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How many song names can you get in one cartoon (car tunes?)

Notes_Norton

By Notes_Norton
in The Coffee House

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paulo

paulo

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8 hours ago, Christian Jones said:

Baker Street ........................ Probably the best 80's sax song ever (Ok late 70's, but totally 80's vibe) 

Nah, not even close bro........?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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11 hours ago, Christian Jones said:

Hey Notes, I bet you've played Baker Street live once or twice? Probably the best 80's sax song ever (Ok late 70's, but totally 80's vibe) 

Good one. Careless Whisper is another. I put an extended sax solo in the middle of that one.

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Christian Jones

Christian Jones

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2 hours ago, craigb said:

Wow, one I've never heard of!  (But me likey! ?)

Although a completely different vibe, I was reminded of this song:

 

And that reminds me of this 

(for the longest time I didn't know there was a Quarterflash.. I had always thought those were Pat Benatar songs until I saw the Find Another Fool video one day) 

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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3 hours ago, Christian Jones said:

Any footage of you doing this? 

No, probably no footage of me at all. I've spent my life playing live in front of a live audience. I've done some recording in studios but always on the band side of the glass. To me the engineers are the ones in the fish tank.

We learned Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark" a couple of months ago, the on-record sax solo isn't that prominent, but I extended it. I sing that one as well, and it's a nicely written song.

The only thing I have on video is here http://www.nortonmusic.com/catsvideo/index.html it's promo stuff.

Notes

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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While on the subject of sax songs. My all-time favorite is "Night Train".

Why???

When I was 18 years old, our band was hired to play in a strip club. The girls took everything off but their G-strings.

One of the dancers always requested "Night Train". And at the end of the night she tipped me (money, not any favors - sadly). I shared the tips with the rest of the guys, as it was our arrangement for anyone who got a tip.

She was beautiful, popular and made a lot of money. The tip bought us all breakfast after the gig.

For an 18 year old kid with youthful hormones, this was a dream gig. It's a good thing they had the band sitting down, because I couldn't always hide my enthusiasm.

Today they girls dance to prerecorded music, but when I was 18, it was still live music. Sadly those gigs are gone now, because some young kid would really appreciate being in that band.

Even without the strip club, "Night Train" has earned me more money than any other song. Over the years it has been the most requested. For a while Gato's version of "Europa" was hot, but it faded. "Yakety Sax" is a perennial request, but the people who ask for that hardly ever tip, and when they do, it's one dollar. I've landed Fifties for "Night Train".

Now that I play in places that pay enough and are too classy for tip jars, I still play requests if I know them, but all the above but "Yakety Sax" have faded away. 

Playing one-nighers and not in night clubs pays a lot more than a bar, so I don't put out a tip jar. In a private party or a Yacht Club it's tacky.

I've since added guitar and wind synth so I can still hog solos in the post-sax era, I also play bass and drums and can double on keys if the songs are not too complicated. It's good to be versatile if you want to make a living doing music and nothing but music. And it's a good living. I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but other than car payments, I've got zero debt. And I'm leading a happy life.

Insights, insights, and road stories by Notes

 

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Christian Jones

Christian Jones

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51 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

It's good to be versatile if you want to make a living doing music and nothing but music. And it's a good living. I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but other than car payments, I've got zero debt. And I'm leading a happy life.

Before the outbreak thingy what's a good amount you could expect to make a night and how long is a night and how many nights per week? I suspect you have no health insurance or are self-insured. Just curious what a working musician makes these days whose sole income is music

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Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

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My income is private information. Certainly not to be transferred over the Internet. So I'll address your question indirectly

How much you make as a musician is dependent on how you assess the market for live music and respond to that market. After that, how well you play that market and satisfy the needs of the entertainment purchasers and their audiences.

Like any small business, some will do better than others. I've seen a lot of others fail while we remain solvent.

If you are the kind who won't play Brown Eyed Girl, Mustang Sally [or substitute any song you think you are better than] or if you show up late, take long breaks, and work for yourself instead of the house, you won't make it without supporting yourself with a day gig (unless you happen to be wealthy and/or well-connected in the industry already).

Play what they want to hear and pace them so they get it when they want to hear it even if they don't know when they want to hear it.

I've been in big bands, little bands, almost famous bands, small-time bands, and played everywhere a musician can play, from seedy dives, to singles bars, to show clubs, to cruise ships, to the opening act for stars with current billboard top 10 hits.  Right now it's mostly Yacht Clubs, Country Clubs, Retirement Communities, and other adult venues. It's the biggest, most reliable market around here. We play what they want. When we started this in 1985 they wanted Big Band Swing and Sinatra era songs, now it's Baby Boomer rock with some current pop crossovers to the adult market. We save requests, and learn what gets requested the most. We watch the audience, call songs that work, and pace them so they have a great time.

In 1985 the woman who is now my wife and I splintered off a 5 piece band that had multiple personnel problems. We have been working steadily ever since.  COVID19 is the first thing that has ever caused us to be unemployed. A hurricane took a few weeks out one year but we jumped on a Cruise Ship until things rebuilt.

The mortgage is paid off, and I live in a small cottage on a half acre one house away from the east coast of the mainland of South Florida. To the east of that is a 2 mile wide lagoon, a 1/4 mile wide barrier island and the Atlantic Ocean. I don't use Air Conditioning (never liked it) and being close to the water brings a sea breeze through the house all summer. Some of my neighbors have million dollar homes on 55 or more acres.

We have no debts except for my car payments. I buy Ford/Chevy/Dodge class cars not Benz/Lexus/Lincoln class, and drive them until they are no longer dependable (usually about 200k miles).

No kids, no pool, no pets, no debts - in other words, I'm free.

We buy basic middle of the road priced items, not luxury items, but good quality food, and good quality musical instruments (tools). We are not instrument collectors, one for gigging and another for a spare will do.

We take vacations every year, and have to refuse gigs to do so. We've been to: 49 US states, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Croix & St John (USVI), more than half the Canadian provinces, 7 Mexican states, Bahama Islands, Bermuda Islands, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Saint-Martin/Sint Maarten, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, England, Scotland, Wales, Gibraltar, The Netherlands, Hungary, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Czech Republic, Austria, Australia, Russia, Japan and China (From the Great Wall down to Hong Kong). (Nicaragua, Japan and Russia were very short visits.) We were planning in Madagascar this year, but COVID got in the way.

I didn't have health insurance for years, and never needed it. Now I have Medicare and still don't need it. One day I probably will as I am aging. I think when you eat healthfully, and enjoy your life you are naturally healthier. And since 1985 I've gigged for retired folks, the kind that get sick often.

I have never-ever called in sick or missed a gig for any reason in my entire life. Leilani and I catch a mild cold once every 15 or so years (and we have a rule not to do it at the same time <grin>) and the last time I got the flu was probably in the early 1980s - it was a mild case and I gigged anyway.

I get up in the morning, I go to bed at night, and in-between I do what I want to do. That's success.

I make enough money to live stress free about finances. I could have made a lot more if I stayed in the electronics engineering I took in college -- but for me, living a stressful life as a wage slave to some faceless and heartless corporation wasn't worth the price.

So it's a modest lifestyle instead of an extravagant one, but for me, a good life. If I had to do it over again, I'd choose the same profession.

Insights and incites by Notes

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paulo

paulo

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On 4/8/2020 at 4:34 PM, Christian Jones said:

That's cool actually, I hadn't heard of her. 

 

On 4/8/2020 at 5:56 PM, craigb said:

Wow, one I've never heard of!  (But me likey! ?)

"Shit. Now two more people have rumbled me" - Lady Gaga (April 2020) 

?

 

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