What is Risky Business?

How? Well for instance, we don't use a set list, ever. What you hear is a combination of free-association in Ralph's brain and whatever requests come in from the audience. Some of the requests are for songs we've never played before. More often than not, we'll try those too. A lot of them come out pretty good and some even make it into the repertoire. We refer to this as "rehearsal".

Speaking of repertoire, you'll be hard pressed to find a band that knows more songs than Risky Business. Those of you who may see us on successive nights at a club and a Fifties dance will hear completely different shows. And if you happen to catch us at a catered affair, you may be even more surprised at what you hear in the first hour or so.

So how does a band that doesn't rehearse get to know so many songs?

The answer requires a little bit of history. The band started out in 1987, playing Fifties Doo-Wop and Rock 'n' Roll. But through the years since then, with personnel changes came a change in repertoire. Perhaps "change" is the wrong word, since when the club or party requires it, we still do a great Fifties show. But we've expanded into other genres. Our musicians, who are a little younger (perhaps "less old" is more accurate) than our singers, brought their own musical influences with them and with that came a lot of the Sixties and even Seventies material. In addition, four of our musicians were the core of a wedding band for many years, which gave them experience in a wide range of genres and lots of practice taking requests. If one of our singers knows the words to a song, the band can probably play it.

Speaking of singers, you'll hear five different lead vocalists in this band, which has further widened the range of material. And all eight of us sing background at one time or another. With all this experience, it's also pretty easy to learn a song on purpose, and recently we've been trotting out a bunch of them. Depending on the venue, you'll hear R & B, '60s & '70s Rock, Motown and more. On a given night you might hear Dion, the Doobie Brothers, The Temptations and Tom Jones. Or the Coasters, the Band, the Beatles and Wilson Pickett.

Another thing you'll notice is that we don't just grind out the tunes. This band is there to entertain. So you may find Ralph singing from on top of your table or fishing his mike stand out over the audience so you can sing along. Ed will be leading the dance floor in impromptu choreography. Chris will be adding a little bit of soul in some unlikely places. Sal will be trying out his sea legs, wading out into the audience. And our musicians will be cranking out high energy rock 'n' roll.

We have a good time and it shows. Come see for yourself.