Hi All,

I hope everyone is well and you're enjoying this years show.
I thought i'd let you know the band website has been updated and we will try to keep the blog and twitter stuff as up to date as possible.

If you have anything you want to ask about the band please feel free to write to us on the website or twitter and we will do our best to answer.
x

It's the cat in the hat! Nice to see you again.

What are the website and twitter addresses, please?

Sorry, I'm a bit thick and slow.

Website is www.strictlycomedancingband.com

Twitter we're http://twitter.com/scdband

I've posted elsewhere that the band singers come in for a lot of criticism on this site.
Some of the contemporary tunes chosen are very difficult to sing due to the octave range required. Many of these when originally recorded are "digitally enhanced" because of the lack of ability of the original artist. For example (I'm going back a while, but it's what comes to mind) the lead singer of the Bangles couldn't reach the highest note in "Eternal Flame" in live performances.
The best well known dance tunes which have stood the test of time over decades have a range for the singer of little more than one and a half octaves. Well within the abilities of the band singers. Think of the hundreds of "standards" Sinatra has recorded and you'll know what I mean.
On Strictly, the singers sometimes are expected to be "vocal athletes" attempting some instantly forgettable contemporary tunes chosen by the producers to "engage" a younger audience, most of whom will be down the pub when this programme is screened.

It's about time the band and the singers were featured instead of the practice of using someone like Andy Williams, who's broken voice was an embarrassment and a thirteen-year-old going on thirty-two, with just average ability, who without a considered "connection" wouldn't ever have had an opportunity to be featured on prime-time TV.

I like the band and singers, in particular the fellas.

I love the band I think you are great.

There was a lady singing last sat and it was absolutely brilliant, I wish I could remember which song it was but it was fabulous x

That's ok and thank you

You might want to put the website address in the twitter profile, so people can find the site easily

I think you all do a brilliant job each week, with all the different arrangements you have to do. Particularly enjoyed "Fly me to the Moon", and "Just in Time" last week, and the recent Paso Doble numbers, such as "Malaguena " have been fantastic !

The band and singers do an excellent job each week with the wide variety of music they have to cover, even singing in Spanish for some of the latin numbers.

In one word, daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrling. Appalling.

Alright then, a few more words. In the majority of the dances, this shower ruin the sense of the dances, particularly the Latin dances - absolute farce IMHO.

Love the work you guys do every week.

Dear HHGTTG,
Sorry to hear that us "shower" Ruin the majority of the dances for you. Could you be a little more specific? Then i may be able to answer your criticism.

I think they may have been referring to the week Ali danced the Waltz. A lot of people commented on the woman singer. On the whole though, I think most people don't mind the band. I have noticed on the live thread that if the dance is going well people hardly post negative comments.

Oh may I say the guy who sang "The Scientist" the other week did a VERY good job.

I mostly enjoy the band ,and its lovely to have the live music .
But one small criticism was the same as above , the singer during Ali and Brians waltz ruined the dance for me . It was awful

Feel compelled to say hi. I am a fan of the band, often forget to watch the dancing and find myself watching the band. Big fan of Hayley, and not just when she is singing. She seems to be having a good time all evening.

Bass player is particularly good, pity I can't see what he does, (I'm a bass player, bit of a struggler and would love to see him in action).

You might have made ncorners evening with that post

I also think that the band and singers do an excellent job. They sometimes do a better job than the original artist.

Well, I am of the generation who used to dance to proper dance music that did NOT depend on someone singing all the time. However, accepting that is the trend, unfortunately, I wish at least the band could play music to match the style of dance, although I expect it is not the band's fault as to the music chose.
Frankly some of the music chosen, say, for the Paso Doble and some Tangos is appalling and completely ruins the sense of the dance.
I reiterate, I don't like continual singing with dance music and find the wailers a complete turn off although I'm sure they/you all mean well.

I expect, if the truth be known, Len Goodman does not really approve with the majority of music chosen and on one or two occasions has virtually said that when giving his views. Obviously he has to be a bit circumspect here, after all the show is a nice little earner for him

But the music isn't the band's choice so why blame them? The pro dancers choose the music when choreographing their routines.

I've had a listen to the song on Brians site, the problem, i think, is the volume of the vocal compared to the music. The vocal on it's own is great, but, as i've said, it sticks out against the band. Therefore i can see how it might distract from the dance. Now having said this i need to explain a couple of things. I hope you don't mind. Firstly, the band/singers have to try and perform the song as close as we can to the track the dancers are rehearsing to. In this case, Diana Ross, i believe. We don't have time to change the keys of any of the songs so the singers have to do their best to match the original in a original key, not the key that they would be happier singing it in. Then there are the guys mixing it for TV, the sound that you hear. These guys have to mix the band, singers, Bruce, Tess, all the dancers and Celebs mics, the audience mics and more then i can think of right now. Its over a 100 mics in total. For different formats, HD, stereo, mono, internet, and they do this only having heard the band and singers on the day. So they only get to hear the songs as many times as we play them before the live show that day, maybe 3/4 times max. Bearing that in mind I think they do an incredible job. They would love to have more time, as would we, to make it sound exactly like the records we are trying to imitate. But we don't, so we all do our best in the time we have. Things will get missed now and then, we are only human after all.
I hope i haven't bored you and i thank you for the supportive comments.
My tip if you want to listen to the music, put your head phones into the computer and listen on the strictly website after the show, you get a much truer idea of what it sounds like. All TV's sound different. You may still hate it, but i'll be happier that you've checked it out properly before you right a hurtful comment on here. Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion.
If i can answer any more questions please ask via our website and i will do my best to answer them.
Thanks again.

PS: To the bass player who wrote above, thanks very much but i think its best to watch the dancers, much prettier i can assure you.

Dear HHGTTG,

I understand and appreciate you views. I really can't comment on the choice of music or what should or shouldn't be played. As you have said, we have no say in the music we play. We just do as best a job as we can.
We all have different tastes and different opinions in music. I hope there will be something along during the series that everyone likes.
As for Len, he is a lovely man, and knows his onions better then most. He has also said many nice things about the band and we are very grateful to him for doing so.
All the best
T

Ncorners, I have a slightly random question for you - has Alison Jiear ever been one of the vocalists (we're talking somewhere around series three)? I'm only asking because I'm sure I remember Craig thanking her for singing one of the songs but I'm not sure if I misheard him or I'm misremembering! Thanks.

I realise that I am in a minority here, it seems, but the band and singers and specifically, the dance music chosen has always spoilt SCD for me and this year some of the music chosen for some of the dances have been, frankly, ridiculous.

Hang on a minute , you posted a message on an open forum and thus was open to debate .
If you found my message hurtfull then perhaps you shouldnt ask
I am basing my opinion on the show I saw on teli .There may be technical reasons why it would be better online and I will never know because I cant access it
But we base opinion on the show and how it came across , and there were huge amounts of posts , both here and on BBC about that particular song , on that particular night .
Thank you for explaining the technicalites which dont change what we heard that night .
If you post on a forum , you invite criticism and support , and you must be open to it .
I stated clearly that I enjoy the band and the live music and its mostly great and pointed out one criticism .