Hey!  In the Bay Area? Getting married?  Got a corporate function? Need a band?  You should hire my co-worker’s band Busta Groove.

Their lead singer has been our Internet Marketing Manager for a while now, and I knew he was in a band but I didn’t know if his band was actually any good.  I went with some people from work to find out for sure, and discovered that Busta Groove is an outstanding 9-piece dance/party outfit. I’m sure that other bands jump back and forth between up M.C. Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This” and Rick James’s “Superfreak,” but these guys do it beautifully.  They lay down an absolutely tight rendition of Prince’s “Controversy.” They hop from “Lady Marmalade” to “Hollaback Girl.”

They put pictures of all their shows on their web site.  Here’s me and my co-workers inbetween sets.

I said to the lead singer, “You guys seem pretty polished. Is there any room for improv or jamming?”

“Oh sure,” he said.  “But it depends on the song.  For example, you can’t really do much with ‘Brick House.’”

“I could see that,” I said. “Either you’re mighty mighty, letting it all hang out...or you’re just not.”

“That’s it exactly.” He looked at me conspiratorially.  “Actually, I am really sick of singing ‘Brick House.’”

On a completely unrelated note, do you know that former chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan received an $8.5 million advance to write his memoirs?  I’m not sure how Penguin Books expects to recoup that investment, but I recommend marketing the book as a college drinking game: take a shot whenever Greenspan says either “And the next quarter we raised the rates” or “And the next quarter we lowered the rates.”