Reportoires

[rossi]

I was browsing through some topics a while back and noticed a chappie seeking assistence on what songs to do. I can only glean that he/she was perhaps taking the first steps into this business, for it is nigh impossible to give someone a batch of song titles and tell them that "These will work." Horses for courses as they say.
This got me to thinking if there was some advice that could be passed onto newcomers. Maybe a standard "safe" set of songs for each decade would provide a basis for building a decent reportoire.
Using the criterias of say, a) well known songs
b) not too difficult to perform
c) songs on Midimart
I thought I'd start off with a solid set from the sixties,(Keeping on my home terriotory!). A set of ten could be these...

1. The Young Ones (Cliff)
2. Everlasting Love (love affair).
3. It's now or Never (Elvis)
4. Doo wah Diddy (Manfreds)
5. Half way to Paradise (Billy Fury)
6. Satisfaction (Stones)
7. I saw her standing there (Beatles)
8. Cant buy me Love (Beatles)
9. Ob la di (Beatles)
10. Hi ho silver Lining (Jeff Beck)

If your playing for dancing don't forget "Sugar Sugar". If they dont get up for that your doing something wrong...like not being plugged in!
Extras (Subs):
Will you still love me tomorrow. (Shirelles)
My Way. (Frankie baby). I hate this, but you'll always get a request for it.
I'm a believer (Monkees)
Daydream Believer (Monkees)
Congratulations (Cliff).

It really is difficult to tie a set down to just ten songs.

Not forgetting our last number one of the swinging sixties...."Two little Boys". NO,No, No,....Just a joke that one!
Anyone fancy using the same formula for the rest of the decades?
It's not as easy as you think.
Cheers,
Rossi

[Emerald Midi]

Hi Rosi.

Thanks you for sharing what you go through of an evening. It is a lovely programme you have there and, interestingly enough, I do many of the songs you mentioned.

[Steptoe]

Where are all the Quo songs?

[a.j.]

There are so many ways to skin this cat, and just when you think you've heard everything....

We met a guy who plays (with midis and a guitar) in the local pubs, while we were on holiday. He did most of the usual one-man band standards. 60's, 70's, some Frank, Engelbert, Elvis, CCR, Tom Jones, Neil Diamond (which for some reason is really popular here), and some new stuff. He had a LOT of material ready.

He's a very nice singer - we ended up guesting with him a couple of times while we were there, and became friends. Anyway, he did a couple of songs that I would never have imagined in a one-man-band scenario, but they worked surprisingly well. I can't remember all of them, but the two that stuck in my mind were Rockin' Robin, and Islands in the Stream. The (very mixed) crowd at the local thought he was great.

A couple of pieces of advice I can add to this:
1. There's only one way to find out if a song is going to work - do it, and see. Sometimes what sounds awesome in your music room will fall like a lead balloon in front of a crowd (you never can tell).
2. Make sure that you know your stuff. Midi is completely unforgiving if you miss your intro, and the punters know the arrangements better than you do, in most cases.
3. I know from personal experience that it is hard to build a repertoire from scratch, but try and build up a big enough song list to vary your gigs somewhat - especially if you have a residency, or have people that follow you from gig to gig. They will eventually get bored with same songs night after night.
4. Having said that, audiences love songs that they recognise and can sing along to. Zero to hero in an instant.

My first band job (in the 80's) was with a live band that already had a repertoire and work - it was so easy to just join in and build on what they had. Years later, I found myself having not worked for several years, and starting a two piece with a guitarist, and working with midi for the first time. It takes time to build a quality repertoire of good files, but I do agree that you should keep it simple to start with.

[rossi]

First let me add that my initial post above does not really reflect what I do every night. That was an example set for anyone wanting to get together a reportoire of generally "safe " songs from that particular decade.
For instance, last night I started off with "Never rains in California". I play outside and there were one or two dark clouds about. I could converse straight away with the audience by using the punch line after the song with..."and never here in the Canary Islands".
Breaks the ice immediately. It's also a gentle opener, especially when people have just come in to dine.
I must admit I do all the songs I listed, but after all these years I would never go out and perform to a rigid set. It was only an idea to help some people who may be starting up for the first time and not knowing which songs go down reasonably well.
As for the advice from A.J. about just trying the song...yes, dead right. Never be afraid to try a new number. I am still constantly surprised about which songs "work" and those that fall on deaf ears.
Last night I did Pet Shop Boys "You were always on my mind" version. Nothing!
But before I discard it I will maybe shorten a bit of the "in your face" brass work. I also did it as my last song....maybe that was wrong. You see, it's all trial and error. No one said this business was easy!
I'd like to see some ideas for the eighties and nineties sets, or even the 2000 plus.
Oh, and nearly forgot...Yes I did leave out Quo. Not done any for ages. Might end on "Rockin' all over the world" tonight. When I was on guitar, (Now Keyboard), it was easier to get a good feel for Quo stuff.
Cheers,
Rossi

[shyamwestwind]

Repertoire is sure important, but though my friend and I are "loaded" with a pretty large repertoire, we really are stumped at times. We try all the styles but no one steps up on the dance floor. We occassionally see a finger tapping on the table or a foot tapping under the table and maybe a weak palm clap, but really NO RESPONSE ! Its depressing to say the least and we wonder what's wrong with our music and whether we should quit playing music.
The evening drags through the first hour and a half and we yawn with boredom, when ........ SUDDENLY, a couple walks to the floor to jive to some "time-pass" number we were just going through the motions of playing and .... OOOOMPH !!!!! The party takes off. Requests pour in - "we heard you sing that number - you sang it so well - please sing it again !!!!!!!!" We cant believe it - are these the same people? YES, YES, YES , but they have a few under the belt now and the SPIRITS are working !!!
It would be nice to play some recorded music for an hour or or atleast till the reactions set in and have the Band play when they they are fermented for the dancing.
When the fizz is off the requests for My Way, and Strangers in the Night etc etc will come in.

