Live Music for Parties: Facebook, YouTube…Yikes!

Frank Sinatra, the ultimate entertainer who turned large amphitheaters into intimate settings, would not be amused by today’s trend toward viral media. YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, eek! Handy for looking things up, but a royal pain in the ass when it comes to handcrafted live music.

“I’m not sure if I want you to play the Michael Buble version or the Sinatra version,” a client will say — and off we go on an internet surfing safari to find “just the right version.”

So now YouTube is our music director.

Nelson Riddle wouldn’t have liked this either.

The whole beauty of what Dean Martin, Frank Snatra and the rest of the Rat pack did was based on pure spontaneity. One merely has to watch a few of Dean Martin Show re-runs to figure that out.

Dean liked spontaneity so much that he refused to rehearse, preferring to show up in time for the taping and be surprised himself at the antics of his guest stars.

That was back in the days when people who entertained other people actually had some talent.

What a concept.