What to cover...

[basskababble]

Before reading all this, I'm asking what popular songs are out there that are structural moronic, like The Sweater Song...

We have a show at Hooters in two weeks. We're being asked to play two separate one hour sets. One around 6 p.m. and another a couple hours after that. We have half an hour of original music, and have a few covers ready to go. That's obviously not two hours of tunes. What else can we pick up in one three hour practice? We don't want to go much further than the 90's or late 80's because as our singer said "those hooters girls weren't even born back then..." There's a Petty tune in there though, so it's obviously not a hard and fast rule...

The current setlist includes:

Nirvana - Territorial Pissing
Misfits - Skulls
(These two covers are in our regular set so I'm assuming we'll use them here)

Won't Back Down - Tom Petty
Undone (The sweater song) - Weezer
Just What I needed - The Cars
That instrumental track from that terantino movie that sounds a bit mexican?

We need more. We're adding:
Song 2 - Blur
Whip It - Devo

What else can we play with one hand tied behind our backs and still sound contemporary enough to get those hooters girls randy? We were thinking of looking at The Strokes. Keep in mind we're a local punk band that's promoting original material. We're changing the sound of nearly all these covers so they sound like we're the ones playing them.

[Mo'Phat]

Originally Posted by basskababble

Before reading all this, I'm asking what popular songs are out there that are structural moronic, like The Sweater Song...

We have a show at Hooters in two weeks. We're being asked to play two separate one hour sets. One around 6 p.m. and another a couple hours after that. We have half an hour of original music, and have a few covers ready to go. That's obviously not two hours of tunes. What else can we pick up in one three hour practice? We don't want to go much further than the 90's or late 80's because as our singer said "those hooters girls weren't even born back then..." There's a Petty tune in there though, so it's obviously not a hard and fast rule...

The current setlist includes:

Nirvana - Territorial Pissing
Misfits - Skulls
(These two covers are in our regular set so I'm assuming we'll use them here)

Won't Back Down - Tom Petty
Undone (The sweater song) - Weezer
Just What I needed - The Cars
That instrumental track from that terantino movie that sounds a bit mexican?

We need more. We're adding:
Song 2 - Blur
Whip It - Devo

What else can we play with one hand tied behind our backs and still sound contemporary enough to get those hooters girls randy? We were thinking of looking at The Strokes. Keep in mind we're a local punk band that's promoting original material. We're changing the sound of nearly all these covers so they sound like we're the ones playing them.

That totally narrows it down!

Try:
Strange Times - the Black Keys
Salute Your Solution - The Raconteurs
7 Nation Army - The White Stripes
Something by AC/DC
Last Caress - The Misfits
For Whom The Bell Tolls - Metallica

PS - Don't expect the Hooters girls to get randy...they really aren't strippers and really are waitresses serving food and drinks for tips. You might see some asses shaking, but it's not like they'll be grinding up on you, jumping up on the bar, or finding the nearest pole to dance with. If you drive the customers away from the TV's and the food, they'll be pissed.

With that in mind...maybe some downtempo jams...

Come as You Are or Polly by Nirvana


Stuff like that.

[Scottgun]

That instrumental track from that terantino movie that sounds a bit mexican?

Misirlou?

Never thought of it as Mexican sounding, but that is my guess.

[EddiePlaysBass]

How about AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" ?
Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" always goes over well, no matter the audience.
Or "Johnny B. Goode" ?
"Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down.
"I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" by Dusty S. or The White Stripes
"WipeOut" by The Surfaris, if your drummer is up for it.

And from another thread: Rockin' In The Free World by Neil Young.

[basskababble]

Originally Posted by Scottgun

Misirlou?

Never thought of it as Mexican sounding, but that is my guess.

That's it! I used the term loosely... and I'm Cuban, so it's ok, Arizona doesn't have to come get me... or do they?!

Funny, I love Last Caress...

I'll suggest some of these to the guys and let you guys know if any stick!

edit:

We're playing in the parking lot, weather permitting, so I don't think the crowd will mind. The girls aren't strippers, I know. I've been dating a bartender for months, so no worries about disrespecting the staff. One of the band members actually works there, so he knows a few. Along with the bikini clad off duty waitresses in the dunk tank... I'm sure we can get one or two to host the set and dance along... in a non stripper sort of way

[jive1]

Some of the "easy" songs mentioned are actually kinda hard if you want to keep the original feel. "Whip It" is a killer for the drummer, requiring him to play fast paradiddles all through the song. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is an easier song for a Metallica tune, but it still has more changes and a different feel than most simple dance tunes. "Just What I Needed" switches up hits on the intro, and there is a half-time section.

Here's some real easy 2-4 chord tunes.

What I Got - Sublime (I-IV vamp all through the song, simple beat)
Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes (same as above)
Gloria - Van Morrison (I - VII - IV, repeat till you get tired of it)
Hey Ya - Outkast (I - IV - V - VIm, simple beat, very repetitive but you can easily add/edit)
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz (I - V - VIm - IV)
All Summer Long - Kid Rock (V - IV - I ad nauseum)
Kiss - Prince (Basic blues progression, very funky)
Groove Is In the Heart - Deelite (I - IV)
Mountain Song - Janes Addiction (VII-I III-I VII-I throughout, VII on the middle)
Stop - Janes Addiction (I for intro, I - III- IV)
Bad to the Bone - George Thorogood (Chicago style blues)
Anything by the Sex Pistols or Ramones, all of them only have 4 chords at the most with a simple beat.

