Playing Tribute
My first vocal performance was impersonating UK pop singer Cliff Richard singing ‘Congratulations.’
I used a scale ruler as a microphone and even had a handkerchief folded, layered and tucked into the top of my shirt to mimic the ’60s ruffle shirt he wore while performing the song on the Eurovision Song Contest.
My own performance wasn’t exactly a sold out show, nor a public one - it was only witnessed by my parents.
And it probably wasn’t a great impersonation, but then I was still one week off my seventh birthday.
I did get better at vocal impersonations and at one point wasn’t a bad vocal mimic (as it has come to be described) but now, not so much. You don’t use it, you lose it.
The funny thing is, had I continued such mimicking or musical impersonations, my performances might have gone beyond humouring parents.
There are folks out there doing it professionally and making a pretty decent career out of paying, and playing, tribute…
Emulating or copying favourite vocalists and musicians is something we’ve all done. Singing into hair dryers, tennis rackets as guitars, in front of mirror ‘rock star’ posing, turning pots and pans upside down and knocking the crap out of them with other kitchen utensils as we bang along to John Bonham or Buddy Rich.
Nowadays, however, when those actions are taken to their logical conclusion the hair dryers become microphones, rackets become guitars, the mirrors reflect a real audience and the drum solos are authentic copies.
Suddenly we don’t have musical impersonations.
We have tribute artists and cover bands.
The first, and certainly most famous, were the Elvis Impersonators.
It was almost a case of The King is Dead Long Live the King because no sooner had Elvis curled his lip for the last time than the impersonators and tribute singers appeared, dressed in the Kingly attire and throwing their hunka hunka burning love across the stage floors.
You can see the attraction - one of the most famous and successful performers of all-time is no more, but people want to keep the musical legend alive and millions across the world are happy to pay to see the best of the tributes.
This generation’s equivalent is Michael Jackson, whose death will bring life to more MJ tribute shows and Jackson song & dance impersonators than ever before.
A tribute show doesn't have to be a nostalgia trip.
Some of the biggest bands on the planet, such as the Rolling Stones and U2, have many bands that pay, and play, tribute to them. And some are pretty damn good.
In fact a number of them are exceptional.
Some of the greatest ever bands who no longer perform, or no longer perform in their classic incarnations, have some excellent tribute alternatives.
Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Abba are four that immediately come to mind.
The last couple are responsible for two of the most successful and renowned tribute bands ever seen and heard...
The Australian Pink Floyd Show (also known as TAPFS) is so good, and the band so famous, that the performances have become arena tours.
Their lighting and set constructions emulate what Pink Floyd brought to stages around the world.
TAPFS have also played the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London.
My first vocal performance was impersonating UK pop singer Cliff Richard singing ‘Congratulations.’
I used a scale ruler as a microphone and even had a handkerchief folded, layered and tucked into the top of my shirt to mimic the ’60s ruffle shirt he wore while performing the song on the Eurovision Song Contest.
My own performance wasn’t exactly a sold out show, nor a public one - it was only witnessed by my parents.
And it probably wasn’t a great impersonation, but then I was still one week off my seventh birthday.
I did get better at vocal impersonations and at one point wasn’t a bad vocal mimic (as it has come to be described) but now, not so much. You don’t use it, you lose it.
The funny thing is, had I continued such mimicking or musical impersonations, my performances might have gone beyond humouring parents.
There are folks out there doing it professionally and making a pretty decent career out of paying, and playing, tribute…
Emulating or copying favourite vocalists and musicians is something we’ve all done. Singing into hair dryers, tennis rackets as guitars, in front of mirror ‘rock star’ posing, turning pots and pans upside down and knocking the crap out of them with other kitchen utensils as we bang along to John Bonham or Buddy Rich.
Nowadays, however, when those actions are taken to their logical conclusion the hair dryers become microphones, rackets become guitars, the mirrors reflect a real audience and the drum solos are authentic copies.
