Topic: Repertoire for senior citizen gigs

[sugarplumsss]

I've played hundreds of these type gigs
and invariably bandleaders choose songs prior, to shall we say, disco era
The music is from 1920's through early 60's.

as time has passed ( decades ) it occurs to me that the repertoire needs to be updated, yes!

So i'm asking those of you who do music for seniors , and are more up to date; you play music  from the 70's , maybe 80's (even 90's though that seems doubtful). Which songs are "keepers"?
thank you

[ugawoga]

Hi  Hi Plumsugerness


Bring on the Stones , Black Sabbath , Boston  Warhorse, Quatermass, Alex Harvy Band, Pink floyd, Yes, Keef Hartley Band,

Black Widow, Uriah Heep and end with Tiptoe Through The Tulips  by Tiny Tim!!.

After all of that We have a party on Magic Mushrooms  and some splif's

Yes us lot are in our 70s now and still Rockin'

Sorry "Red wine for me" and a Fillet Steak -- " I must be geting Old " .Just got my Winter fuel allowance.


All the Best
John

[ugawoga]

Hi M8
On a serious note, Things have not changed much and being a 70s dj i would recommend songs like "Come up and make me smile"!!

[Lee Batchelor]

Here is my core list, sugarplumsss. Some of the songs are in a short form because I extracted the titles from my registration backups. There are 168. If you need clarification on the titles, let me know.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[sugarplumsss]

Lee
yes yes. i like some of those forgotten songs
they seem appropriate for the assisted living set

Ugawoga.  hmmmm lol

[Lee Batchelor]

Glad to help, Sugarplumsss. When I started playing in these places 26 years ago, you had to have the sounds of the 40s because there were a lot of WWII vets present. Now, they have been replaced with those who got their start in life around Elvis, The Beatles, Ray Charles, The Eagles, and so on...

Happy playing!

[J. Larry]

I play 6 retirement homes on a regular basis, each a one-hour program.  I try to learn their requests, if I don’t know it.  I’ve had good luck with a balanced approach that includes a few songs from each category-----singalongs, big band/jazz, country, gospel, dixieland, older mainstream pop tunes, and early rock and roll.  No complaints, except “the piano’s too loud” at times.  Lots of hearing aids around.

[ugawoga]

Hi

  Drifters music--   Saturday night  at the movies
                           Under the Boardwalk
                           I got got your number in my Little red Book

   Tom Waits        Downtown train

  Roxy Music         Jealous Guy                   
     
 Otis Redding     Dock of The Bay

Rod Stewart        Maggie may
   
 Gerry Rafferty     Baker Street

 Procol harum     Whiter Shades of pale

Santana     Black Magic woman

BillyOcean     Red Light Spells Danger

Doors    Light my Fire    "You have to practice the main beginning!   Lol!!

Johnny Johnston            Blame it on the Pony Express
The Move             Blackberry way

Tamla Mowtown songs, Soul , and general Pop
It is all down to how much you are different to others that makes it in my opinion.
These type of song will do the trick in my opinion and would be a much welcomed change.


I could list thousands of great 60s and 70s songs

[Jeff Hollande]

Herewith I would like to thank all retirement homes' arranger keyboard players for entertaining all these people.
You all are doing a great job by making them happy !

JH

[EileenL]

Most old folks like a good mix of songs and love to sing along to the golden oldies and also have a little dance to some of the fifties, sixties and seventies music. Also some of the song's from shows.

[jtrue]

People seem to have a preference for songs that were popular in their teen years, say around age 15.  If one estimates that the average age of senior living residents is, say, 80, then music from about 65 years ago would be most suitable (that is, when an 80 year old person was 15).  In 2022 the target year would be 1957.  Some allowance for a range of residents' ages should be made, perhaps 5 years on each side of the target (making the current range 1952-1962) and, of course, the range should advance each year. Clearly this is not an exact science but is guidance when other clues are lacking.

   j.

[J. Larry]

I try to remember what the senior folks request.  Even write it down if there’s a pen handy.  One lady told me the other day----“Well, you forgot to play a gospel tune and a patriotic song.  That’s what we like here”.  One guy said he prefers Broadway tunes and movie themes.  Another guy said, “Why don’t you do a program of nothing but country songs”.  It’s a challenge at times to please everybody.  Particular artists who are requested a lot include Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, etc…..  You get the picture.   

[Amwilburn]

heh... in 15 years or so I"ll be considered a senior, so in about a decade and a half, you sould play 70's-2000's hits!
Gives me a chuckle thinking about arranger players gigging at seniors homes to Queen, Nirvana, Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi...

In all seriousness though, whether *25 years ago* or today, when I get requests, they tend to *still* be Sinatra, Berlin, Presley, Righteous Brothers, Platters, Beatles.
Songs like New York New York, Fly me to the Moon, Unchained Melody, Memory, Let it Be, Blue Skies, Always on my Mind, Fools Rush In, Love me Tender, Autumn Leaves, It's now or Never, Over the Rainbow, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, The Way You Look tonight, Stand By Me, Cheek to Cheek, White CHristmas, Baby it's Cold Outisde, That's Amore, Johnny B Goode, Great Balls of Fire, The Sound of Silence, Georgia on My Mind, Lady, The Gambler.

The request list hasn't changed in 3 decades for me.

