Strange Song Arrangements

After playing for five years in bars with the same five guys, our 600+ song list slowly took on serious songs that became not so serious.
Late night after hours crowds inspired us to add naughty lyrics to our standard songs. For example, "Green Grass of Home" had two arrangements, one for a sober dinner crowd and another for the late night drunks.
Our audiences very much enjoyed a medley of songs by one artist or group. We had medley song groupings by the Beatles, The Eagles, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Creedence etc... where we would play three or four songs by each group sliding from one well known song to the next seamlessly to keep the dancers on the dance floor.
After 25 years in bar bands I finally figured out that our prime function was to sell more booze. I began to experiment with song groupings that could inspire a crowd to drink more. After two years at a roadhouse on a busy highway with a mostly country music crowd, I found that alternating sexy country ballads with ten-minute-long southern rock boogie would have our crowd sweating during the fast song and then returning to their table to chug-a-lug their drinks before returning to the dance floor to rub bellies with the ballad. This music formula doubled liquor sales but the long fast songs sweated the audience out so they weren't any drunker that they normally would be.
Management loved it.
toots

I do "Crocodile Rock" as a fast fingerpick / bluegrass song.

Dirty Ed does a crop circle song to the tune of Will The Circle Be Unbroken.  It's a stinkin' riot. 

- Zurf