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Musical (?) interlude

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Thu, Jun 23 2016 12:48 AM

  I feel good! 

  That is what your compilation has done.....I loved every second and watched several times!

  Great selection of classic songs, well played and remarkably tight for a live show.. 

  As you define a great band, "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts". No stand outs, every member is sharp as a tack, but I will commend your solo! 

  All very talented and acomplished musicans blending as one to play great feelgood classics that make people  want to have fun and dance. 

  I miss playing music, but in truth I was never good, the band I was in as a youngster was formed as we saw it as a way of luring the opposite sex :)).

  Truth was, the digs we managed to get a gig at, well all you could pick up was a disease.

  Thanks again for sharing Mark, whilst you may not have made as much money from music as The Stones, Beatles (ps.loved Day Tripper) or even Justin Beiber you have given me a lot of joy today. 

  Great music and musicians cannot be judged by chart success, money or fame, but by the joy of sharing their love of music, their soul, character and skills that is their art form.

• mkg335 5,491 Posts

  Thu, Jun 23 2016 7:15 AM

  Alan, thank you so very much.  

  "Great selection of classic songs, well played and remarkably tight for a live show."

  That was our goal from the start.  We spent a lot of time listening and analyzing what it is that makes a particular song work, then learning it section by section, paying attention to transitions within songs...like Bobby said, approaching a song like a recipe.  Can't tell you the number of times during rehearsal (and we spent a lot of time rehearsing) one of us would hold up the "stop" sign and say, "We haven't got this right."

  Your post, along with all of the other posts in this thread, has brought me much joy and put a huge smile on my face and in my heart.

  Thank you all very much.. 

   

• Jimbog1964 8,378 Posts

  Thu, Jun 23 2016 8:05 AM

  Hear a lot of bands.  I think many pub bands turn up and play, and to varying extents understand the mix.  Stop and look at your band and yes talent.  Your singer certainly can sing for starters.  Stop and hear harder and you realise the sounds are hitting you separately, not as one same frequency mush.  Very talented, clever, and very well done for the audience's listening pleasure:)

• mkg335 5,491 Posts

  Thu, Jun 23 2016 9:22 AM

  Jim, very interesting and astute observation.  Early on in the studio I learned a valuable lesson from the engineer.  Invariably during mixdown, one of us would say that it needs more bass or more high end.  Instead of boosting the bass, the engineer would reduce some high end, thus achieving the proper sound without saturating the tape.  He taught us that you can't just go around boosting everything you like because if you do, you'll end up with a sonic mess.

  That's why when we started playing out, we were very careful to choose a good soundman and always paid him an equal share...after all, he's the only one in the group with access to the "suck" knob...

  

   

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Thu, Jun 23 2016 3:36 PM

  Jimbog1964:

  Hear a lot of bands.  I think many pub bands turn up and play

  I agree Jim, seen many a cover bands in my day, and invariably they miss the mark as they do not understand the song or the integral parts that make up that song. Often you will get one of the musicians who is excellent, whilst the others may as well be playing a different song.

  Marks band understood the songs and had the skills to pull it together. Some punchy but not overbearing bass rifts, rhythm guitar and drums all merging seamlessly and the punchy vocals - and again the seldom mentioned soundman who has the skills to enhance the bands skills. Clever indeed was a good word.

  I did have a mate who reminds me of Mark, in terms of skill and totally "getting" the music. They played very similar music whilst I ventured off trying to write original material with the odd cover. I knew what I wanted to achieve (as odd as it sounds - I can hear a song in my mind how it could/should be played) but neither myself or drunken band members had the skill to convert.

  Again, thanks for sharing Mark, a real treat.

  Edit - As an added bonus -  a Gary Larson Far Side Cartoon (missed these)

• WillyBigg 2,135 Posts

  Thu, Jun 23 2016 4:16 PM

  Late to the party as usual, LOL. Awesome sounds Mark, fantastic.

  Thank you for posting this & may many more follow.

• mkg335 5,491 Posts

  Thu, Jun 23 2016 4:31 PM

  Willy, thanks very much, and thanks to all again.

  I mentioned that Bobby and I had written close to 100 songs together.  Sometimes we'd perform some of them live.  Below is a live recording (at Friday After 5 again) of one of them called We've Been Around.  Jeff sang it...what an amazing voice he had.  The pic is Jeff with his youngest daughter.  Hope you enjoy the song.

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Thu, Jun 23 2016 5:46 PM

  Love the classic rock songs! A great band with a great sound.   I'm very impressed by your talent Mark!  Thanks for sharing!

  Andy

• mkg335 5,491 Posts

  Thu, Jun 23 2016 6:12 PM

  Andy, very kind of you, thanks much.

  The compilation vid makes it look like we were stuck in the '60s but we did some '70s and '80s stuff, too...Tears for Fears (Everybody Wants to Rule the World) Simple Minds, Hall & Oates, Billy Idol (White Wedding) Prince (1999) Tom Petty (Running Down a Dream, Don't Do Me Like That, Won't Back Down) and others.

  For the last couple of years of the band's run we added a female singer and were able to cover The Pretenders (Back on the Chain Gang and Brass in Pocket) The Motels (Only the Lonely) Gladys Knight (Midnight Train to Georgia)and Aretha Franklin (Natural Woman).

  Really liked all the above groups/tunes but especially enjoyed Everybody Wants to Rule the World...one of those songs that when you launch into it, the audience is looking at you like "Nobody does this song!"  We'd get the same sort of looks for White Wedding..."What, these old farts are doing Billy Idol???"

• Jimbog1964 8,378 Posts

  Thu, Jun 23 2016 6:23 PM

  mkg335:

   We'd get the same sort of looks for White Wedding..."What, these old farts are doing Billy Idol???"

  Timeless all good music.  My sons appreciated him growing up, and they are only 21 and nearly 20.

  Yes Jeff did have a super voice, and very good material to use it on.  That song you guys wrote is top notch, IMO.

  Thanks again for sharing.