Suddenly we don’t have musical impersonations.
We have tribute artists and cover bands.
The first, and certainly most famous, were the Elvis Impersonators.
It was almost a case of The King is Dead Long Live the King because no sooner had Elvis curled his lip for the last time than the impersonators and tribute singers appeared, dressed in the Kingly attire and throwing their hunka hunka burning love across the stage floors.
You can see the attraction - one of the most famous and successful performers of all-time is no more, but people want to keep the musical legend alive and millions across the world are happy to pay to see the best of the tributes.
This generation’s equivalent is Michael Jackson, whose death will bring life to more MJ tribute shows and Jackson song & dance impersonators than ever before.
A tribute show doesn't have to be a nostalgia trip.
Some of the biggest bands on the planet, such as the Rolling Stones and U2, have many bands that pay, and play, tribute to them. And some are pretty damn good.
In fact a number of them are exceptional.
Some of the greatest ever bands who no longer perform, or no longer perform in their classic incarnations, have some excellent tribute alternatives.
Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Abba are four that immediately come to mind.
The last couple are responsible for two of the most successful and renowned tribute bands ever seen and heard...
The Australian Pink Floyd Show (also known as TAPFS) is so good, and the band so famous, that the performances have become arena tours.
Their lighting and set constructions emulate what Pink Floyd brought to stages around the world.
TAPFS have also played the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London.
The Australian Pink Floyd Show, with emphasis on the word "Show"
Bjorn Again, the ultimate Abba tribute (and another successful Australian export) made such an impact that they became an actual franchise or official tribute brand, with various Bjorn Again troupes performing all over the world.
The Beatles may have the largest number of tribute bands honouring their name and music. There are at least a dozen recognised or relatively popular.
One in particular deserves special mention.
The Bootleg Beatles have been going since 1980, but it wasn’t until the mid-‘90s when they really made an impact, supporting Oasis at the Earls Court in London.
The band has played festivals and theatres all over the world and have shared stages with the likes of David Bowie and Bon Jovi and seen by Sir Paul McCartney and George Martin. They even performed at that well-known music theatre Buck Palace in front of some woman called Liz.
What makes the Bootleg Beatles such a draw is not just their solid musical ability, but also the fact they dress, look and sound like the Fab Four, including the accents.
Their shows feature Beatles music performed chronologically and the associated costume changes present a Beatles history, from the early years through Sgt. Peppers to the rooftop finale.
It’s a fitting finish to their shows, as in January 1999 the band played on the rooftop of what had been the former Apple Corps company, recreating the Beatles final public live performance exactly 30 years before.
The band performed on the same rooftop in 2009, marking the 40th anniversary of the historic Beatles event.
Bjorn Again, the ultimate Abba tribute (and another successful Australian export) made such an impact that they became an actual franchise or official tribute brand, with various Bjorn Again troupes performing all over the world.
The Beatles may have the largest number of tribute bands honouring their name and music. There are at least a dozen recognised or relatively popular.
One in particular deserves special mention.
The Bootleg Beatles have been going since 1980, but it wasn’t until the mid-‘90s when they really made an impact, supporting Oasis at the Earls Court in London.
The band has played festivals and theatres all over the world and have shared stages with the likes of David Bowie and Bon Jovi and seen by Sir Paul McCartney and George Martin. They even performed at that well-known music theatre Buck Palace in front of some woman called Liz.
What makes the Bootleg Beatles such a draw is not just their solid musical ability, but also the fact they dress, look and sound like the Fab Four, including the accents.
Their shows feature Beatles music performed chronologically and the associated costume changes present a Beatles history, from the early years through Sgt. Peppers to the rooftop finale.
It’s a fitting finish to their shows, as in January 1999 the band played on the rooftop of what had been the former Apple Corps company, recreating the Beatles final public live performance exactly 30 years before.
The band performed on the same rooftop in 2009, marking the 40th anniversary of the historic Beatles event.
