Songs that make you run away

[anaxcrosswords]

Given the prospect of auditioning for a covers band, one of the first steps is getting a set list. Do you have certain songs – ones which seem to appear across most/several bands – that make you say “Thanks but no thanks”?

For me, Comfortably Numb and House of the Rising Sun are instant off-putters.

[Mykesbass]

Summer of 69 is probably my only absolute no.

[Naetharu]

For me it would be pretty much anything by The Rolling Stones - I've honestly given it a good go and even learned to play a few songs to jam with some friends but I just cannot get into it. 'Paint it Black' being an all time low...

And

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1451428236' post='2940470']
Summer of 69 is probably my only absolute no.
[/quote]

Yep, that would put me off too. I had the misfortune to be forced to sit through a gig at a local charity event last summer, where a middle-aged lady sang a whole series of soft-rock/pop tunes slightly out of time and key with the backing-band - and they finished off with an extended and somewhat tortured version of 'Summer of 69'. I didn't much like the song to start with, and not I positively hate it.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Naetharu

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1451460411' post='2940582']
For me it would be pretty much anything by The Rolling Stones - I've honestly given it a good go and even learned to play a few songs to jam with some friends but I just cannot get into it. 'Paint it Black' being an all time low...
[/quote]

I like lots of \stones stuff, but Paint it, Black is dreadful. A mess of a song with no purpose. But then, it's pretty popular so what do I know?

[RickyV]

Hmmm, Summer of 69 was one of the first songs my fledgling covers band learnt as a quick and easy win but this has quickly been discarded without ever having gigged it as a song we cant stand any more! I point blank refuse to allow Sex on Fire on the set list. Fortunately there has been no argument on this point!

[silverfoxnik]

Any song by Jamiroquai...

[JimBobTTD]

Too much of one band. I might be overanalysing things, but this suggests one of the key members wants to be a tribute band but is too embarrassed to admit it. You will need to play the songs exactly as on the record and you will be a live backing tape for the guitarist (it's always a guitarist) to w*** over.

[bonzodog]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1451462128' post='2940587']


I like lots of \stones stuff, but Paint it, Black is dreadful. A mess of a song with no purpose. But then, it's pretty popular so what do I know?
[/quote]

I thought that about paint it black too till we started covering it. Now it's one of our most popular songs and I love playing it. I think it sounds better live than hearing a studio version of it.

[chris_b]

If you're serious about a cover band then no song should be "off limits" unless it gets no reaction or worse still a negative reaction from an audience or your band can't do it justice.

The bottom line is that you're there to satisfy the audience first. As there are thousands of hit songs from the last 60 years there should be a lot of numbers where the audience and you can agree.

I don't like playing Tainted Love but it's a very popular number and a floor filler and sing along for every audience we've played it to.

Cover bands shouldn't ignore a reaction like that.

[Mykesbass]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1451472185' post='2940694']
If you're serious about a cover band then no song should be "off limits" unless it gets no reaction or worse still a negative reaction from an audience or your band can't do it justice.

The bottom line is that you're there to satisfy the audience first. As there are thousands of hit songs from the last 60 years there should be a lot of numbers where the audience and you can agree.

I don't like playing Tainted Love but it's a very popular number and a floor filler and sing along for every audience we've played it to.

Cover bands shouldn't ignore a reaction like that.
[/quote]

Chris I agree with you entirely, except for the above mentioned, and probably for one of the reasons you have included - I just don't think Summer of 69 sounds right without the production effects on the original, making live covers of what is already a pretty dull song sound completely and utterly turgid!

[Lozz196]

I think Chris has nailed it - play songs the audiences want, that way you keep the bookings. However, if you`re rubbish at a song, no matter how good a song, and no matter how much punters like it, at that point don`t play it. In my old punk covers band we sooooooo wanted to do Into The Valley by The Skids, but no matter how hard we tried, we were awful at it. So we didn`t do it.

[chris_b]

[quote name='Mykesbass' timestamp='1451472850' post='2940700']
I just don't think Summer of 69 sounds right without the production effects on the original
[/quote]

Badly played and over played songs are the danger for cover bands, but IMO a good song doesn't need much production.

Like Buddy Holly songs, a good song can be stripped down to the bare bones and it'll still work. You've got to be Mr Pastry (google if you don't know him!) to make a mess of them.

But I like Bryan Adams. I think he writes some cracking songs that stand up even as just 4 chords on an acoustic. Missing You by John Waite is another over played song but It just works with every audience I've seen, especially if you under play it.

The other proviso is that simple songs have to be played well. You can't cut any corners or fudge anything or else they just won't work.

Edited December 30, 2015 by chris_b

[discreet]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1451472185' post='2940694']
If you're serious about a cover band then no song should be "off limits" unless it gets no reaction or worse still a negative reaction from an audience or your band can't do it justice. The bottom line is that you're there to satisfy the audience first. As there are thousands of hit songs from the last 60 years there should be a lot of numbers where the audience and you can agree.
[/quote]

I agree with the above, but unfortunately there are songs I just will [i]not [/i]play and so I don't 'do' covers bands. They include, but are not limited to: Sex On Fire, All Right Now, Mustang Sally, Mr Brightside, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama, All The Small Things, Get Lucky, Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Play That Funky Music, Creep, Smoke On The Water, Hotel California, Superstition, Proud Mary, Wonderful Tonight, Born To Be Wild, Wonderwall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Moves Like Jagger... and yes, bleeding Summer of Fecking 69. There you have it. There are lots more but I can't think of them right now...

