Fool Proof Cover Band Dance Songs

[Marley's Ghost]

This thread is almost 10 years old!

Here's a few crowd pleasers from our setlists.

Uptown Funk
Feel it still - Portugal TM
Cake by the ocean - DNCE
Get Lucky - Daft Punk
Word Up
Play that funky music

 

[sigterm]

Echo and the bunnymen - killing moon & lips like sugar
They started without a drummer even.

Werner Thomas - birdsong
Probably most famous dance song in the world.

Both released about the same time OP created the thread.

 

[juancaminos]

wHalf of these songs listed are 8 piece horn band songs with keys! Why don't we just list a bunch of P funk, Allan Brothers and Greatful Dead stuff? I mean, if we're going big, let's go big.

I would like to see YouTube videos of some of these songs being done by a trio....and not just pulling it off....but getn it done.

I couldn't agree more..

 

[EastCoastThump]

Brown Sugar (People will get out of their wheelchairs to dance to this one.)
Play that Funky Music.

Did you ever listen to the lyrics to "Brown Sugar"?

At the local stadium, the PA operators used to regularly play "Brown Sugar" during pregame warmups for the university's women's basketball team. A few years ago, some students sent the athletic department a copy of the lyrics; they don't play that one any more.

Even ignoring the song's age, like some other songs by then-young rock bands that leaned on a persona intended to shock 1960s' mainstream sensibilities, "BS" is one of those songs I'd be embarrassed now to play.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Did you ever listen to the lyrics to "Brown Sugar"?

At the local stadium, the PA operators used to regularly play "Brown Sugar" during pregame warmups for the university's women's basketball team. A few years ago, some students sent the athletic department a copy of the lyrics; they don't play that one any more.

Even ignoring the song's age, like some other songs by then-young rock bands that leaned on a persona intended to shock 1960s' mainstream sensibilities, "BS" is one of those songs I'd be embarrassed now to play.

You are more politically correct than I. I know the lyrics and I am not offended by lyrics that describe historical accuracies.

 

[EastCoastThump]

You are more politically correct than I.

Hah. Naw, I'm not triggered by history. Middle aged dudes pretending to be once-young British art school kids pretending to be working class bad-boys pretending to be colonial kidnapper-rapist plantation whip-hands as a kind of strutting come-on?

That's not history, that's a pose. And by my lights, that look just hasn't aged well. If you see it differently, have at it.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Hah. Naw, I'm not triggered by history. Middle aged dudes pretending to be once-young British art school kids pretending to be working class bad-boys pretending to be colonial kidnapper-rapist plantation whip-hands as a kind of strutting come-on?

That's not history, that's a pose. And by my lights, that look just hasn't aged well. If you see it differently, have at it.

So you are one of those "everything in the past was bad and insensitive, but we, the modern enlightened, have it all figured out. Okay, fine.

 

[EastCoastThump]

Wow. You seem to be talking to a figment of your own imagination.

 

[the yeti]

jesus dudes, it's just a song lol.

 

[Sav'nBass]

When a Man Loves a Woman is a surefire slow jam..

 

[lfmn16]

jesus dudes, it's just a song lol.

+1

Some people spend their lives constantly on the look out for something to be upset about or offended by.

 

[EastCoastThump]

+1 Some people spend their lives constantly on the look out for something to be upset about or offended by.

Don't want to upset your dream of a world full of people that you're less fragile than, lmfno16, but thinking about what songs make it to your set lists isn't the same universe as being offended.

Songs have to pass a time-and-place test. Imagine you're in Charlottesville, Virginia (which ya might have heard has been dealing with some Nazi and KKK turmoil), picking the warmup playlist for a women's college basketball team, a team on which most of the players are black. Does this whimsical little number fit the bill:

Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields
Sold in the market down in New Orleans
Scarred old slaver knows he's doin' all right
Hear him whip the women just around midnight

Brown Sugar, how come you taste so good?
Brown Sugar, just like a young girl should​

If your take is, "Sure! That's a great song for any occasion!" then ya got no sense.

Same deal with picking your bands' songbook: time and place. Do you play Kanye's "Gold Digger" or Jordan Davis's "Singles You Up" at a wedding gig? Songs like "Brown Sugar" or "Sympathy for the Devil" are like trotting out senile old Hugh Heffner at a gig. If you're pretty sure your crowds will either adore Heffner ("he's a timeless classic who has aged brilliantly!") or think he's an ironically hilarious fossil who is in on the joke, then go ahead and pull the trigger.

