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Richard Cheese

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Richard Cheese
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine performing live in 2011
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine performing live in 2011
Background information
OriginLos Angeles, California, U.S.
GenresLounge, comedy, retro swing
Years active2000–present
LabelsCoverage Records, Surfdog, Oglio
MembersRichard Cheese (Mark Jonathan Davis)
Bobby Ricotta (Noel Melanio)
Frank Feta (Brian Fishler)
Billy Bleu (Ron Belcher)
Past membersDavid Adler
Christopher Monaco
Louis Allen
Todd LeValley
Chuck Byler
Jeff Novack
Michael Bordelon
Websiterichardcheese.com

Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine is a cover band and comedy act, performing popular songs in a lounge/swing style, reminiscent of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Tony Bennett. Lounge singer Richard Cheese is a character created and portrayed by Los Angeles-based actor/comedian Mark Jonathan Davis.

History

Davis developed the Richard Cheese lounge singer idea in the mid-1990s while working as a producer at KROQ in Los Angeles. Davis portrayed a character named "Paul The 55-Year-Old Intern" on the Kevin & Bean morning show, and Paul recorded a single called "Paul On 45," which was a humorous medley of KROQ songs arranged in a swing / big band style.

Davis pitched this idea as an album concept, and the band's debut album Richard Cheese: Lounge Against the Machine ("Featuring 16 Swingin' Covers Of Alternative Standards") was released in 2000 by Oglio Records.[1] Since 2000, Davis's Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine band has subsequently released twenty albums.

Cheese's second and third albums Tuxicity and I'd Like a Virgin were independently released in 2002 and 2004 by Cheese's own label, Ideatown Entertainment (later renamed to Coverage Records).

From 2004-2006, Surfdog Records released three new Richard Cheese CDs: Aperitif for Destruction, The Sunny Side of the Moon: The Best of Richard Cheese, and Silent Nightclub. Surfdog also re-released Tuxicity and I'd Like A Virgin on their label in 2006.

Beginning in 2007, Cheese returned to releasing his own albums through his independent Coverage Records label, about one each year: Dick at Nite, Viva La Vodka: Richard Cheese Live, OK Bartender, A Lounge Supreme, Live At The Royal Wedding and its companion behind-the-scenes album The Royal Baby Album, Back In Black Tie, and a Christmas album, Cocktails With Santa.

Cheese also produced an album in 2010 as Johnny Aloha called Lavapalooza, with a band of Hawaiian music musicians performing tiki-style versions of rock and rap songs. The album cover artwork was created by the artist SHAG.

In late 2015, Cheese released 3 new CDs: a live album titled Bakin' At The Boulder, a Star Wars tribute called The Lounge Awakens, and a new studio album Supermassive Black Tux. In 2016, because Richard Cheese sang two songs in the motion picture Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the band released a one-track parody album called Richard Cheese: Live At Wayne Financial Tower in which the band's performance is cut short by Superman's heat vision.

In early 2017, the band announced it would release a new CD titled "Licensed To Spill," on October 17, 2017.

The Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine band has toured extensively around the U.S. and has performed shows in England, Portugal, and Canada.

The band is currently headlining regularly at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas and The Peppermint Club in Los Angeles.

Richard Cheese's cover of Disturbed's "Down With The Sickness" was featured in the 2004 Zack Snyder-directed remake of Dawn of the Dead. Snyder also included Richard Cheese songs in his 2016 Warner Bros. film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.[2] Warner Bros. then hired Cheese to perform and appear in the 2017 film The Lego Batman Movie, singing the song "Man In The Mirror," and performing an "elevator-music" version of "Everything Is Awesome."

In April 2017, the Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine swing cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" was featured in an episode of HBO's The Leftovers series.

Richard Cheese has made numerous television appearances, including performances on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Fox & Friends on Fox News Channel, on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° for New Year's Eve, ITV's The Jonathan Ross Show in England, and as the Vegas house band on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly and MTV's Say What? Karaoke series.

Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine songs have been featured on ABC's Dancing With The Stars, NBC's Las Vegas series, and NBC's Passions soap opera.

Richard Cheese has also been featured on radio morning shows and syndicated radio programs such as KROQ-FM's Kevin and Bean, Jonathon Brandmeier, The Howard Stern Show, Opie and Anthony, The Bob and Sheri Show, The Adam Carolla Show, and Gonzo in the Morning.

Davis is currently writing an autobiography about the band, titled Atlas Lounged: The Music, Martinis, And Madness Behind Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine, which is scheduled to be released in 2018.

Band members

The present line-up of the Lounge Against The Machine band consists of:

  • Richard Cheese: vocals
  • Bobby Ricotta: piano and keyboards
  • Frank Feta: drums and percussion
  • Billy Bleu: upright bass and bass

The names are all pseudonyms that refer to types of cheese (Ricotta, Feta, Bleu).[3] The name Richard Cheese itself is a pun on "dick cheese", a slang term; "Lounge Against The Machine" is a reference to Rage Against the Machine.

The role of pianist and musical director Bobby Ricotta is currently played by Noel Melanio; previously the role was played by David Adler. The band's first drummer Buddy Gouda was played by Todd LaValley, and then by Charles Byler. Byler left the band in 2004, and was replaced by Brian Fishler and the drummer's stage name was changed to Frank Feta. The role of bass player Gordon Brie was first portrayed by Christopher Monaco, then by Louis Allen. The current bass player, Billy Bleu, is portrayed by Ron Belcher. Other bassists who have performed with the band include Jeff Novack, Nathan Peck, Steve Jones, John Hatton, Pablo Motta, Skip Ward, and Michael Bordelon. The band has also worked with numerous session musicians and performers, including horn players Eric Jorgensen, Terry Landry, Lee Thornburg, and Bill Churchville, bassist Will Lee, guitarists Jimmy Vivino and John Pizzarelli, percussionist Joey DeLeon, theremin player Pamelia Kurstin, vocalist Joshua Path, and singers Fred Schneider, Slipknot's Corey Taylor, and "Weird Al" Yankovic.

Discography

Appearances

Live Concerts

RC&LATM has played numerous concerts around the United States, as well as in Canada, Portugal, the Bahamas, and England. The band has performed at popular U.S. venues such as The Gramercy Theatre in New York City, Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco, Thalia Hall in Chicago, and many times at House Of Blues venues around the United States. RC&LATM performed at Jack Black's Festival Supreme in 2015, and at other festivals such as KROQ Acoustic Christmas in Los Angeles and Y100's Feztival in Philadelphia. The band's largest audience was at Sonisphere in England in 2011, when they performed for a crowd of 18,000. The band also performed at private events for singer Brian Setzer, Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, actress Sara Ramirez, talk show host Jonathan Ross, the band MUSE, director Zack Snyder, and the Creative Arts Daytime Emmy Awards in 2004 and 2005.

Cheese still performs live concerts, and is currently scheduled to perform tour dates in the U.S. in 2017-2018.

Film

Television

Radio

Podcasts

  • Coverville (April 5, 2006) Richard Cheese interview
  • Club 301 (November 30, 2006) Richard Cheese interview

Other Media

See also

References

  1. ^ Turner, Katherine (March 3, 2016). This is the Sound of Irony: Music, Politics and Popular Culture. Routledge. p. 171. ISBN 9781317010548. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  2. ^ Tilles, Jay (March 24, 2016). "How a Richard Cheese Song Made it into Batman V Superman". Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  3. ^ Stapleton, Susan (February 3, 2015). "Cheese whiz Richard Cheese slices two sets in Las Vegas". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 August 2017.

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