PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Pop Music

Is anyone on the forum into pop music at all? I think I know of a few, but figured I would ask.

Thanks

As the Rolling Stones are described as Pop and so are a zillion other bands, I think it would be hard to find anyone who did not like Pop.

So much music has been made and recorded and evolved that the terms like POP, Rock, and Blues, for example, are becoming less meaningful.

Boubacar Traoré (born 1942 in Kayes, Mali) is a Malian singer, songwriter, and guitarist. When someone asks me if I like the blues, he certainly does not come to mind first. If you don't speak French, you most likely never heard of him. He is considered a blues player but very different from people we are all more familiar with.

I am not sure if I answered your question or not...lol

Billy

Never touch the stuff, unless I am well paid.

More seriously, I think most people would consider the music they like to be popular music, so I'm not sure what the definition of pop music is. And jazz players should be able to play on just about anything, and I've been asked to.

I think relevant to the question is how you define pop, as the definition seems to change every 8-10 years. In the late 0s when Debbie Gibson was one of the queens of what was then called pop, I was quite into her because for a kid she wrote good songs. Actually went to see her in concert because I knew she would have a killer band behind her. Madonna was once considered pop.

So give the relative difference in our age, allow me to ask what you call pop. Give me maybe 4-5 bands and I'll know where you are at. I may like pop as you define pop.

I am

I am mostly into pop music
But that does not necessarly mean what's currently on the radio
I am still a huge fan of the 80's

What exactly do you mean by pop music?

For me there are only two kinds of music (1) music I like and (2) music made for someone other than myself.

My tastes run across genres, from Bach to the 21st century, and I can find music I like and music I don't like in just about any genre of music.

So I listen to what I like and leave the rest for others.

If you explain exactly what you mean by pop, I can give you a more direct answer.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Yes, but please define pop from your perspective...



I think at least half of the stuff I have posted here qualifies as "pop" of one variety in that it is not country, rock, blues, or folk, but more "techno...", but that is not to say the other genres can't be pop as well...

I consider Michael Buble, Harry Connick Jr and The Trans Siberian Orchestra as Pop artists.

Harry Connick Jr. is an interesting case. He’s so versatile. I think if you can classify him at all, which may be a mistake to do anyway, that you should use the band he created as an indication of what he would call himself. His band, with his piano and singing, is jazz.

I had a guy from The Trans Siberian Orchestra play violin on one of my tracks once. He was great, and he did it for free.

Regards,

Bob

Which one? They have had 10, 3 of whom are male. The one I met at a meet and greet was Mark Wood, a Julliard guy. I saw them perform 4 times and all 4 times happened to be during his 9 years with the troupe so he is the only one I ever saw with them. I CAN say that no matter who they use it follows that it is an outstanding player. He also owns Wood Violins. Bring your checkbook AND your credit cards... They start at about $2500 and as always, when you add "more" the price goes up. They make 4, 5, 6 and 7 string instruments, both fitted with electronics and without. He played mainly a gorgeous blue violin with a wireless transmitter built into the underside every time I saw him. During the meet and greet I said that I had seen the transmitter built into the body and asked if that was strictly an audio transmitter or if he was sending MIDI out to modules. And he smiled and said "Nobody has EVER asked me that. You must be a player yourself." And my reply, always the wise guy, was, "No. YOU play music. I play AT music."

If it was him that you had play, you may see that he looks a lot like Steve Vai. His wife is Laura Kaye, a great singer singer and a drop dead gorgeous model type who also runs the Electrify Your Symphony program with Mark, and in their spare time (LOL!) they run music camps. Quite a career package between the two of them.

Electrify Your Symphony web page

It was so long ago, but I remember his first name was David...Friedman or something similar. They had several different touring companies, one that performed in Europe, one in the States, and another one for Japan and the Far East. I never met him, it was all via the Net.


Bob

What is POP music..? I have no idea... What is K-pop? What is Wrap? How do you pronounce genre..?

If you define "pop" as what is currently popular on the radio, then I've rarely been into pop.

I haven't turned the radio on in my car or elsewhere for at least 10 years or more. I actually never listen to anything in the car. I find it annoying.

