{"id":432,"date":"2015-12-28T03:12:04","date_gmt":"2015-12-28T03:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=432"},"modified":"2015-12-28T03:12:04","modified_gmt":"2015-12-28T03:12:04","slug":"ftv-happy-new-year-gigs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=432","title":{"rendered":"FTV: Happy New Year (gigs)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0Playing in a band is fun. \u00a0At times, it is also a lot of work, but once the gig is on, it is a lot of fun. \u00a0When I was gigging regularly and people would ask, \u201cHey, what are you doing for New Year\u2019s Eve?\u201d, I liked to tell them, \u201cI\u2019m working.\u201d \u00a0If they expressed their sympathies, I would have to point out, \u201cNah, I am playing a band job and that\u2019s not work. \u00a0Pumping gas, waiting tables, or saving lives on New Years, that is work. \u00a0Getting paid to play music on New Year\u2019s Eve is like putting a cherry on the top of your ice cream sundae.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bands are always in demand on the biggest party night of the year, a fact not lost on the Musician\u2019s Union. \u00a0NYE is the only night of the year when the wage scale doubles, yet nobody ever complains about paying the band more than a normal night. \u00a0I played enough New Year’s gigs that they kind of all blend together in my memory files. \u00a0One NYE I remember clearly is stuck in my head because it was the one of the first in many years that I did NOT have a band job. \u00a0I ended up in Sault Ste. Marie with my buddy Wayne Nevala. \u00a0\u00a0Wayne was off to see his girlfriend over semester break and invited me along for the drive. \u00a0We ended up at some hotel chain lounge listening to a band (I swear on my honor as a drummer) that may \u00a0have been the template for \u2018Murph and the Magictones\u2019 from the first<\/span> Blues Brothers <\/span><\/i>movie. \u00a0\u00a0They played what they played well enough but it made me realize I would rather have been working anywhere that night. \u00a0\u00a0Even if the music \u00a0they were playing wasn\u2019t exactly my type, I would still have stormed the stage for a chance to play if their drummer had keeled over (\u201cIs there a drummer in the house?\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Two of my more memorable NYE gigs took place on the eve of 1973 and 1974 with my band Knockdown. \u00a0Both were at the NCO club at K.I.Sawyer Air Force Base where we were more or less the house band. \u00a0Our guitar player, Ray, was also a non-com at Sawyer so his connections got us a three night weekend once a month over the two years I played with Knockdown. \u00a0Not only were we locked in for New Year\u2019s Eve many months ahead, we got to be the headliners. \u00a0Yep, we were the top of the two band bill! \u00a0The NCO club always hired two bands on NYE: \u00a0one played from 6:30 pm to 10:30 pm and we switched out equipment and covered the 11 pm to 3 am shift. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I felt bad for the opening band both years because half of their sets were played as dinner music and the dance floor was just getting warmed up when they did their last set. \u00a0The first year, the early band had come from somewhere down by Green Bay and they played some good stuff. \u00a0It would have made good dance music, but it was a little too heavy duty rock and roll to serve as music to dine by. \u00a0We chatted with them a bit when we were swapping out their stuff for ours and they seemed to be a little perplexed as to why they hadn\u2019t gotten a better reaction. \u00a0Imagine their jaw dropping surprise when we got up and did our usual NCO club opening tune, which was almost always <\/span>My Girl<\/span><\/i> by the Temptations. \u00a0While the signature opening guitar riff (played on the original by Robert White of the fabled Motown collective called the Funk Brothers) comes first on the Temptations record, we used fellow Funk Brother James Jamerson\u2019s iconic bass line from the song\u2019s middle eight to open the song. \u00a0When Lee played the bridge bass line with its distinctive, \u201c BA bum bum BA bum bum\u201d, people started to cheer. \u00a0When Ray came in with the the song\u2019s guitar line, they gave us a standing ovation before we had sung the first line. \u00a0I can only imagine the discussion this generated on their long drive back to Green Bay. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The second year we did this NYE schedule, it was a different opening band, but they also came from somewhere in the land of cheese. \u00a0It was nearly an instant replay of the year before, right down to the head scratching and sideways glances they threw our way as they departed with <\/span>My Girl<\/span><\/i> ringing in their ears. \u00a0It is probably a good thing that they left when they did because what happened next would have only added insult to their injury. \u00a0\u00a0We had just rung in the new year when the club manager came to the band stand and said, \u201cThe restroom is flooding so we have to shut down early. \u00a0Please stop playing and tell everyone to go home.\u201d \u00a0We made the announcement and then sat down at the corner table by the stage. \u00a0\u00a0Thinking that maybe if we waited it out, they would get the problem taken care of and we could start playing again, \u00a0Ray broke out his acoustic guitar and we were entertaining ourselves harmonizing on a couple of tunes. \u00a0The manager came rushing back and said, \u201cGuys, please stop – people won\u2019t leave because you are still playing.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We got paid in full and booted out the door after playing less than an hour of our four hour gig. \u00a0We loaded up the equipment and I found myself back in Marquette having breakfast about the time our third set would have started. \u00a0The waitress inquired why I wasn\u2019t out celebrating the New Year and I gave her my standard, \u201cI had to work\u201d line. \u00a0I didn\u2019t have the heart to tell her the rest because she dropped a couple of \u2018free coffee\u2019 tokens on the counter and said, \u201cWell honey, I guess I am not the only one who had to go to work instead of going to a party somewhere.\u201d \u00a0Needless to say, I left her a ten spot for the tip – after all, I \u201cworked\u201d all of an hour and made more than she was going to make for a full night shift pushing coffee and food at people who did get to celebrate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The only problem with New Year’s Eve gigs? \u00a0Like birthdays, they only come once a year. \u00a0\u00a0I tip my hat \u00a0to all those folks who celebrate New Year\u2019s Eve by working – we appreciate your public service very much indeed. \u00a0If you happen to stopped somewhere to eat after the party, I hope you didn\u2019t forget to tip your server. \u00a0It is a sure bet that they would rather have been at the party, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

The top piece video is a David Ruffin – Eddie Kendricks concert recorded in 1987 after Ruffin was no longer with the temps – but it is still a better version than a lot of the lipsynced versions from the mid-1960s.