It didn't change - but I was the only one that knew it. The style I used was originally for the Pink Panther theme song, so most of the first variation was nothing more than a finger snap and light bass sound.

Usually, towards the end of the song, I would walk back to the keyboard, change to a higher level variation, do the last verse, and finish the song, often to a standing ovation. I loved doing that song in that manner, and there was no question that ladies in the audiences loved it as well.

Unfortunately, some individuals decided that when I was doing this song, everything was automatic, kinda like Karaoke, therefore, every song, as far as they were concerned, was nothing more than Karaoke. Then, and I love this part, there are some that sincerely believed it was not me singing, and that I was lip-syncing the songs. I was confronted by a middle-aged couple one night that were sitting at a table just 15 to 20 feet away from me, and while I was singing "An Evening In Roma" the guy said to the other couple, "He's not really singing - he's lip-synching the song." Now, as you know, I work pretty damned hard at learning and perfecting songs I sing in ALL languages. It difficult learning to sing an Italian song, in Italian, and not having the ability to speak the language, and takes a lot of time and practice. So this guy's statement really pissed me off.

Towards the end of the song, while the 8-beat Adriatic style was still playing, I said "Now, it just came to my attention that a few audience members think it's not me playing or singing and that everything is prerecorded music - it's not. So, this is for the lovely ladies at Table #1 that are accompanied by a couple old codgers." At this point I ended the Italian song, then immediately switched styles to a great 6/8-beat and went into a two-song, Elvis medley consisting of "The Wonder Of You and Can't Help Falling In Love With You." The ladies loved it, the guys with them stood and applauded, danced with the ladies, and when the night ended one of the men came up to me and said "Wow! I would never have believed that it wasn't prerecorded music and you were just lip-synching - that's incredible." He also asked me to email him a copy of my schedule so he and his friends could be at the other public locations when I performed.

Bottom line: The more you can interact with the audiences, the better those audiences will accept you and your performances. From my perspective, an OMB entertainer is just that - an entertainer, much more so than a musician.



Gary