The Bootleg Beatles doing the Fab Four doing Sgt. Pepper
Bands such as TAPFS, Bjorn Again and the Bootleg Beatles are the exceptions to the tribute rule, however.
Generally, tribute acts don’t have the promotion, finances or musical clout to deliver what the big boys and girls can.
They are usually club or theatre performers who are paying tribute to the sound of an original artist and keeping that classic music alive.
They are also a great alternative for those that can’t afford to see the real thing or where the original band/s no longer perform.
And they are becoming more popular, with good reason...
The tribute scene was fairly healthy in the 1990s, but as the 21st century dawned there were more tribute artists and cover bands than ever before.
Audience numbers for such acts started to increase.
This was courtesy of the fact that classic rock, along with the great pop and rock bands of the past, was having a resurgence.
Many of those original artists either gained a new lease of new Millennium life, or reformed. Sometimes both.
Some that couldn’t, or had previously fragmented, ended up with more than one version of the original (with perhaps one founding member in each version).
But no matter what shape (musically, financially or even physically) the bands found themselves in, just about every one of them had a tribute alternative.
And therein lies the curious relationship between tribute and original…
Many artists with 20, 30, or even 40 years of history behind them still perform but some are a shadow of their former selves as regards material and personnel (many such acts now perform with only one original member).
They may play the classic songs but part of the signature sound is missing, or simply cannot be recaptured.
Specific, key musicians may no longer be part of the group or, sadly, as is often the case as time catches up, it’s due to the death of famous or pivotal band members.
And that’s where the best of the tribute acts come in, keeping the spirit alive of a classic bands musical era.
Many go so far as to not just perform in an intentional sound-a-like fashion, but in look-a-like fashion.
Others may present specific eras of bands, or stage their sets to recreate particular tours or set-lists of the past. It's almost a form of musical theatre.
The end result, somewhat ironically, is while some of the original bands become almost a tribute to themselves, the tribute bands become a more faithful interpretation or representation of the bands they cover.
Not all tribute acts take it to that level.
There are just as many who have no physical resemblance whatsoever to the individuals of the bands they pay tribute to, or if they do it’s unintentional.
They are much more concerned with sounding as close as they can to the original or classic acts and songs by being as good as they can vocally and musically.
They celebrate the music and pay tribute to the original acts that created it.
Such is the professionalism and ability of many of these acts some tributes are now the equal of the bands they pay tribute to. A number are actually better.
And the line between tribute band and original act is becoming blurrier by the year…
When noted vocalist Rob Halford left Judas Priest in 1992 he was replaced by Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, whose previous included fronting the Judas Priest tribute band British Steel. Halford rejoined the band in 2003 but the story was still big enough to inspire the 2001 movie Rock Star.
Tommy Thayer had been in a KISS tribute band Cold Gin, where he played the part of original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley.
In a clear case of tribute life imitating artist, he became Frehley's replacement in Kiss in 2002. Thayer had also previously worked with KISS as a songwriter and session guitarist.
When Rick Buckler and Bruce Foxton, original drummer and bassist of The Jam respectively, decided to go on tour and play Jam material in a band named From The Jam, the singer-guitarist was Russell Hastings.
Hastings had previously worked with Buckler in The Gift, a band put together in 2006 that played material by The Jam.
Prior to that, Hastings had been in a Jam tribute band.
In 2008, Journey, looking to return to their “legacy sound,” announced their new singer was to be Arnel Pineda.
Prior to being hired by Journey Pineda was fronting The Zoo, a covers band.
It was while browsing YouTube that guitarist Neal Schon came across Pineda performing Journey songs with The Zoo, leading to the vocalist being approached by the band.
Before the YouTube hunt Journey nearly went with Jeremey Hunsicker, a great singer in his own right but known vocally as the the front man of Journey tribute band Frontiers.
Probably the best of the Journey tributes, Frontiers now perform full-time, touring across the United States and playing large halls and theatres.