Mark

[sugarplumsss]

re patriotic
yes one bandleader plays the main song of each branch of the military including Coast Guard Song

And God Bless America. has been well received

another fairly consistent favored song
is actually a sad song. though the title is deceptive
YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE !

if I may ramble a bit
has anyone noticed the almost complete dropping out of once popular songs from the 70's?
there are a bunch of there now forgottten songs
FEELINGS!! I can't believe this once very popular song is totally gone
The Electric Slide survived but Macarena , not so
much !
HOT HOT HOT seems gone though it seems catchy for dancing
one disco song and group that are still alive are Bee Gees You Should Be Dancing. Stayin alive night fever as well
Karen Carpenter seems gone. Kris Kristopherson sp gone .his girlfriend, the very talented  ( and sadly forgotten ) Rita Coolidge gone ,  she was far superior to glitzy Cher.
Then there is an artist like James Brown who defies our ability to replicate !
My Girl and Let's Stay Together managed to survive .
oh, and "I WILL survive". did not make it!
i can't even recall ( the names of ) a large group of 70's songs that completely disappeared as if they never were .


i welcome more thoughts in opinions about songs. forgotten- real keepers post 1960 - etc
thanks

[sugarplumsss]

heh... in 15 years or so I"ll be considered a senior, so in about a decade and a half, you sould play 70's-2000's hits!
Gives me a chuckle thinking about arranger players gigging at seniors homes to Queen, Nirvana, Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi...

In all seriousness though, whether *25 years ago* or today, when I get requests, they tend to *still* be Sinatra, Berlin, Presley, Righteous Brothers, Platters, Beatles.
Songs like New York New York, Fly me to the Moon, Unchained Melody, Memory, Let it Be, Blue Skies, Always on my Mind, Fools Rush In, Love me Tender, Autumn Leaves, It's now or Never, Over the Rainbow, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, The Way You Look tonight, Stand By Me, Cheek to Cheek, White CHristmas, Baby it's Cold Outisde, That's Amore, Johnny B Goode, Great Balls of Fire, The Sound of Silence, Georgia on My Mind, Lady, The Gambler.

The request list hasn't changed in 3 decades for me.

Mark

Right you are . i would add. the capability or charisma or whatever it might be. --- of the SINGER is part of the puzzle

i happen to be working the last year with one of these powerful charismatic singers
and he shocks me that he ( we ) get major applause for songs that if i played them solo. would be mere wallpaper music totally ignored
namely Fly me to the moon
The summer wind
San Francisco
As time goes by

i must say. i've been a passive observer of audience reactions to singers
since 1968 when i worked with frankie valli
in that case the star quality kind of mixes me up
because i ask "is it the actual performance - or the hit record thrill " so to speak

so when i work with a fellow as i am presently
he has no hit records. and when the crowd strongly reacts it gets my attention
and reinforces my belief that it's not just the song selected but THE WAY IT IS PERFORMED
long ago in nyc. a once famous singer named Billy Daniels sat in with our trio
the club was my all time favorite club. filled with celebrities ( long gone 🤣)
i saw Cosby - Liz Taylor Ted Kennedy Gifford Andre the Giant , John Gotti ( yuk did not like him - that's right ) Howie Cosell Milton Berle Bob Hope Sinatra Nixon etc etc
I've never had the pleasure of a club like that since😂.

anyway. Billy Daniels ( that old black magic and other hits long forgotten )
sits in with our trio ( me on bass )
He blew my mind by getting very theatrical
He recites  to audience very dramatically something about a mother saying goodbye to her son who was going off to war - THEN ( he owned the audience before he sang a note ) THEN HE SINGS/ "Oh Danny Boy"!!!
wow. i never forgot the power of that experience -  no singing. just drama first which perfectly connects with the song.

My current singer has great charisma. and makes songs i would never dream middle aged crowd would appreciate..  but wow. do they ever

lesson. it's the song AND the charisma / vocal quality / sincerity etc etc of the singer

[DrakeM]

Wow. I play for seniors and it is 75% country and 25% pop music

I do 16 songs per set and 8 of them are 1957-1980 and the other 8 are 1990-2021.

They love hearing the new country songs that I have selected to play and generally ask who sings that new song.

I even have a few ask that I learn a practical new country song for them:
One Margarita - 2014
Tequila A Little Time - 2021
Beer Never Broke My Heart - 2019

I only play about 5 songs earlier than 1957 (maybe) and I only play the pre 1960 songs in my Elvis Presley set once a year.
 
"If memorizes were all I sang, I'd rather drive a truck" - Rick Nelson and me.

I currently have over 368 songs I rotate straight through (23 different sets).

Regards
Drake

[gskip]

Hi, not to hijack this discussion,but I had a request near the end of my gig the other day I wasn’t prepared for. They asked for a “conga line” song and I couldn’t think of one at the moment, so I played the last song I already had up and promised to do their request next time.
What is a good one? Latin or pop? I’m figuring on “Love Train” but am open to suggestions.
This is a senior group that loves to dance to  almost all styles.
Thanks,
Skip G

[Toril S]

I had a request for Maccarena, and just played it as I remembered it from the radio. Not excactly a atar performance, but they danced and shouted so I stopped being worried😀

[J. Larry]

I just walked in the door from a Veteran’s day gig in a retirement home.  Played for an hour-----nothing but patriotic-related songs.  Played all the military theme songs except Coast Guard.  Filled the rest of the time with songs we all grew up with-----You’re a Grand Old Flag, Over There, America the Beautiful, God Bless America, Star Spangled Banner, and others.  DJ’d the sound of Boogie Woogie Boy of Company B for a group portraying the Andrew Sisters.

[ugawoga]

They come to take me away Ha ha!!

[Dnj]

Hi, not to hijack this discussion,but I had a request near the end of my gig the other day I wasn’t prepared for. They asked for a “conga line” song and I couldn’t think of one at the moment, so I played the last song I already had up and promised to do their request next time.
What is a good one? Latin or pop? I’m figuring on “Love Train” but am open to suggestions.
This is a senior group that loves to dance to  almost all styles.
Thanks,
Skip G

HOT HOT HOT (Buster Poindexter) is a Classic Conga Line song to perform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKP18BpvX_o