I've never really liked much of what the general public wants to hear. You'd have to go back to the 60's or 70's for me to care much about pop.

Same here with only one exception. My car radio is set for 60's - 80's oldies, jazz, and classical music. I like the radio on while driving.

As far as music there are only two kinds; songs that I like and songs that I don't like, regardless of genre or singer/band.
YMMV

I liked Note's comment. It made a lot of sense to me.

This is Pop Muzik....

I couldn't go pop if you put a firecracker in my mouth
Randy Travis

Everybody wants a definition ... why not just look at the charts?

FWIW, I think technically whatever currently generates hits is pop music.
And generally irrespective of genre those hits nowadays are more, but not totally, based on loops and electronica, etc. than pop music from a decade ago.

And again, FWIW, to my old ears pop can range from engaging to awful...but I felt that way about it 50 years ago

Bud

That would narrow it down to about 37 different genres as many charts as there are.

I don't like what these obscene, degenerate young people are doing here in this video Steve, I don't care if it's new.

It will lead to bad, bad things.

Next thing you know people will be talking about their body parts and taking off their clothes.

I say no!!

Just give me some of that old Pat Boone and I am fine!!!

I guess I was pretty vague about the whole "pop" thing looking back. I probably should have said what Bud mentioned, music on the pop charts. A quick reference...
Pop Chart Example

There has been a large trend to more of an 80's type of feel for the last year and half or so, which I have actually enjoyed.

I am one of those that is also in the "it's not about the genre" camp. If I like it, it's good to me.

As far as there being as many genres in the top of the pop charts as there songs in the top of the pop charts, I actually think there are not all that many. There are only a few represented, in my opinion.

I'm sorry Eddie, I have tried again and again, I just can't picture you at the Debbie Gibson concert. She definitely was and is talented. I think my brain just keeps going to the visual of you being one of the screaming fans when "Only in My Dreams" starts. There is a disconnect for me.

I hope I helped clarify what I meant by "Pop." I get a lot of music that hasn't traditionally been pop is blurring the lines.

Very cool. Any specific artists that are stand outs for you?

Any specific bands or songs? I have many from that time.

Sorry, David Pay Boone has gone all heavy metal on you...lol

https://youtu.be/vFNXZecffW8

Billy

It was actually funny and kind of a totality of circumstances thing. It was August of 1988 and she was not quite yet 18 years old. And this 37 year old man was a fan because she wrote her own music AND I knew she would have a great band behind her. (She HAD to!) My band of the time abused me regularly about that! And on my birthday in June of that year they bought me 2 tickets to her concert and a t-shirt with her picture on it. She played at our locally famous outdoor venue called Blossom Music Center. I took my "concert" girlfriend of the time (more on that later) and got to our seats in time for a really AWFUL opening act. She came on and the music behind her was as good as I expected. She was REALLY juvenile but she wasn't really there to entertain dirty old men. Her audience was 14 and I had a better time checking out the moms that drove their daughters out there than anything. She was an adorable 17 year old kid, dressed in 1987 hipster clothes, including that little skipper hat she wore, and she did 35 minutes, her whole album, and was done. No encore.

The girlfriend thing was unique. I had a concert girlfriend, a movies girlfriend, a sports girlfriend, and a dinner girlfriend. They each liked doing ONLY that (i.e. movie girl hated sports, sports girl hated dressing up for dinner, etc) and they all knew about each other. It worked because none of us was actually looking for anything more than casual fun times.

I DID feel out of place at that concert, which was strange because I had never felt that way before. And it has happened only once since. I wanted to see Daughtry when he came to Cleveland. He played at an auditorium on the Cleveland State campus. I went by myself because he IS an acquired taste. I never saw so many men in leather pants in one place before or since, and I may have been the only straight male in that building. I left before his encore to beat the traffic, but man, he is an outstanding singer. Great band too. I kept looking for, but did not find, that hot ex-stripper he was married to at the time (And might still be. I don't really follow the guy.)

For the record, MY fat azz was NOT in leather pants. The ASPCA has laws against killing enough cows at one time to wrap this body in leather.

And that Alice Cooper is a complete fraud.

He goes to Camelback Baptist I believe and teaches Sunday School!!!!

My word!!!

