Guaranteed dancefloor fillers

[stingrayfan]

[quote name='stewblack' post='90640' date='Nov 19 2007, 07:10 AM']Musicians tend to like songs for other reasons, and naturally shy away from the bog standard run of the mill obvious every day vacuous chart stuff that the proles lap up. Oh hang on, that is a kind of snobbery. Hmmm.[/quote]
+1. I've been in bands where the conversation goes like this:

1. "I hate playing that song, can't we drop it?"
2. "But it's our most popular song, people love it."
1. "I don't, it's boring."
2. "But we're a covers band. Aren't we paid to play stuff people like? Why's it boring?"
1. "Cos I don't play very much on it."

Saying that, bet most bass players look forward more to the song with lots of nice bits to play rather than chugging 8ths. But chugging 8ths might be part of your most popular song, so you play it because people like it, and the pleasure comes from watching loads of people enjoying themselves.

Edited November 19, 2007 by stingrayfan

[silverfoxnik]

This little lot always does the trick at the end of our set:

Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode
Town Called Malice - The Jam
Don't Stop Me Now - Queen
Let Me Entertain You - Robbie Williams
Jump - Van Halen

We have others that work too at various points in the set, but those 5 songs have never failed us ...yet!

[stewblack]

[quote]the pleasure comes from watching loads of people enjoying themselves.[/quote]

Almost word for word what I said at my last practice. We're also in a band that plays original material which we agonize over and utterly love. If two people in the crowd get it then that's a bonus, but the covers band is all about the crowd. And getting paid.

[nedsbeds]

Girls aloud - sound of the underground.
Try it!

[Doc B]

BAsket case by Green Day

[BOD2]

Our most consistently popular floor fillers were

"Brown Eyed Girl" Van Morrison
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" Queen
"I Saw Her Standing There" Beatles version
"Should I Stay" Clash

We too played "Rockin All Over the World" at the end of most gigs cos people almost demanded it !

[WalMan]

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='90666' date='Nov 19 2007, 09:09 AM']+1. I've been in bands where the conversation goes like this:

1. "I hate playing that song, can't we drop it?"
2. "But it's our most popular song, people love it."
1. "I don't, it's boring."
2. "But we're a covers band. Aren't we paid to play stuff people like? Why's it boring?"
1. "Cos I don't play very much on it."

Saying that, bet most bass players look forward more to the song with lots of nice bits to play rather than chugging 8ths. But chugging 8ths might be part of your most popular song, so you play it because people like it, and the pleasure comes from watching loads of people enjoying themselves.[/quote]
How many times have I heard that one!!! Drives me crazy! How many songs that are just an eighths chug do I put up with dammit! And what REALLY annoys me is that I will put up with those, but number of songs that get worked up then dropped because one or two don't really want to play the song and have a half hearted go at it. Sorry cr@p end of man flu wound me up at the weekend - rant over :wacko:

Billy Idol - White Wedding & Rebel Yell
Cameo - Word Up
Wild Cherry - Funky Music
Thunder - Dirty Love - used to work well but got some of the above after we had played it for a looooong time & it had possibly got a bit loose
Queen - I Want It All & Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes - can generally be relied on to get some audience participation going, as can the Billy Idol songs (& Tubes WPOD in selected gigs - mind you one of those they sing pretty much every song anyway )

Edited November 19, 2007 by WalMan

[Tradfusion]

1. Sweet Home Alabama
2. Video Killed the Radiostar
3. Crazy - ( Seal )
4. Me & Julio
5. Olivers Army

[tauzero]

When you're playing a barn dance, every number is a floor filler. Well, it is if the caller goes round and drags them all off their arses and onto the dance floor.

As for the covers band - WMC audiences have no taste whatsoever when it comes to what they dance to, so "Red Red Bloody Whine" gets them every time, not to mention all the other crap that UB40 came out with after they'd stopped whining in Brummie accents about being unemployed because turning up in a Rolls to a gig damages your unemployment cred. And breathe.

