Podcast appearances and mentions of rebecca riggs

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Adam Couper, Rebecca Riggs and Simon Palomares perform a song from the Haircut Challenge show that generated a few of the tracks in this series. (In this show - two teams, two team captains, losing team captain had his head shaved at the end of the show. Sadly, the day before the Haircut Challenge, one of the team captains scored a role in a movie. The scores were neck and neck entering the last game, and the non-movie-role-scoring team graciously threw the last game and submitted their captain for shaving.)Listen to Big Chief No Friends Powered by Podbean.comI seem to recall a style suggestion of "Bubblegum Pop". (That said, I can't remember what colour socks I have on right now, so my memory is anything but reliable.)The trio had a very strong start to define the style of the song. Again, this is one of those times when I think the song really benefitted from getting its start from everyone and not just the musician.Coup is once again in the drivers seat for this one. Adam has a tremendous talent for weaving together a coherent melody in a verse and chorus, pulling together a great story, and managing to rhyme. He's one of my favourite players to work with. (You should see him in a Shakespearean scene; he's unbelievable.)I'm accompaning on keyboard-drums and, eventually, bass. It took me a long time to come in for this one, I suspect I spent way more time hunting for the key than I should have.I wonder how fast Adam's mind really works. I'm intrigued by the turn of events right at the end of the song:Adam:Big Chief, he's got a friendMC (interjecting from offstage): 10 seconds!Adam:Which brings this story almost to an endWas that line in the plan? Or did he alter his rhyme and story at the last second?Adam and I found a nice ending for this song; I love it when the music just drops out in the last seconds of the song, leaving the singer to finish it with a great tag. I had a feeling Coup was going to find a marvelous ending, and he didn't disappoint.Download Big Chief No Friends (mp3)This is the sixth entry in a series of recordings of Songs and Operas from Brisbane's Lightning Doubles Theatresports from 1992/1993.

Fedele Crisci and Rebecca Riggs tag team in this one.

Two songs for the price of one today. Neither of them are going to make it on to a greatest hits album. Both of them make me cringe a little... but both of them are special to me, for one reason or another.Don't Call Me Jack, MonRoger Beames and Andy Foreman trade verses in this reggae song about mistaken identity. I'm on a sort-of steel drum piano, while Adam Couper jumps in with some keyboard drums. (I tell you, the man is everywhere!)Listen to Don't Call Me Jack, Mon Powered by Podbean.comI'm certain this came from the offer "Don't call me Jack", with the MC giving reggae as a style.A few times the music halts. I can tell you this was probably at points where I thought the music was out of time with the singers, and I needed to resynch. On reflection, I should have just barrelled through; the singers needed the structure and they didn't need me to bail on them.Roger is... well, look, I love the man, he MC'ed at my wedding, he's known my wife and I for close on 20 years, he's a talented MC and improviser and a great friend. And handsome. And can use his mad Aikido skillz to knock folks on their butt. But in this one he's a bit lyrically challenged. (Sorry, Rog.) One thing he absolutely does in this song is hold on tight to it and see it through. He knows it's not necessarily going to plan. You can hear his resolve crack for an instant right at the end of the third verse. But he holds on and continues to deliver, riding the song to wherever it was taking him.That chorus! It's easy and charming and simple. Don't call me Jack monJack monJack mon Jack monDon't call me Jack monThat thing gets stuck in my head.Andy's interplay with Roger makes me smile no matter how many times I hear this song. (I can just imagine him rolling his eyes when he says "Oh good" in the third verse.) And the audience loved it too. It wasn't the most well crafted song ever, but they just go wild.I'm Short, Shirty and I Want to ShoutFedele Crisci and Rebecca Riggs take this song, supported by David Lovell (one of my university lecturers) on bass and myself on keyboard drums.Listen to I'm Short, Shirty and Want To Shout Powered by Podbean.comFedele may not have an opera singer's voice. His rhythm might be a little challenged. But he absolutely committed himself 100% to this song. He knew the wheels were falling off, and even with minimal backing from two supposedly supportive musicians, he carried on. You can hear the point where Dave and I just say "Let's go!" and decide that we should (finally) give Fedele strong backing. And then Rebecca jumped on to that backing. And she completed the second half of the song by basically singing to Fedele about his singing and dancing skills, and how she wants him anyway. I thought Rebecca's handling of that was great; she made light of the first part of the song without being mean, and had a go at Fedele's skills while still professing her love.There's a good amount of light and shade in the music (once it got going, anyway). Right towards the end there's a nice sparse section that lets Rebecca have some fun, before ending quite strongly.And, once again, the audience goes wild. Do they care that the song might not have been as strong as it could have been? Not really - the performers gave it their all, and the audience stayed with them to the end, rain or shine.EpilogueRoger and Fedele now run one of the most successful comedy agencies in the country, the Sit Down Comedy Club. Will they still be able to sleep at night, knowing they were responsible for these two songs? I think they'll be fine.Download Don't Call Me Jack, Mon (mp3)Download I'm Short, Shirty and I Want To Shout (mp3)This is the fifth entry in a series of recordings of Songs and Operas from Brisbane's Lightning Doubles Theatresports from 1992/1993.

