[Dixielandjazz] Unions - Musicians - Cabaret Card

Sun Nov 5 17:05:12 PST 2006

I think you should add the musicians themselves although it would come under 
what killed live music.

I know that seems like blaming the victim but I have worked for a lot of 
union contractors and leaders who had absolutely no respect for the clients. 
When a cheaper and some think better alternative came along, the public 
flocked to DJ's and almost finished the wedding band here.  Guys taking too 
long on break and not playing what the audience wanted along with not being 
very versatile.  The same basic sound for four hours was boring.  I have 
even seen leaders cuss at people asking for a tune that they didn't like.

The very first union job through the hall that I worked  when I came back to 
St. Louis in 1962 was an 8 piece minimum job where two of us were hired to 
just sit there and not play.  I was hired to play a strolling trio once with 
two violins (and sax).  I might as well have been a cymbal player.  I worked 
one later with a violin and accordion and that wasn't too bad.

Everyone is familiar with the guy that gets blasted on the stage.  I was 
working for a group one time and the singer was so strung out on drugs the 
bride threw her out.  I worked a NY eve one time where two of the musicians 
were so wasted they couldn't pack their instruments.  The guitar player and 
I finished out the last hour alone.

As long as there was a steady business with lots of jobs all that was OK but 
when something cheaper came along offering more for the money like 
continuous music and variety a lot of the bands were doomed.  Then it became 
a fad and even good bands who were doing the right things took it in the 
neck.

The first DJ I ever saw was in 1957.  He had 15" tape reels of  tunes from 
the radio and records.  No requests and the tapes just played through but 
his sound system was good for the time.  He was definitely ahead of his 
time.  My thought was this will never go over.

In the wedding trade the high end client is still there but the great middle 
and low end is almost gone to the DJ's.  Funny thing, most of them cost more 
than a band and they can afford mega bucks for advertising and full page ads 
in the yellow pages which we just can't.

The public gets tired of all that crap and it's not all union guys.  I think 
they are for the most part pretty good but musicians in general failed to 
adapt to changing times.
Larry
St. Louis

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John McClernan" <mcclernan1 at comcast.net>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2006 12:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Unions - Musicians - Cabaret Card

> On Nov 5, 2006, at 11:50 AM, Steve Barbone wrote:
>
>> Mike asked about who killed the unions? And whether in my 802 days
>> you had
>> to have a Cabaret Card to work in NYC. Here are my opinions.
>>
>> 1) Greed and Corruption of the union leaders. . .
>> 2) Greed of the Club Owners. . .
>> 3) Changing live music scene. . .
>> 4) Amateur bands. . .
>> 5) Too many musicians in each market competing for too few paying
>> gigs.
>> 6) The passage of "Right to Work" laws.
>
> 7. Our product is reproducible by mechanical means.
> 8. We have become a nation of music "watchers".
>
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