Need Suggestions: New Music

I have a Rock Cover Band, and our new season starts in October.

We primarily play 70s and 80s rock (with a few 'newer' songs), including the following:

Can't You See - Marshall Tucker Band
Long Train Runnin' - Doobie Brothers
The Letter - Joe Cocker
Takin' Care of Business - BTO
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
3 am - Matchbox 20
Every Rose Has It's Thorn - Poison
Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers
I'll Be - Edwin McCain
Losing My Religion - REM
Don't Stop Believing - Journey
All Right Now - Free
Hard To Handle - Black Crowes
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
Johnny B. Goode/Ain't Nothin' But A Hound Dog Medley
Honky Tonk Woman - Rolling Stones
Proud Mary - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Mustang Sally - Wilson Picket
Brown-Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Heart of the Matter - Don Henley
When I See You Smile - Bad English
Feel Like Makin' Love - Bad Company
Maybe - Sick Puppies
Heartache Tonight - Eagle
Bad Case of Loving You - Robert Palmer
China Grove - Doobie Brothers
Desperado - Eagles
Let It Be - Beatles
Heart of Rock and Roll - Huey
It's My Life - Bon Jovi


I'd like to change up some, if not most, of our music, but am having a hard time finding stuff that would a) be fun to play, and b) work with our audiences.

The audiences we play for, which are primarily at the US and British Embassies, are older (30 - 60), and for the most part enjoy what we're doing, but we've played some of the songs for two seasons now, and feel like it's time for a change.

What I'd ask is if there are any suggestions for entertaining and dancible songs, and if not 'dancible' then at least medium to up-tempo. We can find a million slow songs, but finding newer songs that fit our 'style' is turning out to be more difficult than I thought.

Our instrumentation is:

Keyboards
Lead Guitar
Rhythm Guitar
Lead Singer, and some (not stellar, but not bad) background vocals
Bass
Drums
(Lead vocalist also plays acoustic/electric 6- and 12-string guitars)

The full range of guitars is available, so we can cover just about any type of sound (Strat, Tele, LP).

One of the songs I'm looking at is by a group called O.A.R.:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOR37fCaTAY]O.A.R. - "This Town" - YouTube[/ame]

And, we'll likely add this one by Journey:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNG62fULYgI]Journey - Lights - YouTube[/ame]

I would really appreciate any, and all, suggestions. Basically, I feel like we need to 'update' our sound with newer music, but still essentially play the same type and style of music.

Any thoughts, suggestions, etc.?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diT3FvDHMyo]Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence (Remastered Music Video) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tESnMl4xgPU[/ame]

 

You need to add some RUSH first and see where that takes you. RUSH is the source Tom Sawyer, Workin' Man and Spirit of Radio.

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zing.

 

Hmmm... never, ever considered Depeche Mode... thanks!

Mike

 

You're just mad because he did it first...

Sure you don't want to suggest Simon and Garfunkel?



Mike

 

Using an old phrase... I know, right

Reviewing your list and style DM was the first thing that came to mind.

 

'30-60' is 'older'? Yikes!

I better keep my eye open for a sale on canes and walkers

 

uhh... as opposed to 20 somethings... like when we play for the troops.



(I'm 56)

Mike

 

Another group I hadn't really considered... thanks, Bob!

(Hope your business is maintaining, given everything that's going on in Government Contracting right now. I think EVERYONE is feeling the pain)

Mike

 

Any thoughts on the two I posted?

The reason I ask is because my daughter, who really is into music, said the problem with the first one is that no one knows it.

I don't actually see that as a problem, unless it sucks. If we do it well (not an exact cover, but 'our style, but still good'), I think people would enjoy hearing it.

She disagrees. She thinks we should stick with what people know and can sing to.

Thoughts?

Mike

 

We're doing okay Thanks for asking. Chasing some huge programs with a high pwin. We're actually really well positioned and mostly unaffected by sequestration.

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We've also talked about 'updating' some of our music.

For instance, right now, we do Marshall Tucker's "Can't You See" very much like the original, but have thought about changing it to something more along these lines:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmvjUPTBfFg]Black Stone Cherry - Can't You See - YouTube[/ame]

But, I'm afraid we might 'lose' the audience... I don't know.

Mike

 

FREEBIRD!!!!

 

I"ve played most of those songs hundreds of times, going back to the bar days in undergrad. Amazing how those same songs are still the standards.

