need songs

I'm looking for songs for our band to cover. I've been on line looking but the only way to see if a song really is a crowd pleaser is to ask others that have played them. My criteria is: a female vocal,(could be a male vocal if it fits vocally) , able to be danced to and somewhat well known. We generally play classic rock, alternative rock, modern rock so not looking for techno or disco. Also I don't want tired old favorites i..e... "Mustang Sally" I am a good singer but not great so songs by Heart I would not do justice to. I really appreciate your help. Thanx:)

With all due respect, I think you're approaching this from the wrong perspective. The first question should be: What music do I love? The second question is: What music do I love that will be entertaining to the crowd at (fill in the blank)? Unless you're in a wedding band (where certain tunes are expected) you should start by thinking about the music that means the most to you.

The best artists will make an audience love the music they love.

Oh, and they'll play Free Bird.

We actually do have some meaningful songs that we like already.But I don't want the audience to just sit and say "oh thats nice" after hearing twenty some odd unknown songs that they've never heard of. So I'm looking to add additional songs to a partial set list we have already to supplement. Most of the ones we've chosen are also undanceable so we want to put some fast tunes in and wanted to know what songs have worked for others. I do get satisfaction from doing original tunes at open mic nights etc... This is just a project I've been invited to work on for another group. some of our current numbers include Tracy Bonham, Aimee Mann. Our audience w/include young people and oldsters. So whatever you can throw at me I'm grateful. And thank you for replying w/some relly good advice.

With all due respect, I think you're approaching this from the wrong perspective. The first question should be: What music do I love ? The second question is: What music do I love that will be entertaining to the crowd at (fill in the blank) ? Unless you're in a wedding band (where certain tunes are expected) you should start by thinking about the music that means the most to you. The best artists will make an audience love the music they love. Oh, and they'll play Free Bird .

While I would agree that you should try not to play songs you hate, no cover band will be very successful playing only songs they like without regard to whether their target audience will also enjoy them.

Yes, I understand, but one can always pull some likeable stuff from the standard cover repertoire. Perhaps you should be more specific about the kind of places/gigs you play and kind of music that's expected?

For instance, I'm in an Americana/Alt-Country band, 90% covers at the moment. Because this music is a little fringy, I get asked for mainstream contemporary stuff all the time. I draw the line at Garth Brooks (), though I take care not to sneer when asked to play one of his songs; but we do try to find some reasonable popular stuff to cover. Zak Brown's Toes, for instance, or Jamey Johnson, or (perhaps at some point) Keith Urban.

No one seems to know Gram Parsons anymore, and we do a ton of his stuff. But for balance we add some carefully chosen songs from the Eagles and Neil Young, as well as some of the Gram-influenced Rolling Stones tunes.

You start from your base--what you love--and then cherry-pick your way toward popular tunes that you can stomach.

Now as I suggested above, if you're a wedding or corporate band, well, there's not much you can do, as these are often "you work for me and you play what I want to hear" kind of gigs. From this comes Free Bird, Brown-Eyed Girl, and (pick one) Bon Jovi.

Okay, since you asked, look to the 50's and 60's. There is a treasure trove of songs you can dance to that a lot of people are going to recognize.

You can never go wrong with "Hang On Sloopy" or "Great Balls of Fire"