Dad3353

Any song in the top 40 is a great composition because it speaks to the souls of a million strangers, to be instantly replaced by next week's 'hit' and washed away on the turning tide of these same million strangers' fickle souls. Smoke and mirrors, for the most part; cold commercial interests manipulating these precious 'souls' to further their profit margins. Disclaimer : I'm not a fan of Chic in any of the forms I've heard so far; my vision may be coloured in this light.

I can see the 'logic' of starting in chronological order. Please bear in mind, however, an important element that is, sadly, now missing from the equation. My first contact with Genesis was an Eeel Pie Island multi-band concert; Genesis were one of many bands on, and played, at the time, acoustic guitars (I don't remember them having drums, at that time...). I saw them very often since, over a few years; each time with a 'live' performance made absolutely unique , and truly magical, by the theatrical presence of Peter Gabriel. Not only for the costumes (increasingly sophisticated and spectacular...), but mainly for the 'downtime' between songs, giving the group time to get their elaborate preparations in order. PG would, often under a lone narrow spot, spin a story line, ostensibly to announce the number to follow. Each would be (apparently...) improvised, drawing the attention of the audience into a close complicity (in one, there was supposedly a tight-rope walker, suspended in the air above the theatre seats, and who advanced, step by step, towards the stage area. Everyone turned their gaze upwards, to follow his progression, and, at a signal, Genesis started playing again, and we all realised that it had been an illusion, a distraction, a feat of mesmerising that explained nothing whatever of the song now playing...). Every time, without fail, PG wove his magic. This cannot be heard in the studio recordings, and I don't know if any of these wonderful concerts were filmed with this interludes fully exploited. To me, at the time (and 'clean', I hasten to add...), they were what made a splendid musical evening a truly magical spectacle. Thanks, PG, for the enchantements.

Other courrier options exist.

There are a certain numbers of 'hit' songs that bear very little deeper examination, as they are exactly the same 'formula' as the preceding batch. 'Popular', '1 Million' are not criteria in any form of 'worthwhileness'. Not to say that every popular song is shïte, of course, but to say that all merit the notion of 'great' is daft, in my view.

... but won't improve the punctuation.

That might have passed, but the badly-performed Pachelbel motifs really grated, I found. I agree with the decision taken to end it, but found it a bit harsh, just the same.

All of which rather begs the question... Working shift's what..?

I tried listening to Yesterday. It didn't need re-mastering; the original was already darned good.

@Leonard Smalls ...

This is all true, but, if it's really that important, it behoves of either each musician, or the band leader, or the management, to be sure that there's a suitable dep 'on the books' (maybe two or three..?). It has happened, in the past, that, for one reason or nother, gigs have to be cancelled, too. So..? It's not an Ideal World, and one plans things as best as possible, but the expression 'The best laid plans...' has a ring of fatality to it (plus 'Sod's Law', of course...). OK, keep only those 'reliable' professionals', paying them adequately, and carry on. No problem. Others deal with the lemons Life deals out in other ways. It's all good. I had a week's break, end of season, late '70s, so booked a trip back to Blighty to see family and friends. The Sax/Flute and Bass came with me, for the jaunt. We spent our week, and caught the ferry back, from Portsmouth to St Malo. We also caught one hell of a storm. The ferry couldn't approach any harbour; it had to circle Jersey all night and all next day until it passed. All cabins were opened; we all spent 36 hours on that crazy rocking boat, being tossed like a cork. The sax/flute bunked down; I went to see how he was faring, and understood why seasick passengers are portrayed as being 'green'? He was very, very 'green'..! The dining quarters were opened, and free, but no-one had any appetite. I was able, by joining the long queue, to make a ship-to-shore 'phone call to announce to our band leader that we would not be able to make the gig that evening (we should have been docked the day before, but no sign of any let-up...). He called upon his resources to do the dates for that week-end, and all three of us were 'let go'. A pity, as it was a good, solid, working band, doing five-hour stints of dance variety all over the West of France most week-ends in season, but we, all three, just picked up other dates and the World spun on. Unreliable..? Define 'unreliable'.

In the sense that 'That's Life', yes, I am. I didn't plan to get a urinary infection, but here it is, harsh reality. I'd be a disaster, this week, on any stage, with any repertoire. I've no gig, as it happens, this week-end, but if I had one, I'd have to desist. 'Stuff' happens; deal with it. If that's 'unreliable', then I plead guilty. Good luck with your projects.

A Good Professional has a back-up plan (Drummer down with appendicitis, keys stranded in Kuala Lumpur due to unforseen civil unrest, trumpetist has a broken jaw...), and can cope with an absence. The railways don't stop because Charlie The Driver overslept.

OK, no problem with that. It's what I call 'harsh'.

The Original Rules (followed on year after year since...)... Off the back of this becoming more popular than I had anticipated....here are the RULES: Tier 1 Challenge During the calendar year of 2019 (01/01/19 - 31/12/19): - No bass gear purchases/trades whatsoever, be that amps, pedals, basses, accessories. Tier 2 challenge (should you play other instruments, engage in music production etc) - As above, but extended to your other musical gear Allowances in both tiers: - Strings (sticks, skins, reeds etc) - Maintenance/setups that only involve work on existing aspects of your bass (ie no purchasing a preamp to add to it) - If something breaks through no unusual intervention of your own, and is unable to be repaired, you may replace it. - Educational purchases, ie tutorial books, lessons, anything that furthers your playing is permitted. - If you have purchased something in 2018, you are able to take delivery of it within 2019. - If you have put down a deposit on something before committing to this, which then requires a final payment within 2019, that single payment permitted. However you may wish to explore whether you can pay the balance early (if you're a little OCD like me). Soooooo... Guilty, or Not Guilty..?

This explains much of our musical relationship. ... ... ... Twerp.

I think we'll have to agree that there are 'bands' and 'bands'. Many of the bands I've played in have been almost 'scratch' bands, often enough with folk I've never met before. The variety repertoire had, at that time a certain number of 'standards', but many would be 'winged', without rehearsal, as everyone knew them from having heard 'em at least once. (Not always, though; with the 'Tropicana' band, playing Creole stuff, I just followed the Caribbean percussionists with a samba or beguine, and everyone danced just the same...).

Not every rehearsal or gig, and may be replaced by deps if it occurs. It seems a bit harsh to have a blanket 'Shifts..? No thank you.' policy.

Why..?

A distant echo...

Mmm... Tea..!

And the joint winners are... @Doctor J and @upside downer..! Here, then, are your Winner's Certificates (download and save as pdf file, then proudly print and frame...) ... BC_Chal_Cert_2022_07.pdf ... which look like this (but bigger, of course..!)...