Most Beat To Death Covers

[Geoff J]

Here is an exhaustive list I have compiled form mine and many others' experiences. But I'm sure this thread could also be titled

"NEED a list to help your band go over in a Rock dance club ?"

Or

"Songs most requested by barhoppers that keep cover bands employed"

POP/ROCK/BLUES

• 3 Am
• 867-5309
• Ain’t No Sunshine
• All Along The Watchtower
• All Right Now
• Always On My Mind,
• American Band
• American Girl
• Are You Gonna Be My Girl
• Black Majic Woman
• Blister In The Sun
• Born To Be Wild
• Breakdown
• Brickhouse
• Brown Eyed Girl
• Can't You See
• Celebration
• Cocaine
• Cold Hard Bitch
• Cold Shot
• Crazy Bitch
• Crocodile Rock
• Creep
• Daughter
• Desperado
• Dirty Deeds
• Drift Away
• Every Rose Has Its Thorn
• Feelin Alright
• Free Fallin'
• Freebird
• Gimme 3 Steps,
• Gloria
• Hard To Handle
• Harder To Breathe
• Heard It Through The Grapevine
• Hey Jealousy
• Honky Tonk Woman
• Hotel California
• House Of Rising Sun
• Hurt So Good
• I Want You to Want Me
• Jack and Diane
• Jessie's Girl
• Johnny B Goode
• Keep You Hands To Yourself
• KISS
• Kryptonite
• Knockin' On Heaven's Door
• La Bamba
• Last Dance For Mj
• Long Train Running
• Louie Louie
• Low Rider
• Margaritaville
• Miss You
• Move It On Over
• Mustang Sally,
• My Own Worst Enemy
• My Sharona
• Night Moves
• Old Time Rock And Roll
• Play That Funky Music White Boy
• Pour Some Sugar On Me.
• Pretty Woman
• Pride And Joy
• Proud Mary
• Red House
• R.O.C.K. In The Usa
• Rock & Roll All Night
• Roadhouse Blues
• Santeria
• Smooth
• Some Kind Of Wonderful
• Spooky
• Standin On Shakey Ground
• Steal My Kisses
• Stir It Up
• Stormy Monday
• Summer Of 69
• Superstitious
• Sweet Caroline
• Sweet Home Alabama
• Sweet Home Chicago
• Sympathy For The Devil
• Talk Dirty to Me
• Take Me Out
• Takin' Care Of Business
• Tears In Heaven
• Tequila
• Tush
• Use Me
• Voodoo Chile
• What I Got
• What I Like About You
• Wild World
• Wish You Were Here
• Wonderful Tonight
• Wonderwall
• You Shook Me All Night Long

FEMALE VOCAL

• Black Horse
• Bobbie McGee
• Boogie Oogie
• Cherry Tree,
• Dancing Queen
• Gimme One Reason
• Hit Me With Your Best Shot
• I Love Rock And Roll
• I Will Always Love You
• I Will Survive
• Love Shack
• Piece Of My Heart
• Something To Talk About,
• We Are Family
• What’s Up
• Wind Beneath My Wings

JAZZ /R&B/ INSTRUMENTAL
• Blue Bossa
• Chameleon (just the “A” section – most bands are too lazy to cop the “B” section)
• Cissy Strut
• Fever
• Georgia On my MInd
• Girl From Ipanema
• I Wish
• Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
• Mr. Majic
• Satin Doll
• Sittin’ On the Dock Of The Bay
• What You Won't Do For Love
• What's Goin On
• You Are The Sunshine Of My Life

[Richland123]

That quite a guaranteed surefire list. Here are a few more to add.

Abracadabra
All Day And All Of The Night
All The Small Things
Another Brick In The Wall
Don't Fear The Reaper
Down On The Corner
Gimme All Your Lovin'
Hanky Panky
Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress
Mony, Mony
Pink Cadillac
Rock & Roll Music
Satisfaction
Sharp Dressed Man
Should I Stay Or Should I Go
Smoke On The Water
Stairway To Heaven
Tainted Love
The Middle
Time Is Tight
Unchained Melody
Whip It
White Wedding
Wipeout
You Really Got Me

[bassteban]

Sweet child of mine? I hate it every time I do it.

Edit: BTW, great OP subtitle.

[dave64o]

You might not like playing them but you could keep yourself booked almost indefinitely playing that list and that list only.

[sobie18]

Wow...I hate to admit but I have almost every one of those pop/rock tunes...