[shyamwestwind]

Sorry about the typos - should 've proof read it before hitting the sebd button. MY APOLOGIES !

[lennon]

Looking thru the comments made about reportoires, the band I play in always start with a "safe" song (usually, Zoom by Fat Larry's band), the next three songs being the same safe-ish low key dross. OOOPS, I meant standards !! What happens after that depends on which one of the four opening genres (hate that word) seems to go down best. We gauge it on which song creates the biggest ripple of applause. This, however, does not always work if the heaving mass of your audience is drinking embalming fluid !!. After the first four, generally anything goes, we have no strict set list, and this seems to work for us. Most muso's I have spoken to can suss out (to a certain degree) what the audience are primarily going to be like, and then choose songs accordingly.

[charlie]

Reportoires are nothing really more than putting certain ingredients in homemade soup. A little of this...a little of that...stir it up and wahla! It's soup! The trick is to know how much of which ingredient to put in...and what to leave out or tone down...i.e. pepper, salt, etc. Too much kick at the beginning of the set makes certain people nervous. Not enough, and they get the impression that your music is gonna be wimpy. There is a way, however, to make a "soup" that everyone likes something in it, unless they are hell bent on not liking you...even if you're Rolling Stones. What I do is watch the type of people coming in. Are they older...sofisticated? Are they Young & Restless? One thing that I do (and it's not intentional) is to quietly listen to ongoing conversations..eavesdropping...but with no malice intent. You can tell a lot about the general "feel" of the audience by hearing some of the conversations, especially during setup. If someone is having a bad day and wants to be uplifted, then slow and somber ballads will certainly make them feel more sad. If someone is already in a good mood, then try and keep them there. "In the summertime" by Mungo Jerry usually makes everyone smile and tap their feet. "Brown-eyed Girl" & "Mustang Sally" are usually staple diets in the first set. Something very familiar and upbeat...without coming on too strong. But,alas, there is no sure fire method to get people excited and moving. It will happen when it happens. Just be able to recognize that "turning point" and make them enjoy themselves, in spite of themselves....LOL

[gibbo]

The thing I find about appropriate repertoire (as opposed to "reportoire") is that you just have to learn to trust your own intuition. Sometimes I look at an older crowd and think I'd better "tame down" but, as my wonderful duo partner is fond of pointing out, "There's no need to get too laid-back, most of the crowd are younger than you!" lol...
Here's a funny and true story about repertoire;
I once went directly from a gig to a mates Engagement Party, I got there at midnight and everyone was fired up and I ended up playing for them until 6am.
We stayed up all night partying and carrying on like idiots, as you do!
On my way home from that party I suddenly realised that I had a gig to do at 2pm at a local Workers Club. I got there just in time and set up, never thinking to wonder if my voice would work at all. I started off with "Country Roads" on just guitar and drum-machine and, of course, my voice was totally trashed. I quickly cycled down an octave and sang the whole song like "Louis Armstrong meets Kenny Rogers on valium"... then rolled it into Bobby McGee and just kept doing this long medley of old country hits hoping I could get my voice to work. Whilst I'm singing this long medley I'm thinking I'm gonna have to apologise to the Manager and cancel the gig. I finally finished this growly, grungy "song" and everyone in the place stood up, applauded wildly, giving me a standing ovation!
I ended up doing the next two sets like that, everything an octave down. Slowly but surely my voice came back and I started doing stuff in my normal range until the manager commented that he really preferred my Louis Armstrong voice!
Just goes to show; it's all in the ear of the beholder! lol

[shyamwestwind]

Hi everyone
That was a nice one about repertoire being like soup. Over here in India, I always liken it to BIRIYANI where every ingredient matters, Actually its getting the vibes right, I guess and if you can get as many people on the floor dancing to your music, then even the other uninterested or critical of the crowd will join in and then its a PARTY !!!!! I do however get riled when I hear complaints from a section of people about the music being too loud, and then the very same people come on to the floor dancing and requesting for the same songs they thought were loud, earlier. UGH !!

[bazmac]

Hey There, I joined my first band in 1966 & i'm still performing now as a soloist (vox/guitar & lots of midis), have been solo for the last 15 yrs, i've been a full time muso for the last 25yrs.
Been there done that, can't call me a "has been" cos i'm a "never was", i've got about just over 1,000 songs on my
current repertoire & still adding, i work an average 3-4 gigs a week as i'm starting to cater for daytime audiences rsl's etc.
The secret in my repertoire is that i get a lot of backing trax written for me, popular songs which you just can't get on the net or even buy, so i get a lot of comments saying nobody else plays those songs which makes you quite unique.
I've always maintained playing what the majority likes to hear regardless if you like the song or not, don't be self indulgent.
Keep Rockin'

[ironbaden]

bazmac said:

I've always maintained playing what the majority likes to hear regardless if you like the song or not, don't be self indulgent.
Keep Rockin'

Very Very Good Point there...... I also like the IDea of doing stuff that nobody else does... can be dangerous tho if your not carefull ;D