Playing at a nudist party.

Pianoman · December 09, 2017, 10:21:19 PM

Back in the summer of 1981, I was living in Cologne, Germany and playing in a Salsa band there.

We were contracted for an afternoon gig through an agent in Cologne, to go play at a private complex somewhere near the city of Bielefeld.

All went well until we arrived to set up our gear and play.

It turned out to be a nudist afternoon party.
We were politely informed that since everybody was naked, we too had to undress.

The organisers insisted that they had informed the agent that it was going to be a nudist party.
We called the agent, who vehemently denied knowing anything about naked people.

We normally always carried a copy of the contract, which specified the location, starting time and duration of the gig, sleeping arrangements for night gigs, the sum to be paid, and the dress code, which indicates casual, or formal dress.

There was nothing in the contract about playing nude.

So, with most of the band refusing to display their family jewels to a bunch of strangers, we entered into negotiations.

Finally a compromise was reached, that we would play in our underwear and get a bigger fee for the extra hardship we had to endure.

It did turn out to be a lovely afternoon though, with the band performing more passionately than usual.

The conga player, who hardly ever smiled, played with such vigour, with a permanent smile on his face and whooping with joy all afternoon.

Best Regards,
Pianoman.

Joe H · December 09, 2017, 10:35:38 PM

Pianoman,

That's a very funny story. When we do certain things for a very long time... we all have stories to tell. After 20 plus years of doing community volunteer work in a small town, I too have mine... but nothing of the sort as you have related above.

Joe H

Pianoman · December 09, 2017, 10:50:43 PM

Quote from: Joe H on December 09, 2017, 10:35:38 PM
Pianoman,

That's a very funny story. When we do certain things for a very long time... we all have stories to tell. After 20 plus years of doing community volunteer work in a small town, I too have mine... but nothing of the sort as you have related above.

Joe H

Hello Joe.

It's one of the hardships one has to endure in our chosen profession.

Best Regards
Pianoman.

And a Merry Christmas to you and your family.

travlin-easy · December 10, 2017, 11:26:07 AM

Abby, I encountered a similar situation many years ago, I arrived in a tuxedo. There are just some folks that should not be running around naked on the dancefloor. Fortunately, they didn't care if I remained fully clothed and they paid me well, plus provided a good amount of tip money. They called the agent and wanted to book me for the following year, but fortunately, I was already booked.

Cheers,

Gary

jgriffin · December 10, 2017, 11:35:55 AM

Can you believe it.........I'm speechless!

travlin-easy · December 10, 2017, 12:53:08 PM

Janet, you would be amazed at all the things we have put up with over the years as full time performers. People tend to do some crazy things, especially when there is booze involved. While I have been an entertainer since 1958, I didn't go full time until about 1985. At that point I contacted 4 agents, and things really took off, but there came a time when I fired all 4 agents. They booked jobs based on how much money they could make, and did't care much about anything else. That's how I ended up a some very strange events, including a nudist colony, a campground in the middle of a swamp, and even doing a huge number of political fund raisers. The fund raiser, though, paid very well after I fired the agents who often took as much as 40 percent of the money.

It was shortly after the nudist colony job when I became very selective, and still performed, on average, 7 days a week, 7 to 10 jobs a week. Now that I have retired, I just play for my own pleasure here at home. Sure do miss being on stage though.

Merry Christmas,

Gary

Toril S · December 10, 2017, 05:12:34 PM

Hi Pianoman! Incredible story

Sporty of you all to play in your underwear.

jgriffin · December 10, 2017, 11:34:22 PM

Just curious.....what do nudist do when it gets really cold?

Roger Brenizer · December 10, 2017, 11:41:41 PM

They freeze, Janet!!!

alanclare · December 11, 2017, 02:50:01 AM

I'm impressed by the self-discipline shown by the membership of this forum. No-one has attempted to make a joke using a juxtaposition of "playing", as in "performing", and "organ", as in "instrument".

Alan

jgriffin · December 11, 2017, 06:18:36 AM

Just because we didn't say it doesn't mean we didn't think it!

jerryghr · December 11, 2017, 11:23:58 AM

Quote from: alanclare on December 11, 2017, 02:50:01 AM
I'm impressed by the self-discipline shown by the membership of this forum. No-one has attempted to make a joke using a juxtaposition of "playing", as in "performing", and "organ", as in "instrument".

Alan

I didn't want to get banned!!!!

Jerryghr

mikf · December 11, 2017, 11:47:33 AM

Hey Pianoman what is with all this modesty - I thought you lived on Ibiza. For those of you who have not visited Ibiza back in the eighties and nineties I need to point out that 'naked' was the normal dress code. Or at least it seemed that way.