"Mustang Sally", that's another one, and it's the law anyway. And I enjoy playing it.

"Dance the night away" - dreadful song, but you can have fun seeing how many octaves up and down you can go before anyone notices (you'd probably not use a bass any more ER than a 5-string though).

"Hey Baby", especially with the "boobs, arse" version of the backing vocals. It can make for good watching.

"Build me up Buttercup" (used to be my mate Buttercup's theme tune for his disco until he pegged it a few years back).

"I love to boogie" by T Rex. Preferably without your vocalist going "waaaa-aaaay" and "oggy oggy oggy" over the intro. Grrr.

"Be my baby" is another elderly number that they sway along to.

"Hi Ho Silver Lining", an unappreciated classic. Doesn't necessarily get them up but the arms wave and they all cry out "Aston Villa" or whatever thugball team they support at the appropriate point.

"Music". We do this as our last number, and of course it's in the bum-squeezer slot, so when it starts up we get a fair few couples who have short memories getting up. They normally realise their mistake about two bars into the second section, although we do play one club where they've line-danced all the way through it. Fantastic.

Getting your vocalist not to go on and on between numbers so everybody sits back down - priceless.

[WalMan]

[quote name='tauzero' post='91480' date='Nov 20 2007, 02:04 PM']Getting your vocalist not to go on and on between numbers so everybody sits back down - priceless.[/quote]
There comes a point where we just start

[MB1]

MB1.

(I Got You) I FEEL GOOD!........The Godfather of Funk and Soul Mr James Brown.

[stewblack]

[quote name='tauzero' post='91480' date='Nov 20 2007, 04:04 PM']Getting your vocalist not to go on and on between numbers so everybody sits back down - priceless.[/quote]

Funny, different folks I suppose. Ours can't speak to them to save his life and I feel it alienates them, causes an 'us and them' scenario. I end up filling the gaps and that just looks wrong.
Maybe somewhere between the two lies the answer. I'd like to get a whole second set of disco/funk and play it without any gaps. that'd sort them.
anyway can I add
"Oh What A night" - goes down a storm. With the oldies.

[bass_ferret]

[quote name='tauzero' post='91480' date='Nov 20 2007, 02:04 PM']Getting your vocalist not to go on and on between numbers so everybody sits back down - priceless.[/quote]
Spot on!

[paul, the]

Someone ought to do a BassChat covers book. I'd buy it.

[tauzero]

[quote name='stewblack' post='91675' date='Nov 20 2007, 06:26 PM']Funny, different folks I suppose. Ours can't speak to them to save his life and I feel it alienates them, causes an 'us and them' scenario. I end up filling the gaps and that just looks wrong.
Maybe somewhere between the two lies the answer.[/quote]

There's talking to the audience and there's being in love with your own voice. On a really bad night, he'll introduce the band three times, ask for birthdays in the room four times, ask if there's any singers in the room twice, and ask for requests several times. We can cope with 1 and 2 because we all know our own names, even the drummer, and we can manage "Happy birthday", but 3 has led to a variety of drunken audience members doing a song or two (which doesn't go down well with the other audience members - they're there to see a proper band, not some pissed-up fart singing tunelessly), and 4 is hideously embarrassing because we've only ever managed one request (particularly stupid as the vocalist doesn't even know the words to the songs in the set).

I think I'll just have a little lie-down now.

