Two questions: Lockdown creativity, and when do bands turn into their own tribute acts?

Covid-19 and creativity

For most of the lifetime of this blog, I've managed to post pretty regularly. Sometimes weekly, maybe more like a monthly average over the years. But I've had to be quiet of late. Like the local music scene, I've been squashed flat. Let me explain... 

This blog is, mainly, about local music and musicians, with occasional diversions into radio. And it's been very difficult to write about the local music scene when it's been trashed by lockdown. I don't see a recovery coming our way for at least another six months. But, oh boy, will it ever be bloody marvellous when it comes back, in all its glory.

Distractions and dysfunction

There are personal as well as practical reasons for my inactivity. At the start of lockdown, I plunged head-first into a massively complex and demanding database project for the excellent Radio Classic in Tampere, Finland. Sadly, I didn't go over there – all flights were cancelled during lockdown. That took me through to mid-summer, as I watched our local scene suffer. Along the way, I had to scrap three fine Podcast interviews I had collected with promoters and venue managers, who suddenly had no venues or gigs to work on.

By the time I surfaced from the Finland work, you could forget about gigs. Podcast interviews were out, too, especially for me - I'm one of those rather vulnerable at-risk types. Then, things got scary. I had some serious health issues - not Covid, by the way - as summer shaded into autumn. Thankfully, most of them are in hand now, and I'm feeling more like a human being again.

Mojo partially back at last, I am tiptoeing back to music. I've followed a ton of live streams, some of which have been absolutely inspirational. I've also enjoyed those multi-muso collaborations – check out the 'Tonight Matthew...' series. Here's one. Or how about this sensational compilation of former and current students from the Juilliard School in New York?

Fresh air and a working brain... at last!

But it's only been very recently that I've felt clear-headed enough to take some recent albums and work my way through them. One of them isn't exactly that recent either. I was in Banbury in early March, just before lockdown, to catch up with Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention – the podcast is here. Dave kindly gave me a copy of the band's latest album, Shuffle and Go – it's their 29^th album. Not bad going for a band that's been going since 1967. I finally listened this morning. Gloriously, Fairport are still fresh, experimenting, trying new things, and generally enjoying themselves. They have a loyal fanbase; fans gather each year at Cropredy, the band’s festival (obviously not this year), where, of course, the band will reprise old material.

Who are you making music for?

And that is an interesting conflict. Diehard Fairport fans will clamour for the old material, songs like 'Meet On The Ledge', and some of the vintage Jigs and Reels. But I’m not sure how much the current Fairport still enjoy doing material that their predecessors have been doing for forty or fifty years, even if some members (Peggy, Simon Nicol) have been there for pretty much the whole time. It helps to pay the bills; people love the hits. But do the band still love the very old material, especially given that along with the regulars, there's also lots of new blood?

Turning into your own tribute act

Look at it this way: when do longstanding acts turn into their own tribute bands? In Fairport's case, probably never on record, but you might well see them pay tribute to their illustrious past at Cropredy. I would suggest that The Stones and what's left of Status Quo, Queen and AC/DC are already there. The example set by Robert Plant over the years, most recently with his admirable Saving Grace project, tells me that Led Zeppelin will never go there, no matter how much money is waved at them.

Or consider the brilliant Bruce Hornsby. Does he have to play ‘The Way It Is’ at each gig? Well, his audience may well want him to, but he’s going way beyond all that. He's never stopped experimenting, and gloriously, he is not alone.

Nostalgia pays

Another side of the coin, however, is the revival of 80s and 90s acts, who are being rediscovered by their original and newer audiences. Locally, Pop Will Eat Itself, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Ocean Colour Scene, and The Wonder Stuff, among others, benefited from this trend before lockdown, and will surely return when all this is over. I'm willing to bet that, unlike the Stones and their ilk, none of these bands did more than make a fair living in their heyday; many of them probably not even that. And now that Spotify has ripped the possibility of long-term earnings away, this route is a decent way to go.