I think that is the generally accepted definition of "pop" (aka popular ... because it's on the radio)

Even back in the day the deep cuts and B sides of the radio bands weren't considered pop among my circle of friends.

This is exactly how I define music. I'll happily jump from listening to Billie Eilish (pop) to Between The Buried And Me (technical death metal) to Snarky Puppy (jazz/funk) to Bent Knee (art rock) to Beethoven (you know who he is). All of this music can be considered pop if you ask the right group.

Genres these days are a lot more flexible than they used to be. Take this song for example - they're a modern metal band, but I guarantee most of you will be surprised at how not-heavy it is for the most part:

Here is a sideline question, is pop music that is a year old still pop? How about 5? 10? 40?

Does pop music degenerate in classification in time?

When I was 40 years old, I decided to market my duo to the retirement audience. It's a big, stable market here in South Florida and while the bars and lounges have dropped live music, until COVID my gigs were very stable. It was a good decision for someone who wants to make a living doing music and nothing but music in my area of the country.

When I started this, pop to the adult crowd was Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra. Pop music that was 35 years or so old. As time passed, Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison entered the mix. Then the Beatles, later The Cars.

Now Miller and Sinatra don't get any reaction, a little of Elvis still does, but not too much, and it seems that the Beatles will be next to fade into oblivion. We'll keep learning new 30 or so year old songs, and play whatever our audience likes to hear.

It seems we are playing pop music between 30-55 years after they hit their peak on Billboard. Is it still pop?

My audience considers it popular, and it's popular with them?

For the years I was in a top40 band, anything a year or two old was no longer on the playlist. It wasn't popular anymore.

10 years or more, it returns on the 'oldies' stations.

Like many on this forum, I find pop hard to define.

If you mean current top40 - I like some and don't care for some. It depends on whether it tickles whatever it is inside me that moves me.

Notes ♫

Great summary, Notes, and well worth consideration.

Pop is whatever any specific party considers 'popular'. It doesn't mean 'the latest', 'the newest', the 'most different', the 'most unique'. Ultimately, it means how 'popular' it is with the listener. Every audience will have a specific idea of what they find popular. I can dig that.

Clearly you have developed skills to read an audience, and know what music they find to be 'popular'. In summary, 'one size doesn't fit all' There's no right way or wrong way.

SIMON! That was spectacular. I'd call it stripped down metal, maybe. It has the 'elements' even when it was quiet..the jagged rhythm, dissonance, and all that.

It's just that they were out of costume (except the drummer, but only when he was shirtless). They look like the next six or so hipsters through the doors at Starbucks. How can they be metal without the costumes?

But that singer! Lord-a-mercy. Those are probably the best vocals I've heard in a long, long, long ever.


----


On topic: Pop is like [*****]. I have a hard time defining it, but I know it when I (see) hear it. I've always liked the majority of what made it to radio, as long as it doesn't wear out its welcome.

Really? [*****] got the asterixes? It looks nastier like that than what I actually typed.

I'll try this: Pop is like typography. I can't always define it, but I know when I see a typo.

I have this theory, untested since I don't play with the frequency of even a part time player (and certainly not as much as Notes plays), but I believe an audience will enjoy and appreciate anything performed at the highest level. Thus I have never succumbed to the popular notion that you have to play radio hits. That notion is what results in a Stairway to Freebird with a side of a Brown Eyed Girl named Mustang Sally. I will not play "that list" in a feeble and transparent effort to endear myself to an audience. I will play what I want to play, and I am going to have a band that plays it SO WELL that they will have no choice but to adore us for what they are hearing. And it will include about 20% of my own writings.

Drivers really loved the Corvette and the Firebird. Should every car maker have tiptoed down the party line and make one of what every other car maker is already doing, or is there something to be said for being unique?