When serious health problems kept Jon Anderson from touring with Yes in 2008, founder member and bass player Chris Squire replaced the seminal singer with Benoit David when the band toured later that year.
David retained his position for the 40th Anniversary tour in 2009 and has since become a permanent member of Yes.
Prior to joining the band David was singer for the progressive rock band Mystery and fronted the Yes tribute band Close to the Edge.
In remarkably similar circumstances to the Arnel Pineda hiring, it was while watching videos of David perform with the tribute band that Squire decided to contact the singer.
Cover bands, as opposed to tribute bands, have always been around and many groups that went on to become famous or successful served their musical apprenticeship as cover acts. It’s how to hone skills in a live environment.
Or it was. Now it’s more about being marketable than musical. But I digress.
In general, cover bands play smaller gigs and may be known as a pub or club band. But that ability to cover many styles of songs, or perhaps cover a specific genre or era (the Glam songs of the ‘70s, the hair and spandex acts of the ‘80s, etc.) makes them popular as a function or for-hire band.
And there are some very famous cover bands out there, including a few most rock or pop fans would never have considered as such.
We’ve already mentioned one in passing…
The Rolling Stones initially were, to all intents and purposes, an R&B covers band, performing and recording what were primarily other artists songs for the first two years of their career.
The first three Stones albums consisted primarily of covers and it wasn’t until album number four that they recorded an album of all original (Jagger-Richards) material.
The American rock band Three Dog Night were very successful in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s and had almost all of that success courtesy of recording covers originally written or performed by a diversity of artists.
Then there are the cover bands that perhaps concentrate on songs by one particular artist, but cover them in such a way that they bear little resemblance to the originals.
We have alternative rock, but we also have alternative cover bands and alternative tribute acts…
Dread Zeppelin primarily perform, unsurprisingly, Led Zeppelin numbers.
The difference is the Dread’s perform the songs in a reggae style, compounded further by the fact that the lead singer is an Elvis Impersonator.
The band have been touring and releasing albums since 1990 and it’s not just Zeppelin that get the tribute treatment - Bob Marley and the King himself are amongst the other artists given the Dread touch.
The first album released by Hayseed Dixie was in 2001 and titled A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC. That immediately tells you where the band’s name came from, what band was being covered and what style of music they performed.
The group then widened their hayseed horizons to become a bluegrass (or "rockgrass") tribute, covering classic rock songs by many classic rock bands.
They also write their own material and have released an album of all original music.
Hayseed Dixie are a big attraction at festival dates and have performed at the Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk Festivals, to name but two.
In 2005 they helped put together and performed at the Loopallu Event in Ullapool, Scotland (which became an annual music event).
Interesting and fun bands that the Dread's and Dixie's are, I have left my two favourite acts that perform "mash-ups" (as such musical mixtures within the same song have become known) to last…
In 2007 the band Beatallica released the album Sgt. Hetfield’s Motorbreath Pub Band which, as you may have guessed, is a collection of classic Beatles songs infused with Metallica riffs or lyrics, all performed in the style of Metallica.
Every home should have a copy.
For me the Beatallica album is bettered only by one other covers-tribute hybrid.
In 2010 Rock Sugar released the album Reimaginator, featuring mash-ups of classic ‘80s pop, rock and metal tracks.
It’s not every band that can successfully mix Journey and Metallica, or even Madonna and AC/DC. In the same song.
Many mash-up, cover and tribute bands are so popular that they don’t just succeed on the circuit - live and studio albums released by these bands also sell well.
Which goes back to my earlier statement about some of these bands being better than the originals, or at least later incarnations of the original acts.
A large number of tribute bands have loyal followings that go to see these groups perform whenever and wherever they can and purchase the CDs, far happier to do so than give the same time but more money to the established, original acts.
Make no mistake - whether paying tribute, or going through the classic pop and rock songbook from cover to cover, these bands have a part to play in the modern musical era.
And the best of them play it very well.
