Look what they've done to my song, Geddy.

June 21, 2007 11:34 AM

"His dream is to produce a full-length gay, disco tribute to Canadian Rock legends, Rush." It certainly wouldn't be the first question-mark-in-the-air-above-the-head-inducing tribute album - that's a pretty long list, and includes the hip-hop tribute to Phil Collins, the bluegrass take on Metallica (so good they had to make two of them), the lounge tribute to Eminem, the hillbilly tribute to AC/DC, a hairmetal tribute to the Beatles, a goth tribute to David Bowie, um, a string quartet tribute to Clay Aiken, and more Dylan cover albums than you can shake a rolling stone at.
posted by jbickers (46 comments total)

Let's not forget the many Radiohead tributes.
posted by jonson at 11:36 AM on June 21, 2007

Just saw Rush last night in Raleigh, NC. Fantastic show. And a tribute album would be...

oh...
posted by malaprohibita at 11:37 AM on June 21, 2007

Why does "gay" have to be a modifier of disco?
posted by Eekacat at 11:40 AM on June 21, 2007

Eekacat,
It's not, at least not as the quote is written, which says that the tribute will be gay and also disco ("gay, disco tribute" as opposed to "gay disco tribute").

Also, a goth tribute to David Bowie really isn't all that odd....
posted by Sangermaine at 11:42 AM on June 21, 2007

I always thought the cover to 2112 was homoerotic.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:46 AM on June 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

Don't forget the string tribute to Tool.
posted by Roach at 11:48 AM on June 21, 2007

Great post, thanks. BTW, when I was 15 I loved '2112'.
posted by MarshallPoe at 11:51 AM on June 21, 2007

Don't forget the many reggae tributes.
posted by ND¢ at 11:53 AM on June 21, 2007

The bluegrass version of U2's "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is top stuff.
posted by Abiezer at 12:08 PM on June 21, 2007

I will stand up and say I enjoyed both "Dub Side of the Moon" and Hayseed Dixie. If you never want to take my opinions in music seriously from now on, I'll understand.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 12:10 PM on June 21, 2007

Is it Rolling Bob? is a great album. I love Sizzla's cover of "Subterranean Homesick Blues."
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:11 PM on June 21, 2007

Yeah I found Is it Rolling Bob? to be enjoyable too. I checked it out from my public library as a lark and ended up really liking it. Dylan songs that I haven't liked since I was a teenager were somehow fun again, like Blowin' in the Wind.
posted by ND¢ at 12:18 PM on June 21, 2007

Honored, truly.
posted by rush at 12:18 PM on June 21, 2007 [2 favorites]

a full-length gay, disco tribute to Canadian Rock legends, Rush

I'm not sure if it's comforting or disconcerting to know the name of the man who is composing the soundtrack you'll be hearing for all eternity if you wind up in hell, but anyway it's something.

That's right, your favourite gay disco tribute to your favourite band (which also sucks) sucks.
posted by gompa at 12:21 PM on June 21, 2007

This makes me want to search for my 80's punk band's recording of Rush's "2112" album. We somehow encapsulated it to exactly 2 minutes and 12 seconds.
posted by General Zubon at 12:22 PM on June 21, 2007

Also, a goth tribute to David Bowie really isn't all that odd....

Aye. Shame this one isn't all that good, either.
posted by cortex at 12:26 PM on June 21, 2007

Also: Did these guys rip off Autobahn, or is it the other way around?
posted by gompa at 12:28 PM on June 21, 2007

And for the completist:
Luther Wright and the Wrongs bluegrass take on The Wall. I've actually heard it, it isn't terrible.
posted by doctor_negative at 12:30 PM on June 21, 2007

Don't forget the seminal tribute album A sophomoric tribute to Ayn Rand
posted by mr.marx at 12:33 PM on June 21, 2007 [1 favorite]

"His dream is to produce a full-length gay, disco tribute to Canadian Rock legends, Rush."

I'm not one to throw around a phrase like "The best idea ever," but ...
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:39 PM on June 21, 2007

Man, I've always loved these kinds of things - going back to Bucks Fizz covering a medley of hard rock hits on the B-side of one of their singles (the only reason I bought it, honest, guv), through Tori Amos' cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", Scissor Sisters' version of "Comfortably Numb" and, of course, Dread Zeppelin. I love them all.
posted by kcds at 12:39 PM on June 21, 2007

Why does "gay" have to be a modifier of disco?

Not that there is anything wrong with it ...
posted by ogre at 12:42 PM on June 21, 2007

Okay, the rest of that Phil Collins tribute sounds kinda crummy, but ODB doing 'Sussudio'? I'd like to hear that right now.
posted by box at 12:46 PM on June 21, 2007

I couldn't test to see if it works, but this page says that it has it.
posted by ND¢ at 12:58 PM on June 21, 2007

Hey! You're missing the great Abbametal, a heavy metal tribute to Abba.

Seriously.

And it's not as bad as it sounds, actually.
posted by aldurtregi at 12:58 PM on June 21, 2007

They should definitely incorporate "Tears" - probably Rush's most sensitive moment, mellotron and all. Also, maybe there could be a bareback sex scene to "I Think I'm Going Bald"?
posted by stinkycheese at 1:02 PM on June 21, 2007

i've never heard anything quite so gay as disco.
posted by quonsar at 1:03 PM on June 21, 2007

Also: Did these guys rip off Autobahn, or is it the other way around?

