Most requested song?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dani Pace
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Dani Pace

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This may not be the best place to post this question, but I think that pleasing an audience is a vital part of marketing a band I'll try it here. I'd like to ask " What is the most requested song(s)?" The band I currently play with is mostly classic rock but I am curious about what songs are requested among other styles of music as well. Any input will be appreciated as we are currently trying to expand the variety of the mix we ars playing. Thanks
 
I play in a classic rock covers band too

I think your question would be better posed as what 'artists' are most requested. Here in the UK people tend to come up and say 'Do you play any songs by...' rather than can you play 'song x'.
 
Good point, so I'll expand my question to say, what are the most requested songs or artist, and what general area (location)
 
The simple answer is...always the ones we don't do!! No matter how many artists you cover someone always comes up with a request for one you haven't thought of!

We used to get a lot of requests for ACDC, so we learned 'Whole Lotta Rosie'. We used to get requests for the band Oasis, so we learned 'Don't Look Back In Anger'. If you look at most classic rock band cover bands sites the same songs keep coming up all the time. There's a good reason for this, these songs are popular with audiences, so the audiences go wild with enthusiasm for the band and everyone goes home with a glowing feeling!

I know a covers band who proudly boast that they do songs that no-one else covers, and they do. They don't have great gigs, not because they can't play, but because most of the audinece haven't even heard of the songs they cover, so in effect it's like listening to a band doing original material. Most of the cover band audiences don't want thatn they want songs they know and can sing along to when they are pissed (=drunk in UK speak).

So if you want to know what to play, check out other cover bands sites and see what they do is my tip, after all why go through all that painful learning process yourself if you can get to the audience pleasers straight off.
 
To my great chagrin -- "Sweet Home Alabama" is one of the most requested songs by patrons of classic rock-type bars around these parts....

I *HATE* that freakin song!!!!!!!
 
Over here the most requested Lynyrd Skynyrd song is 'Freebird', maybe because folk from Alabama are a bit scarce in the UK.
 
To my great chagrin -- "Sweet Home Alabama" is one of the most requested songs by patrons of classic rock-type bars around these parts....

I *HATE* that freakin song!!!!!!!
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Bear,

I knew I liked you for some reason... :)

That and "Takin' Care of Business" cause me to twitch and start looking around for a baseball bat...
 
AlChuck said:
Bear,

I knew I liked you for some reason... :)

That and "Takin' Care of Business" cause me to twitch and start looki
n

g around for a baseball bat...
Click to expand...




Well guys I must admit that here in the south-east USA it seems anything by Skynyrd goes over well as does most Clapton stuff and for what its worth we usually open with Takin Care Of Business cause its a rocker and it seems like everyone likes it. Dani
 
Here in Houston, the one song that any cover band will play at least once in an evening is "Brown eyed girl" (Van Morrison). We also get "Hotel California" (Eagles) a lot
 
If it wasn't "Freebird", it would be followed shortly by cries of "Led Zepplin" usually after the third set when the beers start kickin' in.
 
Thanks for the replies and the input. It seems that some songs have a universal appeal and those are the ones we want to play, after all, if an audience isn't happy there isn't much of a chance that you will be asked to come back for another gig. I must also agree with the comment about those obscure songs, ever though they may be better songs and are frequently more fun to play, they just do not have the appeal that the "chart busters," do. I'd like to toss in another thing that works well for the band I play in, we often look for songs that have been recorded by multiple artists, that's a good sign that a song has an ongoing appeal, and it also opens the door to alternate arrangements of a song. Once again, thanks for your input and I wish all of you the best of luck, and may you all get the best gigs around. Dani
 
You're right Dani...

Though we're in the UK, it's the same thing. If you are going to be a covers band then you might as well play the popular covers that everyone knows and can sing along to. If you play obscure covers then you might as well be doing your own material. Oops, I'm repeating my earlier argument! Sorry.

When we started out we just went to see the 'top' covers bands in our town and made a note of what they played. of course not all songs are suitable for your own singers/ musicians, but it gives a clue as to what songs to play.

The bottom line is if the audience know the songs they are more likely to have a good time, think you are a great band, come next time, buy beer, manager of establishment is happy, he books you back again, you have a good time on stage, everyone wins!

Covers bands are always second class of course (and I play in one) to those who do their own material, but if the choice is covers or not playing live (and that IS the choice for some) then there's really no choice for a musician who likes to entertain.
 
I'm a solo acoustic act. Imagine the possibilites.

I get requests for Jim Croce, Neal Young, Skynyrd, John Mayer, John freakin Denver...

