What is commercial to your area depends on the people in your area and the particular gig.

When we play for the retirees at our normal Tuesday crowd, Led Z, The Romantics, Steppenwolf, Garth Brooks, Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Harry Belefonte, Bobby Darin, Robert Johnson, Michael Buble, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Seger, The Drifters, Jethro Tull, Etta James, etc. all work. But it's a listening gig, not a dancing gig nor a dinner gig.

In the Yacht Club we get about an hour of playing high energy music and two hours of low-level to moderate music. Zep, Steppenwolf, Romantics etc., won't work there.

But there are things that always seem to work everywhere, old middle-of-the-road Top40.

Personally, I love Led Z, Vanilla Fudge, King Crimson, and other "acid rock" groups, but I don't play any. We used to do "Stairway" but people got tired of it. I'd love to do "Dazed And Confused" but most of the audience wouldn't want to hear it.

Yes the musical menu is extremely large. Between 1955 and the present, there must be at least 10,000 Top40 songs. You can't learn them all.

Start with the most popular and the most MOR. You can't go too wrong with songs that made it to number 1 on Billboard. Then while you are gigging, pay attention to the requests. If you stay on stage long enough, the audience will tell you what they want to hear.

Need help with Top40 songs, this is a great reference book, I use it myself.

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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