Neither. They're both a parody of kraftwerk.
posted by damn dirty ape at 1:17 PM on June 21, 2007

It certainly wouldn't be the first question-mark-in-the-air-above-the-head-inducing tribute album

...Remember, if the album induces a blue question mark, you can listen to it more than once...

/WoW
posted by thanotopsis at 1:49 PM on June 21, 2007

There's also Dead Zeppelin. Title speaks for itself. I owned this for a while. Not bad.
posted by starvingartist at 1:52 PM on June 21, 2007

Nothing is better than Popchor Berlin's version of "4 My People".

Nothing.
posted by Esoquo at 2:42 PM on June 21, 2007

There was a hairmetal tribute to ABBA that was pretty decent. And disco Rush just might work, Peart's drumming was more agile than most of his prog compatriots. The gay thing...well, I'd love to see what lyrical embroidery they'd put on 'Tom Sawyer.' Maybe they'll invite Huck Finn over for some fun...
posted by jonmc at 3:22 PM on June 21, 2007

Fabulous.
posted by meh at 3:23 PM on June 21, 2007

and Rush do have a sense of humor. Witness Geddy's cameo on Bob & Doug Mackenzie's 'Take Off.'
posted by jonmc at 3:25 PM on June 21, 2007

The Song Retains the Name
posted by vronsky at 4:57 PM on June 21, 2007

For further evidence of Rush's sense of humor, look at the various appliances Geddy Lee has put onstage to fill in the place of his bass rig (he plugs into an amp-simulator that goes right into the PA). We have seen a refrigerator, a revolving vending machine, an array of clothes driers, and this tour, three rotisserie ovens with chickens roasting inside. Often the roadies will come onstage while the band is playing and fill the dryers, or make a purchase at the vending machine. So far no reports of the band throwing chickens out to the crowd at the end of the show.
posted by Ber at 4:58 PM on June 21, 2007

Well, Pussy Galore did the Stones Exile on Main Street but I didn't think it was that good. I have an all Japanese band tribute of Bauhaus songs that is actually pretty good. Of course you could take your pick from The White Album, Quadrophenia, Talking Heads' Remain in Light, The Velvet Underground's Loaded, or The Dark Side of the Moon all preformed live by Phish.
posted by Sailormom at 5:31 PM on June 21, 2007

Cover/tribute bands have me on the fence. Not really, actually. More like on the pitching deck of a seacraft. On one hand, it's interesting seeing an entire set of songs by a band that no longer exists (or now sucks dirty ass) performed live by an enthusiastic group of fans. To me, the most interesting cover bands are the ones put together shortly before the performance and that allow themselves a bit of artistic interpretation approached without egos. I played a Smiths tribute once, billed as 'Ladies and Gentlemen, the Smyths', with a group of friends where we did a decent job of channeling Morrissey & Co via the Flying Lizards and the Raincoats.

On the other, it's pretty goddamn awful watching said songs performed by a greedy bunch of uncreative wankers that learned all of their licks from Guitar Player magazine and've been practicing the same tired material over and over and over since they were 15 years old. Who the fuck - other than girlfriends, coworkers, and assholes - wants to see a Guns and Roses/Pearl Jam/Rush set performed note-for-note by folks who, if they weren't playing in the cover band, would be playing in a watered down version of the band they're copying?

In the town I live in, cover bands are routinely paid 2x+ more than other bands for their rock-n-roll borderline-drag shows at clubs. It's honestly getting to be such a menace that non-cover bands are having trouble getting booked at all. Fucking cockroaches.
posted by item at 6:10 PM on June 21, 2007

Who the fuck - other than girlfriends, coworkers, and assholes - wants to see a Guns and Roses/Pearl Jam/Rush set...

I honestly don't know, but I was once privileged enough to see a man trying to impress a woman by telling her that he was "in the #2 Van Halen cover band in all of California."

I don't think she was as impressed as he was hoping.
posted by lekvar at 6:25 PM on June 21, 2007

The Phil Collins tribute is just completely nuts. I remember having to review it when it came out - still not recovered from the raw soul-scraping horror of hearing This Must Be Love performed by Dane Bowers.

My fave covers albums are both Prince projects - Shutupalreadydamn! is all noisy experimental type bands, including a surprisingly listenable Purple Rain from Extreme Noise Terror, and If I Was Prince, which feels a bit dated now (90s indie electronica), still has some total gems on it, especially Capitol K's version of Dance On.
posted by jack_mo at 3:44 AM on June 22, 2007

Is the earliest version of this phenomenon Big Daddy (80s pop music played in a the style of the 50s)?

I was tempted to overdub vinyl noise on their version of I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and pass it off as the original.
posted by Grangousier at 4:25 AM on June 22, 2007

The electronica remake of Pet Sounds is pretty cool. It can be found here. It's called "Hippocamp ruins Pet Sounds" from the name of the music label. I especially like "That's not me".
posted by zenzizi at 5:30 AM on June 22, 2007

David Lee Roth sings "Jump" from Strummin' With The Devil.
posted by teleskiving at 7:31 AM on June 22, 2007

Copy, Right?

A music blog devoted to covers. This chick has been delivering the goodies for years now. She is kind of a cover "savant".
posted by vronsky at 9:03 AM on June 22, 2007

try Where Is My Mind from Mr. Hopkinson's Computer.
posted by vronsky at 9:11 AM on June 22, 2007

i've never heard anything quite so gay as disco.
posted by quonsar at 4:03 PM on June 21 [+] [!]

Listen to David Lee Roth.
posted by juiceCake at 11:39 AM on June 22, 2007