Piano Bars, Requests, and the One Song Theory

After this past Saturday night's Shake Rattle & Roll Dueling Pianos show, some of the customers asked us how we possibly play so many songs, and how we learn even more new ones.

Do we clear out memories of kindergarten, and old algebra equations and remnants of that Intro to Philosophy course to make extra RAM space to store new songs in the cobwebbed corners of our minds?

And do we shut ourselves away like Brian Wilson, obsessively scouring over every new song for nuggets of musical gold? Are we the Rumplestiltskins of rock n roll?

The truth is, that once you've been playing piano in shows like these for long enough, you come to realize that the actual number of songs that will likely get requested is much smaller than some may realize.

Every artist, with a few exceptions of course, can be boiled down to just one song. This doesn't mean that the rest of their catalog is insignificant or unworthy. It just means that when the proverbial chips are down, each artist can be represented by one song from their career. And THAT song is the one most likely to be requested in an average night.

Def Leppard = POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME. Journey = DON'T STOP BELIEVIN. Garth Brooks = FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES. Snoop Dogg = GIN & JUICE. Eddie Money = TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT.

And so on. That is the 'One Song Theory'. And yes, there are exceptions. Usually the piano players - Billy Joel, Elton John - will have a larger array of steady requests. And of course, the mega artists, like The Beatles or Elvis Presley, have more songs-on-the-brain, but believe it or not, those artists don't get requested that often anyway, so its a case of smaller ripples rather than a tidal wave for one song.

And what is the reason why these catalogs get shrunk down to just one song? Simple. It's a two-fold act of psychology. Most audience members who don't know a particular player or show yet will assume the simplest requests will garner the greatest likelihood of success, and so will opt for the biggest target - the MARGARITAVILLE, rather than A PIRATE LOOKS AT 40. Also, people are competing with dozens, or possibly hundreds of other customers, whose song requests will be filling the night. Do you want to be the one whose song elicits yawns or shrugs or worse, gets outbid due to impatience or distaste? Everyone wants to hit the game-winning homer. Everyone wants to win Final Jeopardy. Everyone wants the roar of the crowd. So which is more likely to do that? GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN, or SHE-BOP? The drive to homogenize one's own taste due to the perceived desire of a larger crowd is a hard urge to resist.

Playing LIVIN ON A PRAYER is always fun, especially when there's hundreds of singing voices backing you up. But just as fun, is the rare chance to play RUNAWAY, knowing it might be many months before we get to do so again...so which request will YOU make next time?

#requests #pianobar #duelingpianos #shakerattleroll