Wanna ruin a party? Invite a music snob

Guy across the street has an excelent backyard fire pit, so it seems every third Saturday "it's" happening over at our patio, or over at his back yard. And there's this real nice guy who always shows up with his guitar, and starts calling-up tabs and lyrics on the iPhone. Early Spring, he was over, the wife had a fabulous time, and they made sure he was there every time there was a fire in the back yard.



And, so were the ssaaaammmmmeeee oolllllddd soft rock dirges....Cat Stevens...John Denver...Eagles...James Taylor...(dare I say it)...Beeeeaaaaaattllllllesssszzzzzzz.......



Turns out, the guy loves having me there, cajoling and making in-jokes with him, as he's a bit of a music elitist himself, so so we crack wise, and get the snark as it sails loftily over the heads of 40-something hausfraus with paper plates full of potato salad...and I could get a little jolly with that, if he didn't always leave me somewhere up in the stratosphere to strain my testicles hitting the high harmonies (you can always "capo it up"; howcum you can never "capo it down"...:shrug: )



And yes, I know, people request the same songs they've heard on the radio a million times, and yes, I know the same girls are going to ask the guy for the same songs they did the last time, only they act like they just occurred to them, as if a bolt of lighting to the brain...



"Hey, I know - James Taylor - do you know any James Taylor?"

"Ummm, I think so"

"Let's seeeeeee - oh! howabout-"

(DON'Tsay"You'veGotAFriend", DON'Tsay"You'veGotAFriend,PLEEEAASSSEDON'Tsay"You'veGotAFriend"-)

"I know...howabout 'You've Got A Friend'...?!"

"GREAT one, Denise...!"



Honestly this evening, three different girls asked for "that 'Mountain Momma' one.." three different times...and

they had all been IN the singing circle each time we had already had to live through that mess, and suddenly, nobody could recall it ever having been done yet.



And of course I like being with my friends, and the music is for them, not me, but...with every "classic hit" that chisels another 3-1/2 minutes out of a potential for something fresh happening, I just feel the IQ leaking slowly out of my brain....



...is this what Skynyrd had to slog through every night the Bic lighters came out...?

Hahahaha I guess if you can get a BJ after the show it's all worth it, right? hahahahaha

If anyone bought a guitar to any party I'm at that'd be my cue to split!

As an alternative, I'm pretty sure you can hire a guy from one of your local music shops who could just show up, play Mood for a Day, and then leave...

I really. Really. Hate the notion that, I tried all those years to give people something on the radio to excite them and make them curious for more (even started a radio station targeting adult-contrmporary audiences who needed the mental ammunition to actually step outside the same song they drove into to work hearing the last three weeks)...and all I get is people in my own circle who are duller in their musical curiosity than I ever thought listeners could be. I don't expect everybody to suddenly become erudite consumers of beguiling, compelling discoveries, but...just because you think you knew what all the words were to that America tune you had bored into your brain since high school, is a good excuse to want to mouth those same barely-understood lyrics in unison on a Saturday night? What are they doing, rehearsing for their drive into work on Monday, cobweb-covered Delco radio locked on the same Classic Rock station since you bought that Reliant K...?

OP seems a bit jealous. Why so much about what the girls are asking for?

After living that scene for many decades I just run and hide. People who know I play guitar always say to me....you play guitar make sure you bring it to the picnic. Then when you get there they want you to become their jukebox. I have a friend who is one of those guys who just loves the attention and strokes so he spends hours learning "the favorites". So, guys like me who don't care about playing (again) or knowing all the greatest hits since the 50's get put in the box of....you know how to play guitar, so and so knows that song so you can play it....c'mon...play it! I usually don't bring a guitar because I don't want to fall into that same old routine. I even had a church lady call me one summer and tell me....you like playing guitar,I know you do, your neighbors tell me they hear you out on your porch. So, I'd like you to come and play at our church picnic this weekend. There will be food and drinks for you and you'll have a great time. I'm like...no thanks I don't do things like that. She got all huffy and repeated again that I liked to play guitar so she expected to see me this coming Sunday afternoon. :sigh: One time a lady insisted that I play Hotel California and I said no, I don't know it. She started laughing and said...D***** knows it and he's your friend so you know it too. He knows all the parts. I said...I know the song but I never tried to play it. She just couldn't imagine that was possible. People's expectations can be a drag. I'd rather spend time with an acoustic being creative and coming up with new stuff,that's all. Nothing wrong with my musician friends and relatives playing all over the place for entertainment and employment/enjoyment but not my scene no mo.

As someone who enjoys many different genres and styles, it's easy to feel your pain. Mainstream classic rock overshadows and silences all the other great music from those decades of music and the lowest common denominator is content with the same old same old.

What's really disappointing to me is seeing how limited their preferences are; I mean, they're in their 40's for the most part, and their interest can't go any deeper than even the same songs we've been churning out since early Spring? Every party? Not even one request for a song we haven't tried all these weeks before? Hell, I've taken stations off my car radio presets for more variety.

Speaking of parties, I asked one of my friends to DJ her Thanksgiving party with my turntable and records and this snob at the party wanted to play Latin music, so I played Suavecito by Malo and that wasn't enough because she couldn't dance to it. So she asked the host for a bluetooth speaker and my friend gave her one just to please her. So this snob took over the music pretty much took over my job and even a compromise of she playing two songs and me playing two didn't work because she kept skipping songs halfway and I didn't know what to count as a song for her. So the song that I hate from that party was a current hit song at the time called Havana and she played that song a lot because she's from Cuba. I absolutely hate that song and I can't stand that snob.

I’m still not getting the premise of this thread? A man who knows music brings a guitar to a party full of adults who like drinking, eating and socialising, plays a popular tune by request, and the fun police need to be called as it's upsetting the delicate sensibilities of the attendees who know more than one James Taylor song? Is that it?



I mean, obviously, the default setting for most music lovers is to be completely alone in an isolated and acoustically perfect room, so this guy must be a fraud or charlatan for wanting to enjoy music as a social activity.



Clearly, we need to judge him on the make of guitar, the gauge of the strings, the mix of the guitar and voices, cos if it's not right, we might as well just put him against a (brick) wall. Right fellas? Right? Where's my pitchfork?

Reminds me of a bunch of people I used to associate with who would throw on the same few Kiss songs every time we started drinking which was most weekends...needles to say I don't see them anymore!!