Hotel Band Success Story

Sick of Top 100 lists that appear on Channel 4, voted for by a public that does not include us? Why not take a different tack to decide the best tracks ever? Perhaps there is a way of telling what songs stand the test of time by the frequency they are performed in karaoke, or played by wedding bands, or dodgy resort hotel bands.

I bring this up because whilst away I saw a Phillipino Band performing for two and a half hours every night for three nights. From their repertoire you see the modern songs which had entered the all-ages canon. So “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” is in, whilst Riobbbie Williams stays out. Admittedly this is a canon which seems to be heavily populated by songs from 1981, tracks which I owned on Raiders Of The Pop Charts (Toto does surprisingly well out of it). And the general response to most of the songs was a polite clapping at the pretty good renditions. For such a band to get any reaction they need to have a trick up their sleeve.

This bands trick was Sweet Child O’ Mine. It won over the crowd partially because it stood out from the Eagles and soft rock staples that preceded it. Also it succeeded with an exuberant sing-a-long style. But success was mainly due to the three long haired female singers having an impressive synchronised hair swinging/head banging act. And you don?t get that on any Jimmy Carr hosted programme.