TimR

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1469550172' post='3099302'] I Fought The Law - another song that was more famously covered by The Clash and Green Day than the original by Bobby Fuller. I can't believe this thread has carried on to 9 pages. [/quote] It would have probably only been 8 so far but someone started posting about biscuits or something a few days ago.

Here's a few more: http://www.nme.com/photos/27-classic-songs-you-didn-t-know-were-covers/253033/1/1#1

[quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1469528391' post='3098978'] I'm sure it's not, but how many 80s electronica covers have become rock n roll standards? [/quote] Well rock n roll predates the 80s by about 30 years. My point is these things are cyclical and pretty much repeat every 30 years or so. In the 80s there were a lot of 'originals' bands covering 50s hits and now there are quite a few bands covering 80s tunes. The kids think it's all new.

[quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1469527692' post='3098970'] How about this for a song that pretty much everyone has heard through millions of cover versions (ok, slight exaggeration) yet relatively few know the original jazz trio version by the writer and performer. Well here he is . . . ... [/quote] That's not the only obscure original that's been covered several times. In the 80s lots of the electronica 'bands' were releasing numbers from the early 20/30s.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1469518034' post='3098864'] When I first started out all bands were called groups. [/quote] Whatever happened to beat combos?

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1469513295' post='3098825'] Yup. Troo dat. If you ignore all those pesky blues musicians who didn't just repeat what Robert Johnson played. Oh, you meant pop music only? In that case, troo dat. If you ignore the exceptions. Like 'Move It' by The Shadows, written by Ian Samwell, of The Shadows. [/quote] Perfect example. A song written by someone no one has ever heard of and sung by Cliff Richard. QED .

Before the Beatles came along no one wrote their own songs. Everyone played covers or songs written for them. True dat.

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1469466972' post='3098558'] This is the bit I don't like... '[i]● We also monitor the noise from a number of other locations outside the marquee on an hourly basis to determine if the level of noise is too much (ie. is traveling to our neighbours). While using the decibel monitor is useful some music or vocals travel more than others so please bear with us if we ask you to turn down certain aspects.'[/i] Bass frequencies travel. There's nothing you we can do about that. This means that 200m from the venue, all you can probably hear is bass. If you turn down only the bass, in reaction to this, then within the performance area the band mix will be altered and the bass will probably just disappear. What needs to happen, in these circumstances, is that the whole band needs to turn down, not just the bass. Then the band mix in the venue may be quieter but at least it will be balanced. [/quote] This will be why they have stipulated no bass backline and have provided 18" subs. It's sounds more like they have done their research and know how to control the aspects that will cause a nuisance if they go unchecked.

We do have venues that may have unknown originals multi band night on Thursday, covers band Friday and big name original act on a Saturday.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1469450423' post='3098351'] The person who wrote it must have made some kind of recording to be able to have it covered, even Tab would be sufficient as a 'record' of the song's existence? [/quote] If you're going to take it to that extreme, there are practically no original recordings. Everything exsists as a demo somewhere before it's taken into a studio and worked on. How far do you take it? It's a cover if someone has previously released the song as a commercial recording. Regardless of who originally wrote it. In this context 'Original' refers to the recording and release process. When we are talking about an 'originals' band, the music is original as in it hasn't been recorded by another artist first.

So we have to add in a caveat - for a very small number of cases where the songwriter didn't make the original recording but then later went on to re-record it themselves. In which case the first one is an original, the second one is a cover of the first one as the material is no longer original, even if the artist originally wrote it. The artist still get the credit for originally writing it, but not for making the original recording. It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things as there are thousands of recording artists who release original material that has be written by others. That's just a part of the process you give up when you write for someone who you think will do a better job than you will and make your song more popular than you could (at that point in time).

I'm not sure anyone is getting wound up over anything other than those who keep posting that it's a pointless tread. I've come across originals bands who "don't do covers!", I've never really understood or subscribed to that point of view though.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1469380416' post='3097849'] My first band started out playing stuff we just liked and then became predominantly "original"... we opened our set with an obscure cover, Todd Rundgren's Real Man. We weren't trying to fool anyone, but it was a little saddening to be told it was our best song! [/quote] A great point. That song would have been produced by a professional regardless of what Todd Rundgren had originally written. It would have been through a process to make it commercially viable. I've played a few originals band who have been intent on not sounding commercial. Which, again, is all very admirable, but misses the point of producing pop music. By definition pop music is popular. .

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1469357537' post='3097601'] Are there ANY bands doing a full set of covers taken from obscure albums passing them off as their own or at least not mentioning it in any way? [/quote] There have been several examples of people having hits from obscure covers that they've passed off as their own. I can't remember specifics but Plan B's - Ill Manors was a complete rip off of a German artists song but with the words changed. Then there are songs like Black Hole Sun which were originally significantly obscure enough for people to think the latest version is an original.