Ross Muir
November 2010
Bands such as TAPFS, Bjorn Again and the Bootleg Beatles are the exceptions to the tribute rule, however.
Generally, tribute acts don’t have the promotion, finances or musical clout to deliver what the big boys and girls can.
They are usually club or theatre performers who are paying tribute to the sound of an original artist and keeping that classic music alive.
They are also a great alternative for those that can’t afford to see the real thing or where the original band/s no longer perform.
And they are becoming more popular, with good reason...
The tribute scene was fairly healthy in the 1990s, but as the 21st century dawned there were more tribute artists and cover bands than ever before.
Audience numbers for such acts started to increase.
This was courtesy of the fact that classic rock, along with the great pop and rock bands of the past, was having a resurgence.
Many of those original artists either gained a new lease of new Millennium life, or reformed. Sometimes both.
Some that couldn’t, or had previously fragmented, ended up with more than one version of the original (with perhaps one founding member in each version).
But no matter what shape (musically, financially or even physically) the bands found themselves in, just about every one of them had a tribute alternative.
And therein lies the curious relationship between tribute and original…
Many artists with 20, 30, or even 40 years of history behind them still perform but some are a shadow of their former selves as regards material and personnel (many such acts now perform with only one original member).
They may play the classic songs but part of the signature sound is missing, or simply cannot be recaptured.
Specific, key musicians may no longer be part of the group or, sadly, as is often the case as time catches up, it’s due to the death of famous or pivotal band members.
And that’s where the best of the tribute acts come in, keeping the spirit alive of a classic bands musical era.
Many go so far as to not just perform in an intentional sound-a-like fashion, but in look-a-like fashion.
Others may present specific eras of bands, or stage their sets to recreate particular tours or set-lists of the past. It's almost a form of musical theatre.
The end result, somewhat ironically, is while some of the original bands become almost a tribute to themselves, the tribute bands become a more faithful interpretation or representation of the bands they cover.
Not all tribute acts take it to that level.
There are just as many who have no physical resemblance whatsoever to the individuals of the bands they pay tribute to, or if they do it’s unintentional.
They are much more concerned with sounding as close as they can to the original or classic acts and songs by being as good as they can vocally and musically.
They celebrate the music and pay tribute to the original acts that created it.
Such is the professionalism and ability of many of these acts some tributes are now the equal of the bands they pay tribute to. A number are actually better.
And the line between tribute band and original act is becoming blurrier by the year…
When noted vocalist Rob Halford left Judas Priest in 1992 he was replaced by Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, whose previous included fronting the Judas Priest tribute band British Steel. Halford rejoined the band in 2003 but the story was still big enough to inspire the 2001 movie Rock Star.
Tommy Thayer had been in a KISS tribute band Cold Gin, where he played the part of original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley.
In a clear case of tribute life imitating artist, he became Frehley's replacement in Kiss in 2002. Thayer had also previously worked with KISS as a songwriter and session guitarist.
When Rick Buckler and Bruce Foxton, original drummer and bassist of The Jam respectively, decided to go on tour and play Jam material in a band named From The Jam, the singer-guitarist was Russell Hastings.
Hastings had previously worked with Buckler in The Gift, a band put together in 2006 that played material by The Jam.
Prior to that, Hastings had been in a Jam tribute band.
In 2008, Journey, looking to return to their “legacy sound,” announced their new singer was to be Arnel Pineda.
Prior to being hired by Journey Pineda was fronting The Zoo, a covers band.
It was while browsing YouTube that guitarist Neal Schon came across Pineda performing Journey songs with The Zoo, leading to the vocalist being approached by the band.
Before the YouTube hunt Journey nearly went with Jeremey Hunsicker, a great singer in his own right but known vocally as the the front man of Journey tribute band Frontiers.
Probably the best of the Journey tributes, Frontiers now perform full-time, touring across the United States and playing large halls and theatres.