To be honest, I don't even know what's on the radio in 2021. I have not listened to a radio for at least 15 years. Other than the artists that make the news for reasons outside of music, I can't even really name many of them. Simon mentioned that Billy Eyelash person/thing whatever that is. Lady GooGoo.... an of that I avoid. Now take me down the Average White Band and Earth Wind & Fire path, I'm there. Note though that this is also my basic personality. I don't concern myself with other people's opinions too much. I am right, and I feel sorry for people who are not smart enough to know I am right. I have been taken to task SO often for my attitude toward audiences, that attitude being that when you are in a place I am playing, you are on MY turf, and in this arena if you are not a player, I am better than you. When I am in your accounting office, or your welding shop, or your decorating design firm, you are better than me. But this stage, this is MY domain and you don't tell me what to play. Your role here is to sit and listen and be amazed at how good we are. (And we WILL be great or I will not be involved in it! Therein lies the reason why I can't keep a band. We rehearse until I say it's right. There is no "good enough" in music. There is "great" and "suck". Nothing between. But that "attitude" topic is for a different thread. And I have plenty of it!)

On topic, sit and drink your gin and tonic and marvel at how good my band is. That's your role here. Harsh? Yep. But I myself am harsh, and extremely hard on myself. I missed an exit point on a song 2 gigs ago because with no monitor I didn't hear the out cue. I wanted to go offstage and drink a cup of poison. But as usual, that's just me.

Huh, so it wasn't that word. What did the forum auto-censor?

I just got an email from a friend who was scheduled to play a show for a high school at a roller rink in October just before Halloween. They required that he send a set list of about 50-55 songs songs they might play. On the list was Saliva's "Click Click Boom". They were told they couldn't play it because click and boom MAY be interpreted as being related to guns. Also on the list was Monster Mash, which was deemed unfit because the subject matter was "too morbid". For Halloween. WHAT??? Also George Michael's "I Want Your Sex". (I MAY get that one.)

He replied to the email informing the school that he would not be censored and was canceling. According to him (and know that he is the same kind of wise azz I am) he added

"PS. We may be available for the book burning or the witch hunt. Send us the tentative dates."

MONSTER MASH??? Banned from a HALLOWEEN SHOW??? What year is this? How long have I been asleep?

The school was a nearby Christian Academy, which may explain the tight sphincter. But Monster Mash???

As soon as I got his email Mark, I went to that VERY search. It is CRAZY what is on that list.

Sounds like the post-9/11 "do not play on the radio" list recently mentioned.

We use to play a song called "Clean Straight Shooter" in a couple of biker bars that liked us and paid us well.

They were very fond of the rude off-color songs. Homophobia was rampant as was racism.

"Straight shooter" is a type of crack pipe and it also can be used to say I am not gay. The guys in the biker bar loved it and demanded we play it at least two times a night.

I played the song once in a black bar where I am very well known and some thought it was funny. Mrs Johnson, the owner, came to me and said " Billy don't be playing that [*****] in here. We got crack pipes laying on the ground right outside the door. You know Jonny OD last week and we got enough of that and don't need you reminding us".

So, the bottom line is, if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
Contrary to what you may think, the world does not revolve around "your" perception of what is acceptable. It's not your choice what you can sing in certain venues.

Billy

That reminds me of the time in 1991 when we played an event for recovering alcoholics and we started drinking beer at 1pm during setup. By the time we started at 8 we were HAMMERED!!!

That didn't go over well.

At all.

That was probably a collective bad decision as I look back on it now...

There is more than one way to do this. What's right for one isn't necessarily right for the other.

Unlike Eddie, I actually enjoy playing Mustang Sally and the others.

To me, simple songs are like potato chips or Cheetos, junk food for the ears. Not a lot of nutritional value, but a lot of fun to play.

I enjoy nutritious 'art songs' too, and play some of those as well.

I enjoy playing WITH the audience. It's a dialog, it's give and take, and they enjoy what I do, even when I add something for myself. I'm rewarded with love from the audience and enough money to meet my needs.

I don't consider entertaining a sell-out. Other's do. To me, the ultimate sell-out is to take a day job, so I can play 'art music' one day a week for drinks and tips or very low wages. Other's disagree, but that makes us both right.

I had two 'day jobs' in my life while testing what it was to be normal, and to me a bad day at playing music is better than a good day at any other job I can think of.

And I don't agree that the average audience would like whatever you played, as long as you do it well. If I decided to play a set consisting of "Four", "Moonlight Sonata", "Marzy Dotes", "Camptown Races", "Brandenburg Concerto", "Bemsha Swing", and "Night In Tunisia" 90% of the people in the USA wouldn't like it. None of these are considered pop music to me.

