Cover band

Not to be confused withTribute act.

Acover band(orcovers band) is abandthat plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known ascover songs.New or unknown bands often find the format marketable for smaller venues, such as pubs, clubs or parks. The bands also perform at private events, for example, weddings and birthday parties, and may be known as awedding band,party band,function bandorband-for-hire.A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is often called atop 40 band.Some bands, however, start as cover bands, then grow to perform original material. For example,the Rolling Stonesreleased three albums consisting primarily of covers and then recorded one with their own original material.

Cover bands play several types of venues. When a band is starting out, they might play private parties and fundraisers, often for little or no money, or in return for food and bar privileges, although many professional musicians refuse to do this. With enough experience, a band will begin to "play out" professionally at bars and night clubs. Some cover bands are made up of full-time professional musicians. These bands are usually represented by an entertainment agency.

When cover bands consist of professional musicians, they often do not have a fixed lineup; rather, they are often made up of a flexible lineup ofsession musicians,utilizing "dep" (deputy, that is, stand-in) musicians where necessary. The music industry is considered by many musicians as a relatively difficult industry to make an income in, and cover bands can be a good source of income for professional musicians alongside other work.

Music

Cover bands play songs written and recorded by other artists, usually well-known songs(as compared to "original" bands which play music they themselves have written). There are a wide variety of cover bands – some cover bands play material from particular decades, for example, a 1980s cover band. Others focus exclusively on the music of a particular group, usually iconic groups, and are calledtribute bands.It is not uncommon to find tribute bands performing the songs ofThe Beatles,Led Zeppelin,Kiss,Pink Floyd,Oasis,Duran Duran,Aerosmith,orU2.Some cover bands will play a variety of song styles, from different artists, genres, and decades. Another type of cover band is one that plays songs in a differentgenreor style than that of the original composition (e.g.,jazzversions of what were originallyhard rocksongs).

Some cover bands perform covers that are of a different musical genre from the originals. For instance:

• Richard Cheesecovers rock andrapsongs in the style oflounge music.
• Gregoriancoverspopand rock songs in the style ofGregorian chant.
• Gabbacovers the pop songs of ABBA in thepunkstyle of theRamones(the name is also a reference to the chant "Gabba Gabba Hey" from the Ramones' song "Pinhead" from theirLeave Homealbum).
• Nouvelle Vaguecoversnew wave-era bands with abossa novatwist.
• Me First and the Gimme Gimmesis known for punk covers of other artists, with each album picking a different genre or era (i.e. hits of the 1970s,showtunes,etc.)
• Dread Zeppelinspecialized inreggaeversions of Led Zeppelin songs, with anElvis impersonatoron lead vocals.
• Hayseed Dixiestarted as a "hillbilly tribute toAC/DC"and has become abluegrasstribute band covering many well-known rock bands in their own "rockgrass" style.
• Run C&Wperformed bluegrass arrangements of 1960ssoul music,primarily classics from theMotowncatalog.
• Turetsky's Choir,a former synagogue choir from Moscow is famous for its remakes of music pieces from different styles, ranging from opera classic to pop hits. The band's repertoire usually includes covers only. Some of them are arranged into medleys.
• The Baseballsare a German band, known for doing rockabilly covers of 2000s pop songs, like "Bleeding Love"and"Umbrella".
• UB40were an English band best known forreggaeversions of 1950s and 1960s pop songs.
• Mallavoodoo,a Brazilian band fromRecife,plays instrumental covers of hard rock with keyboards and saxophone.
• DMK,a Colombian band featuringDicken Schraderand his children Milah and Korben, playsDepeche Modesongs using an old keyboard, toys and various household items as instruments.
• Tacois most famous for hisGreat American Songbookshow tunecovers, rearranged assynthpop.
• Ray Charles,particularly from the 1960s onward, devoted much of his recording career to soul covers of pop, jazz and country music.
• Postmodern Jukeboxreimagines popular music in classic pre-rock era styles such as jazz, gospel and rhythm and blues.

