personnel problems. Our first ship was the Jubilee and we were hired to play Smuggler's Lounge. A smaller lounge next door to the disco. The first week we noticed what was missing, Baby Boomer music, and we also analyzed the ship. What 'hole' can we fill? There was a big 13-piece band who did mostly standards, a piano bar, a guitar/banjo/singer who did country music, the disco playing current pop music, a 7-piece Filipino band who played fantastic Latin American music, and a Jamaican reggae/soca band who played poolside. No 50s to 70s music. After analyzing, we asked the cruise director if we could join the introduction show on the main stage, the first night of the cruise. The cruise director said that no duo has ever asked that before, but "why not?" I also noticed that after the introduction show, it was the only night that noting special was scheduled. So I introduced us, telling the crowd "We play rock n roll, disco, big band swing, jazz, rhythm & blues, country & western, mambo, merengue, samba, calypso soca reggae, beach music, Motown music, classic oldies, new age, smooth jazz, hip hop, dixieland and one opera song." all while counting on our fingers. Then I added, "But tonight, right after this, we are having a 50s, 60s and 70s rock n roll party in Smuggler's Lounge." This got a number of people to visit our smaller side lounge and filled it up. On our first week on the ship, before the announcement, people found us at the end of the cruise and told us they wished they found us sooner. It's just natural for them to go to the bigger events first. After the rock party, a number of the people, who found us on the first day, came back again and again. The hit cruise line song back then was "Hot Hot Hot", and the passengers liked to do a conga line. Our lounge had a small service door between it and the disco. I worked this out with the DJ. I'd start playing "Hot Hot Hot" and send our conga line through the service door, through the disco, out into the promenade back into our lounge through the disco and so on. As soon as the DJ would see our group come through the door, he would put "Hot Hot Hot" on and we'd have a two bar conga line going. That made other people find us who wouldn't have, and some of them liked it enough to come back to see us. The only way the management in Miami knows where the people are hanging out is to look at the bar receipts. We broke the all-time highest revenue records in that lounge on the third week we were on board. We doubled the highest revenue ever. They extended our 3-week contract to "whenever we want to get off the ship." It wasn't because we were the best band to ever play that lounge, it was because we were lucky enough to see a need that we could fill, fill that need, and promote it well. Eventually, we made more revenue than the disco, which was over twice as big and was open for many more hours than us. We did that a half dozen times in our 3 years there. The reward was a passenger sized cabin with a porthole. We asked for a raise, and they jokingly said, "Eat more". Solution: The policy was the bands were not allowed to sell any merch. We held a trivia contest and the winner got a cassette tape of our band. We named it "The Joy Of Sax." After the contest, people would approach us and ask if they could buy one. The cruise director said that as long as we didn't advertise that they were for sale, he would ignore it. He liked us because we helped him get good reviews on the customer comment cards. Cruise ship or not, we play for the house. We always size up the crowd when we get there. Look at their clothes, shoes, hairstyles and so on and use that to pick our first song. Usually something targeted to the majority of the audience, but with broad appeal. Then we use their reaction to pick the rest of our songs. There is an art to working the audience, and after 30 some years as a duo, we're pretty good at it. If the crowd is jamming, we'll skip breaks. We think what would we like the band to do if we were the owners, or what would we do as a band if we were the owners. That makes all other decisions easy. The happier the audience is, the more they come back, the more money the venue makes, and the more we get hired and are able to do our second favorite thing, gig. From 1985 when we started this duo, until COVID reared its ugly head, we had so much work that we have to block out time for a vacation, or else we wouldn't get one. Now that COVID has settled down, we are gigging 15-20 one-nighter gigs per month again (mostly in the daytime and outdoors, as we play for a COVID-shy age group). When a musician is working, life is good Insights and incites by Notes ♫

It's Your Thing - Isley Brothers

Wherever is most comfortable for me. When in beginning band, the teacher told us that we can play our best when the instrument moves to fit our bodies, and is easiest to play.

I haven’t slept for 10 days, because that would be too long.

Heavy Metal Music

Waiting For Waits - Richie Cole featuring Eddie Jefferson on lead vocals and Manhattan Transfer on backup vocals The Waits they are singing about is Tom Waits

Yes, the phrase is, "Until death do you part", so your marriage isn't a success until one of the partners dies. Not something you want to think about a lot. I've got some insurance, in case it's me. Notes ♫

Musician's rule #1: It's always the cable. I've had MIDI cables fail, but not often. But I do a couple of hundred one-nighters, per year. I carry spares of every cable I use. I hope your gig went fine in spite of the bad cable. Notes ♫

The past, the present, and the future walk into a bar. It was tense!

Life Or Death: Amiens - Sun Ra And His Intergalactic Research Arkestra

I upgraded to Win11 and have no problems with it. I did notice 2 differences. 1) some cosmetic changes to the GUI 2) I can no longer move the taskbar to the top of the screen Other than that, all my apps work as if I was still on Win10. Of course, that's just my experience YMMV Insights and incites by Notes ♫

And another one exits the stage. RIP and thanks for the music.

See you later alligator, after a while crocodile - Bill Haley & Bobby Charles While the other kids were rocking around the clock, we were hoppin' and boppin' to the Crocodile Rock - Elton John & Bernie Taupin

Glad you are better. Sorry for the losses. Life goes on (until it doesn't) so we have to make the best of what we have, and silliness is great therapy.

Unsung indeed. Thanks for sharing.

See You Later Alligator - Bill Haley And His Comets From the jurassic rock era.

Egad, the word that refers to a procurer of customers for ladies of the night got bleeped. So to comply with the auto censor, I'll choose another. Insert cheat for the ***** above. My apologies to the censor, I'm not trying to be rude. Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Those are just too funny. Worse than any day-job I ever had.

Thanks for the well-wishes Zip. Fortunately, we are both still in good health, but like I said, you never know. One instant you could be fine and a short second later, not. Life goes on and we have to meet the challenges and keep on keepin' on. I, too, have a life policy to take care of Mrs. Notes if I go first. Plus the mortgage is paid off, county taxes are low, and in FL the "Save Our Homes" only allows the gov't to raise the taxes 3% per year (which they do every year). Yes, I'm a Florida guy. I grew up in Pompano Beach, just north of Fort Lauderdale, and when I turned 18, I played from Palm Beach to Miami. We also did a house gig in Fort Meyers for the better part of a year. The Rendezvous Lounge, which was downtown, and is no longer there. We rented a house, and would drive back to Ft. Lauderdale once a week to collect the mail. Then we went on the road, college bars, singles bars, show clubs, eventually being the opening act for major stars in concert, and then losing a record deal over money (they wanted to ***** us). That broke the band up, I played locally in Michigan for a while, then returned to Florida. Mrs. Notes and I did cruise ships for 3 summers while working South Florida for the tourist season until we got a reputation. That was enough to keep us booked year around after we jumped ship. I moved up the coast north of Palm Beach, and now gig in the tri-county area; Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River. This area worked out well for us. We were just another nice fish in a big pond in Ft. L, and it took aggressive marketing to stay booked. Up here we are a big fish in a small pond, and we have so much repeat business, that other than our website and an e-mail mailing list, I don't do any serious marketing at all. The tragedy of life is that it ends. So we have to get as much enjoyment out of each day while we are here. Sometimes that's very difficult, but we need to bounce back. Notes ♫

Back In Love Again - LTD