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1469353354' post='3097543'] Just curious. If my band decided that we would only perform the B sides to popular record releases (pre-digital of course) and never played outside of that set... would we still be a covers band? I think we would because we are only aware of the B sides as a consequence of the A side being commercially available to the public. Let's not include LP tracks. Please regard this as a "what if?". It is not a feasible notion for earning. [i][size=2]If this thread is annoying you please keep it to yourself and move on.[/size][/i] [/quote] Technically yes. But you'd be wise to mention that they're obscure covers because your audience is going to be very disappointed when they find out they've never heard the songs before.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1469314120' post='3097399'] It's easy fixed if you type with your eyes open. [/quote] It's not immediately obvious on the iPhone. Closest I get is "led by iCastle, Gust0o and Chirac". I usually have to rely on someone PMing me to find out they're a mod.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1469313333' post='3097394'] Because the 4 originals clubs in Milwaukee know who we are and what we are, a cover band. The band you reference sounds like their more than a local originals band. Plus we don't play for free. Most local originals bands do. Blue [/quote] That's a bit different to not being welcome. That's more like not wanting to play them. Local originals band? I can't see any originals band that limits themselves to local gigs playing more than three or four times a year. But then, I suppose, in the UK local is about 30-40miles.

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1469312762' post='3097387'] Why? To prevent unnecessary clutter in the Forum. The same member wishes to post two threads that could very easily and sensibly be condensed into one. Please pm me directly if you have any other comments regarding moderator guidance [/quote] Ah. Sorry. Didn't realise you were a moderator.

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1469312267' post='3097382'] Can I request that there please not be a follow up thread, and relevant conversation be contained to this thread? [/quote] Why? Maybe we should restrict all Blue's posts to one thread? Or perhaps he should have his own sub forum. I don't get you guys. Just I gnore the threads you're not interested in.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1469311175' post='3097371'] We have released 2 CDs of original material, however we probably never play more than 4 originals in a typical 4 hour US bar gig. We're a cover band. We would never be welcome in any of the local original bands clubs. Blue [/quote] Why is that? Most original bands in the UK would play a shared stage arrangement. Several bands in a night maybe 45mins top of material. The last originals band I saw, a couple of weeks ago, also tour the UK and depending on venue either play their own material or covers. Exclusively.

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1469302867' post='3097314'] Yes they are a covers band playing an original in that moment , but it's an original in a covers set If you play more than 48% of covers or originals then you can define yourself as either [/quote] Or neither? Sounds a bit prescriptive. What about 33% if you did 3 sets with one being originals?

I wonder if defining a band in this way is actually possible. A cover is a cover is a cover, so that's pretty well defined... But if a band plays one original tune are they still strictly a cover band. It seems it's only really an interesting point for discussion. It doesn't really have any relevance in real life. It's a strange question, particularly from Blue, who plays in a covers band who also play some of their own material. What if the songwriter of the band leaves but the band continue to play the tunes he wrote?

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1469219848' post='3096839'] Nice post! I'm slowly learning the local scene for bands in the UK is quite different then how it is here in the US. There's even different cultures of bands within the US. The " biker bar" scene, even the "bar band" is much more prevalent in the Midwest (*Cheap Trick, REO Speed Wagon) then on the east coast. Blue *These bands were a big part of the early 70s "bar band" scene in the Midwest prior to becoming famous. [/quote] Each State in the US is practically a different country anyway. When I was working in Motown the bar bands were amazing and all had that classic Motown sound. Down in Florida there's huge Latin influences. Generalising is very hard.

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1469217376' post='3096807'] Sorry Blue but that's complete tosh. There was an attempt to provide a workable definition of 'covers' which was a dreadful oversimplification. The attempted definition existed independently of the size or type of venue. My point stands, and I'll make my own decision as to what is off topic. [size=4] [/size] [size=4]Amused to see you try to rescue dear Carole by describing her as a singer/songwriter and therefore not a band.[/size] [size=4]So when The Beatles (remember them?) recorded Yesterday, were they a band or a singer/songwriter?[/size] [size=4] [/size][size=4]Let me know when you've finished trying to nail jelly to the ceiling. [/size] [/quote] I think you're getting a little bit too literal with that definition. 'a song' pretty much was shorthand for 'prediminantly songs'. Surely everyone would agree with that. Just because you write one song doesn't stop you being a covers band if all your other songs are covers, and vice versa; just because you play one cover song doesn't make you a cover band if all your other songs are original. By original we're taking about 'written by' or 'written for', or even 'first recorded by' the specific artist. The grey area between, I suggest is very grey and pretty wide and varied, and only the band in question are best placed to determine what camp they feel they are in. .

Yes. Lots of pub bands just doing it for themselves. The one thing I found in the US was the bar bands had their volume levels absolutely spot on. It may have been because they have large bars, but you could actually find places to stand where the music was loud enough to dance to and places to sit and eat and talk. Too many pub bands are punishingly loud in the UK.