The Great Entertainer

	It Is Unusual

It's no secret that parties have become more elaborate.

A catered dinner and a bakery cake won't cut it anymore for marking the special events in our lives, and for some, a DJ or cover band won't either.

But couples still want to dance to the romantic tune they fell in love to; boomers hitting their 50th want to rock out to the music of enduring icons.

And youngsters coming of age want to hear the songs they've downloaded on their iPods and cell phones.

To keep the quality of the entertainment in scale with the other elements of the celebration, there's an increasing demand for renowned entertainers -- the original hit makers -- to provide live music for milestone fetes.

The Beat Goes On

It's common for musicians to stop doing parties and weddings as soon as they can afford not to -- the crowds can be inattentive and sometimes downright disrespectful.

Some guests won't stop schmoozing just because the performance begins; others might leave the room if the act isn't to their taste.

As Bob Grabow, CEO of the Grabow Agency, points out: "Well-known artists [usually] play to people who can sing every word of every song, but at private events, they're not playing to their fans." ...