Underplayed catchy covers?

[dr bonkers]

 

[Admin M@]

I was in a band that used to play the Steve Wonder version of the Beatles "We Can Work it Out" followed by the Chili Peppers version of Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious". I used to joke that we should have developed a Beatles version of "Californication".

 

[wmich]

We found playing newer helps not hating the setlist.

Theory of a Deadman - Bad Girlfriend
The Killers - Mr Brightside
The Darkness - Thing called Love
Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire

But if you're sticking with 70-80's

Hold the Line
3 Dressed up as a 9
Werewolves of London

 

[Tonedeaf]

Lola by the Kinks never seems to get old.

 

[TG3K]

Add another vote for Long Cool Woman. We started doing it almost as a joke and it fills the dance floor. Here's a few others that do well with our crowd. They all have easy/borderline boring guitar parts, but I'm more interested in filling a dance floor than showing off my guitar prowess. We have other songs for that, lol:

Beds are Burning - Midnight Oil
Rock'n Me and Jet Airliner - Steve Miller
Sirius/Eye in the Sky - Alan Parsons (We do our own version, loosely inspired by both Alan Parsons' and Marco Fanton's versions.)
Heart of Rock & Roll and Hip to be Square - Huey Lewis (We don't have a keyboardist but I cover organ and horn parts with a Roland GR-55 while the other guitarist does the guitar parts.)

 

[ipressthebutton]

We had an acoustic gig a couple weeks ago and when we played Creep by Radiohead and the entire bar started singing along. It was really cool moment and unexpected. Space Oddity also went over well as did Dear Prudence (Jerry Garcia Band version). Our electric band does Hey Bulldog which is always well received as is Mean Mr. Mustard>Polythene Pam>She Came In Though the Bathroom Window.

 

[jefferski]

Think my next band is only going to play the songs in this thread... good suggestions!!

 

[SJB]

Check out the Pat Travers version of Green eyed lady.

You ain’t worth the salt in my tears
Mama let him Play (Jerry Doucette)
Junior’s Farm (McCartney)
Just What I Needed (Cars) - use synth block!
Talk to Ya Later (Tubes)

More later…

 

[DallasGlenn2005]

For 80’s:
She Sheila - The Producers
Melt with You - Modern English
Don’t Change - INXS
And +1 for The Tubes, Talk to Ya Later

 

[SJB]

@DallasGlenn2005
Love the Producers! You are in a special club.

 

[DallasGlenn2005]

Reaching deep:

• The Kings, This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ to Glide
• Charlie Sexton, Beat So Lonley

Edit: just worked back to page 1 and saw the good Doctor already suggested The Kings. I had the album/vinyl just for that song. Sub in: The Producers: What’s He Got

 

[DallasGlenn2005]

@DallasGlenn2005
Love the Producers! You are in a special club.

I grew up in Austin in the 80’s. Any decent 6th Street cover band had one of their songs in a set. There was a great band called 14K that played at a place call Steamboat that nailed She Sheila.

 

[duzie]

What I like about you - Romantics
What’s going on- 4 non blondes
I don’t know if these are overplayed though

 

[SJB]

We played a lot of Producers in Southern Wisconsin in the early 80s, including She Sheila and What’s he got (.., Who do you think you are). They were great.

 

[Fotukito]

Some we play that might fit your criteria:
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Birthday - Beatles
Funky Town - Psuedo Echo
Good Lovin - Little Rascals
Heart & Soul - Huey Lewis & The News
Just What I Needed - The Cars
No Matter What- Badfinger
Peace Love & Understanding - Elvis Costello
Pump It Up - Elvis Costello
Suffragette City - David Bowie

 

[AtomicJeff]

For 80’s:
She Sheila - The Producers
Don’t Change - INXS
And +1 for The Tubes, Talk to Ya Later

Those are excellent suggestions.
* But it would take a really good guitarist to do the solos to that Tubes' song. *

 

[AtomicJeff]

Check out the Pat Travers version of Green eyed lady.

Junior’s Farm (McCartney)

The Travers version is pretty good.
And as for that McCartney suggestion: EXCELLENT!

 

[SJB]

Junior’s Farm really works!

And I will add:
Any song from Thin Lizzy, but my faves are Jailbreak, The Cowboy Song and The Boys are Back in Town.

 

[DallasGlenn2005]

Those are excellent suggestions.
* But it would take a really good guitarist to do the solos to that Tubes' song. *

You are dead on. I just looked it up. Lukather played lead on the album.

 

[Piing]

UFO - Doctor Doctor. Even those who have never heard the song will vibe with it.
Deep Purple - Black Night
Rainbow - I Surrender, All Night Long, Man On The Silver Mountain
Whitesnake - Fool for your loving (1980 version), Ain't no love in the heart of the city.
The Kinks Van Halen - You Really Got Me,
Roy Orbison Van Halen - Pretty Woman
Joan Baez Judas Priest - Diamonds and Rust

If you want to give a break to the singer: Satriani - Always with Me..You. I used to play it with a cover band, and there was real appreciation. And drummers love to play their 3/4 things over it.

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