During one of my day jobs, I played Sunday afternoons in a jazz band. The guitarist taught at the University of Miami and was in Ira Sullivan's group for a while. Real heavyweights in the industry came to sit in with us because they knew him well. I enjoyed that gig.

For a few years, I played in a top40 band, and ended up being the opening act for top stars of the day. Enjoyed that one too. Plus, I've gigged in a blues band, Salsa band, punk band, sonic-wallpaper band, disco band, psychedelic acid-rock band, show band, symphonic band, and an oldies band. I enjoyed them all.

I just like playing music, and I like entertaining an audience. It's the most fun I can have with my clothes on. YMMV

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Years ago, an agent booked us for a New Year's Eve party at an Alcoholics Anonymous club. I discovered it was A.A. when we got there to set up our gear. I told the guy who let us in, "You know, you took away our competitive edge!" He laughed a bit, grinned a lot, and I knew it was going to be OK.

They had coffee, doughnuts, soft drinks, finger food, and people from all classes of society were there, from the poor to the well-heeled. Inside A.A. they all got along despite their class differences because they had one major thing in common.

We had a great time at the gig, and I felt a little safer driving home that night.

Notes ♫

I would LOVE to hear that set and anyone who could accomplish it. The Brandenburg is the killer. But that’s just me.

Unlike you I was a weekend warrior for years playing in wedding bands. Other guitarists called me a sell-out but I just laughed all the way to the bank.

Like you we interacted with the audience and played what they wanted to hear and not necessarily what we liked to play. The plus side of this is that we had more gigs then we wanted and had to turn down many gigs because we were already booked.

During the down times, all in the winter months, we played at VFWs, American Legions, etc. Again we were booked year after year.

The bottom line is that you have to decide what you want to play and not criticize people who take a different path.

YMMV

Glad you liked it! Your reaction is spot-on - Einar's vocals are absolutely out of this world.



I agree. I think we all get tired of whatever we hear too much of - for example listening to Kiss a few times is fun, but a hundred thousand times might get a bit old.



Valid point. Don't get me wrong here, those are two beautiful cars, and one could argue that they are universally accepted as the pinnacle of automotive design, but having driven more than my fair share of Firebirds and their Camaro siblings I can confidently say I would never want to own one.

Same goes for music. Having listened to my fair share of country, hip hop, blues, top 40, and other genres I don't typically listen to, I can confidently say that I would likely be bored at a gig that focused on these genres. You could put me at the front row of a Beatles concert and I would probably get bored and walk out, much like how most of you would walk out of a Meshuggah concert.



Especially if you're getting paid.



Much how I don't consider working here at PG a sell-out. I could try and start my own music studio, which would likely end up a very expensive exercise in futility, but I'm happy receiving a regular paycheque while still working a job that allows me to be musical and creative. Not to mention I share an office with a very expensive grand piano that I get to play regularly...

The third movement of Moonlight Sonata might come a close second!

Darn Simon, I had you in my will to get my Camaro. I guess I'll have to find someone else to give it to when I pass......

Haha I meant Camaro's are the best car ever and I've always wanted one of my own hahaha


*edit*
Realistically, most of the Camaro's I've driven were 80's models that were very well worn - one had been extensively modified, but not very well (a rear-end swap that totally messed up the gear ratios). The Firebirds I've driven were all similar, save for my dad's '99 Firebird Formula, which in my opinion was just not as fun to drive as my old '94 Mustang V6, my '91 Probe, or my '99 Cougar.

Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of the mid 80s - 90s Firebird/Camaros that were a little smaller. The big late 70s - early 80s were much better. My Dad had a couple late 70s TransAms that were awesome to drive. All the electronics and tech features in them today make them very fun plus the retro body style. I really like to play Pop Music!!! There, back on topic....

nice car sslecta.
lol...camaros/firebirds/corvettes etc common as cheese.
get a real mans car lmao... as i mention in my song
coastal highway in the pg user showcase..
A CATERHAM (links/pics on you tube in the showcase).

all the women i know lol...say real men choose the caterham option to build your own.

lol...if you get a caterham, all you american guys.
note >> englands women like american guys accents and also flash sports cars. i should know cos when i lived
in uk , i would pretend to be american by hanging around
with some american buds...lol...thats how i got dates.
so i went to america where the american women like english blokes. opposites attract lol

ps love eddies bobble pic.
happiness to all
om
ps i once owned a wreck of a 79 firebird with a special engine if i remember forgotten engine model.
wish i had kept it now and refurbed it.
289 ?