[dub_junkie]

for me over the last 2/3 months these 2 songs by this one artist seem to do the trick most consistently

Mika - Grace Kelly + Big Girls you are beautiful

others that I've noticed getting them up faster than the tired old usual suspects (A little respect etc)

Amy Winehouse - Valerie
Gnarles barkley - Crazy
Primal Scream - Country Girl
Stereophonics - Dakota
Killers - somebody told me

Edited November 21, 2007 by dub_junkie

[stewblack]

[quote name='tauzero' post='91857' date='Nov 21 2007, 12:00 AM']There's talking to the audience and there's being in love with your own voice. On a really bad night, he'll introduce the band three times, ask for birthdays in the room four times, ask if there's any singers in the room twice, and ask for requests several times. We can cope with 1 and 2 because we all know our own names, even the drummer, and we can manage "Happy birthday", but 3 has led to a variety of drunken audience members doing a song or two (which doesn't go down well with the other audience members - they're there to see a proper band, not some pissed-up fart singing tunelessly), and 4 is hideously embarrassing because we've only ever managed one request (particularly stupid as the vocalist doesn't even know the words to the songs in the set).

I think I'll just have a little lie-down now.[/quote]
Hmmm. It appears to me that you hold your lead vocalist in similarly high esteem to that with which I viewed the singer in a now sadly defunct ensemble in which I had the honour of playing the bass.
Might be wise to consider your or his position before you end up trying to strangle him. If you are driving along a dual carriageway as we were when this happened to me it can put your gear at risk of serious damage.

[elom]

Loads of good stuff on this thread which I shall freely pilfer!

[DaBassMonsta]

We played a wedding recently. It was my first one too and the Wedding thread proved to be absolutely brilliant with the tips on it.

As we played through we had a few numbers prove pretty popular; Oasis - She's Electric and Zutons - Valerie but nothing on earth could have prepared us for what was to follow. It felt like every single guest plus the entire populations of local towns rushed the dancefloor when we started playing... the Monkees Theme. Because I'm A Believer and Daydream Believer were so common we thought we'd try a twist on that as we'd never heard anyone else ever playing it. As they all came running in from the bar I thought we were about to be trampled in the stampede. Of course, loads of them were forming lines and doing the Monkees walk from the TV show intro.

I heartily recommend it. Plus, it's a classic bassline.

[charic]

Im starting to wonder how "smoke on the water" would go down EVERYONE knows the guitar riff lol

[crez5150]

Stage direction is a big part of it..... I play in three bands..... two of which are playing functions.... one band is pure funk/disco the other is more party type music.... but for both we have stage direction. Both bands are upbeat and the aim is to keep people on the dance floor all night.... and we do..... it's very important and it keeps the punters very happy and thats what its all about really.... If your being hired in by a large corporation to play at their summer ball or xmas celebration then they want to make sure they are gonna have a good party.

Nothing worse than having a band stop after every song..... try extending songs.... try medley's .... just keep the people on the dance floor and you'll be guaranteed a re-book.

[MB1]

MB1.

Egg Mayonaisse!......... a Guaranteed Sandwich Filler.

[OldGit]

[quote name='tauzero' post='91480' date='Nov 20 2007, 02:04 PM']Getting your vocalist not to go on and on between numbers so everybody sits back down - priceless.[/quote]

Unplanned Vocal rabitting? Wipe it out with 20 minute segue modules and only allow planned and rehearsed talky bits.
Works a treat .. also hides ugly gaps where the applause should be

[OldGit]

[quote name='charic' post='93670' date='Nov 24 2007, 10:11 AM']Im starting to wonder how "smoke on the water" would go down EVERYONE knows the guitar riff lol[/quote]


We do bits of SOTW at our gigs - we are quite often asked for it in an ironic way, as we are a barn dance band. The punters think it's funny to ask for that and Stairway so we play teasers of each and ace of spades and all right now ...

[spinynorman]

We used to do SOTW before our keyboard player quit. We had a regular double bill in a pub with a metal band, all in their twenties, and it went down well there, but I wouldn't do it for a function or party. Generally doesn't appeal to the ladies or anyone who was teenage in the 80s.

Things that work - Tainted Love, I Love Rock'n'Roll (Joan Jett), Down at the Doctors (Dr Feelgood), Roll Over Beethoven, Wonderful Tonight.