Evoking fond memories or bad cover band
So, for the first blog entry, I’ve decided to discuss a music topic, one that I hope will generate plenty of “lively” discourse. The topic is bands that continue to tour long after they’ve ceased to be relevant, and whether those bands evoke fond memories of days gone by, or have they become just a bad cover band.
Rolling Stone actually ran an article a few issues back called “The Battle of the B-List Bands” which referred to competing bands touring on the “good name” of former big bands, like L.A. Guns, the Temptations, Guess Who and Asia. The article tried to assess which of the competing bands were truer to the band in its hey-day, either in terms of how many original members were currently touring or which band had more essential members. In some of the examples, there was no contest — of the two touring Asia bands, one has all four original members and the other has a guy who for a while filled in John Wetton’s spot as lead singer. Aptly stated by the writer, “if you have to see Asia, go original”.
This got me thinking of other bands who tour on what might have been a big name at one time, but whose current incarnation sullies the memory of that band. Take the likes of Foreigner, Boston and Styx, massive draws in the second half of the Seventies and early Eighties. Between them, they now tour with three original members (one in each band), and nary one with an original lead singer. While they might replicate the sound of their classic days musically, vocally they do not, and I’ve decided that this is a critical element of what I’ll call the “bad cover band” scenario. You can play the music in a note-for-note replica of the original, but, if the original singer is not there, don’t refer to yourself with the old band’s name. Foreigner was Lou Gramm, and, while Tom Scholz’s guitar is a huge element of Boston’s sound, so was the voice of the late Brad Delp. The music Boston made without him sucked.
Which brings me to the New Cars, who I must say fall into the bad cover band category, just not as bad as the bands I just mentioned. Sure, they didn’t just call themselves The Cars, and, yes, Todd is a whole lot better than the jokers singing with Boston, Foreigner and Styx, but, in the end, New Cars was just a higher-priced bad cover band. I saw the original Cars twice (in the same week in Boston before their first album came out), and the New Cars were much more energetic, but they were still a cover band.
A few bands are on the fence between bad cover band and evoking fond memories. Earth, Wind and Fire hang on because of the vocals of Phillip Bailey, although, with one or two exceptions, no one else was around in the band’s most popular period. The same can be said for Chicago — Robert Lamm and the horn section have been around since the beginning, but, even with guys who have been in the band longer than Terry Kath or Peter Cetera, would you even care about Chicago if it weren’t for the music made, played and sung by Kath and Cetera? I have to mention Journey (I just had to). I saw their latest version in this year’s Super Bowl pregame, the one that featured the fourth lead singer (I think) in the band’s history, and all I could think about was the Brady Bunch episode about Johnny Bravo. This latest guy hits the notes, but that’s about it. Each of these three have levels of bad cover band associated with them, Journey the closest of the three, and they might really be there.
There are a few bands out there who have most of their significant former selves still in the band who should still hang it up (and I invite everyone to add to this list). Take the Who … please. While Pete and Roger may be the brains and face of the band, they lost the heart and soul (Keith and John) long ago, and they should just retire. The same can be said for the Eagles — hell thawed out a long time ago, yet they continue to tour and make new records and take their fans’ money (not mine) to support the lifestyle to which they’ve become accustomed. And, yes, I think it may be time for Yes to hang it up. They plan a 40th anniversay tour, and Jon Anderson has to bow out with a respiratory problem. Rick Wakeman declines because he fears for Jon’s health, and his son takes his place. They hit the road with a Yes tribute band singer as Jon’s replacement, and Chris Squire is struck down and has to have surgery. I think it’s time to take their cue from Bill Bruford, who announced his retirement from performing this year. And, I would still pay to see Bruford … anytime, anywhere. These other guys … not so much.
March 14th, 2009 at 12:20 am
Having experienced a few “reunion” tours that were less than stellar – I would agree with your points that having the original lead singer and having as many of the original players as possible is key. I’ve also decided that reading reviews before deciding to go helps too. I enjoyed the New Cars only because of Todd and I forgot how much I liked some of the songs (some not so much). I also really enjoyed Joe Jackson on the Volume 4 tour because I thought the music held up really well after all those years.
March 14th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Interesting topic. With a whole lot of bands from the 70s and 80s, each tour should be called the “In It For The Money Tour”. The Rolling Stones are a prime example of this. They have recorded maybe ten decent new songs since 1985 – so I would consider them a Stones cover band at this point. And – as you say – if there’s no original lead singer, it’s not worth the ticket price. Even Van Halen only made sense with Dave singing. Three Dog Night stills plays gigs but with only two of the leads. Do they skip Chuck Negron’s songs? Are they then worth watching?
