Many years ago I tried to take a new approach to first dates. Instead of dancing around the “getting to know you” questions, I tried to come up with some fun questions to just throw right out there. And, okay, these questions were only field-tested once on an actual “date”, and it was a New-Coke-level failure. At the end of the evening she asked if she’d “passed my little test” in a tone that did not scream out “call me tomorrow, tee-hee, tee-hee.” Nevertheless, I stand by my questions! Even though I’ve forgotten all of them at this point, but one. Fortunately, it is the greatest “getting to know you” question of all time. Yes, ever. For dates, social events, and even Questions of the Week.
The question is this: If you were going to start a cover band, who would you cover and why?
Just ponder that for a moment. If you need to sit down, I understand. Take A moment. Ponder. Ponder. You see, no matter how you answer, it’s revealing.
If they keep refusing, you’re supposed to start screaming “Give me my muffin! Give me my muffin!” over and over.
The only qualifiers for the answer are: 1 – You must ultimately commit to one. 2 – You do not have to come up with a name for the band, but if you do, you earn bonus points good for free drinks and muffins at Starbucks (just tell them about this post, and don’t take “what the hell are you talking about?” for an answer!).
Here are just a few reasons it’s so great –
-
“And The E Street Band?” “Hate them. Only Springsteen himself.”
The whole “what kind of music do you like,” is, let’s face it, a total waste of a question. “Oh, lots of different kinds.” Yawn. The only way that question would tell you anything is if the respondent said something like, “Bruce Springsteen.” “Oh, you like sort of heartland, bluesy-rock?” “No, I didn’t say I like people like Bruce Springsteen; I like Bruce Springsteen. Period.” “Oh… “
- The “why” element. Obviously, most people are simply going to answer that it’s because the band is great. Fair enough. But those who answer for other reasons are going to really tell you something. Maybe they choose Lynyrd Skynyrd because everyone would want to see it and it’d be fun. Maybe they choose Boston or Poison because it’d be hilarious.
- Lastly, the question prompts more questions. Some good (what would you do in this band? Would you dress up? What songs would you play?) and some bad (Did you get this question from The Byronic Man? And not give him credit? Because that’s intellectual theft.)
And if I want your answers (which I do), I suppose it’s only fair that I start things off: which band would I cover?
Well, thanks for asking.
X. They’re great. Start with the album Los Angeles and go from there.
There are a lot of tempting ones. Styx, for example, because how fun would that be? Plus everyone likes Styx, and the people who don’t like Styx like them most of all. Or X, because they’re brilliant and cool and you could blow the doors off the bar you’re in, and you’d introduce some people to X.
But ultimately, perhaps, I’d have to go with… A Flock of Seagulls.
Yes, you heard me.
Why? Not because they’re one of the truly great overlooked rock bands (they’re not). Not because it’d be kitschy (that’d get old halfway through the first song).
No, it’s because, in part, they did have some songs that were quite good, and that could be really cool with some revamping, adding some power and oomph. But ultimately, it would be because they need someone on their side. This would not be an ironic band, it would be a defense. They’ve become the go-to band for 80’s jokes. They were certainly not the only one-hit wonders, nor the only ones with dated clothes or hair. They became the butt of the jokes primarily – I believe – because of the presence of the word “flock,” (and – to a lesser extent – “gull”) which is funny to say.
Flock. Flock flock flock.
Mike Score was the singer/songwriter for the band. The guy with the hair. See. that’s why he’d want to see my band..
So what does this reveal about me? Well, probably that I’m a bit of a crusader and idealist. Probably think too much. Also that my business sense is totally crap, because no one, except maybe me and Mike Score, would want to see a Flock of Seagulls tribute band, so there’d be absolutely no audience for this band anywhere. But there I’d be, slugging away. Noble? Quixotic? Byronic? Perhaps.
See? And now we’re just that little bit closer.
So, what about you?
The Byronic Man 
October 21, 2012 at 3:49 am
Great post, interesting question too!
I’d probably cover Evanescence, First of all, they are a mostly classical piano driven band, which I find is pretty cool. Second, they’ve got a female vocalist, I’m a sucker for female vocalists. Lastly, they’d be totally fun to play. They’re music is just complicated enough to be challenging. haha
October 21, 2012 at 8:48 am
Interesting choice! Are you familiar with Curve? They’re one of those ‘best bands you’ve never heard of’ bands; hugely influential. Most of the female vocalist/blasting background/alt-rock groups can be traced to them – Garbage, in particular. I highly recommend.