You guys need to come to visit me so you can see both cars and guitars!

.

Billy

Sweet!

I'll be there soon!

I like this place:

Come on down Simon. I have a 200-watt metal amp from hell I custom-built just for you to play through. But better bring a helper because the Mercury Magnetics transformers tip the scale at around forty pounds.

Oh, and just in case you don't like the Ferrari you can take the Countach for a spin...lol



Billy

Now that's sweet!

My first car ever was a 1969 Z-28 Camaro. I paid $3839.50 for it.

Head to Rick Beato’s YouTube channel as he goes through a recent list of the most paid for downloads on iTunes. Not streaming, but what people are paying for the right to listen to particular songs at will

He was surprised and you might be as well.

The closest thing I had to a Ferrari was a Fiat 128 Spider. Its name was "Freddy" (the only car I ever had with a male name). Body by Pininfarina, tuned exhausts, red, convertible, 2 seater, it was fast, and it hugged the road.

The speedometer went to 140 mph (225 km/h), but I never took it over 135 (217) because the tach yellow-lined there.

I got a ticket for going 95mph on I-95 once.

That car cost me a lot of money in fines.

But it was a lot of fun.

When I went from carrying two saxophones and a flute to the gig, to carrying a complete PA to the gig, I had to get something bigger. So it was "Arrivederci, Freddy."

Notes ♫

Reminds me of a place i saw in Oregon once, advertised Pancakes, Cocktails and Dancing on a big sign out front. Didn't even have a name that I remember.

I am with Notes on this one. The only songs I don't like to play are the songs that the listener doesn't want to hear. I have played all kinds of music over the years for anyone that would listen.

200-watt amp? Maybe I should bring a crane! My back has trouble with my 50-watt amps already! I'd like to hear and see it though - post some pics/videos!

I have long lusted for the original Countach, and that one is particularly gorgeous.



Mine was a 1986 Subaru GL, the fastback style one. Slick looking for it's time, but considering it's 70-odd horsepower it was about as fast as an octogenarian with ankle weights.



Closest for me was my 1999 Cougar. Nice compact and speedy car, but tons of trunk space since it was a liftback. I very nearly bought a Honda Del Sol before this, but turned it down for it's postage-stamp sized trunk - it would've had difficulty with one average size guitar amp...



Bringing it back to the music discussion! I personally find it more fun to have an audience that enjoys what I do. My main audience these days is my 8-month-old nephew, who seems to enjoy literally anything I play on an acoustic guitar - gotta love an enthusiastic listener!

The point of my frequent ramblings on that topic centers on that exact point. I always ask this question in reply to a comment with that sentiment.

Is it not possible to play music you personally like and enjoy playing and do it SO DAMNED WELL that the audience enjoys it as well as they'd enjoy "that list"? I have watched band after band play "that list" based only on the cliche of "The audience loves that song". Sure they do. They love that song done WELL! I used to date a girl who had a really awful band that was guitar, bass and drums and only her singing. THAT awful band, essentially a base trio with a singer, did "Come Sail Away" (without synth or harmonies), "You Can Leave Your Hat On" (without horns or harmonies), and a few Fleetwood Mac songs (because she lived vicariously through Stevie Nicks - to include dying her hair blond and always wearing all black) (without a keyboard player or harmonies). "You Can Leave Your Hat On", with JUST a guitar??? I have seen SO MANY BAD BANDS butcher "Don't Stop Believing" because nobody can sing it. If you can't, then just don't.

She once asked me to play a show with them for some private party. I agreed pretty much because she was my girlfriend at the time and, well, you know... The other guys hated having me there because it meant a little less money for them, but after hearing the way I filled the sound out with keys and BGV, like adding the horns to You Can Leave Your Hat On on my sampler, the bass and guitar players asked me to join full time. Frankly they were not good enough and I would have been embarrassed to be a full time member of that band. The irony is that had I joined the first thing I would have done was replaced the two guys who asked me to join.