Tommy's Little Boat is a rock-opera, featuring Adam Couper as Tommy, Rebecca Riggs as Tommy's mother, and Simon Palomares as the father/narrator. From the original Musical Hotspot article Tommy's Little Boat.

This is another favourite from the Lightning Doubles days. Adam Couper takes the lead on this one, kicking things off in blues. Tom Dunstan and Rebecca Riggs provide backing and support throughout. Original Musical Hotspot article: I Want To Be A Minority Group

Tommy's Little Boat is a rock-opera, featuring Adam Couper as Tommy, Rebecca Riggs as Tommy's mother, and Simon Palomares as the father/narrator. Listen to Tommy's Little Boat Powered by Podbean.comNormally we'll do an opera in more traditional operatic style. I suspect (given the title and the obvious connection to The Who's Tommy) this was offered as a rock opera. I find it challenging to do a rock opera, and try and give the same sort of feeling as you'd get from a heavy guitar-bass-drums format, using just a piano.Adam is a very strong singer, confident and clear. He doesn't wait for a musical offer to set a key, and he changes keys/feels at the perfect time. I managed to find his opening key pretty quickly, but there are other times (eg when his dad first makes an appearance) where you can clearly hear me hunting for his key. Adam carries on confidently, but I think the absence of music lets the opera down for a while. Once again, what I wouldn't give for perfect pitch.This is not a textbook-perfect opera, but there are a few magical moments that I really love. My favourite is the piece that takes place around 2:30, just at the point where Tommy begins to understand why he can't read. The "I Can't Tell My Left From My Right" song is a great example of counterpoint, where each singer sets up a particular melody and rhythm for themselves. This is quite similar to the counterpoint technique Michael Pollock describes in his book Musical Improv Comedy: Creating Songs in the Moment. Adam's melody is complex, well patterned, and it is phrased very quickly; Rebecca's is soaring and holds for longer; Simon's is phrased somewhere between the two, and kind of injects itself around the others.Haven't read Michael Pollock's books? Here's a short review: Buy them. If you need more convincing than that, I'll be reviewing both of his improv books soon.Something I harp on about is making sure as a musician you're changed by what is on stage; if you get lost in your own momentum, you're hurting the scene. There's a good example of being changed at 2:20, as Rebecca sings "Tommy I told you" - I had just started to set up the next section, sort of a minor version of the previous section after Tommy figures out he can't read. Rebecca slowed it down with her vocal, so the music discarded that staccato rhythm to match what she was doing.Right at the end, Simon does a really nice narrator voiceover to close the opera. Sadly he used the shotgun microphone, so Adam and Rebecca's closing song (which I suspect was another lovely counterpoint) is lost forever.Download Tommy's Little Boat (mp3, 3.8 mb)This is the fourth entry in a series of recordings of Songs and Operas from Brisbane's Lightning Doubles Theatresports from 1992/1993.