I also think that this issue shows up the brutal contrast between local scenes, as perky and vibrant as they may be, and the big business end of music. All Spotify and the other streamers want now is to build numbers any way they can. That very much favours the long-standing veterans, as well as the flashiest of newcomers. The long-standing veterans generate the numbers from their back catalogue; the newbies from their notoriety. I'm willing to bet that despite her party people negative publicity, Rita Ora's streaming numbers are up. But right now, the local scene can, as usual, hardly get a shout out, and that, too, filters back into streaming figures.

When this is over, I'll find you and hug you

What a mess. I can't wait for all this to be over. I dream of sitting in a boozer, pint in front of me, surrounded by friends, taking in something fine, sparky and inventive. How about you?

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The Beat goes on. And on. And on. Three different ways.

UPDATE: A revised and expanded version of this post 

is included in the Radio To Go ebook, Survivors 

It's complicated. We're now living in a universe where three, count 'em, three Beats are clattering, rattling, skanking, twisting and crawling.

Everett and his cohort of Mighty Mighty local Bosstones. Photo by Horseman

Dave Wakeling, a founder member of the original Beat, lives in California, and leads The English Beat. Fellow Beat founder Ranking Roger leads his brand of The Beat at home, and Everett Morton, the original drummer, has just announced dates for his band, Beat Goes Bang. 

Time for a chat with Everett, to go with this blog's existing posts on Dave and Roger. you'll find links for those at the bottom of this post. There's clearly a bit of history here. I wasn't planning to dig too deep into the feelings that boil up over a thirty year professional association. But I did... just a bit. 

The immediate question that springs to mind is: leaving Dave's US-based operation aside, is there room for two Beats in the UK, and what sort of musical differentiation will there be?

The Redbeards From Texas started a joke. It very nearly got serious.

A tale of fake beards, real success, and pencil pushing bureaucrats.

A long time ago, a South Birmingham boozer, the Selly Park Tavern, was hosting a radio gathering: lots of people from West Midlands stations, many no longer in existence. 

Onstage: The Redbeards From Texas. A seriously fun band that, later, came this close to breaking though; a whim that almost, almost made it. We’ll get to that. But that night, in front of the assembled might of Midlands radio, they were playing for laughs. They pulled people up onstage to sing with them. 

That was fun... until they fingered me. Ooops. I didn’t know the words to Born In The USA, so I bawled the chorus a couple of times, and retreated in confusion. Oh, the humiliation, and all in front of a roomful of my peers. Bastards. 

If you google ‘Redbeards From Texas’ now, thirty years after their glory days, you’ll find a surprising amount of material – videos, a discography and reminiscences. This was a band that made a mark. Craig Fenney (aka Bud Weiser), has a ton of stories after the jump.

Cover me: Tribute Bands - they get paid HOW MUCH?

Judas Beast... Non Jovi... Nearlyvana... all cover bands. Good harmless fun? Shamelessly and cynically uninventive? Or an institution that keeps venues open and musicians working? 

Take a look at the listings of pretty much any music venue, and chances are you’ll see cover bands - tribute acts – on the bill. The Bootleg Beatles and the Australian Pink Floyd Show are set (again) for the Birmingham National Indoor Arena. At Symphony Hall, Dweezil Zappa performs his dad’s repertoire in November. Tons of places have acts doing other acts, getting paid – quite well paid, in some cases - for their troubles. 

Sometimes the original bands are happy to have tribute bands covering their material. UB40, who tour with a lead singer who looks and sounds like their original lead singer – he’s a cousin - seem happy with Johnny2Bad. Years ago, I worked with a member of Fred Zeppelin, and they appear to have had a genial nod of approval from the great ones. On the other side of the coin, Meatloaf famously confronted one Dean Torkington, who was doing a tribute act to the great Loaf. Part of the problem was  Torkington's use of a domain name url – Meatloaf.org – which, quite frankly, the Loaf himself should have registered in the first place.

For a long time, TalkSport broadcaster and classic rock fan Ian Danter drummed for veteran Kiss tribute Dressed To Kill. If you check the live video further down this post, you can see the trouble they go to; it's perversely impressive. He’s only recently had to give the gig up because his Saturday radio duties on Talksport. He’s given the area a lot of thought.

This is Ian Danter in civvy street...