The right band playing these songs with the right groove/feel makes it enjoyable.

[paul_wolfe]

For the UK you can add:

Walking on Sunshine
Dancing Queen
Waterloo
Angels (Robbie Williams)


Brown Eyed Girl - I've played that song about 1500 times. I really loathe it with a vengeance!

[bassteban]

Originally Posted by paul_wolfe

For the UK you can add:

Walking on Sunshine
Dancing Queen
Waterloo
Angels (Robbie Williams)

I so wanna play that song- totally straight. Yeah- there's something wrong w/me.

[gottawalk]

Originally Posted by paul_wolfe

For the UK you can add:

Walking on Sunshine
Dancing Queen
Waterloo
Angels (Robbie Williams)


Brown Eyed Girl - I've played that song about 1500 times. I really loathe it with a vengeance!

Originally Posted by bassteban

I so wanna play that song- totally straight. Yeah- there's something wrong w/me.

Oh, yeah! That and "Rubberband Man"! AAaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[P. Aaron]

That's the money list.

Makes for a rough night for purists.

[9mmMike]

Radar Love seems to be missing.

[Quadcam]

Hey how did you get our song list? LOL.
I dont care if those are beat to death, theres a good reason that they are, people want to hear em.

[JTE]

Hmm... Done to death, yet I have no idea what these songs are, after gigging for 30+ years doing covers.

POP/ROCK/BLUES
• 3 Am
• Blister In The Sun
• Cold Hard Bitch
• Crazy Bitch
• Creep
• Daughter
• Harder To Breathe
• KISS
• My Own Worst Enemy
• Pour Some Sugar On Me.
• Rock & Roll All Night
• Santeria
• Superstitious (unless you mean "Superstiton" by Stevie Wonder)
• Talk Dirty to Me
• Take Me Out
• What I Got
• Wish You Were Here
• Wonderwall
• You Shook Me All Night Long

FEMALE VOCAL
• Black Horse
• What’s Up

JAZZ /R&B/ INSTRUMENTAL
• Mr. Majic (sic)
• What You Won't Do For Love

So, are they really done to death, or just stuff you're tired of?

[rcarraher]

Originally Posted by Richland123

That quite a guaranteed surefire list. Here are a few more to add.

Abracadabra
All Day And All Of The Night
All The Small Things
Another Brick In The Wall
Don't Fear The Reaper
Down On The Corner
Gimme All Your Lovin'
Hanky Panky
Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress
Mony, Mony
Pink Cadillac
Rock & Roll Music
Satisfaction
Sharp Dressed Man
Should I Stay Or Should I Go
Smoke On The Water
Stairway To Heaven
Tainted Love
The Middle
Time Is Tight
Unchained Melody
Whip It
White Wedding
Wipeout
You Really Got Me

How could you miss Bad, Bad, LeRoy Brown

Then there is the entire Eagles song book....

[jaywa]

Originally Posted by dave64o

You might not like playing them but you could keep yourself booked almost indefinitely playing that list and that list only.

I was going to say, I might as well just post my band's entire setlist here. But we're about as busy as we want to be, and getting decent pay.

[jaywa]

Originally Posted by bassteban

I so wanna play that song- totally straight. Yeah- there's something wrong w/me.

I sub for a band that does "Dancing Queen". We tend to take it too fast... but it's still a blast to play and the crowds love it.

[jaywa]

You can add "Black Velvet", definitely.

[AwesomeMcBadass]

There's a lot of those songs I've never seen a band play and would love to.

[jaywa]

If you can play even 70% of the songs on the OP's original list reasonably well, you will work regularly... with your own cover band, and/or as a sub. Knowing these tunes is really the price of admission for steady employment as a cover band bassist.

Love 'em or hate 'em, these are the tunes that club owners expect bands to play and pay them to hear.

[stflbn]

IMHO it would have to be Mustang Sally.

[Geoff J]

Thanks for the posts, guys.

Yup, the trick is to get out of the bars and play those tunes for more money at the better gigs that pay more than subsistence

I have a much better attitude playing that stuff when I know I'm getting paid a couple hundred or more

But when i play jazz/jazz-fusion for free at the jam sessions, I don't mind that at all.

It's funny how the amount I'm being paid affects my mood when playing the BTDC's in the list in the first post, but the money thing doesn't really bother me when I'm playing the music I love , which actually requires a more developed skill set than the BTDC's

Thanks for the tune suggestions, guys