October 28, 2012 at 4:33 am
Never heard them.. I’ll give ’em a try!
October 21, 2012 at 4:40 am
I would revive the Pointer Sisters. Great music, great clothes, great shoes and they wore hats! I just love hats and harmony. No doubt about it the early Pointer Sisters were the bomb.
Of course some of my other idols, it was hard to choose –
Big Brother and the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
Rufus, Chaka Khan
Labelle, Patti Labelle
Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie
Pat Benatar
Hard to choose actually, but at the end of the day had to go with the Pointer Sisters cause they are such fun.
October 21, 2012 at 5:11 am
Ooh, I love Fleetwood Mac and Pat Benatar! You took my choices, Val.
October 21, 2012 at 8:54 am
If I ever have a band we will do a cover of “Shadows of the Night” and it will set clouds on fire.
October 22, 2012 at 5:28 am
I would expect no less.
October 21, 2012 at 8:51 am
See? Great answer. Interesting, unexpected, and provokes a slew of follow-up questions. Pointer Sisters.
October 21, 2012 at 4:54 am
I wanted to choose a band that would make me seem edgy or sophisticated like Grizzly Bear, but my gut reaction is this: Insane Clown Posse. They don’t know how magnets work and neither do I. They have a limited understanding of make-up application. This is me. And it seems easy to mimic something that sounds so, so awful.
October 21, 2012 at 8:55 am
Plus, if you took the stage name of “F***in’ Magnets,” the name of the band could be “F***in’ Magnets and the How Do They Works”
October 21, 2012 at 5:03 am
The “Can’t Carry a Tune in a Tin Pail Brigade”. Not a real band, but it should be.
October 21, 2012 at 5:13 am
What..no photo of you with the Flock of Seagulls hairdo? I am seriously disappointed.
What came to my mind was Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Then Bananarama and The Bangles. I asked my husband and he didn’t hesistate and answered, Whitesnake.
October 21, 2012 at 8:56 am
Those photos exist.
No, I’m not kidding.
No, you will never see them.
October 22, 2012 at 5:27 am
Speaking of setting clouds on fire, I won’t forget you said this.
October 22, 2012 at 5:31 am
Me neither.
B, to say these things is like putting chocolate covered bacon in front of me, then cruelly taking it away.
(by the way…you can always email me the photos…I promise I won’t put it in my blog header. Or blow it up, make it into a mask and wear it as my Halloween costume)
October 21, 2012 at 8:59 am
Oh, and your husband’s quick response further my contention that this is a great question. Because I think this is something people really think about.
October 22, 2012 at 5:33 am
I thought the point of a cover band was to cover a fantastically horrible group so you could really camp it up? Not a good group. That is why I chose The Bangles and Bananarama. If I were to give it serious thought and pick a group I liked? Well, Nirvana, naturally. I could wear fuzzy green sweaters and not wash my hair for months.
October 21, 2012 at 5:20 am
The Byronic Man,
As I only have to commit to one band, the band I would cover would be The Flaming Lips… We’d be called something like The Pink Clowns with Satellite Heads in an Ambulance. Why, you ask? Because I say so. And because I would be singing some of the most original psychedelically delicious lyrics, which would be just like a mantra to remain joyful. And think about it, Le Clown with Wayne Coyne’s coif?
Le Clown would be the lead singer, and wouldn’t have too much trouble channelling the great Coyne as Le Clown cannot sing either. He would wear pink suits, and play with hand clown puppets during the band’s concerts. And as the Flaming Lips cover band, I would not cover the Dark Side of the Moon like Coyne and Co did, oh no I wouldn’t. My Flaming Lips cover band would cover New Order’s Low-Life, and I would hum Elegia, in its entirety.
Le Clown doesn’t do Starbucks since the day they told him he wasn’t allowed to wear his clown nose when using their WIFI. My tears made their coffee taste better, though.
Le Wayne Coyne Clown
October 21, 2012 at 6:28 am
Le Clown is aware of the Flaming Lips musical, no? In production as we speak. http://www.lajollaplayhouse.org/yoshimi
October 21, 2012 at 6:35 am
JM Randolph.
That is news to Le Clown. This will be nothing short of magnificent™. The Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi concert in Montreal was the best goddamn concert I have ever seen, that and the show I put on as a dad in my everyday life. Thank you for the link, JM.