Not all that coincidentally, she dumped me soon after. LOL!!!

You can wow the crowd without playing "that list". They will love anything that you play well enough to where not liking you isn't even an option.

On topic, though ever so tangentially, despite the fact that I really don't like bands that use 70% backing tracks, I think over winter I am going to work up a 12 song set of techno-ish covers from the 80s. Howard Jones, Thompson Twins, Thomas Dolby, Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club kind of stuff. Just me and a bunch of hardware. I have software, all kind of MIDI routing gear, drum machines, synthesizers, 10 guitars I don't need... All it would take is a big dose of unlazification. And I would learn to program drums better. That's the kind of thing I would prepare, play out 3 times in small bars as an opening act, and quit. (It would be pop music, just pop music from 35 years ago.)

Like back in the early 90s when I put together a band called Roxanne that learned 11 Police songs JUST to open 1 show. Or the time in the mid 80s when a club owner I knew asked if I could find him a band to do 45 minutes of original music in front of a fairly avant garde art rock kind of band and I said "SURE!! Let me get back to you in a couple of days after I make some calls." I got some people together. The 4 musicians were all fat guys like me, and the singer was a 6 foot tall string bean type. We wrote 10 songs that were pretty much weird, throwaway songs nobody wanted to claim. I put the singer in a striped t-shirt and a beret and asked if he'd grow a pencil thin mustache. The 4 of us fat guys wore brown robes with white rope belts, and I called the band Frenchie and the Friars. We played our show, made $60 bucks each (decent in 1985!) and never played that garbage again! LOL!! Sadly 2 of those guys are dead now. And I am likely 10 years at most from following them off the stage.

That's just some of the strangeness of me!

PS - I delude myself into believing that if the software is only sending data and clock to the hardware devices then I am NOT using tracks. I only consider it tracks if it's recorded music or voices.

TBH, if audio tracks are triggered by a sequencer, even that is only sending data and clock to the hardware devices. <grin>

It's all good when done right.
And it's all judged in the end by the audience, of which very few know how the man behind the curtain is getting it done.

I saw the Lion King broadway tour (with an orchestra) at a decent venue years ago .. I peeked into the pit and noticed sequenced hardware & computers in use; it's all part of the show.
How it happens isn't as important as how it is received.

I am unabashedly in love of twenty one pilots music. I’m 54 years old my name is Scott nice to meet you

Oh Bruno Mars as well. Everyday.

Per Billy Joel:

He says, "Son, can you play me a memory?
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad, and it's sweet, and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes"

I play memories, and I am lucky that I get to make a living doing that.

Mrs. Notes and I started our duo in 1985. The first year was pretty lean, as we had no reputation. So we took a 3-week-with-options contract on a cruise ship. We stayed on that ship for 8 months, and returned on different ships in the same line for 3 years.

We beat the all-time revenue records for the lounge we played in on all three ships. The management in Miami looks at the revenue to determine where the passengers are hanging out. Since they were hanging out in our lounge, we got the bonus of a passenger sized room with a porthole.

How did we do that?

First of all, we are good at what we do. But that isn't all. There was a pianist in the piano bar that wowed all the musicians. She was a monster and played Thelonious Monk, Gene Harris, and dozens of others so well that the other musicians used to hang there. But the passengers didn't. She lasted 3 weeks.

So what else?

We asked for requests on cocktail napkins. We told the audience that if we can't play it, we'd have it by next week (it was a one-week cruise).

Whatever got requested the most, got learned first.

If you last on stage long enough, the people will tell you what they want to hear. If you ignore them, you probably won't last all that long on stage.

Eventually, we even beat the disco in revenue. The disco held 5 times as many passengers and was open all night.

After 3 seasons on the ships, we gave notice. They offered us a raise, but Mrs. Notes' mother was sick with a disease of the elderly and needed care. We had been working the 4 months we weren't on the ship on land, and by then had a good enough reputation to work all year off the ships.