When serious health problems kept Jon Anderson from touring with Yes in 2008, founder member and bass player Chris Squire replaced the seminal singer with Benoit David when the band toured later that year.
David retained his position for the 40th Anniversary tour in 2009 and has since become a permanent member of Yes.
Prior to joining the band David was singer for the progressive rock band Mystery and fronted the Yes tribute band Close to the Edge.
In remarkably similar circumstances to the Arnel Pineda hiring, it was while watching videos of David perform with the tribute band that Squire decided to contact the singer.
Cover bands, as opposed to tribute bands, have always been around and many groups that went on to become famous or successful served their musical apprenticeship as cover acts. It’s how to hone skills in a live environment.
Or it was. Now it’s more about being marketable than musical. But I digress.
In general, cover bands play smaller gigs and may be known as a pub or club band. But that ability to cover many styles of songs, or perhaps cover a specific genre or era (the Glam songs of the ‘70s, the hair and spandex acts of the ‘80s, etc.) makes them popular as a function or for-hire band.
And there are some very famous cover bands out there, including a few most rock or pop fans would never have considered as such.
We’ve already mentioned one in passing…
The Rolling Stones initially were, to all intents and purposes, an R&B covers band, performing and recording what were primarily other artists songs for the first two years of their career.
The first three Stones albums consisted primarily of covers and it wasn’t until album number four that they recorded an album of all original (Jagger-Richards) material.
The American rock band Three Dog Night were very successful in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s and had almost all of that success courtesy of recording covers originally written or performed by a diversity of artists.
Then there are the cover bands that perhaps concentrate on songs by one particular artist, but cover them in such a way that they bear little resemblance to the originals.
We have alternative rock, but we also have alternative cover bands and alternative tribute acts…
Dread Zeppelin primarily perform, unsurprisingly, Led Zeppelin numbers.
The difference is the Dread’s perform the songs in a reggae style, compounded further by the fact that the lead singer is an Elvis Impersonator.
The band have been touring and releasing albums since 1990 and it’s not just Zeppelin that get the tribute treatment - Bob Marley and the King himself are amongst the other artists given the Dread touch.
The first album released by Hayseed Dixie was in 2001 and titled A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC. That immediately tells you where the band’s name came from, what band was being covered and what style of music they performed.
The group then widened their hayseed horizons to become a bluegrass (or "rockgrass") tribute, covering classic rock songs by many classic rock bands.
They also write their own material and have released an album of all original music.
Hayseed Dixie are a big attraction at festival dates and have performed at the Glastonbury and Cambridge Folk Festivals, to name but two.
In 2005 they helped put together and performed at the Loopallu Event in Ullapool, Scotland (which became an annual music event).
Interesting and fun bands that the Dread's and Dixie's are, I have left my two favourite acts that perform "mash-ups" (as such musical mixtures within the same song have become known) to last…
In 2007 the band Beatallica released the album Sgt. Hetfield’s Motorbreath Pub Band which, as you may have guessed, is a collection of classic Beatles songs infused with Metallica riffs or lyrics, all performed in the style of Metallica.
Every home should have a copy.
For me the Beatallica album is bettered only by one other covers-tribute hybrid.
In 2010 Rock Sugar released the album Reimaginator, featuring mash-ups of classic ‘80s pop, rock and metal tracks.
It’s not every band that can successfully mix Journey and Metallica, or even Madonna and AC/DC. In the same song.
Many mash-up, cover and tribute bands are so popular that they don’t just succeed on the circuit - live and studio albums released by these bands also sell well.
Which goes back to my earlier statement about some of these bands being better than the originals, or at least later incarnations of the original acts.
A large number of tribute bands have loyal followings that go to see these groups perform whenever and wherever they can and purchase the CDs, far happier to do so than give the same time but more money to the established, original acts.
Make no mistake - whether paying tribute, or going through the classic pop and rock songbook from cover to cover, these bands have a part to play in the modern musical era.
And the best of them play it very well.
Ross Muir
November 2010