Le Clown
October 21, 2012 at 9:13 am
I still have this PTSD reaction to hearing the mention of Flaming Lips after watching Christmas on Mars. I just start rocking back and forth muttering, “What the hell was that? I mean… I mean, what the hell was that?”
Aside from that, though, I adore them, their story, and their innovation.
October 21, 2012 at 5:21 am
I would pick Foreigner, for the sole reason that “Juke Box Hero” exists. I don’t need any other reason.
October 21, 2012 at 9:01 am
Any of those big arena-rock bands would be a blast, because their music is made for just being over-the-top and fun. Styx, Foreigner, Journey, Boston, Kansas…
October 21, 2012 at 5:22 am
I’m torn between The Black Keys and The White Stripes. Both bands have the color or lack thereof in the name, and both put out enormous amounts of music with only two band members.
The thing about cover bands is that they almost always suck. Covering a band of two people with two other people will very quickly show the audience just how much the cover band sucks, and they can all wander over to the bar and ignore them.
October 21, 2012 at 9:14 am
You know what I think the saddest cover band ever was? When David Lee Roth got so desperate that he started a Van Halen cover band.
October 21, 2012 at 10:22 am
Good point….though cover bands are sad by definition. Once saw a Doors cover band outside of Philadelphia, called “The Crystal Ship”. Jim Morrison was pretty well dead before I took any interest in the Doors, so my choices were pretty limited. Anyway, the lead singer was trying to be outrageous and climbed up into the drop ceiling during the show, and ended up falling through it – funny memory. I’m sure Jim Morrison was somewhere in the afterlife wishing for dead Indians to commune with so he wouldn’t have to witnessed that gem.
October 21, 2012 at 3:46 pm
“Hey, you gonna check out the Sandbar while you’re there?”
“Uh, what’s the Sandbar?”
“Oh, it’s this place that lets sixteen year-old kids drink.”
“Oh, cool.”
“Y’know who’s gonna be there?”
“Uh, who?”
“My favorite cover band, Crystal Shit.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, they do a Doors show, you’d be really impressed”
Crap, I might have to change my answer to Dead Milkmen.
October 21, 2012 at 4:08 pm
I wonder if anyone suggested the Meat Puppets..
October 21, 2012 at 4:12 pm
– I’ve got a car now.
– Ah wow, how’d ya get a car?
– Oh, my folks drove it up here from the Baahamas.
– You’re kidding!
– I must be, the Bahamas are islands. Okay, the important thing here is that, uh, you ask me what kinda car it is…
October 21, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Uh, what kinda car do ya got?
October 21, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Bitchin’ Camaro! Bitchin’ Camaro!
I ran over the neigbors.
Bitchin’ Camaro! Bitchin’ Camaro!
Now I’m in all the papers.
October 21, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Hee! ❤
October 21, 2012 at 5:59 pm
Bitchin Camaro! Bitchin Camaro!
Donuts on your lawn
Bitchin Camaro!Bitchin Camaro!
Tony Orlando and Dawn!
October 21, 2012 at 5:57 am
My 18-year-old thinks this is a smart approach LOL
October 21, 2012 at 6:02 am
Flock is a fun word to say. Also spork, marina, wafting, and flugelhorn.
October 21, 2012 at 9:02 am
“Marina Flugelhorn and the Wafting Sporks” could be your band!
October 21, 2012 at 6:30 am
First, you get points for X. Second, I would totally go see a Flock of Seagulls cover band. If they were playing at the bar that’s in my town so that it was easy for me to get to and I didn’t have to make a night of it. And third, my answer of course is Rush.
October 21, 2012 at 3:54 pm
“Limelight” would be such a great song to cover… except if you were playing it not a rock star confessing the hollowness of it all, it’d just sound weird.
October 21, 2012 at 6:32 am
I’m debating over David Bowie or Prince. THESE were the true 80s icons in my mind. Plus, I look great in skinny jeans, and the idea of portraying a man with huge female tendencies would be such fun! I would love to belt it out to Purple Rain, being that I’m beyond horrible at singing would be memorable!
October 21, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Bowie would be tough because just playing his classics from the late 60’s ’til now would be more than most bands could learn…
October 21, 2012 at 6:43 am
Hmm, what an interesting question. Was this how you scored Mrs. Byronic? What was HER answer?