If you don't think about your lyrics but your audiences do, you're setting yourself up for stupid problems. If somebody asks, "should I add Brown Sugar to my cover band's setlist? It seems like a kinda cheerful and cheeky dance floor number" then yeah, I want to suggest listening to the lyrics before you decide. Then, if you figure you and your crowds are reliably down with the Brown Sugar persona, have at it. I played that song at biker parties in the 80s, and it killed. Got a cover band these days playing bars, clubs, or parties and are pretty sure that song's a good fit for your crowd? Well, it's a big ole world full of all kinds. I don't want to be at those gigs personally, but I'm glad y'all have a place you can hang out.

 

[lfmn16]

Don't want to upset your dream of a world full of people that you're less fragile than, lmfno16, but thinking about what songs make it to your set lists isn't the same universe as being offended.

Songs have to pass a time-and-place test. Imagine you're in Charlottesville, Virginia (which ya might have heard has been dealing with some Nazi and KKK turmoil), picking the warmup playlist for a woman's college basketball team a most of the players are black. Does this whimsical little number fit the bill:

Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields
Sold in the market down in New Orleans
Scarred old slaver knows he's doin' all right
Hear him whip the women just around midnight

Brown Sugar, how come you taste so good?
Brown Sugar, just like a young girl should​

If your take is, "Sure! That's a great song for any occasion!" then ya got no sense.

Same deal with picking your bands' songbook: time and place. Do you play Kanye's "Gold Digger" or Jordan Davis's "Singles You Up" at a wedding gig? Songs like "Brown Sugar" or "Sympathy for the Devil" are like trotting out senile old Hugh Heffner at a gig. If you're pretty sure your crowds will either adore Heffner ("he's a timeless classic who has aged brilliantly!") or think he's an ironically hilarious fossil who is in on the joke, then go ahead and pull the trigger.

If you don't think about your lyrics but your audiences do, you're setting yourself up for stupid problems. If somebody asks, "should I add Brown Sugar to my cover band's setlist? It seems like a kinda cheerful and cheeky dance floor number" then yeah, I want to suggest listening to the lyrics before you decide. Then, if you figure you and your crowds are reliably down with the Brown Sugar persona, have at it. I played that song at biker parties in the 80s, and it killed. Got a cover band these days playing bars, clubs, or parties and are pretty sure that song's a good fit for your crowd? Well, it's a big ole world full of all kinds. I don't want to be at those gigs personally, but I'm glad y'all have a place you can hang out.

Blah, blah, blah. Don’t presume to know me or my view of the world.

 

[EastCoastThump]

Sorry, that's rich. Who could guess you'd get so easily offended? I'd have figured you were thicker skinned than to get upset by a conversation about a million-year-old song's lyrics.

Dude, it's just a song. Don't go around looking for offense. (Unless that's your thing, in which case, I hope you have yourself a great day doing that.)

 

[Lefty McGee]

Here are some my band plays to get folks out of their seats:
China Grove
Bad Case of Loving You
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
Dirty White Boy
Baby's Liquored Up
Born to be Wild
Runnin' Down a Dream
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
We're an American Band
Mary Jane's Last Dance
Listen to the Music
Little Sister
I Fought The Law
La Grange
Learn To Fly
Honky Tonk Woman
Time Won't Let Me
Can't Get Enough
Everlong
Black Magic Woman

 

[Mark_70]

7 pages ?! Did someone mention "Blister in the Sun" yet ? The first little guitar riff is all it takes to pack the floor..
Regards
Mark

 

[hensonbass]

Right on. We do have a female vocalist, so I have to be kind of cognizant of the lyrics. I love hearing about these songs where you've seen the reaction with your own eyes and it's a consistent one. Thanks for everyone's input.

I may as well not burn another thread, so I'd also like to hear everyone's opinion about a chick singer, and where you draw the line on lyrics that are acceptable to sing. Obviously there's no law against singing any song. I

If it's just changing a few "she's" to "he's", and it's a great song, no problem. I just wonder what everyone else thinks about a female vocalist singing "My Sharona", for example. Even if you could think of a guy's name that rhymed, it just wouldn't be the same.

My acoustic trio (with just upright bass and nylon string guitar) features a lead female singer. Me (bass) and the guitarist sing mostly background vocals.

We however perform mostly male songs - and our girl sings almost all of them. It helps keep things fresh. I think the audience does not care who sings a popular song as long as it sounds good and is compelling.

We have to rearrange our pop/rock songs quite a bit to make up for the lack of a drummer and no electric instruments. I think having a female voice helps sell the all acoustic concept. We have the freedom to tackle any song or genre because it’s going to get turned upside down once we are through with it.

