I've mentioned this before but I sing and play guitar in a (very) part-time cover band. It started as many do, in high school when, like nearly every other red-blooded adolescent male, I was looking to find a way to meet girls. That was 1985. We never tried very hard so it eventually became nothing more than a hobby and an excuse to get together with friends.
Although we have had a revolving Spinal Tap-like cast of drummers, three of us (Spam, Fish and I) have been friends and playing together since high school. In recent year, mostly due to the introduction of children, the number of gigs we play each year can usually be counted on one hand. Aside from the annual gig "up-north" the only reason we still do this is to keep in shape for the class reunion every five years. Our 20th is coming up in September and we will be the featured entertainment on Friday night.
During our college years we took a half-hearted stab at playing original music and even played a few shows as an all original band. I still have the VHS to prove it although time may steal that from me if I don't transfer it to digital soon. Nowadays it's strictly covers and as with most cover bands we play - and are sick of - the typical cover band standards (Brown Eyed Girl, Mustang Sally, Gimme Three Steps). While we have added newer songs to the setlist we rely pretty heavily on 80s music as well as the local bands we grew up on (with a little alt-country thrown in for good measure).
What really makes being in a cover band worthwhile is taking a well known song and completely changing it around, or in our case destroying it beyond repair. We have been known rip through a punk rock version of "Country Roads" by John Denver, given "Here For The Party" by Gretchen Wilson and new set of balls and rendered people speechless with our ballad rendition of "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne. Turning Brown Eyed Girl into a polka is the icing on the cake.
As such I am always on the lookout for new and interesting cover songs. To that end, I hope you like Hurra Torpedo's take on the classic Bonnie Tyler tune "Total Eclipse of the Heart" as much as I did. Enjoy.
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4 comments:
That is wonderful!!!!!
The "Turn Around" bit reminded me of a take on that song that my husband and I have as of yet only talked about. But ours involves two bar stools, a glass of whiskey and a cigarette.
"Turning Brown Eyed Girl into a polka is the icing on the cake."
I believe this would be worth the price of admission anywhere, Sven.
And one of these days, I'm gonna break down and buy speakers for this stupid computer.
Can I be a groupie? I can do the polka! No, really, I can. Don't ask why. That is the first time I have admitted that in a public forum.
That video is classic- If I only knew that banging a heavy metal object onto a stove top could get me into a band- I would have made my millions by now- They never offered that in junior high band class, did they?
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