30s - 40s = 1%

50s - 60s = 60%

70s -80s 39%

Gary

So Gary, does that mean that you haven't learned a new tune in 25 years? Just asking :_) .

chas

I threw together a little 'calculator' in Excel, you put in the current year, a person's age today, and it tells you a few interesting things. Saved me from trying to think about it all "in my head" when I was trying to envision when an 80 year old (for example) graduated high school or was a young teen, etc. It's attached.

try it out ... OOPS, I found out that this Forum does not accept Excel files as a valid filetype. So, instead of attaching it here, I've put it on my DropBox:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17841074/Years%20and%20Age%20Calculator.xlsx

-Jim

I should add that I sort of base "what I play" upon the requests that I get too - and I still get TONS of requests for tunes that are from the 1920 thru 1940s, so I still play a fair amount of those at places where "older folks" reside. So at the retirement homes and such, based on the requests (I ask for requests at every gig) still are most predominant as 1930s-1940s songs, so I still do a good amount of that in addition to the 1950s and 1960s (and occasionally newer) stuff.

When I'm playing a restaurant or private party or whatever, the "%" values change dramatically of course! (depending on the event and age-range attending) ...

Chas, are you trying to tell me there have been new songs published in the last 25 years? I just play what my audiences want to hear and what they frequently request, and that includes the younger audiences. Those spring breakers love Jimmy Buffett, old country and Elvis. I guess things must be different in central Georgia.

Cheers,

Gary

It doesn't matter what you play......It's HOW YOU PLAY & SING IT!

This next song is about my desperate struggle to please, and my chronic craving for approval...I really really really really hope you like it.

I sincerely believe that song recognition is an important aspect of this business. I've performed some really neat songs that got absolutely zero response from the audience. Why? Because they had never heard it before. However, when you perform a song the audience knows, it tends to trigger an instant, positive response.

Today, I played for an audience of folks ranging from 55 to 75 years of age, fired up some country rock songs, then switched gears a bit and did Saving All My Love For You. I changed the words a bit to fit the gender, the ladies absolutely loved it, the dance floor was filled to capacity, and the gal that runs the place came up to me and said "WOW - I've never heard a guy do that song, but I really loved what you did with it." I use a specialized song created for Yamaha arranger keyboards, and no Chas, I coouldn't hit those extremely high notes if you were to tighten my shorts with a pair of vice grip pliers. I just sang them an octave lower, and smoothed it out. They loved it.

I also did some old Merle Haggert songs, and the usual upbeat assortment of 50s through early 80s stuff. After the job, I went for an MRI of my back - it ain't pretty. The neatest part about it was explaining to my 7-year-old grandson when happened. He wanted to know why those young girls made me take off my clothes and put me into that machine that looked like a robot that would eat me. He was pretty happy when his pop-pop came back to the waiting room an hour later.

All the best,

Gary

MY grandson would have already spent his inheritance before the test was over.



chas