We still collect requests, and whatever gets requested the most is what we learn, as long as we can do a good job covering it.

I know a lot of musicians who hate playing memories. There is nothing wrong with that, as there is more than one right way to go through life. But for me, playing memories is a great way to make a living. Plus, I really enjoy what I do.

When I'm on stage, I'm in that place where there is no space or time, just the music flowing through me. In other words, I'm in my bliss.

I repeat: For me, a bad day playing music is better than a good day at any other job I can think of.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

I make my own tracks. I play sax, flute, wind synth, guitar, bass, drums, and keyboard synth. I also sing.

Making tracks is time-consuming, but it keeps my chops up on those instruments I don't play on the gig.

Plus by making the tracks myself:

• I can put them in the best key for our voices
• I can leave out the most fun parts for Mrs. Notes and I to play live on the gig
• I can do a custom arrangement for the song
• I can leave room for an improvised solo for the solo hog (that would be me)
• I know the song inside-out, the chords, the substitutions, and everything else so I can play the best solo
• I can exaggerate the groove, rush bridges, and do scores of tricks that a live band does and karoke or purchased tracks do not.
• I can customize the mix to make it sound more like a live band than karaoke.

How do I customize the mix?

When you go out to hear a live band, what do you hear most, even from the parking lot? Bass and snare drum. That's the starting point. High horn stabs a tad sharp. Background vocal parts on synth. and so many, many more.

The object is not to sound like the record, but to sound like a band covering the record. There needs to be more energy than the recording. Even the original artists in concert don't sound like the record, why should we?

There is an art to playing for the audience. There is an art to making good backing tracks. I've learned a lot in all my years doing it, and I continue to learn. That keeps the job interesting.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Good, sound advice, Notes. I worked with the exact same approach. Find out and play what your audience wants to be entertained with. They'll keep coming back for more. Fundamentally, it's simple. If you want to do it right, you have to be prepared to listen as well as give. Great story of your experiences.

Same here!

If you read the crowd correctly and play what they want you will get many gigs. Been there - done that.

Also be selective on taking gigs. For example we turned down a few gigs as all they wanted was country songs. We have a large repertoire, had fake books, and could jam but we were not the kind of country band they wanted. We were up front with them and they appreciated that.

Mario.
spot on. give the people what they want.
read up sometime how the world hit "takin care of business" came about. its a fascinating story the way randy B tells it. i dont have space here to recount
the story. but its fascinating how this big hit came about.

years ago i used to hang around with musos way way more technical than i or my fellow rock buds.
they were heavy into advanced jazz and chamber music/chord theory/structures. nice blokes too.
but they were always complaining to us "you stoopid rockers with your stoopid 3 chord songs...
how come you get gigs with those easy chords C5 or D5
or whatever." many comments in that vein.

but we said "we just give the people what they want.
often they have boring jobs and just want to party at the weekend".
personally i love music in all its genres, includeing jazz as long as its melodic jazz.

right now i'm looking forward to see what surprises pg has for us in 2022 versions of biab and rb.

best
om

Back in the 70's a band could learn 50 "pop songs" that everybody knew from the radio, and play anywhere, and you could feel relatively certain you were giving the audience what it wants. Not so true anymore. There is a worldwide glut of music, both pro and hobbyist. Spotify and Pandora have exposed people to so much music that there is no common denominator that appeals to "most audiences". A band would have to know thousands of songs in multiple genres to even stand a chance of playing enough gigs to make money.

In my opinion, that's one reason why DJs took over the wedding gigs. Not many bands know enough songs to entertain 4 generations... but a DJ can show up prepared with exactly whatever song list the bride requests.

And on top of the huge diversity of musical taste, there is also music snobbery. Who wants to invest years of practice and untold thousands on gear, only to receive disdain from every audience because your music isn't THEIR music?

AT least online streaming lets a musician use his/her gear without having to move it, and the audience is free to click away if they don't like it... so the people who stay tend to be appreciative.

Around here the biggest reason DJs took over was money. They charged a lot less than bands charged.

Yes music changed over the years and became more diverse so it was hard to be that versatile but cost was the biggest factor. It was much cheaper to pay 1-2 DJs then a 4-7 person band. YMMV