Examples of cover acts

• Apocalyptica–Finnishmetalbandwith covers ofMetallica,Faith No More,Sepultura,Slipknot,David Bowie,andPanteraperformed by fourcellistsand adrummer,among original music.
• Billy Murray– One of the early 20th century's most prolific recording artists, his covers of popular songs and show tunes of the time serve as some of the earliest recordings of popular music
• Blue Swede– Swedish cover band, active between 1973 and 1975, best known for their international hit cover of "Hooked on a Feeling"
• Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods– American band whose greatest success came with covers of British hits that failed to chart in the United States
• Camp Freddy– Cover band featuring Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction, and several other successful musicians.
• Clout– Late 1970s South African cover band, best known for their international hit cover of "Substitute"
• Danny Marino- Finnish singer, who in addition to his own English language songs regularly covered hits in theFinnish language
• Dark Star Orchestra– Grateful Dead cover band that recreates the feel of individual Grateful Dead performances.
• Donny Osmond– 1970s teen idol whose greatest hits as a solo artist (and with duets with sisterMarie Osmond) came from re-recordings of 1950s and 1960s pop songs. (In contrast,The Osmondsas a whole typically recorded their own music.)
• Engelbert Humperdinck– English singer who spent much of his early career as a cover artist, including a string of covers of American country songs.
• The Happenings– A 1960s cover band who charted several covers on theBillboard Hot 100charts.
• The Human Beinz– A 1960s blue-eyed soul cover band, one-hit wonders in the U.S. for their version ofThe Isley Brothers'"Nobody but Me"
• Jimmy and the Soulblazers– Covers of 1960s and 1970s Soul music.
• Joe Cocker– The "Sheffield Soul Shouter" has covered music by many artists includingThe Beatles,Dave Mason,andThe Lovin' Spoonful.
• Joe Dassin– American singer who was a major success in France through his French-language covers of English language hits.
• Johnny Rivers– A substantial portion of Rivers's hit discography came from covers of blues and R&B songs.
• Kidz Bop– Children coverpopsongs. Songs with explicit lyrics are adjusted to be more kid-appropriate.
• Liquid Blue– Cover band from San Diego, California that mixes covers and originals and has performed in over 100 countries.
• Lt. Dan Band– a cover band founded byKimo Williamsand actorGary Sinise.The band is named after the character Lieutenant Dan Taylor, whom Sinise portrayed in the filmForrest Gump.
• Richard Cheese and Lounge Against The Machine- aparodycover band created by comedian Mark Jonathan Davis. The band performs popular songs (typically fromrockbands) in alounge,big band,orswingstyle.
• Sha Na Na– Another 1960s and 1970s rock band that playsrock and rollmusic from the 1950s and early-1960s. They burst onto the scene in 1969 when they performed at theWoodstockmusic festival and went on to have their own variety show similar tothe Monkees.
• Three Dog Night– 1960s and 1970s rock band that almost exclusively recorded covers of songs by many different artists and genres.
• Ty Taylor– Ty Taylor and the Powder River Band, a Top 40country musiccover band.
• Vicious White Kids– a short-livedpunk rockband founded by formerSex Pistolsmembers,Sid ViciousandGlen Matlock,that mainly covered songs by Sex Pistols,the Stoogesand most notably Frank Sinatra's "My Way".
• Michael BubléandSusan Boyleare internationally successful and most of their music consists of covers.
• Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain– A ukulele cover band parodying an orchestra who have performed at the 50th anniversaryVE daycelebrations before an estimated audience of 170,000 and atWOMAD,Glastonbury festival,New York'sCarnegie Hall,theSydney Opera Houseand at theBBC Proms 2009 Seasonat London'sRoyal Albert Hallwhich was broadcast live onBBC Radio 3.A typical UOGB concert is an eclectic mixture of songs ranging from theSex Pistols,David Bowie,Blur,Hawkwind,Grace Jones,Clean Bandit,NirvanatoBachandBeethoventoSpaghetti Westernsoundtracks; a mix of music genres, fromclassical musictopunk,grunge,rock and roll,and the whole range of popular music, with parody, musical humour and mixing genres long being part of their act.
• William Shatner- infamous for hisspoken word covers of popular songs

Fictional cover acts

• Rock Starstarring Mark Wahlberg who had a small group that performs cover songs from a fictional band called Steel Dragon. He eventually became the lead singer of the said band when a recorded performance was seen by the band members.
• Detroit Rock Cityis the story of four teenagers in the 1970s who are in aKisscover band called "Mystery."
• Full Housethe character, Jesse Katsopolis is the frontman and guitarist for "Jesse and the Rippers" which was a local rock band who mostly didBeach BoysandElvis Presleycovers.John Stamos,who played Jesse on the series, has been an on-and-off drummer for the Beach Boys touring lineup.
• Saving Silvermanfeatures three friends who are diehardNeil Diamondfans, and they form a cover band called "Diamonds in the Rough."

See also

• Tribute act
• Elvis impersonator
• Entertainment Agency