I'm a pianist/keyboardist, so I lean that way. It's just difficult sometimes because keyboard intensive songs are sometimes too complex for musicians that are 3 chord guys.

These are all songs I've played live with a band, and are danceable, not to difficult, and
compatible with your genre.

Who - Won't Get Fooled Again (fun song to play on keyboards!!)
Back Cherry - Play that Funky Music
S. Wonder - Superstitions (medley with funky music)
Gloria - V Morrison.
Satisfaction - Stones
JUmping JAck Flash - Stones
Night Moves - Bob Segar
I'll Wait - Van Halen
Jump Van Halen (with 1984 intro)
Green Onions - Booker T and the MG's
Linus and Lucy - Vince Guraldi Trio (works great)
Rocket Man - Elton John
You Song - Elton John
Don't let the sun go down on me - EJ.
Faithfully - Journey
Separate Ways - Journey
Piano Man - Billy Joel
Get Back - Beatles
Birthday - Beatles.
Sweet Home Alabam - Skynyrd
Clocks - Coldplay
Walking in Memphis - Mark Cohn
Breakdown Song - Greg Kihn Band
We're an American Band - Grand Funk Railroad
Let it Rock - Bog Segar
Break DOwn - Tom Petty
I won't Back Down - TP
REgugee - TP
Don't Tell me you love (aka Don't tell me I'm Gumby)
What I like about You - Romantics
Should I stay or SHould I go - Clash
Rock and Roll - Zeppelin
Fool in the Rain (great piano/marimba part, and fun to play)
The Way it Is - Bruce Hornsby
Low Rider - War
Louie Louis - KIngsmen
Wild Thang - Troggs/Hendrix
YOu really GOt me - Kinks/Van Halen
PRetty Woman - Van HAlen version
Ain't talkin' bout love - VH
SOmebody Get me a Doctor - VH
Dance the NIght Away -VH
Do you believe in love - Huey Lewis
Power of Love - Huey Lewis
Heart of Rock and ROll - Huey Lewis.
Tom Sawyer - Rush
Subdivisions - Rush
Limelight - Rush (those are about the three easiest Rush songs to play, Tom Sawyer being the hardest of those three to pull off because of the taurus pedal/synth trigger for the opening note)
Rebel Rebel - Bowie
Modern Love - Bowie
Tell it like it is - Neville Brothers/Heart
Barracuda - Heart
Love Walks in - Van Halen
WHy Can't this be love - VH
Best of BOth WOrls - VH
When it's Love - VH
Gimme Some Lovin - Spencer Davis Group
1985 - Wings
Band on the Run - Wings
Call to your Heart - Giuffria
Cherry Pie - Warrant
Turn up the Radio - Autograph


That's just off the top of my head. SOme of these are little more difficult because they require MIDI control to switch presets in the song, unless you have 5 or 6 keyboards or modules MIDI's, or backing tracks. But none of these songs is that hard to pull off, the better backup vocals you have, the better. Make everybody sing, even if they just yell on certain parts. It helps them get more into the music anyway. This is just a good 70's 80's list and they are easy. What's really pain is to teach jazz songs in "fake mode" to older musicians who are stuck in the their ways or backup singers that try to sing everything solo. By comparison.....rock is easy.

Pardon if there are redundancies. If you want the chords for any of those I can give them to you.

I'm about to start using a Tascam DA38 to play multi-track playback into a mix to be mixed with the live signal. I struggled with it for a while. But here it is. As long as it's me or my band playing the parts,it's still the band, it gives more total music, a better musical experience. Feed the drummer a click track and that takes a burdern off the drummer and the band for timing and sequencing. You can also use MIDI programs running off a laptop but that gets into storing sys-ex data and making sure your presets and changed when you pull up a song can be a nightmare, and its weird to play a piano sound when it's supposed to be flute, that's happened too many times. I think the DA38 is going to solve that, and I"m goin gto MIDI sync it to everything else. Now if I can just get the jazz purist drummer to move to Roland V-drums sound checks would be cut in half and the drum sounds would match the songs better! Hope this helps.

 

OAR is a stoner band that had a few somewhat mainstream hits...somehow I doubt that's the target audience at the embassy (I hope )

if you're doing a lot of British ex-pats, I'd look at Oasis, James Blunt, Snow Patrol (not really "upbeat" though), Bush, etc.

what about groups like Guns and Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, some of the 80's/90's hair bands? I see Poison and Bon Jovi on your set list.