[steamthief]

Do some Kings of Leon, Weezer, Green Day. None of those should be overly complicated to learn rather quickly.

[Thor]

I touch myself

Always goes over good with the fairer sex.

[pasta4lnch]

evil ways - santana
joker - steve miller
hey jealousy - gin blossoms
in your eyes - pg
pride - u2
crazy - seal or gnarls barkley

gotta be a million more - i'll be back after my next cup-o-coffee

[MarcusPocus]

Jet - "Are you going to be my girl" seems to go over pretty well. Its easy and somewhat fun to play.

[Richland123]

The Middle - Jimmy Eat World (always goes over and very easy to play)
All The Small Things - Blink 182 (another easy song to learn)

[hrodbert696]

I wouldn't worry too much about the songs being too old for Hooters girls to know them -- a lot of people listen to music from way before their time. I had a student walk into my classroom with Led Zeppelin shirt once and, idiotically, I asked, "Man, do people still listen to Zeppelin?" The 18-year-old stared at me like I was crazy.

But for contemporary things, how about some Franz Ferdinand? "No You Girls" is not too hard, or "What She Came For" is even easier. OK Go, "Do What You Want" works too.

And by the way, are you playing for the Hooters girls or for Hooters customers? There is a wee bit of a difference!

[Floyd Eye]

Caress me Down- Sublime

Santa Monica- Everclear

Loser- 3 something or other

Killing in the Name- RATM

[basskababble]

Originally Posted by jive1

Some of the "easy" songs mentioned are actually kinda hard if you want to keep the original feel. "Whip It" is a killer for the drummer, requiring him to play fast paradiddles all through the song. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" is an easier song for a Metallica tune, but it still has more changes and a different feel than most simple dance tunes. "Just What I Needed" switches up hits on the intro, and there is a half-time section.

Here's some real easy 2-4 chord tunes.

What I Got - Sublime (I-IV vamp all through the song, simple beat)
Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes (same as above)
Gloria - Van Morrison (I - VII - IV, repeat till you get tired of it)
Hey Ya - Outkast (I - IV - V - VIm, simple beat, very repetitive but you can easily add/edit)
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz (I - V - VIm - IV)
All Summer Long - Kid Rock (V - IV - I ad nauseum)
Kiss - Prince (Basic blues progression, very funky)
Groove Is In the Heart - Deelite (I - IV)
Mountain Song - Janes Addiction (VII-I III-I VII-I throughout, VII on the middle)
Stop - Janes Addiction (I for intro, I - III- IV)
Bad to the Bone - George Thorogood (Chicago style blues)
Anything by the Sex Pistols or Ramones, all of them only have 4 chords at the most with a simple beat.

This dude has exactly the right idea. Again, like The Sweater Song, (I - IV - V) all the way through... so we can practice maybe twice and knock it out. It's really up to the singer, but we've added what I've got - Sublime and Jonny B. Good!

And as far as ease... We're all pretty talented fellows, so we'd prefer a challenge... no sense in four bored dudes playing the same crap on stage. We're adding improvisation where possible, and if we're all playing simple junk, like in the sweater song, we're also all throwing down for vocals...

[ding_man]

Sounds like youre in over your head man. Good luck.

[crijan]

Check out those "xxx Goes Punk" records like "Pop Goes Punk" if you want to save yourself time arranging material for your punk band.

[Haysoochreesto]

Originally Posted by jive1

Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes.

I'll second this one as a song that you guys should be able to have mastered by the second time through at rehearsal. For whatever reason that song just brings feet onto the floor every time at every place we've ever played

Also:

Good: Better Than Ezra--a winner 90% of the time

Machine Head: Bush--a winner 80% of the time

All three of those songs can be practiced a couple of times at rehearsal and ready to go by the weekend (or whenever you play)

Oh, and Song 2 by Blur; easy to learn, people dig every time. You may want to add an extra verse and chorus because the thing's so damn short.

That's four songs that'll take up 15-18 minutes and will take about 2 hours to be able to do well.

Good luck

[Haysoochreesto]

Originally Posted by Thor

I touch myself

Always goes over good with the fairer sex.

Do you have a male singer? We've kicked the idea of doing that one around because during breaks when it's playing every chick in the place is into it. But with a male singer it just seems kind of disturbing.

[basskababble]

So far the list is:

Territorial Pissings - Nirvana
Song 2 - Blur
Skulls - Misfits
Undone - Weezer
Whip It - Devo
The Metro - Berlin (More like the Alkaline Trio version, and sung by one of the girls that works there...)
Vertigo - U2
I won't back down - Petty
Fire - Hendrix
Dick Dale- Misirlou

We have another 3 hour practice to nail these and possibly add simple tunes. I'd like to see:
The Middle - JEW
Linoleum - NOFX
FPB - Johny Cash
Johny B. Goode

Ramones, and The beach boys are two bands that we should play songs from... can't decide what tunes though.

yeah, we have a male singer
I'll be sure to check out the punk goes series... that's a great idea.
no, we're not in over our heads... but thanks for the positive advice.

edit:We also have half an hour of original tunes that management, and the band agree will be no problem including in the set. It's not a typical cover band situation. It's a sponsored event in the parking lot, by the bar.

[Mo'Phat]

Also, Say it Ain't So by Weezer is pretty simple and a crowd pleaser.

I like The Cause by NoFX off that same album...a lot easier to pull off and catchier than Linoleum. (Punk in Drublic? if I remember correctly)

Doing any of the Beach Boys greatest hits in a punk style will work. Fun, Fun, Fun or Barbara Ann. Something like that.