Ian Danter: There‘s two separate things here. There are bands who cover an act, but don’t offer a show, because there’s only one or two musicians present, and everything else is on tape.

Then you have the bands who do offer a full accurate band line-up, with little if any ‘cheating’. But it’s the covers bands who are out there five nights a week. The full bands are rarer, and there’s certainly not that many pro outfits. When you think of Limehouse Lizzy, who’ve been around for over twenty years, Jean Genie, T.Rexstasy…. these are full bands who’ve cemented their reputation. These are the heritage brands, Robin. They fought their way up.

So in your book, the guys with the backing tapes are, essentially, cheating, especially in comparison with bands like yourselves? 

And this is Ian Danter tooled up with slap, lycra and drumkit  

That’s exactly what I’m saying. I know of a band that pays ‘tribute’ to the Seventies, that actually has two line-ups. They’ve got a full band, and they’ve got a singer/guitarist combo with everything else on tape. It depends on the gig that they’re doing.

Often the cut-down line-up works well for corporate gigs, while the heritage venues that have been going a long time ask for the full band. 

Another important thing to say is – I seem to remember, about ten years ago, people were launching tribute bands for pretty much anything.  I remember rehearsing at Robanna’s rehearsal rooms one night, and I heard a lot of Travis coming from the next room... it was a Travis tribute act, based on one hit album, and some moderate success with the previous album. Other than that, they had no back catalogue with which to toy! So the band had one set to play, and nothing to fall back on. 

You’re saying that a tribute band needs a LOT of material?

Yes. You’re paying tribute to the show, the whole idea of the band. The quid-pro-quo with tribute bands, and Gene Simmons understands this, is that somebody will go and watch Dressed To Kill, who maybe had not seen Kiss at all, and really get into the original band. I’ve had Facebook messages telling me that people who saw us then went out and bought 'Kiss Alive' the next day.

Why did you join Dressed To Kill? Was this a money-making exercise, or because you simply adored Kiss?

I always adored Kiss. When I was growing up in the mid 70s, I listened to my older brothers‘ stuff: Thin Lizzy, Rainbow, Deep Purple. But I wanted something of my own, so when Kiss came along, I was absolutely hooked. And when Dressed to Kill asked me to join, in 2005, it was wonderful. I jumped at it. 

What were in you before then?

I’d been in several tributes. I’d given up on trying to be original, trying to be a rock and roll star…

Why? Tell me why you gave up?

A moment of clarity, I suppose – age! Right or wrong, you get to a certain age in your life, in your late 20s. And you think to yourself, ‘well, if it’s not going to happen now…’  The disappointment of not making it made me think, that I’d had my shot, and maybe I should think about doing this for fun. So I joined New Jersey, a Bon Jovi tribute band. The two guys who played Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Zambora guys in the band looked the part. 

Surely it was really only Jon and Richie the audience cared about?

Correct. The remainder of the band were utterly irrelevant visually, but of course you had to be up to the mark musically. 

Kiss are all about fireworks, ridiculous costumes, big dumb rock riffs, OTT make-up, and, frankly, not taking themselves exactly seriously. And the fireworks play a big part. That's one thing in an arena, another thing in a small club. How do DTK handle onstage pyrotechnics?

They have a very good relationship with Lemaitre, who are the pyro company in this country. It has be on a smaller scale. You have to buy the right ones for the venue. On the occasions when we’ve played to six thousand people at the NEC,  we’ve scaled it up a bit. We knew we had the ceiling capacity and the risk assessment cleared us to load up on bigger effects. It’s all fairly easily done – the band’s been doing it for twenty years. 

And are there new bands who will provide the inspiration and the back catalogue for the tribute bands of the future?

Of the current crop, I imagine there will be Foo Fighters tributes. Same goes for Muse once they’ve released two or three more albums. Beyond that, the Killers, maybe? Then you’re struggling a little. It’s a question of what kind of show the present-day bands put on.   

Tribute bands seem to get good money and regular work - you can see why that might piss off bands who are trying to break through. Any comment?

Well… you have to reckon that once a tribute band is established, they have something to offer venue owners who know that a given number of fans will show up every single time. Lots of bands work very hard to carve out their place in the market.