I don't play any of it, of course.
 
And your point is?

ChristopherM said:
I'm a solo acoustic act. Imagine the possibilites.

I get requests for Jim Croce, Neal Young, Skynyrd, John Mayer, John freakin Denver...

I don't play any of it, of course.
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If you are doing your own stuff AND getting gigs then good on you and i wish you success, I envy you to some extent.

If you are doing more 'obscure' covers and getting gigs and being appreciated, again, well done, long may it continue for you.

However, if you are not playing too often and wondering why that is, then maybe throwing in a few of these songs you seem to despise might prove more popular with audiences and make you more successful.

Unfortunately your post doesn't give enough information to work out which category you fit into. If you could only get gigs by doing covers by Jim Croce, Neal Young, Skynyrd, John Mayer, John freakin Denver... then what would you do, play or not play? Get paid or not get paid? Some of us have to make that choice, lucky for you if you can have it all on your own terms.
 
AlChuck said:
That and "Takin' Care of Business" cause me to twitch and start looking around for a baseball bat...
Click to expand...
I *HATE* that one too! (...and American Woman is a close third!)
 
Re: And your point is?

glynb said:
Unfortunately your post doesn't give enough information to work out which category you fit into. If you could only get gigs by doing covers by Jim Croce, Neal Young, Skynyrd, John Mayer, John freakin Denver... then what would you do, play or not play? Get paid or not get paid? Some of us have to make that choice, lucky for you if you can have it all on your own terms.
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I get enough gigs to have fun with it. I'm not out to be a rock star.

ChristopherMast.com explains it all.

A choice between playing what I like and playing all that other stuff? Well, I'd just play in the living room, I guess. I don't fancy being a "human jukebox."

I do, however, throw in an old favorite if it's one I like. "Lola" or "Ring of Fire" or "Oh Darling" for example. Maybe that's tiding the crowd over. Most of my covers are obscure though; Warren Zevon, Jill Sobule, Eels, early Barenaked Ladies, etc. About 70% of my setlist is original material.
 
Re: Re: And your point is?

ChristopherM said:
I get enough gigs to have fun with it. I'm not out to be a rock star.

ChristopherMast.com explains it all.

A choice between playing what I like and playing all that other stuff? Well, I'd just play in the living room, I guess. I don't fancy being a "human jukebox."

I do, however, throw in an old favorite if it's one I like. "Lola" or "Ring of Fire" or "Oh Darling" for example. Maybe that's tiding the crowd over. Most of my covers are obscure though; Warren Zevon, Jill Sobule, Eels, early Barenaked Ladies, etc. About 70% of my setlist is original material.
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Unfortunately if we played 70% originals at the local bars we'd not go down very well and wouldn't get asked back, that's just the way it is round here. I think in the States there's a wider scene and more posibilities to play your own material AND get regular gigs. In small town UK that isn't the case.

We're not human jukeboxes in that we won't play anything anyone wants, we only play songs that we really like, we feel we can interpret well, and that happen to be popular too. We don't have to play anywhere, also not trying to be rock stars, and the money isn't enough to cover expenses, so we do it for fun which is the best way.

I'll check out your site. Good luck.
 
bad requests I've gotten

well, not to continue on the re-steering of the topic but I thought I'd share the worst requests I've ever gotten.

first off, I'm a 6'4" 270lb guitar slinger in the Steve Earle vein and I've been asked, on more than one occasion, by more than one person, to sing "proud mary." I was visibly embarrassed.

Also, I played it once on a lark and am hounded to play, Mr. Big's "To Be With You," about every other solo show.
 
mustang sally

play some skynyrd!!!

how bout som fuckin CCR!

Born to be wild

zz top!

AC/DC

Metallica

i have lost gigs over my response to these requests...
 
Interesting thread.

I play Irish Pubs in Germany, and as I haven't gigged in the States in ages, I was surprised that tastes are so similar. The Germans also like "Sweet Home" (and yes, I share eveyone's feelings about that song - not so much 'cause it's a bad song, but because we've all played it a zillion times...). For what it's worth, and in case anyone's thinking about working over here, here are the most requested songs:

American Pie, Country Roads, Hotel California, Stairway to Heaven, Leaving on a Jet Plane, Father and Son, Wish You Were Here, Cat's in the Cradle, Brown Eyed Girl, etc.

Favorite artists/writers include:

The Beatles (anything by them), Eagles, Zep, Cat Stevens, Green Day, Clapton, PinK Floyd, Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Doors,...

I imagine we could all switch places and get along fine as cover players. Very strange...
 
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