Edited December 30, 2015 by discreet

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1451472185' post='2940694']
If you're serious about a cover band then no song should be "off limits" unless it gets no reaction or worse still a negative reaction from an audience or your band can't do it justice.
[/quote]

I don't know - there are thousands and thousands of songs which you can do, so why bother covering a song you don't like playing? If you hate it it is unlikely that you are going to do it justice.

THere are a couple we play which I dislike but they are there from when I joined, would never have agreed to them if I had been there at the time.

[Mattpt85]

I used to be in a band that played summer of 69.

Back then we were young and restless, we needed to unwind.
[font=Verdana, Arial][size=3][center]I guess nothin' can last forever, forever, no! yeah![/center][/size][/font]

[bonnp]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1451475247' post='2940731']
I agree with the above, but unfortunately there are songs I just will [i]not [/i]play and so I don't 'do' covers bands. They include, but are not limited to: Sex On Fire, All Right Now, Mustang Sally, Mr Brightside, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama, All The Small Things, Get Lucky, Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Play That Funky Music, Creep, Smoke On The Water, Hotel California, Superstition, Proud Mary, Wonderful Tonight, Born To Be Wild, Wonderwall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Moves Like Jagger... and yes, bleeding Summer of Fecking 69. There you have it. There are lots more but I can't think of them right now...
[/quote]
Agree with you 100 percent, so bloody boring

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1451475247' post='2940731']
I agree with the above, but unfortunately there are songs I just will [i]not [/i]play and so I don't 'do' covers bands.
[/quote]

Actually that is one of the reasons that I find covers easier to do than originals. Noone gets really upset if you say you don't want to do a cover as its bad.

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1451475247' post='2940731']
I agree with the above, but unfortunately there are songs I just will [i]not [/i]play and so I don't 'do' covers bands. They include, but are not limited to: Sex On Fire, All Right Now, Mustang Sally, Mr Brightside, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama, All The Small Things, Get Lucky, Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Play That Funky Music, Creep, Smoke On The Water, Hotel California, Superstition, Proud Mary, Wonderful Tonight, Born To Be Wild, Wonderwall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Moves Like Jagger... and yes, bleeding Summer of Fecking 69. There you have it. There are lots more but I can't think of them right now...
[/quote]

Well that's a set list that would go down well in any pub in the land!

[discreet]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1451478048' post='2940763']
Well that's a set list that would go down well in any pub in the land!
[/quote]

I'm just not covers band material, obviously.

[Lynottfan]

Cold Play, respect to them as a band but I just cant play misery, that voice is dirge to me, Bono is the same (not as bad but getting there) when the music is wallowing in pity and is nothing but sorrow then I cant play it or listen to it.

[gary mac]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1451475247' post='2940731']
I agree with the above, but unfortunately there are songs I just will [i]not [/i]play and so I don't 'do' covers bands. They include, but are not limited to: Sex On Fire, All Right Now, Mustang Sally, Mr Brightside, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama, All The Small Things, Get Lucky, Honky Tonk Woman, Brown Sugar, Play That Funky Music, Creep, Smoke On The Water, Hotel California, Superstition, Proud Mary, Wonderful Tonight, Born To Be Wild, Wonderwall, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Moves Like Jagger... and yes, bleeding Summer of Fecking 69. There you have it. There are lots more but I can't think of them right now...
[/quote]

I guess I won't be asking you to dep for me then

[discreet]

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1451478817' post='2940770']
I guess I won't be asking you to dep for me then
[/quote]

For you Gary, I'd make an exception - if the price is right.

[anaxcrosswords]

Seems like Summer of 69 is close to universally unpopular! Funny – in all honesty it’s not one I’d object to. If nothing else, it’s lively when performed right. The main problem with the two I quoted is that they’re slow to the point of turgid, really can’t see their entertainment value as live offerings.

It raises an interesting point though. So many bands do ‘classic rock’ (and other) covers, and you read their set lists and see a huge crossover of material, including many songs – Summer of 69 a case in point – that we seem to hate. Yet, as mentioned above, there are countless thousands of great tunes that never get a look in.

A friend suggested that, over the years, we’ve unwittingly created a tried & tested formula that basically starts with one band doing one cover version very well, so everyone else thinks it’s a must-have in the set. As a result, IMHO covers bands haven’t really evolved in the way they could.

[discreet]

[quote name='anaxcrosswords' timestamp='1451479140' post='2940773']
...over the years, we’ve unwittingly created a tried & tested formula that basically starts with one band doing one cover version very well, so everyone else thinks it’s a must-have in the set. As a result, IMHO covers bands haven’t really evolved in the way they could.
[/quote]

That's true, but it's very much a 'supply and demand' situation. Your typical pub or function audience aren't really the kind of people who are 'into' music in the way that a musician or anorak would be and they know [i]exactly [/i]what they want to hear, which is inevitably the music they were hearing when they were at an impressionable age. So that means hit records, and of course these run from the early sixties to the present depending on the age of the listener. Which is why an average cover set is so wide-ranging. At a wedding (for example) you're going to get toddlers to great-grandparents so you need to have something for everyone in the set.

Edited December 30, 2015 by discreet

[RhysP]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1451478048' post='2940763']
Well that's a set list that would go down well in any pub in the land!
[/quote]

Not if I was drinking in the pub it wouldn't.