I was trying to come up with something catchy for my title to get some attention to this topic, but I realized that many on RR probably don't remember that company slogan from years back. Oh well, I hope you read this anyway, especially after the thread I started about Van Halen using voice tracks of Michael Anthony but not bringing him on their tour.

So a good friend of mine who is an excellent musician (guitar, sax, trumpet, keyboard) and a very good singer, was chatting with a guy who worked for Clair Brothers of nearby Lititz, PA (it's pronounce lit-its, not la-tits as a guy from Pittsburgh said one time). Anyway, Clair is one of the biggest 'live" sound companies in the world, working shows for the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Yes, Queen, and Billy Joel, and this guy told him some secrets about live sound. He said that very few bands these days play without "backing tracks", especially older bands like The Who and The Stones. The secret is, the drummer, through head phones, plays with a "click track" which keeps everything in time, so each player (bass, guitar, keys, singer) or whatever, when they lose their way or forget their parts, can hit a switch, and the pre-recorded tracks take over. It's a shame but it's true.

The guy told him that this originated with Madonna (go figure), another Clair contract, in the early 80's who was one of the first to do vigorous dancing while attempting to sing. It came to be that she couldn't maintain her breath while dancing and singing at the same time, so her pre-recorded vocal tracks were added when she couldn't keep up, and so began the "fake shit". Sad but true.

So what's your opinion of this?

Swish