Cover Wars on VH-1

[kudyba]

Man what a lame show! I caught the first 2 episodes and realized how much of a dork Paul Schaefer really is. I mean, he ends the show with the corniest quote, something like, "Just because you're in a cover band doesn't mean you can't rock..."

 

In case you haven't seen it, they break it up into 3 segments. First a band has to play 30-seconds of a song the judges choose (Sebastian Bach was a judge on the 1st 2 shows--he's still a poseur...) Then they play a random song in a style a judge chooses. A band gets eliminated (based on a point system). Then the last 2 bands play 30-seconds of a song and the other band has to pick up the song and continue right where the band left off (for about 10-15 seconds). The premise is kind of interesting but I bet this show won't last unless they seriously revamp it. The bands usually slop through a couple of the songs and it can sound really bad--which I guess at times can be funny. (Obscure quote: "It's not fun. It's not funny. So you can take that song, and bring it back to Howard and stick it straight up his [beep]").

[Tedster]

I caught a little of it one night...seemed pretty gimmicky to me. The channel didn't stay on long enough for me to modify my opinion...

[Scott from MA]

Yeah, I saw these shows too. I realize that they gave this gig to Paul Schaefer because he's the "king of the cover bands" or something, but he really is an annoying little weasel. You just want to slap him all the time! Then they tried to add in the token "sexy female sidekick", but they failed. She really isn't that attractive, and she's as annoying as Paul.

 

OK... decent premise for a show, IF you have the right bands. There is a BIG difference between a professional cover band, and a bunch of guys who play other people's songs. Follow me on this:

 

Professional cover band - A collection of talented musicians who have dedicated themselves to being able to play virtually any song in any style. They can change their sound from song to song in order to present a good representation of the original. These bands usually make their living playing at resorts, nightclubs, and lounges.

 

Bunch of guys who play other people's songs - A band who (for whatever reason) has decided not to write/play original songs, and instead have picked out 20 or 30 cover songs that fit THEIR taste and style. Each song they play will have the same overall sound, regardless of what the original sounded like. These bands are usually limited to playing at "Joe's Tavern" for $100.

 

So... the "Cover Wars" premise is geared toward professional cover bands. Unfortunately, most of the bands I saw on the first 2 episodes didn't fit this category. They had some punk/metal guys on there, and (of course) when they were asked to play in a "disco style" they couldn't do it with their "Les Paul through cranked Marshall" sound. One of the bands was asked to play in "R&B style" and they obviously didn't even know what an R&B style is! Another was asked to rap, and the guy SANG the lyrics.

 

My wife and I spent our honeymoon at a resort in the Poconos, and almost every night they had a cover band at the club. We saw some of the best cover bands I've ever heard! I spoke to a few of them, and found out that this is their entire career. They play every night at a different resort, and make enough money to live on. So, of course, they take it REAL seriously. My wife jokingly suggested that I should make a career out of playing resorts, and I told her that I could never do it. I'm just not that versatile a player... everything I play sounds like ME! After seeing this show, she finally understands what I mean.

[Tedster]

The "sounds like me" thing definitely has merit. I mean, most of us play covers either part or most of the time, even The Beatles played covers...but, I can't help but think of that other annoying VH1 show "Before they were rock stars" where they make fun of everything a "star" did before they were famous, like "Here they are playing their High School Prom, and boy did they SUCK, but now they're great"...and a lot of the top acts out that they profile did actually kinda suck at playing covers. But they're great at sounding like themselves...

[strat0124]

I saw it....pretty funny actually. The best cover bands I have ever seen or heard were in the Phillipines.......odd as hell. Paul is still a cool guy in my opinion. My fave was when he played on Saturday Night Live, for a Christmas show......Had Robert Plant singing a damn excellent version of Elvis' "Santa Claus is back in town". He must be doing something right, he's been around a long time.

[Mark Zeger]

Like the line from Spinal Tap "there's such a fine line between clever and stupid", there's a fine line between annoying and funny with Paul Shaffer. For me, he falls on the side of funny. Paul's character is the pinnacle of show business smarm...and of course, when I'm talking about "the business", I'm of course speaking about "the industry". It's that perosn who's too hip for the room. But my greatest appreciation for Shaffer is that, along with the rest of the Letterman band, he can play anything with anybody and nail it.

 

Anyone who appeared in Spinal Tap has a lifetime pass to coolness...this sweeping generalization unfortunately encompasses Fran Drescher, who is annoying but unlike Paul Shaffer, Ms. Drescher has no talent whatsoever.

 

That having been said, "Cover Wars" does suck and will disappear from the VH-1 schedule soon. The only game show that was entertaining on MTV or VH-1 was "Remote Control". (The best game show anywhere on cable is "Win Ben Stein's Money".)

[Chip McDonald]

Originally posted by mzeger:

Anyone who appeared in Spinal Tap has a lifetime pass to coolness...

 

This is Truth Incarnate.

 

this sweeping generalization unfortunately encompasses Fran Drescher, who is annoying but unlike Paul Shaffer, Ms. Drescher has no talent whatsoever.

 

I disagree, if for no other reason than the picture on the back cover of her biography. That's talent.

 

(The best game show anywhere on cable is "Win Ben Stein's Money".)

 

More Truth.

 

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New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

[D. Gauss]

<>

 

this is a good thing! keep sounding just like you! i'm not knocking human juke-box cover bands in general (though it is something i could never bring myself to do), but there are a few around here who live the illusion of being the rock stars that they mimic. that to me is loser with a capital L. (and i'm not talking about the dress-alike tribute bands which are kind of amusing, just the guys who think that they are rock stars and not human jukeboxes..) "hey girls, i'm not really eddie vedder, but i sing his songs onstage every night, so sleeping with me is like sleeping with eddie..."

 

-d. gauss

[ha ha faa_Q]

I moved to Atlanta from Philly, where I was in a cover band. Cover bands rule the "tri-state area". Some make more than $5000 a night. Many seem to think that the fact that they're playing all the time, making a hoard of money and walking away from a different girl at the end of each gig earns them the title "rock star".

 

We considered the VH-1 thing, but the coordinator said that he wanted bands to play Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and all that cheez whiz acne-faced pop crap. We said we weren't that kind of band, and we decided not to pursue.

 

This was towards our finale as a full-time cover band - all of us had college degrees and were slowly becoming obsolete in our respective fields, so we decided to bag the band. Me, I wanted to pursue a career in music (for me, playing in a cover band was not my idea of pursuing a career in music, although many others do, and that's cool with me).

 

I never caught the VH-1 cover band thing, although a few of my former bandmates did. They had a good laugh at it. I always thought Paul Shaefer was much less funny than he thought he was.

 

-- Jimmy