Thry had many designated nude beaches, but seemed no one paid much attention to whether it was designated or not.
Best story - I was walking through a car park in a beachside town ion Ibiza when I saw a man and woman struggling to lift off a small boat they had tied to the roof rack of their tiny car. I called over if they needed help and they said that would be great. When I had threaded my way over between the parked cars I found both the man and the woman were butt naked. Not only that but there was no sign of any clothes in or around the car, so that is obviously the way they had driven there. We lifted down the boat, exchanged pleasantries and moved on as if there was nothing the least unusual about the situation!
Mike

jgriffin · December 11, 2017, 12:06:15 PM

CANNOT GET THIS IMAGE OUT OF MY HEAD!!

[attachment deleted by admin]

XeeniX · December 11, 2017, 12:13:22 PM

The things you have to put up with some times as a musician, tss....

You guys must be real pro's not getting to distracted while they were doing that salsa.
I wonder, did anyone got hurt that day?

Peter

Gunnar Jonny · December 11, 2017, 12:47:21 PM

We are all born nude as far as I know, so it should be quite natural.
But living in teperatures below 0°C as at this time of the year around here, it's sure nice to have some sort of clothing to wear.
At such low temperature the "family jewels" is not much to brag about anyway.....

travlin-easy · December 11, 2017, 04:30:02 PM

Mike, I was there in 1959, an 18 year old kid in the US Navy, on liberty, got to see this kind of stuff all the time, both at Ibisa, the French Riviera beaches, and several other locations in the Mediterranean and Bahamas areas. Believe me, at that age, I was definitely distracted back then. Today at 77, I still may stare, but not for long. She would smack me in the back of the head.

All the best,

Gary

Pianoman · December 14, 2017, 03:21:19 PM

Quote from: travlin-easy on December 10, 2017, 11:26:07 AM
Abby, I encountered a similar situation many years ago, I arrived in a tuxedo. There are just some folks that should not be running around naked on the dancefloor. Fortunately, they didn't care if I remained fully clothed and they paid me well, plus provided a good amount of tip money. They called the agent and wanted to book me for the following year, but fortunately, I was already booked.

Cheers,

Gary

Gary,
The tips would have been tenfold had you joined in the merriment.

Best Regards,
Pianoman.

Pianoman · December 14, 2017, 03:27:17 PM

Quote from: jgriffin on December 10, 2017, 11:34:22 PM
Just curious.....what do nudist do when it gets really cold?

They comfort each other, or quickly decide to beat a hasty retreat.

Best Regards,
Pianoman.

Pianoman · December 14, 2017, 04:58:40 PM

Quote from: mikf on December 11, 2017, 11:47:33 AM
Hey Pianoman what is with all this modesty - I thought you lived on Ibiza. For those of you who have not visited Ibiza back in the eighties and nineties I need to point out that 'naked' was the normal dress code. Or at least it seemed that way. They had many designated nude beaches, but seemed no one paid much attention to whether it was designated or not.
Mike

Hi Mike.

We still have plenty of designated areas for those who choose to enjoy the glory of the sun radiating it's warmth on their entire bodies, without the restrictive discomfort of garments.

But predictably, I guess, Ibiza has now also become a family friendly Island. But like you have pointed out, there are those who do not pay much attention whether it is a designated area or not, much to the joy of some observers, and consternation of others.

I was very shy and modest when I was younger in 1981.
It was the other band members though, who resisted the idea, even those who were truly blessed.

Best Regards,
Pianoman.

Pianoman · December 14, 2017, 05:05:50 PM

Quote from: Toril S on December 10, 2017, 05:12:34 PM
Hi Pianoman! Incredible story Sporty of you all to play in your underwear.

Hi Toril.

In my country there's a saying, "A hungry Lion, when lacking prey, will also eat grass for sustenance."

In my case it translated to, no underwear gig, no food and rent.
It wasn't really a question of being good sports. More of a compromise.

Best Regards,
Pianoman.

Pianoman · December 14, 2017, 05:30:30 PM

Quote from: XeeniX on December 11, 2017, 12:13:22 PM
The things you have to put up with some times as a musician, tss....

You guys must be real pro's not getting to distracted while they were doing that salsa.
I wonder, did anyone got hurt that day?

Peter

Hi Peter,

Fortunately no one got hurt. It was a very mellow but great party.

They kept lighting up some kind of cigarettes and passing them around to each other.

Having been educated by missionaries myself, I naturally didn't want to know what they were lighting up, thus I elected to look the other way.

We weren't really distracted, quite the opposite really, more focused and concentrated.

Well, maybe with the exception of the Conga guy. Who was jumping around and babbling in some alien gibberish
unknown to mankind.

Best Regards,
Pianoman.