Well, I would love a Pearl Jam cover band, just cuz I love them, but I would feel horrible when I ruined their fabulous songs by trying to sing them. So I think I’ll go with Bon Jovi. I would obviously have to move to Jersey to make any money off of it, but if I grow my hair out really long like 80s Jon Bon Jovi, I think I could make it work!
Thanks for the idea, B. I was looking for a new career path anyway. And I do love me some Starbucks!
October 21, 2012 at 3:59 pm
I don’t even have to ask Mrs. Byronic. She’d have a U2 band, but the concerts would be terrible because she’d spend the whole time talking about how great they are.
October 21, 2012 at 7:40 am
I would have to go with R.E.M because they are weirdly fun and fascinating.
October 21, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Ooh, good choice. Plus you could call yourselves something like “Dream Stage” or “Deep Sleep.”
October 21, 2012 at 7:43 am
The Time because who can be depressed, or stay in their seat, or not smile when you’re jamming to that 1980’s rock-infused funk?
October 21, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Would you include the thing where he pretends to order dinner on stage? You’d kind of have to…
October 21, 2012 at 7:48 am
I was at a neighbors Christmas party a dozen years ago and I met Matt Walker, original drummer for Filter who eventually toured with Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage. Much to Boom Boom’s (and his wife’s) dismay we spent the night talking about putting together a cover band named Zoom. Some bands j remember- New Order, Psych Furs, Big Audio Dynamite, OMD. Unfortunately it was the beer talking, the band never materialized.
These days thinking it would be awesome to be in a Snoop Dogg cover band. I cant rap, so I’ll take bass.
October 21, 2012 at 4:05 pm
Psychedelic Furs – what a great band. Exhibit A in the argument against 80’s pop bands being hollow and gutless.
October 21, 2012 at 8:00 am
What, you mean I can’t just be like Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and cover ALL THE SONGS?
Okay, fine.
I’d have a punk (maybe 3rd wave, but probably pop-punk, like The Mister T Experience, The Impossibles or The Ergs!) band that would only cover Neil Diamond.
We’d call ourselves The Original Artist, so we could have infomercials on late at night and a list of songs would scroll past with the voiceover saying “And all these songs…as done by THE ORIGINAL ARTIST!”
So people would THINK “Hey, I love that song! Comin’ to America, EFF YEAH!” but then my CD would arrive and it would be too late to return it because my band had already folded into obscurity after our lead singer overdosed on Pixy Stix.
October 21, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes really did have a great idea for ‘covering,’ even if their covers all tend to be, “Hey, here’s a great song – only faster with more distortion!” They choose well, though, songs that benefit from that treatment. Their version of “Science Fiction Double Feature”? Fantastic.
October 21, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Agreed. I think Ain’t No Sunshine is high up there on the list, too. My husband cringes every time it comes on, though.
October 21, 2012 at 8:28 am
I think I would have to say the Beatles. Not because they are my favorite, it’s simply because I have a severe brain defect that prevents me from remembering what group sings which song. My son torments me by playing a song, telling me the group, waiting 1 song, playing the first again, and asking me who it is. I never know. (But I can sing along half way through …)
I am a seriously flawed human.
October 21, 2012 at 4:17 pm
What’d be great is to have a Beatles cover band and then play songs by The Kinks, and The Stones and such and when the audience boos say, “Really? I could have sworn this was a Beatles song…”
October 22, 2012 at 4:14 am
🙂
October 21, 2012 at 10:35 am
How about the Cars. Because you could be an absolutely great band, while standing mostly still on stage and playing classic songs that seem to have pretty simple beats and melodies but somehow still work! Plus you’d be covering one of the pioneers of the New Wave movement! Gonna also have to agree with the folks up above that mentioned Fleetwood Mac. The Lindsey Buckingham years, they were the epitome of 1970’s drug and alcohol fueled, hairy chest showing classic music!! Timeless!
October 21, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Good choice. Cars is another one that gets lumped in to a time period but their songs are just classic pop rock.
October 21, 2012 at 10:48 am
Simple, Fleetwood Mac. The Peter Green, pre-Stevie and Lindsay era. They didn’t sell gazillions of pop albums but they were honest.
October 21, 2012 at 4:21 pm
13-year-old me might have a problem with anything that intentionally leaves out Stevie Nicks…
October 21, 2012 at 6:45 pm
Think Chicago blues played by a band that had the guy who replaced Clapton in the Bluesbreakers on lead. Stevie Nicks is self-involved eye candy. And that voice.
