Have you ever been tempted to learn a song... just in case!

[warwickhunt]

I'm playing at a bike rally weekend starting tomorrow and the headliner on Saturday is Toyah.  

 

I have been so tempted (OK I have) to learn a couple Toyah tunes OR Robert Fripp numbers just in case they suddenly needed a dep bassist...   

 

Has anyone done similar and it has come off?  

[TimR]

We played a gig where one of the Kink's ex-bassists was attending. Someone managed to persuade him to come up and play. So the band leader suggested they played the only Kinks number the band knew. 

 

To which he said "I don't know that one, how about I Saw Her Standing There by The Beatles".

 

Anyway I think Toyah is playing a few covers from the 80s at her gigs. 

 

 

[BigRedX]

One of my bands supported Toyah just before COVID and from the songs I recognised, the live arrangements were quite a bit different from the versions I knew from the records.

[uk_lefty]

I used to take my kit when watching my older brothers play (mens) hockey, just in case. I was about 9 when I started doing that. Then started getting games aged 11. Never thought about that from a musical point of view but might start taking my bass with me to gigs.

[dmccombe7]

In my early days with the Glam band i would learn any song that was mentioned only to find that when i turned up at a rehearsal no-one else had learned them or the band decided they didn't fancy it and hadn't done it.

There would be songs suggested that i learned ready for next rehearsal to find the band hadn't but did want to do in the future.

It happened so often i now will not learn a song until the full band agrees on our private chat line.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

I did learn Stevie Wonder Superstition because i thought most bands wanted to do it and to this day i've never actually played it in a band. I have jammed it tho so that was good.

Also learned Alright Now by Free so i could play that at jam sessions but never in any band i've actually played with.

Not sure they count.

Dave

[dmccombe7]

I totally forgot that earlier this year the singer from Hot Chocolate Kennie Simon was coming along to our gig so we learned one of their biggest hits You Sexy Thing and he sang with us for one song.

Kennie is an absolute gent of a guy and one of the nicest celebrities i've ever met. 

Dave

Edited September 2, 2023 by dmccombe7

[Rich]

Some of Toyah's songs take me straight back to the 80s. Thunder In The Mountains gives me a nostalgia rush so fierce I can almost smell & taste it. (In a good, non-yucky and non-smutty way.)

[JohnR]

Time spent learning songs is never wasted.

[Paul S]

19 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

In my early days with the Glam band i would learn any song that was mentioned only to find that when i turned up at a rehearsal no-one else had learned them or the band decided they didn't fancy it and hadn't done it.

There would be songs suggested that i learned ready for next rehearsal to find the band hadn't but did want to do in the future.

It happened so often i now will not learn a song until the full band agrees on our private chat line.

Dave

 

This reminds me about a story from a guitarist I was in a band with.  His function band kicked around the idea of playing the Carpenter's 'Good-bye to Love' so he thought he'd get ahead of the curve and learnt the extended solo note for note.  No mean task but, tbf, he was up to it.  A couple of rehearsals passed with no mention of the song so he asked when they were going to be having a run through, eager to show off his prowess.  Band leader said 'No, we decided against it in the end - didn't you get the email?'  

[Reggaebass]

I spend most of my time learning songs that I possibly won’t play, but you never know ,I look at as I’m widening my bass vocabulary 

[dmccombe7]

4 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

I spend most of my time learning songs that I possibly won’t play, but you never know ,I look at as I’m widening my bass vocabulary 

I used to think that until i realised i'm one of those guys that has a low retainer threshold. If i'm not playing it regularly then it goes completely out of memory only to be relearned from scratch much like the Glam Xmas songs i need to relearn every Nov. for the sake of 3-4 gigs a year.

The things we do for love. 

I think there might be a song in there somewhere.

Dave

[Reggaebass]

9 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

The things we do for love. 

I think there might be a song in there somewhere

10CC I think 😁, 

not many days go by where I don’t pick up my bass, I think it’s good to keep the brain and fingers moving, sometimes I’ll learn something random that I’ve just heard on the radio that I like the Bassline too 

[dmccombe7]

11 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

10CC I think 😁, 

not many days go by where I don’t pick up my bass, I think it’s good to keep the brain and fingers moving, sometimes I’ll learn something random that I’ve just heard on the radio that I like the Bassline too 

I play most days too but usually i just run thru the bands various set lists to keep them fresh in my head. Sometimes i'll play along with some Prog music.

Dave

[WalMan]

I’ve done a few deps in recent months so have been learning quite a few bits and bobs. So many are 4 chord wonders I keep finding myself thinking I need to sit down and learn these songs, sit down with a Spotify playlist, and get bored after the first verse.

 

Years ago an earlier band, who I’m still working with on various recording projects and the occasional gig, used to spice things up at gigs where we were playing originals on occasion by having a quick run through of a new cover in the break and playing it in the encore. Can’t say we actually learnt then it was just our memory of the song and busk it 🤣

[Marky L]

I have specifically NOT learnt Mustang Sally, just in case..😐

[warwickhunt]

I needn't have worried about learning a Toyah song... she just did a pub covers set and I knew all of those!  

 

[Reggaebass]

12 minutes ago, Marky L said:

I have specifically NOT learnt Mustang Sally, just in case..😐

Definitely, you have to draw the line somewhere 😬

[BigRedX]

On 02/09/2023 at 10:35, JohnR said:

Time spent learning songs is never wasted.

 

For me time spent learning a song I'll never otherwise play is time taken away from writing new songs that I probably will play.

[chris_b]

On 02/09/2023 at 10:35, JohnR said:

Time spent learning songs is never wasted.

 

This. Absolutely this.

[WHUFC BASS]

I started bringing my football boots to West Ham games back in the 80s in the vague hope of getting a game. I

On 01/09/2023 at 15:57, uk_lefty said:

I used to take my kit when watching my older brothers play (mens) hockey, just in case. I was about 9 when I started doing that. Then started getting games aged 11. Never thought about that from a musical point of view but might start taking my bass with me to gigs.

 

Dude ...
 

 

[Graham]

I'm convinced there's certain guitarists, bassists and drummers who have learned a decent number of Megadeth songs to be ready for when Dave inevitably fires someone else

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, Graham said:

I'm convinced there's certain guitarists, bassists and drummers who have learned a decent number of Megadeth songs to be ready for when Dave inevitably fires someone else

At the rate he goes through them it must be pretty much all of them

[JapanAxe]

I spend a lot of my time working on material that I need to know for upcoming dep gigs. Consequently I rarely have time to learn songs ‘just in case’ but I have done so for fun - mainly Steely Dan stuff.

[chris_b]

I spent Covid lockdown on a project to learn all the Stevie Wonder songs from his albums.

 

A year later and I was asked, on stage, if I knew the riff from Master Blaster, because the band leader had a brain-wave to use it as an into and outro to a song. It worked perfectly.