Yep, been there, done that Eddie.

We had a guy once who was the manager/emcee of the club and always insisted on doing his party piece 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco'. He used to like it in the key of F. Progressively over a period of a few nights we upped the key a semitone at a time. By the end of the fourth night he damn near gave himself a hernia and never troubled us again.

Oh, that's a good one.

About 4 years ago I was getting lots of calls for duo jobs and decided to hire a female vocalist. After auditioning about a dozen, I stopped trying to find one. Most could not carry a tuna in a five-gallon bucket, some said the knew all the songs on my list, but did not know any when they picked up a mic, and all thought they should collect huge sums of money for just showing up and looking pretty. Maybe one day, when I'm really old, one will come along--NAH!

Gary

I would of told her sorry I dont know those tunes give me your backup CD or come back on Karaoke night.........!

Singers with EGOS.
Listen to American IDol just one night. Every singer states they expect to be the next American Idol, however only 1 in 10 can carry a tune in key and only 1 in 50 can perform.
THIS IS THE FUTURE??
Sad
Bebop

There's an amatuer theater production company her in town. Several years ago, a member came up to me and asked to sing a song for his wife. He had the chart, so, even though the tune wasn't particularly appropriate for a quiet patio, I did it. The next week, he and 5 other members showed up, complete with charts for a "performance".

I had to refuse. These folks complained to management, but luckily, they supported me, saying I made the decisions. I stopped all
sit-ins. That's a shame, because I really enjoyed it when some of the pros in the neighborhood would sit in on guitar or horn.

I now tell folks who want to sit in that
the format is background music and what they want to do just dosn't mesh with the program.


russ

This is a testy situation I run into a fair amount, but I have as of yet for it to be a problem - I just say no. I even put the mic I announce with on a short cable and plug it into the keyboard so noone can use it but me.

But the part that would really bother me would be the implied threat that if I didn't allow someone to sing that my job/gig would be in jeopardy somehow, either now or in the future. I wouldn't work under those conditions.

It's the future, the present and the past. In the general population maybe 1 in 10 can carry a tune and it's very probable that considerably less than 1 in 50 can perform. It's just that when you put on a show of that nature you encourage the egomaniacs, and I'm sure that a lot of those who proclaim that they're the next American Idol are put up to it by the producers just to annoy folks like you and I.

Speaking of egos - what about that Gene Simmons guy? Seems to me his greatest claim to any kind of talent was that someone came up with a nifty (for the time) face-painting job. As a singer, I doubt he'd have got as far as an on-camera tryout. I Just Wanna Rock an' Roll All Night . . what a musical gem that was. Give me a break.

I played for years with a guy who built his career around "sit ins". His name is Preston Weber. I played two sets on B-3 and Rhodes, and backed him on a double-kneck Carvin bass/6 string combination the other two sets. When it came time to solo, I switched to pedal bass.

The guy was awful! He couldn't tune his guitar, never rehearsed once in 10 years, was always late, didn't know the words to songs, had bad timing, and was the highest paid guy in the area. He created a party, and half the audience was there to sing, play the "gut bucket" or tamborine...whatever. Most knew one or two songs. All were terrible. But, they would bring their friends and wait for hours to be called upon. It was terrible music, but what a party. Preston leveraged egos into a lifetime career. The rooms he played were packed six nights a week. He played the cheeziest selection of sing-along type songs you ever heard. He started off as a folk singer and switched to primarily country songs when the timing was right. I made 1/3 the money he made and played twice as long.
From a business and entertainment standpoint he was worth every penny. This made me appreciate the ability to entertain (something I'm not good at).
I just sat back an laughed my a** off!

Russ

Alot of "musicians" underestimate the value of entertainment. I have a friend that does a solo act and he always complains, he wants the audience to sit there, shut up and listen to the songs he wants to play.
Obviously he's not as successful as he thinks he should be.

[This message has been edited by mikeathome1 (edited 01-27-2005).]