Friday Five and the Swing's alive!

So I had this email the other day from the guy who sits opposite me at work. He knows I enjoy singing and had spotted a request on the company Intranet for a replacement singer to join the staff Swing Band. These guys (and the occasional gal) have been playing together for so long that the name of the band reflects a part of the city where our company no longer has offices. They must have decided it would be too confusing to change the name, or maybe they're just a bunch of nostalgia freaks.

I umm'd and ahh'd for a couple of days before applying. Swing really isn't my favourite genre (although their example tracks mentioned in the advert - Fly Me To The Moon and I've Got You Under My Skin - are familiar enough) and on top of that their rehearsals generally take place on Friday lunchtimes between 12 and 1pm - one of my favourite days for working at home.

In the end I decided there was nothing to lose by auditioning. I didn't expect anything to come of it, and when the organiser - a guy I've worked with on and off for over 25 years - called me to discuss things my expectations sunk even lower. Their regular singer, who's leaving the company, is a woman and Dave was at pains to point out that not only were all the arrangements written up for a female vocal, he would actually prefer to stick with a lady. He probably thinks it brings a touch of glamour to the party. So I was on a loser from the start really. Nevertheless being a fair bloke, he wanted to give anyone who was interested a hearing, and we arranged that I'd attend today and give it a try.

I walked in on rehearsals towards the end, as Dave had intended to ask me to sing with just him accompanying me on piano - mainly so he could transpose the key to suit my voice. However, as roughly 50% of the band were known to me, he felt moved to ask me if I'd like to try singing with them, which I agreed to. We did a few bars of Fly Me To The Moon, which went alright, and then went on to Under My Skin, which proved that I didn't know the song as well as I'd thought!

Practice over, the band packed up and left while Dave stayed behind to try a few more numbers on piano and work out my vocal range so he'd have an idea how much work would be involved in rearranging their pieces. I think the main thing that impressed him was my voice is powerful enough to be heard even over the loudest passages when the brass section is in full flow. Whether or not this will be enough to overcome his preference for the only other candidate - who just happens to be a woman - we'll have to wait to find out.

And so to the Five for this Friday:

1. Who do you owe?
Financially? The mortgage company.
Socially? Everyone whose company I enjoy.
Emotionally? Nikki. For rescuing me.

2. What do you wait for?
A time, which I hope will be before retirement age, when I can give up work. The day job that is, not the "real work" that I love doing.

3. What do you disguise?
Weeping over sad movies (yes, I'm an old softie at heart).

4. Tell us a lie:
What you see is what you get.

5. Friday fill-in:
I can't get enough of ___.
your love, I can't get enough of your love, I can't get enough of your love (Copr. Bad Company)