Ian’s a fascinating person to talk to. He paints a very precise picture of the various levels and pecking orders on the tribute and cover band world. While he’s now out of the permanent Dressed to Kill line-up, he’s stepped in to help out with Dizzy Lizzy, Whitesnake UK, and even an Aerosmith tribute. And, let’s note, he is still pursuing his own dreams, working on a solo album of his own stuff. 

The Robin 2 in Brierly Hill in the Black Country features tribute bands regularly. Mike Hamblett has lovingly run it for years, developing it into a very widely used and much appreciated  venue. 

Mike Hamblett: I was in a band thirty odd years ago. I ended up with a concert venue, and I started putting on R and B. But I realised that a club doing blues isn’t going to survive. I’ve always tried to broaden the boundaries.

I know that it’s a cliché to say I don’t do it for the money, but it’s true! I wanted the Robin to be a broad thing, offering loads of different sorts of music, and bringing loads of different people through the door. 

I opened the original Robin in 1992. Somebody came along and offered me a tribute. And I hadn’t head that word before. It was to David Bowie, Jean Genie. It was John Mannering, from Birmingham, and he still comes here today. I put them on and it blew me away. He’s got a really good band, and he sent shivers down my spine. John does the whole gamut, from Ziggy Stardust onwards. 

That was the start, and I think I was one of the first ones to put tributes on. Now, everybody and his dog puts tribute acts on. But I only put the good ones on. If you think of Led Zeppelin 3, or Dark Side of the Moon – they’re classic albums, with classic songs that will go on forever. But you can’t go and see those bands anymore. So if you have a quality act putting those songs on live, there’s a lot of people who will go and see it. 

What about more recent tribute acts?

They don’t tend to work here. It’s the classic rock acts. The Counterfeit Stones – they’re A1 musicians. Nick Dagger is a great front man – very funny as well. You can’t go and see the Beatles any more, can you? 

Could you survive without tribute bands?

Definitely not. I’ve seen venues open up saying they weren’t going to put tribute bands on, and twelve months later they’ve shut down again.  There’s a market, and you can’t not feed that market. 

Will you take a risk on a new band anymore?

I still do! I keep doing it. It is difficult to take too many risks. I the past I took some huge risks. I couldn’t do that today, in the recession, but I do take risks… not such big risks.

In case your hackles are still well and truly up at the very thought of rip-off cabaret rock acts recycling other people’s hits, I can suggest some common ground. In the end, it comes down to having a product to sell: Yours, or one which you’ve made yours. 

Plenty of artists still tour behind hits with which they have very little connection – there were dozens of Drifters at one time or another, and blow me, here’s another set of Drifters, scheduled to play the Alexandra Theatre this month. They look suspiciously young for a group... that was formed over 60 years ago.  

You also could assert that this is all fraudulent low-budget stuff, but I'm not entirely sure. You could certainly argue that cover bands are creatively bankrupt and derivative. What you certainly can’t argue with is the fact that these acts meet a continuing demand for the known and the familiar. Technically they have to be up the the mark  - or they'll get slaughtered by a knowing audience. And you can’t argue with the fact that they are responsible for a huge chunk of revenue in the region, which in many cases sustains venues that otherwise would have to close their doors, along with rehearsal rooms and music and pa equipment shops. 

Personally, there’s only one cover band concept that I truly find despicable, and that's the rash of Blues Brothers knock-offs, featuring fat blokes in shades and pork-pie hats shouting soul hits. For all the goofy fun of the first Blues Brothers movie, it still cynically pimped its original vintage soul material. The follow-up movies were dire, but the damage was done, producing a package, ready on a plate, served up to people who never knew how sublime the original soul material was – and is. A knock-off of a knock-off. And, as usual, the originators who charmed us back in the day probably won’t see a penny of the money made off their talent. But even then, even though that's not to my purist tastes, those bands are meeting a demand.  

Robin 2: listings of live shows - not just tributes 
Robin2 blog
Dressed To Kill: their very own website, with more videos, tour dates, and more 
Tribute Band: an exhaustively detailed site covering the world of tributes