The actual work on the songs took quite a while. As mentioned earlier there was the process of listening to the tune to get familiar with the song’s structure. The actual running through the song would vary from band to band. Perhaps the group would go over the tune a few times or the band might spend an hour on the song–playing it over and over stopping to focus on trouble spots. Some would leave trouble spots for the individual player to work on at home. Others would hammer a spot so the member having trouble could “get it” in the context of the band. At times the repetition would be for the singers benefit to get the phrasing and harmonies down. All told, by the time a song was played in front of people it had been worked on for as long as 2 to 4 hours total or longer. When one balances that fact–taking it times 30 or 40 songs a band might do in an evening–and then consider a band might only make 15 to 30 dollars per member for the evening, the earnings per hours worked were but a pittance. Then again, most weren’t doing this just for the money.
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	How songs were picked had many determining factors. Songs that were popular at the moment figured into the selection of material. Early on most group's song lists consisted of Top 40 tunes almost exclusively. Since most of a band’s exposure to music during this early time was through the radio it was natural that the songs a band did were a reflection of that influence. Besides, a group wanted to play in front of people and that meant playing songs the audience could relate to and ones that they would enjoy.    At the beginning bands were a replacement for the record player that had been used for dances. The high school sock hops with a record player playing 45s was the way music was provided for those dances. Due to this it was natural for bands at that time to be focusing on what was popular on Top 40 radio. It was also why it was exciting to have bands playing those songs live. It was a bigger draw than the record player was and it soon became the preferred way to have music to dance to.
				Another thing that entered into the selection of material was the consideration of what other bands in the area were doing for songs. Quite often when band members would go to dances, besides being there to dance, they would also check out the competition. This was not as sinister as it sounds. Songs that got a good reaction from the audience would sometimes find their way into other band’s song lists. Maybe a song would catch the ear of another band’s members and would be worked up. These would usually be album cuts that were as good as the single(s) contained on the album. Sometimes visiting band members would make mental notes of what tunes were played so their band could avoid doing the same material in an effort to be unique.
	What individual members liked was also a factor. If a band stayed together long enough more songs that were album cuts or flip sides of 45s would find their way into a band’s repitoire. The main reason for that was the process of discovering that albums had good tunes other than what was played on the radio. Also it was an effort to differentiate one’s band from other groups. The longer a group stayed together the more focused the material became which was not surprising. After all, band members were usually together because they had a common interest in much of the same kinds of music and songs. As mentioned in one of the quotes earlier, band members introduced each other to new artists which broadened the range of material within a certain style of music and within the band itself.
			Later on some bands even started doing songs that were written by members of the group. This was a somewhat controversial thing to do. Some felt that doing material that no one had heard would be counterproductive to building a popular following and getting jobs. Others felt that it was appropriate to do original material because it offered an audience something new and different making the band unique. It seems that groups that did original material aspired to more than just entertaining a crowd at the local level. Whatever the reason, some bands did original material and some didn’t. Here are some thoughts from various individuals on song selection.
				David Sternquist: (speaking of when he was in Camel) I felt more freedom to do the oddball stuff, songs that were not necessarily what everybody wanted to listen to. That was neat, I liked that.
	Joe Boesen: The first bands I was in wanted to play the most popular music at the time and attract a crowd. (We wanted to be playing music that would) make the kids want to come back (and see us again) because it was fun to listen to us and fun to dance to us. (Speaking of when he was in Jury)–By then we were graduating up to Santana tunes and Woodstock really affected us. We still got into other music...Nobody worked on much original music because we were all either in school or had jobs. So nobody was really motivated to write their own material. It’s kind of a gut wrenching process unless you have the talent or life experiences that bring you into it and come up with lyrics that rhyme somewhat and come up with a melody. There was a time that philosophy changed, but it hadn’t changed yet. By ’74 or ’75 we were still a dance band; what I call a local rock and roll dance band.
				Larry Kelley: (during the days in the Telstars) Most people weren’t thinking original back then. Everything was still too new. Everything was great! Everybody wanted to hear those songs; everybody wanted to do those songs. So nobody was sitting down thinking, “Hey, let’s write our own songs.” That just didn’t cross too many minds.
	Russ Musilek: Keep in mind in the late 60s on KIOA–which was rock radio in Iowa–you would hear Crosby, Stills & Nash; Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Temptations, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield, all those kind of guys. The very white American popular music. Booker T & the MGs–the very Motown (stuff). It was all on one radio station. To mix those things up that way was normal stuff. We weren’t smart enough to give ourselves an identity–that marketing concept came along later; the idea of having a niche. So we were kind of rockin’ which was a big open field in those days and no one really cared. You could say it was country rock or you could say it was rhythm and blues, but we did all the stuff that came on the pop radio.
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