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

[Marc valero]

Does anyone else do the Reel Big Fish ska version of “Take on Me?”

We used to do their version of Beer.

 

[fishdude101101]

I need never get old - Nathaniel Rateliff and the night sweats

 

[feterpatch]

For some reason this is one of my favorite songs to cover. My band usually ends the first set with it.

 

[getBAK]

We do "River of Deceit" by Mad Season. There's always one person in the audience who completely loses their shite that we're playing it. On special nights I break out the fretless.

 

[Pauly 4001]

Our mostly cover band worked up a pretty solid and original version of I Am The Walrus which we performed live in competition for a group of "celebrity" judges that included Alan White of Yes who was duly impressed and praised us a whole bunch.
We had dueling lead guitarists replacing the George Martin orchestration.

 

[DirtDog]

 

[REV]

When we were playing out (hopefully again soon) we did a killer version of "Slow Down" by Larry Williams.

 

[gkbass13]

D'Angelo- S*** God**** Mother ****** is a super fun song to cover
also fun tossing out obscure Prince tunes or Outkast- Spottieottiedopalicious

 

[carsbybigd]

Crank it up The Dregs
Left Turn on a red light ( Blackfoots version )
Poison Whiskey Skynyrd
Just may be the 1 The Monkees
I got a line on you ( Blackfoot version)
Still you turn me on ELP
I got your number Hughes /Thrall
Addicted Le Roux
Valleri The Monkees
Louie go Home Paul Revere & Raiders
Tonight Shooting Star
Dont call us Sugar Loaf
Ride my see-Saw. Moody Blues
Wouldnt want to be like you Alan Parsons

 

[petch]

We do several that fit that description. May This Be Love (Jimi Hendrix). Mister You're a Better Man (Yardbirds). Tales of Brave Ulysses (Cream). P.S. I Love You (Beatles). RocknRay said Dance With Me Tonight (from That Thing You Do), and we also do that!

 

[40Hz]

It wasn’t a cover band. But we did cover a few songs just the same. This was one of our favorites, which we played purely because we liked it:



(We also covered E.T.I. - fear the sqwonk! )

 

[swarfrat]

Hope you can count past four

 

[Nick von Nick]

Bloodletting...

 

[design]

It’s been a long time, but the country band I was in used to do Sandy Rogers’ “Go Rosa” from the movie Fool for Love. Always an audience fave.

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

Penny Lane?

 

[[skyraider]]

Children of the Sea by Black Sabbath
Dog and Butterfly by Heart

Sort of oddball picks.

Interestingly I played the intro of Children of the Sea as a intro to a hymn in church for an Easter service when I was in high school. LOL

 

[3bc]

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?

Played Can’t hardly wait by the replacements a month ago. I LOVE playing songs that people know, and like, but have forgotten about and not heard in 15 years. CHW seems to check all this boxes. The old, longtime program director for WXRT, who is a legend in the radio business, was in the audience and came up to us after the show saying how much he liked the replacements tune. Made it all worthwhile!

 

[abarson]

"Fadeaway" - The BoDeans

 

[abarson]

Played Can’t hardly wait by the replacements a month ago. I LOVE playing songs that people know, and like, but have forgotten about and not heard in 15 years. CHW seems to check all this boxes. The old, longtime program director for WXRT, who is a legend in the radio business, was in the audience and came up to us after the show saying how much he liked the replacements tune. Made it all worthwhile!

WXRT for the win!

 

[onestone]

A band I used to be in pre-Covid did this one. We also did the whole Abbey Road Golden Slumbers medley. Need a good keyboard player to really pull those off and, sadly, we lost that guy and couldn't find a suitable replacement. Fun to do those, though.

Yes and it takes a good singer too! I'm blessed to have both (it's not me...) I love those tunes with a lots of dynamics. They really open up creative space for everyone to express themselves. You have to be careful to not fill up all the space though. As some wise person said: Silence is a major part of music and every musician must know when to play it