Look Ma - no drummer!

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Hah. Naw, I'm not triggered by history. Middle aged dudes pretending to be once-young British art school kids pretending to be working class bad-boys pretending to be colonial kidnapper-rapist plantation whip-hands as a kind of strutting come-on?

That's not history, that's a pose. And by my lights, that look just hasn't aged well. If you see it differently, have at it.

Middle-aged? Have you checked your calendar lately? These guys are senior citizens. That song came out in 1971. The ages of the band were about 26-28 then. I just re-read the lyrics so they are fresh in my mind. I stand by my statement that it is just historical social commentary. There is nothing derogatory in the lyrics.
The first verse describes a scarred slaver beating slaves. Yes, that happened. I see no value judgments in the lyrics, just a statement of fact.
In the second verse, the white lady of the house is frightened by drums going on all night while the house boy, who would be black, is doing alright, but it doesn't say what he is doing. Again, what is the objection here?
In the last verse, we don't know who "mama" is. The online lyrics identify her as a "Cajun Queen". Cajuns were and are of mixed race. The typical Cajun at that time would have been a mix of the French that came down from Nova Scotia, black slaves, and Spanish. Her behavior appears to be disreputable.
So let's break down the racial profile of the song:

1. Slaver - Likely white, but could be Cajun or even Black
2. Lady of the House - White (English Blood)
3. House Boy - Black.
4. Cajun Queen - Cajun.
5. Brown Sugar - Black.

So only two of the five people in the song are for certain black. There is no denigration of the House Boy. It only states he is doing alright. As to Brown Sugar, the lyrics say she dances well and tastes good. Although a bit salacious, I don't see it as racially demeaning.

So, perhaps you are overreacting or overly sensitive on the subject. But, I would be interested to know what about the lyrics you find so offensive.

 

[Ostie]

Takin care of business. (I know, I know.....)
Knights in white satin— (I’m serious....it’s a great last set slow dance)
Girl crush—(gender bender)
Should I stay or should I go?
Rock this town

 

[hrodbert696]

I'll jump in on "Brown Sugar." I would say it's whitewashing the song to deny that there's racism and sexism there. The song is pure Freudian Id, all about sex and violence and domination and, yes, race. It's an exploitation fantasy. Yes, that slavers beat their victims is an historical fact, and the song doesn't explicitly say "this is great and we want to beat slaves too," but the CHOICE of beating slaves as an image to evoke at the top of a song is revealing. It's a kind of voyeuristic moment, contemplating something you would never actually do but allowing yourself the fantasy. I think you need to be honest about that.

Jagger himself backpedals from the song a lot. He has said that he wouldn't write it today (and not just because he's scared of what other people would think), and he modifies a lot of the lyrics when he performs it live to take some of the rawness out. The Stones often claim in interviews that it was written and recorded very fast, as though it were a passing impulse that took off before they thought better of it and then they were stuck with its success.

The question, though, is whether any of that is a reason not to play the song. The genius of the Stones was precisely that they recognized that rock and roll IS primal and impulsive, that its appeal is that it DOES "rip the lid off the id" (to quote the title of a Crumb comic), that it dares to utter the fantasies that no one would speak of in polite company. Our subconscious does crank out these fantasies and we can either voice them or suppress them. The blues tradition behind it is all about that too. How many old blues songs (and a lot of folk, too, for that matter) is about shooting someone dead, or "I'm gonna rock my baby all night long" - seriously, what does anyone THINK they're talking about?

The thing is, though, that there's a difference between voicing an impulse and advocating for it or acting on it. You can sing a lot of songs that express how angry you are and fantasize about shooting that guy down; but singing such a song is not the same as getting your gun or encouraging people to get their guns. There's a cultural understanding of the stage as a kind of space where passions get expressed and exorcised in a way that prevents society from being damaged by them, like a safety valve. Now, of course, it would be very different if you took the song off a stage and directed it, say, at black women attending a protest march. Recognizing the difference is a matter of cultural awareness and good judgment.

People do in fact have subconscious fantasies to dominate and exploit each other, and those primal urges map onto relations of race, of gender, and of age (how many Stones songs are about young girls?). Wealth and class too, I guess, like all those Renaissance poems about shepherd girls (they seem elegant and sweet today, but in their context they were elite men fantasizing about the availability of the poorest women in agricultural society). The puritanical impulse to simply suppress and deny any expression of that in art and music is, in my view, repressive and prone to backfire. You need to have spaces where it gets expressed, but directed away from harmful acting out.