October 21, 2012 at 10:59 am
Pink Floyd.
Great lyrics (mostly with a bit of madness sprinkled on top), great music.
Also, I know most of the lyrics already, so as the singer, I would not have to practise much to remember them :p
Could I use your question for the next large social gathering I go to?
October 21, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Of course! You simply need to make sure everyone you talk to subscribes to my blog and tells 8 friends. That’s all I ask.
October 21, 2012 at 11:14 am
I can’t carry a tune in a bucket, so I’ll probably go with the awful all-girl band The Shaggs. (I would say Shonen Knife, but they’re way cooler than I am.)
Dunno what I’d call my band, but my rock star name has always been “Helena Handbasket.”
October 21, 2012 at 4:23 pm
I’d love to see a Shonen Knife cover and that’s all big, hairy, white men. See how their songs play with that lot singing them.
October 21, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Big hairy guys singing “Twist Barbie”? I’d pay money to see that.
October 21, 2012 at 11:45 am
The Eurythmics or David Bowie’s band.
I love Annie Lennox, the music and theatrics. I’ve always thought that Annie & David might secretly be the same person.
I can’t sing and I can’t play an instrument and my dancing days are over so the only thing I could do is promote them.
October 21, 2012 at 4:24 pm
Yeah, if you’re singing’s not good Lennox and Bowie are pretty high levels. Of course, with autotune…
October 21, 2012 at 12:04 pm
I can’t commit to one band because I’m fickle in my music tastes, but I would have a “best stuff from the 90s” cover band covering indie pop/rock, and novelty rap. I’d probably call it “90s Shades of Grey” to cash in on a recent, inexplicable cult success (I was going to say “literary success” but realised that would be very wrong…)
October 21, 2012 at 4:25 pm
I think an ‘era’ band would be fun. Re-create a certain period from people’s lives.
October 21, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Devo, because then I could wear a yellow boiler suit and a hat like a lego brick. Either them or any band that wore papier mache heads.
October 21, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Devo is a band that would be great for the same reason as X – make people aware of them and how hugely talented and important they were. Also the cool outfits.
October 21, 2012 at 3:00 pm
I would cover Muse, but I would have to work on my range…..lalalalalaaaaaaaaaaa!
October 21, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Byronic Man, good question, glad you asked and, uh, call me in the morning?
Tee-hee…?
I have one problem: I’m already in a sometimes-active cover band. And cover lots of bands. So I would feel like this answer would make me seem pretentious and gloating, although it might (stress on that might) make me seem a bit cooler, especially when I say I’m the bassist. But in the spirit of things, if I could cover one band, I’d probably have to pick Bruce Cockburn. This runs some risks (he’s a thoughtful poet, it’s rather folky/alternative/adult-contemporary but not really avant-garde anymore, and all these things make me seem like a twat to want to imitate – and a danger sign for women), but in my defence I would say he is one of the best guitarists so I have a goal in my own practising, he is proud of his country (and so am I) but also knows he needs to work to fix it, and he’s just got some kickass songs. I think all these things are good qualities to want to imitate in music and life, and if I answered with this I would be being honest, so that’s my defence for who I’d cover.
That being said, if I answered in writing (like here), and she didn’t know him (like you might not), then there would be giggles for his mis-pronounced name as well!
October 21, 2012 at 7:45 pm
If Marie can be a David Bowie double, I’ll pretend to be the Chrissy Hynde in a Pretenders cover band, if only to do a My City Was Gone lament for a lost Ohio.
October 22, 2012 at 4:12 am
I have to take this question seriously, because, seriously, this is one of my fantasies (not the one with Chris Hemsworth, the other one).
I’d cover Bonnie Raitt, because I tell myself I sound like her and know her entire discography. Have to call the band Second Raitt.
October 22, 2012 at 5:21 am
The Cure! Cos when I felt I like a big fat loser in school, becoming a curehead gave me an identity that brought me kudos and respect. Aswell as that, the music is amazing. I did a mean Robert Smith impression in my time too 🙂 Pics available on demand…
Oh and I’d call the band… The Sickness… cos we’d never really do them justice 😀
October 22, 2012 at 5:32 am
Okay. Here’s the thing. I don’t care nearly as much about the band as I do about the possible wordplay. In fact, that’s almost all I care about.