 

what about "the weight". could probably do a lot with the bands you already have picking a different song. or even add some newer "classic rock" in the mix like the black crows

 

Great list, Duane... thanks!

We either play, or have played, some of those. The list I gave was actually the set list from our last gig, but in no way represents our entire book.

I'm using three keyboards right now: Roland 700GX, Roland RD-150, and Roland Juno-G. All are midi'ed. But, I haven't spent any time with click tracks or multi-track playbacks. You're right, that would take a load off (both the drummer, and me).

We all sing backups (some better than others), and again you're right, it get's everyone in the band involved more so than just playing, and I can tell you, we spend probably more than 50% of our rehearsal time (one night a week for three hours) working on background vocals.

And, finally, we're already using a full set of Roland v-Drums. What we don't do well is matching the drum sounds to the songs. Like a lot of groups, we've found a few presets that 'work', and pretty much have stuck to those. (And, by the way, you're right... sound checks go a LOT faster. Nothing is more annoying than working on the kick drum sound for 20 minutes).

Thanks again, Duane.

Mike

 

Oh, we play the Hell out of Freebird! It just wasn't on that particular set list, which was for the US Embassy back in March.



Mike

 

We wouldn't try to do exactly what OAR did with the song... we always end up with our own sound. And, have been told many times that people prefer, for instance, our version of "Use Somebody" over the original by Kings of Leon.

We are looking at GnR, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc. and what we're running into more than anything is that decision between trying to emulate the 80s/90s sound, or doing it our way.

Thanks for the suggestions for the Brits... I'll go through their discography and see what we can dig up that they might enjoy... I'll probably have to go back and look at some "Top Ten" lists, and see what was on the charts of the years.

Excellent suggestion on "The Weight." And, we are looking at other songs by the Doobies, BTO, etc., but, I'd like to add, as you said, some 'newer' classic rock. We do one by Black Crowes.

Thanks,

Mike

 

Most welcome. I just took a walk down memory lane!! I suspected that you probably already did a good chunk of those. There's just this understood range of songs that will or will not work.

Gotta say that you've got such a leg up with the V-drums. The sound sets are expanding for those all the time and you can literally taylor a set for every song and just press a footswitch to move to the next preset, lots of potential sound power there. My drummer is a trained jazz drummer, he's a monster technically, and he's great in the studio, very creative. But he is dead set against any type of trigger or V-drums, Octapad, drumkat, etc. It is a source of contention. But....that's a sneaky function of the Tascam 8 track!! I've already told him I'm going to be laying down percussion tracks, and that either he, or me, would be the one putting those parts in the there. I'll trigger a sampler with a MIDI keyboard and be done with it, and have it synced with everything else.

I use a Roland A90 as a master controller with a JV piano card in it, an EMU B3 module, JV-880, JD800, JD-990, Yamaha Sy99, with maybe a laptop running soft synths for layering or original sounds. The laptop has a firewire out to an interface, and MIDI so the audio goes out to the mixer from XLR's running out of a Saffier Pro 40 digital thing. The DA38 is going to be running synced to the Saffire, but running 8 tracks of programmed audio, so it takes a burden off of the computer MIDI and interace as long it will stay synced and I don't suffer any latency issues.

Your setup sounds like you have alot of musical capacity in terms of sounds and material so doing the more complex stuff should not be a stretch. Getting the guitarist to turn down, bassist to sing, and the drummer to use MIDI triggers are my battles. Of course, we're not doing regular gigs either, we play mostly for fun but are asked to do festivals if they want that particular genre.

 

I would think you'd want music that was popular when your target audience was in HS/college. so start with your 30 year old audience, what was popular when they were 18-22 (8-12 years ago)?

dig up some billboard charts from 2001-2005...

btw do you ever have licensing/rights fees issues? just curious how that works.

 

"The Letter" was by the Box Tops. Joe Cocker just slobbered through a cover.

If you want People to get up and dance: Love Shack by the b-52s.

 

Runnin' Down a Dream?
Don't Fear The Reaper
Good Times Bad Times

 

Joe Cocker - When the night Comes
Maybe some Don Henley - Boys of Summer


I constantly hear great songs that have basically been forgotten and often think if I was in a cover band I'd add it to my list. But now I can't think of any of them.