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That one random song your cover band does that nobody else does.

#201
two fingers said:
OK, this is for standard issue bar bands, not tributes or niche bands. Most of us play hits, or songs that are charting now that might not stand the test of time.

But every now and then you just have to whip out one self-indulgent, random, B-side, relatively-unknown, never-saw-it-coming song and rip it because the band wants to do it.

Sometimes they wind up catching on locally and become a favorite. Such was the case in the late 80s and early 90s when a regionally-popular band I played in (I was a kid and the rest of the band members were in their thirties) played Cowboy Song by Thin Lizzy. (The intro is kind of a downer. Listen at least a minute or so. Skip to 45s if you have no patients.... like me.)

Thin Lizzy Cowboy Song - YouTube

It became one of our most requested songs. I'm not saying the song is "obscure", per say. But your average bar goer, even back then, had no idea who did the song if they had even heard it. So that one worked out well.
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Really, Cowboy Song by Thin LIzzy "obscure"? Man, I was there. This tune was on constant airplay repeat in '76. Takes me right back to the skatepark where this was pretty much one of about 8 tunes constantly wailing over the PA.

I guess they didn't license their back catalog to the oldies conglomerates, so they don't get heard all the time.
 
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#208
Back in the day, when I was actually gigging, I was in an all-original band, but we did two covers:

Queensryche - Take Hold of the Flame
Queensryche - The Lady Wore Black

It helped that we had a singer who was also a product of the same vocal instructor as Geoff Tate, Layne Staley and Ann Wilson (the late Maestro David P. Kyle) and could hit all those notes. :cool:
Also, R.I.P. Nick, I still miss you man. :(
 
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#216
I played in an indie-rock/Americana cover band, 95% of whose repertoire was post-millenium material...but we also covered Pink Floyd's "Breathe" and Led Zeppelin's "Going To California". When I tried to get them to learn a Badfinger tune they objected, saying "We don't wanna do Classic Rock tunes!"
::facepalm::
 
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#220
I always harken back to the cover band I was in between 2001 - 2006. Almost everything we did was usually never covered by other bands in a wide area......but the one song that we did I can almost guarantee no other coverband anywhere did was Headhunter by Front 242.....not only did it always pack the floor, we had gotten a very prestigious gig from doing that song and having the rigt person be in the club that night :)....good memories

DiabolicLow B said:
We do "A Little Respect" by Erasure and man does that song ever get the ladies moving!
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the band above did this song and, yeah, it went over great but I sang it and had to transpose it and the sequence down many steps because the original vox were in the stratosphere......I remember when we started doing it how wonky it sounded transposed but we got used to it and just seemed normal after awhile
 
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