Post by Sequenzzer on Nov 15, 2013 13:53:55 GMT
There was a time in my musical career when I’d have proudly stood up on stage and sung my lungs out with my version of Taco's version of “Puttin On The Ritz” and then waited for the teen adulation to come pouring up from the crowd at me feet. Of course, I would have been fifteen years old at the time and the song would have been climbing the charts. These days, some thirty years later, I’d have to be drunk and on one of those jobs where you end up playing to just the bartender and I’d have to be paid a lot of money. Otherwise, ain’t no way I’d make a fool of myself that way.
These days I cringe when people ask for those embarrassing, silly, downright stupid songs. If they want to relive their teen years, they’ll have to do it without me. I still have my pride. Which is why, after thirty years of playing all that hokey stuff since it was brand new, I feel I’ve earned the right to play more sophisticated, dignified songs from more recent times. Songs like “Suite Judy Blue Eyes.” No wait, that was from the late sixties. Maybe I’m thinking of “Cheeseburger In Paradise.” Guess not. That’s from the seventies and is a tune on my current list. Let’s see, how about “Mack The Knife?” Nope, that was from 1959,I still play it when I get a request for it. Hmmm, must be some recent tune that will illustrate my point. “Wooly Bully?” I hate to admit that one, but it’s still on my list and still going strong after forty-eight years since it first made the charts. What the heck, people still ask for it, and after all I am an admitted musical whore. Put 10 bucks in my tip jar and I’ll lower my standards for two minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Don’t worry. I won’t even look you in the eye when I accept your tip.
When you get right down to it, when it comes to what I’ll play and what I won’t play, I guess I don’t have as much pride as I thought I did. At least I still don’t dress in those silly wild color hawaiian style new wave/80's shirts like I did back in the day. However, last year on one of my jobs I wore my Christmas Story Ralphie shirt that says, “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out.” Okay, so maybe I never really grew up when it comes to performing. Growing up I wore my hair in a Beatle/Moe Howard haircut, which eventually morphed into a six-inch ponytail. Now the ponytail is quickly disappearing. In fact,my forehead is in a race with the rest of my hair to see how much you see first....The forehead is winning big time....Couldn’t do the Beatle do if I wanted to.
What’s my point in all this? I guess the point it that no matter how old you get, if you’re a musician and you’re still working, you do what makes you happiest. If it doesn’t make you happy, it should at least put some money in your pocket. That’s why my song list from today consists of about ninety-five percent of tunes that satisfy my musical needs and the other five percent are the songs people ask for that I couldn’t care less about. They’re what feed my tip jar.
Okay, when you get right down to it, if some schmuck dropped a C-note in my tip jar, I guess I’d sing “Puttin On The Ritz” So sue me.
These days I cringe when people ask for those embarrassing, silly, downright stupid songs. If they want to relive their teen years, they’ll have to do it without me. I still have my pride. Which is why, after thirty years of playing all that hokey stuff since it was brand new, I feel I’ve earned the right to play more sophisticated, dignified songs from more recent times. Songs like “Suite Judy Blue Eyes.” No wait, that was from the late sixties. Maybe I’m thinking of “Cheeseburger In Paradise.” Guess not. That’s from the seventies and is a tune on my current list. Let’s see, how about “Mack The Knife?” Nope, that was from 1959,I still play it when I get a request for it. Hmmm, must be some recent tune that will illustrate my point. “Wooly Bully?” I hate to admit that one, but it’s still on my list and still going strong after forty-eight years since it first made the charts. What the heck, people still ask for it, and after all I am an admitted musical whore. Put 10 bucks in my tip jar and I’ll lower my standards for two minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Don’t worry. I won’t even look you in the eye when I accept your tip.
When you get right down to it, when it comes to what I’ll play and what I won’t play, I guess I don’t have as much pride as I thought I did. At least I still don’t dress in those silly wild color hawaiian style new wave/80's shirts like I did back in the day. However, last year on one of my jobs I wore my Christmas Story Ralphie shirt that says, “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out.” Okay, so maybe I never really grew up when it comes to performing. Growing up I wore my hair in a Beatle/Moe Howard haircut, which eventually morphed into a six-inch ponytail. Now the ponytail is quickly disappearing. In fact,my forehead is in a race with the rest of my hair to see how much you see first....The forehead is winning big time....Couldn’t do the Beatle do if I wanted to.
What’s my point in all this? I guess the point it that no matter how old you get, if you’re a musician and you’re still working, you do what makes you happiest. If it doesn’t make you happy, it should at least put some money in your pocket. That’s why my song list from today consists of about ninety-five percent of tunes that satisfy my musical needs and the other five percent are the songs people ask for that I couldn’t care less about. They’re what feed my tip jar.
Okay, when you get right down to it, if some schmuck dropped a C-note in my tip jar, I guess I’d sing “Puttin On The Ritz” So sue me.
