Richard Cheese

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For other uses, see Mark Davis.
Richard Cheese
Origin Los Angeles, California, USA
Genres Comedy rock, lounge
Years active 2000–present
Labels Coverage, Surfdog, Oglio, Ideatown
Website www.richardcheese.com
Members
Richard Cheese (Mark Jonathan Davis)
Bobby Ricotta (Noel Melanio)
Frank Feta (Brian Fishler)
Billy Bleu
Former members
Ron Belcher
Charles Byler
David Adler
Christopher Monaco
Louis Allen
Jeff Novack
John Hatton
Pablo Motta
Todd LeValley

Richard Cheese (born Mark Jonathan Davis)[1] fronts Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine, a cover band and comedy act based in Los Angeles, California. Lounge singer Richard Cheese performs popular rock, rap, heavy metal, and pop songs in a swanky lounge music swing band style reminiscent of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Tony Bennett. The band's name Lounge Against The Machine is a parody of the band name Rage Against the Machine. His name is also a play on words: "dick cheese" is a slang term for smegma.

Contents

[edit] Style

The band specializes in playing lounge-style covers of recent popular rock, metal, rap and hip hop songs, sung in a croony traditional pop vocal style, contrasting an elegant jazz treatment of the music with often profane and ribald lyrics to create a humorous dissonance.[2]

[edit] History

Since 2000, the band has released eight albums, and played in concerts around the United States, two concerts in Europe, and has made numerous television appearances, including performances on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Fox & Friends on Fox News Channel, Anderson Cooper 360° on CNN, NBC's Las Vegas series, NBC's Passions soap opera, and as the house band on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly and MTV's Say What? Karaoke series. Richard Cheese has also been featured on radio morning shows and syndicated radio programs such as Opie and Anthony, The Howard Stern Show, Kevin and Bean, Bob and Sheri, and The Adam Carolla Show. The band also performed at events for singer Brian Setzer, drummer Travis Barker, director Zack Snyder, and the Creative Arts Daytime Emmy Awards. The band gained exposure after their cover of Disturbed's "Down With the Sickness" was featured in the 2004 remake, Dawn of the Dead.

The band is currently in the midst of their 2009 "Martini Hero" farewell tour, after the conclusion of which they have announced they will no longer tour outside of Las Vegas.[2] Cheese has indicated that the decision to suspend extensive touring with his Lounge Against The Machine band was based on health concerns relating to the condition of his vocal cords, his desire to spend more time in the recording studio,[2] and because he is looking forward to new live performances of new material (from his forthcoming albums) with new musicians and band configurations. According to the band's website, Cheese will be occasionally performing with a band of Hawaiian musicians in support of his forthcoming 2010 "Lavapalooza" exotica album.

[edit] Members

The present line-up of the band consists of:

Plus a rotating roster of other bass players, including 'Deep' Gordon Brie, Skip Neufchatal, Nacho, and Wayne String.

The names are all pseudonyms that refer to types of cheese (Ricotta, Feta, Bleu) and new band members either adopt the pseudonym of the player they replace, or new names are developed.

The role of pianist and musical director Bobby Ricotta is currently played by Noel Melanio, but was previously played by David Adler. When the drummer Buddy Gouda (Charles Byler) left the band in 2004, he was replaced by Brian Fishler and the stage name was changed to Frank Feta. The role of bass player Gordon Brie was played by Louis Allen and was previously portrayed by Christopher Monaco. The band currently has no permanent bass player. The band has also worked with numerous session musicians and performers, including horn players Eric Jorgensen, Terry Landry and Lee Thornburg, theremin player Pamelia Kurstin, vocalist Joshua Path, and singer "Weird Al" Yankovic. The only constant band member is Cheese himself.

Cheese's pseudonym is a reference to smegma, as Richard can be shortened to Dick, making his name "dick cheese". It is also a reference to retro "cheesy" lounge music. He is also known for his tiger-striped jacket, which is featured in many of the band's album covers.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Singles

[edit] Unreleased songs

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Television

[edit] Radio

[edit] Film

[edit] Podcasts

  • Coverville (April 5, 2006) Richard Cheese interview
  • Club 301 (November 30, 2006) Richard Cheese interview and music selections from "Silent Nightclub"

[edit] Other media

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Richard Cheese at the Internet Movie Database
  2. ^ a b c Joe Brown (2008-08-21). "Meet Richard Cheese: He’ll grate on you, make you laugh and sing along". Las Vegas Sun. http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/aug/21/meet-richard-cheese-hell-grate-you-make-you-laugh-/. Retrieved 2008-08-25. 
  3. ^ http://www.richardcheese.com/rchome.html

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Cheese"