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

[Benjamin Earl]

Video Killed the Radio Star

 

[Danny O Danny]

The last cover band I was in, a couple of years ago, had a few of these...

New Morning Sun by Blue Rodeo, a band well-known in Canada but nearly unknown here in the U.S.


Passing by Again by the Mother Truckers


Tailspin by the Jayhawks

 

[the harp unstrung]

It’s been a decade since I was in a band…4/5 originals, and a handful of covers.
Our guitar player was not a very good singer, but he really put it across when he half-talked Dionne Warwick’s
Walk On By.

I sang Back In The USSR, & Why Don’t We Do It In The Road…and a cool li’l song called
If I Hadana Been High.

https://youtu.be/c6ZKp4K-pks

I’m WAY too white to sing it like it deserves to be sung, but we loved playin’ it.

 

[the harp unstrung]

We are currently opening with this song, Roseanne Cash version.

Great. Tune.

Kick their arses Right outa the box!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

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.

Fast forward to last night. Our drummer (who has very eclectic musical tastes) brings up this song. I had never heard it. I was only vaguely familiar with the band in general, and couldn't have told you what any of their songs were until last night. It fits us like a glove. It kind of rocks (in a laid back 70s kinda way), and has a little bit of funk to it. The harmonies are right up our alley. It's as if the musicians in Mother's Finest were suddenly the backing band for Crosby Stills and Nash.

No Way Out - YouTube

I think we're actually going to do a version of it. We may tailor it a little to meet our band's needs. It's totally out of character for us to pull out a song that isn't a smash. But I think we're gonna give it a try.

How bout you? Does your regular bar band play one or two "out there" songs?

No niche bands, Eh?..Well that leaves me out. But I’ll give you a good one if you have good backup singers. “Hitchhike” by Smokey Robinson. This thing can rock.

 

[the harp unstrung]

[QUOTE="Pdaddy1978, post: Some clubs hired bands that did that and some let you do whatever you wanted to as long as the beer got sold.
But those were different times.[/QUOTE]

Well put.

 

[the_home]

We've recently been trying push a decent rendition of Isley Bro's funk with "It's Your Thing". It's a challenge to have that much cool.

 

[the harp unstrung]

No niche bands, Eh?..Well that leaves me out. But I’ll give you a good one if you have good backup singers. “Hitchhike” by Smokey Robinson. This thing can rock.

We did Hitchhike!

We did Show Me A Man (Who’s Got A Good Woman).

I always connected those songs in my soul.

 

[RocknRay]

C’mon and Dance with Me Tonight—The Oneders—from “That Thing You Do”!

 

[red_rhino]

Not really unknown but not mainstream either; a band I was in used to cover Dixie Chicken. We drew a lot of regulars to our shows, and for some reason they all loved this one, and would sing along (very drunk and very loudly) on the chorus.

 

[StereoPlayer]

We used to play this one…

 

[jnewmark]

We used to do, " That's Life " by Sinatra.

 

[stringthrough]

Here we are performing Mellissa Etheridge's Chrome Plated Heart.

Um, I'm the guy on bass.

 

[juancaminos]

The Friday Song

 

[2F/2F]

A “random” song on a set list would be one pulled out of a hat, not one decidedly put on the list.

 

[Dynomuttasaurus]

 

[theduke1]

Oh man a kolache sounds good right now!

Thanks
You are one of few who knows what a Kolache is
We tour the finest bars and bakeries of NE Wisconsin
Duke

 

[Marc valero]

Voodoo Cadillac - Southern Culture on the Skids

Everyone loves it, nearly no one knows it. Always fun when an occasional hipster comes up and give us a nod to SCOTS.

One of our guitarist brought in Voodoo Cadillac and it does go over well and I just let loose on it.

 

[Marc valero]

country cover bands...you kinda have to stick with the tried and true formula. however, we do play "on the edge" at times during our 4 hours of music...I've never heard another country cover band do these

Six Ways to Sunday - Blackberry Smoke
Amos Moses - Jerry Reed
Fooled Around and Fell in Love - Alvin Bishop
Luxury Liner - Emmylou Harris

We do Fooled Around and Fell in Love now. I saw Elvin and Mickey open for ELO in Dallas when I was in college.

 

[dkelley]

knucklebones by the David Lee Roth band