Does anyone play in an 80's covers/tribute band?

[paul h]

Well it looks like my current lot are not going for the 80's thing

However they have agreed to concentrate on songs from the 80's onwards. I'm not convinced this will be the band for me anyway so maybe I can go 80's with my next band!

[lojo]

We have gigged recently the following to name a few ..

Rio, Girls on Film
Rip it up
Geno
Lip up fatty, special brew
one step beyond
Nite Klub
Fascination
Don't you forget about me
Eye of the tiger
Atomic

Plus others

This stuff always goes down well

[paulears]

Not 80s, but my band are a tribute and we spend ages trying to get what we do, as close the originals as we can, but our rule is that we'll only do a song recorded or written by the original band. This does give us a chance to do some songs made famous by other people from time to time, but these songs are the minority. As our band is looking at an original US band, we do find that popular songs in the US may have not done that well here, and vice versa, plus a few songs we just don't like very much. Sometimes, people ask for them, so in these cases, we smile and do them. In Japan, and other distant countries - they have a completely different popular song list. We have around 40 or so songs which we put into an A, B or C list, so depending on how long we need to play for, we make up the set list from A list first, then adding Bs - C list songs feature in the theatre set - 2 X 50 mins. This system works for us.

[dlloyd]

[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1385365660' post='2287314']
Well it looks like my current lot are not going for the 80's thing

However they have agreed to concentrate on songs from the 80's onwards. I'm not convinced this will be the band for me anyway so maybe I can go 80's with my next band!


[/quote]

I think you should look for that next band sooner rather than later. Your idea is great, although I would modify the approach to picking songs a bit... Maybe look at the top ten for every week for a few years (the late 80s were crap) and pick one or two songs from each week that you'd like to play live. The list you put up has some good stuff, but it's a bit diffuse in terms of style.

[gapiro]

Back to OP.
Yes it works. Yes there is a demand.
yes you need a good keyboard player (or two) who are happy to program etc - you need some understanding of layering and different groupings on the keyboards. Takes a lot of time investment on the Keys side.

I was playing one until a month ago and got "inexplicably" fired ( because the drummer who was the band leader had a mate come back from a 2 year trip around the world .... go figure)
Some of the songs that went down the best:

Haven is a place on earth
Love shack
Walk like an egyptian
Final Countdown
Want to know what love is
Power of love
Don't you want me
Dancing on teh Ceiling
Beat it
Easy Lover
Never gonna give you up
The Best
Addicted to love
I've had the time of my life

[Skybone]

80's covers tips?

Invest in a fretless and work on your Pino Palladino impressions.

And don't forget the BIG HAIR.

[HowieBass]

I've actually just joined the site today (though long been a regular reader) in order to post a reply on here about 80s bands and to be frank I'd also steer clear of most of the songs from the bands you've listed so far... my experience of the times suggests an alternative direction where you might explore music from bands such as Talking Heads, The Cure, The Smiths, Level 42, Simple Minds, Japan, The Stone Roses, Echo And The Bunnymen, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Pixies, The Teardrop Explodes, New Order, The The, REM, Nirvana, The Comsat Angels...

[BigRedX]

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1385812290' post='2292428']
I've actually just joined the site today (though long been a regular reader) in order to post a reply on here about 80s bands and to be frank I'd also steer clear of most of the songs from the bands you've listed so far... my experience of the times suggests an alternative direction where you might explore music from bands such as Talking Heads, The Cure, The Smiths, Level 42, Simple Minds, Japan, The Stone Roses, Echo And The Bunnymen, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Pixies, The Teardrop Explodes, New Order, The The, REM, Nirvana, The Comsat Angels...
[/quote]

That would be my kind of 80s covers band!

[paul h]

[quote name='HowieBass' timestamp='1385812290' post='2292428']
I've actually just joined the site today (though long been a regular reader) in order to post a reply on here about 80s bands and to be frank I'd also steer clear of most of the songs from the bands you've listed so far... my experience of the times suggests an alternative direction where you might explore music from bands such as Talking Heads, The Cure, The Smiths, Level 42, Simple Minds, Japan, The Stone Roses, Echo And The Bunnymen, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Pixies, The Teardrop Explodes, New Order, The The, REM, Nirvana, The Comsat Angels...
[/quote]

Welcome to the forum! I'm glad my thread has got you posting

That's definitely a way to go...more rock based than I would choose but nothing wrong with that. My theory was just based on sticking to number ones, or expanding that to a few other classics that didn't quite make it to the top of the charts. I would love to do some XTC or IT Bites for example but I think the appeal would probably be too limited. I confess there is nothing on your list that particularly appeals to me personally but I am sure it would make for a great set.

With regards to my current band...as I said before they are not really going for the 80's thing as they want to do some more modern stuff too.

However I have certainly got them thinking! It turns out the male vocalist, who in the past has always been the first to suggest Shake a Tail Feather or Do You Love Me, has a love of 90's Dance and RnB! Which is absolutely fine by me

There may be a possibility of a set including stuff by Blue Boy, Adventures of Stevie V, En Vogue, Blackstreet and Destiny's Child! I think I may have finally steered them away from standard pub rock!

Edited November 30, 2013 by paul h