But. I have to pick Bon Jovi. Because obviously.
From there, though, I could think about this for the rest of my life re: word puns. So far I’m mostly focused on food (e.g., Jon Bon Hoagie covering “You Give Subs a Bad Name”…I know. Terrible).
But what’s really making me laugh is the idea of some washed-up hack in a terrible Bon Jovi wig and tight leather pants, beer gut hanging out: Lon Bon Jovi.
Everyone is expecting an awesome cover band (oxymoron? Not in my eyes), and out walks Lon. *slurring* “How youss guyssss doin’ tonight?”
October 22, 2012 at 5:33 am
P.S. – “New-Coke-level failure” – HA! You’re kind of lucky you made it out alive. Sans horse punch.
October 22, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Whoa. Jules. Your idea is perfect! I once WAS Jon Bon Jovi. I looked exactly like him back in the early 90s with the acid-wash jeans and matching jean jacket with big poofy hairdo. I’m not even kidding. I have the photo to prove it. I was thisclose to posting it on my halloween post. But you’ll never see it.
October 23, 2012 at 6:09 am
Darla. Darla Darla Darla. Why oh why are you not trying to go tradesies with B Man here? A Flock of Seagulls hair for Bon Jovi poof?
I thought I could count on you.
October 22, 2012 at 8:45 am
I would cover Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem
Why? Uh, they’re Muppets. EVERYTHING is better with Muppets. They played groovy, man. Maybe I could even recruit a few of the original members since they seem to break up every other movie. And at the end of each set, everything goes nuts. I mean, Gonzo-level nuts. (Oh Gonzo…) Something breaks or Animal goes wacko (again), or perhaps a crowd of rats riding on their pet-chickens comes roaring across the stage.
Being Mr. Dentures and the Dial-Up Craziness would be not only a cover band dream come true, it would guarantee that every gig was an experience. Plus, Muppet fur just looks soft. I could use the extra pillows.
October 23, 2012 at 10:02 am
Believe it or not, I’ve actually thought about this. I want to form a female R.E.M. cover band. We’d be called the Tinfoil Tiaras. You thought I’d go with Shiny Happy People. But you’d be WRONG!
Main reasons why? 1) Michael Stipe sings in my range. 2) There’s enough harmonies to have it be fun. 3) Peter Buck’s chords are fairly straight forward. 7) Speaking of Peter Buck, I’m hopeful that I am somehow distantly related to him since my maternal side were Bucks. 4) How often do you get to play a mandolin riff? 5) We would actually play Shiny Happy People. 6) Since they’ve actually retired, it’d be your only chance to see them live.
October 25, 2012 at 8:48 pm
I wonder what it says about me that I instantly thought of Joan Jett and Diana Krall? Ultimately, though, I think it would be great fun to cover the Blues Brothers.
It *is* a great question and conversation starter.
October 26, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Guns n’ Roses. Because it would be epicly bad and fun! I actually saw them last weekend, which was practically like seeing a Guns cover band since Axl is the only original member and he’s such a has been. But it was awful and crazy awesome at the very same time! It got me thinking about how much fun those songs would be to play. All you have to do is the intro to practically any of their hits and the crowd goes wild!
This is assuming my other band members don’t let me sing, because it’s not pretty. But if my cover band let me sing, it would have to be The Kills. They are just so terribly cool and badass. Plus, I don’t know if Alison Mosshart actually sings or if she just crowls and yowls the whole time. That I can do!
October 27, 2012 at 8:10 am
I’d cover The Small Faces, call the band The Small Face Covers and as part of the costumes we’d actually all cover our faces and that way if we were crap no-one would know who we really were.
November 1, 2012 at 6:59 am
Everyone seems to pick a cool answer to this question. I think I am too, but others may disagree. I’d go for the Backstreet Boys. You’ve got good looks (in minority), good harmonys and vocals, a few decent shimmies. And if a metaphor is needed then I’m the kind of girl who prefers boys from the back street rather than the front 🙂
November 23, 2012 at 6:46 am
Keb Mo, definitely. Except I’m white. And I’m a girl. And my slide skills have much to be desired these days. Okay never mind.
How about Alice in Chains? I like that the crunchy amp sound would totally mask the fact that I play a shitty electric guitar. And I like to swing my head around in a circle while I perform. And it would be less of a requirement to sing all that well. (I’ll keep my shirt on and pass on the heroin, thank you though.)