Let’s take the opening of the question: Do bands who are no longer relevant evoke fond memories or are they just bad cover bands? I asked myself this question in Paris when I saw a poster for an upcoming gig by America. Does anybody REALLY want to hear ‘Horse With No Name’? I can’t imagine it. I haven’t seen many bands reunite. However, The Raspberries actually worked for me. And not because of Eric Carmen, but because the rest of the band was much better than I remembered. Most of the bands you mentioned I wouldn’t have bothered to see when they big, so whether they trot their sorry butts back onstage or not wouldn’t excite me. However, individual artists doing a ‘greatest hits tour’ is not so bad. Joe Jackson can do it. Lou Reed can do it. Leonard Cohen can do it. But these guys never went away in the first place. I love the whole concept of touring by playing one of your best loved albums in its entirety. Saw Patti Smith perform ‘Horses’ a while back and would have KILLED to see the Sonic Youth and Built To Spill shows.
However, I think the best approach to the nostalgia tour is Ringo’s. His band is full of names and he plays his hits and they play their hits. It’s a pretty full meal of pop classics, you got to see one of the last remaining Beatles and you can’t help but leave with a smile on your face. I’d rather see that than the two remaining old farts who used to be the Who or Led Zepplin drag themselves across a stage.
March 15th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I asked myself this question in Paris when I saw a poster for an upcoming gig by America. Does anybody REALLY want to hear ‘Horse With No Name’?
One of the reunion tours we saw was America (don’t ask why) and it wasn’t good.
March 16th, 2009 at 4:29 am
Terry – you should never admit to such things.
March 16th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Sometimes we do things for our spouses that we would not normally do…like going to certain concerts.
I’m sure you all have done that?!?
March 16th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
OK…I think I have this new technology figured out, but since I am going to golf spring training on Wednsday, I will just comment. There should be a law against calling yourself the original band name if you do not have at least half of the original members, and one has to be the lead singer unless said singer has ceased to be. Otherwise, you are just another sucky cover band. I also submit that a cover band cannot call themselves “the best” anything. Case in point: The band at the Playwright for the New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade called themselves “London’s hottest Celtic Rock Band”. Now, I knew right away that they were going to suck, because what does a f#@$ing Englishman know about Celtic Rock? But all they did was play cover songs, and poorly at that. And they also committed blasphemy by trying to do the Murphy’s version of Fields of Athenry (I know I spelled that wrong). Thankfully there were alot of police around so I didn’t attempt to physically stop the madness. So if you are going to be a cover band, just say “We are a cover band” and don’t take yourself too seriously. Then everyone will take you for what you are and not be disappointed when you don’t live up to your memories of the band.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
You know, out here in the desert (at least in the countries that have alcohol) all the bar bands are Fillipino cover bands. And they are all pretty damn good. There is no shame in being a cover band. But if you have two of the remaining members of Creedence and neither are John Fogerty – you darn well better change your name.
March 17th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
I have been thinking about this topic for a while since everyttime one of these bands comes around my friends and i always joke about going to see them just for the fun of hearing bad music and making asses of ourselves. My comment is this: to us these are joke bands and some of them, in my opinion were joke bands to begin with. I have never considered America a real band or Foreigner or Styx. They have always been joke bands to me. However there is a large group of people who have been unable to adapt to new music. These are the people going to these shows, the people who still listen to classic rock stations and get excited when they play Low Rider. So if you go to one of these shows and pretend you are going to hear the original band then you have bigger problems than your taste in music. but if you go in thinking it is going to be bad or curbed expectations then you can enjoy yourself. I hate the Cars but i like the new Cars because they have Todd Rundgren and as my dad can attest to i will pay to see Todd do anything because hes great.
At some point the bands that informed my generation are going to doing the samething. When is the soundgarden reunion going to come, Alice and Chains has already tried this with another lead singer but how do your replace Layne Staley? You dont thats why no body went. tool reforms and breaks up every five years but tool is awesome so they are excused.
I vote for the Rolling Stones to call it a day. Was i the only one who thought Shine a Light made them look old a stupid. Just because Martin Scorsese put his name on it doesnt mean its good. its enough rolling stones your songs have been played so much even the good ones arent good anymore. I also think Paul McCartney should hang it up. All of your crowd pointing and standing might work on some people but they arent working on me. go play hey jude in your mansion, stop charging people 100 bones for to hear you play it excatly like you did on the album which we can hear for free on the same classic rock stations that are playing Low Rider.
January 25th, 2010 at 5:27 am
I like your style
April 2nd, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Hi, have you got a Twitter page that I could follow? Bless you