History Main / PayingTheirDues

* The late, great PaulNewman's first screen appearance was a minor role in an episode of the now-forgotten sci-fi anthology ''TalesOfTomorrow''.

* The rock group ''Boston'' had a song about having paid their dues.
--> "''We were just another band out of Boston. On the road and trying to make ends meet...''"

Compare MoneyDearBoy, because even big stars have to pay their bills. If this work is exceedingly terrible and the artist does make it big, these often become their OldShame. Fuel for the eventual RetroactiveRecognition or [[HeyItsThatGuy "Hey, it's that guy/girl!"]] reaction.

* [=WayForward=] Technologies (named after the company in ''Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'') was a small time game developer spending years making Licensed Games, except most were pretty enjoyable. Eventually, they started to work on a project which would come to be known as VideoGame/{{Shantae}}...

* [=WayForward=] Technologies (named after the company in ''Literature/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'') was a small time game developer spending years making Licensed Games, except most were pretty enjoyable. Eventually, they started to work on a project which would come to be known as {{Shantae}}...

* Referred to in one of the vaudville ''{{Garfield}}'' strips. Garfield gives this as the reason why he's doing an act that universally gets shoes thrown at him.
* ''{{Doonesbury}}'''s character Jimmy Thudpucker (Trudeau's go-to character for lampooning the music industry) once refused to do a "paid my dues" song as being pointlessly whiny, pointing out he was an overnight success at age nineteen. His agent retorts "It's in your contract." A TakeThat against rock music groups with such songs.

** In response [[RealWomenDontWearDresses to criticism]] World Wonder Ring STARDOM received for hiring "gravure idol" Yuzuki Aikawa as a wrestler, company founder Nanae Takahashi promised the general public a chance to see what paying your dues in pro wrestling looked like, ensuring she would personally have Aikawa's handled by the end of her debut match. [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown It wasn't pretty]].

* This seems to be the rule with successful actors, directors, musicians, etc. Therefore in biographies of them, quite often there will be a section detailing about the small work they did before hitting it big. Then the viewer gets the fun of going HeyItsThatGuy when they catch some of the early work of their favorite performer.

* This seems to be the rule with successful actors, directors, musicians, etc. Therefore in biographies of them, quite often there will be a section detailing about the small work they did before hitting it big.

** The first being about the most depressing song in the repertoire. The tune is a pleasant little waltz, but the words are all about a bunch of pathetic losers hanging around a tawdry little bar getting hammered. They're so shocked by someone with talent or potential coming into their mix that one of the song lyrics is them asking the piano man "What, man are you doing ''here''?"

* This seems to be the rule with successful actors, directors, musicians, etc. Therefore in biographies of them, [[SeenItAMillionTimes quite often]] there will be a section detailing about the small work they did before hitting it big.

** The first being about the most depressing song in the repertoire. The tune is a pleasant little waltz, but the words are all about a bunch of pathetic losers hanging around a tawdry little bar getting hammered.

Compare MoneyDearBoy, because even big stars have to pay their bills. If this work is exceedingly terrible and the artist does make it big, these often become their OldShame. Fuel for the eventual [[HeyItsThatGuy "Hey, it's that guy/girl!"]]

* In the commentary on one of the ''Series/RedDwarf'' [=DVDs=], the actors talk about the original actor for Kryten. He asked if they were "legit", meaning if they had paid their dues in small parts on stage before being on TV.

** Which has led, oddly enough, to making a game based on the Adventure Time licence.

** This term is used a *lot* in professional wrestling, partly as a need for experience, and partly as a need to understand locker room etiquette.

** The first being about the most depressing song in the repotoire. The tune is a pleasant little waltz, but the words are all about a bunch of pathetic losers hanging around a tawdry little bar getting hammered.

* ''{{Doonesbury}}'''s character Jimmy Thudpucker (Trudeau's go-to character for lampooning the music industry) once refused to do a "paid my dues" song as being pointlessly whiny. Pointing out he was an overnight success at age nineteen. His agent retorts "It's in your contract." A TakeThat against rock music groups with such songs.

* ScarlettJohansson, by her late 20s has already been one of the most prolific actresses of recent Hollywood, sure has come a long way from her debut in ''{{North}}'', hasn't she?

* ScarlettJohansson, by her late 20s has already one of the most prolific actresses of recent Hollywood, sure has come a long way from her debut in ''{{North}}'', hasn't she?

* ScarlettJohansson, at age 27 already one of the most prolific actresses of recent Hollywood, sure has come a long way from her debut in ''{{North}}'', hasn't she?

* The late, great Paul Newman's first screen appearance was a minor role in an episode of the now-forgotten sci-fi anthology ''TalesOfTomorrow''.

* In the commentary on one of the ''RedDwarf'' [=DVDs=], the actors talk about the original actor for Kryten. He asked if they were "legit", meaning if they had paid their dues in small parts on stage before being on TV.

* [=WayForward=] Technologies (named after the {{Dirk Gently}} books) was a small time game developer spending years making Licensed Games, except most were pretty enjoyable. Eventually, they started to work on a project which would come to be known as {{Shantae}}...

Compare MoneyDearBoy, because even big stars have to pay their bills. If this work is exceedingly terrible and the artist does make it big, these often become their OldShame. Fuel for the eventual HeyItsThatGuy.

Compare MoneyDearBoy, because even big stars have to pay their bills. If this work is exceedingly terrible and the artist does make it big, these often become their OldShame.