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At times it’s hard to imagine anything more pretentious than popular music. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. But good or bad, it’s certainly deserving of satire. And satire is what Richard Cheese does best. He and his band Lounge Against the Machine don’t just put out 1950′s style lounge-lizard versions of some of your favorite (and least favorite) songs. They skewer them. Their carefully arranged covers push against the original intent of the songs to sarcastically, but with great musicianship, stick pins in the voodoo doll of pop.
As Cheese’s perfectly suited voice caresses songs, he’s also simultaneously spanking them with a velvet glove and winking at the audience. Why not do a cover of Snoop Dog’s “Gin and Juice” with a bopping jazz piano and the whitest guy on the face of the earth crooning “I got bitches in the livin’ room gettin’ it on”? When Cheese growls out a cover of Brittany Spear’s “Crazy” and throws in a monologue about how Brittany is a modern musical mastermind, it’s hard to imagine anything more sublimely ridiculous.
But the strangeness doesn’t stop there. Richard takes some of the pretension out of alternative music with his rendition of Nirvana’s “Rape me” which Richard dedicates to the ladies. He even goes so far as to do a completely upbeat and oblivious version of U2′s “Sunday Bloody Sunday”. Yes, he’s got a pretty sick sense of humor, but the gallows humor goes down well with a shot of smoothly plucked double bass and some kickey high hat.
Of course, Richard Cheese isn’t his real name. He’s an LA based comedian who’s also done some voice acting for animated shows like Batman Beyond, and he’s gotten his hilarious version of Disturbed’s “Down with the Sickness” on a major motion picture soundtrack. Not bad for a guy who’s just kidding around. But Cheese does seem more genuine than he might first appear. In a recent interview he decried not being able to get good drinks on the road and missing a chance to see Steve Lawrence perform. The Richard Cheese character starts to seem less and less a shtick than an actually homage to stars past like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Once you realize this you can hear it in his records. Below the obvious parody there’s a core of genuine performer with his head in the stars of yesteryear, and a good ear for putting together something that sounds almost legitimate until you hear the lyrics.
Surely the best way to listen to Richard Cheese is live with a nicely mixed cocktail and a sweet “chick” by your side in a dark nightclub. Unfortunately Lounge Against the Machine won’t be touring much longer due to Richard’s vocal health. But don’t worry, Daddy-O. They’re still putting out the platters. And just recently Richard could be heard joshing along with Rifftrax’s Mike Nelson of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame on a unofficial commentary track for George Clooney’s Las Vegas based caper film Ocean’s 11.
With a little luck, Richard’s voice will be around for a long time to come. There is something oddly comforting about a guy who can casually throw the Lords of Acid song “Show Me Your Pussy” into a set and make it swing along with all the other tracks… then start singing it to women in the audience until he’s practically screaming. It’s like a mixture of Andrew Dice Clay from his Day The Laughter Died (Live) album and Tony Bennett on ecstasy. And let me tell you friends, as strange as it may seem, that is a mix that we sorely need in this day and age.
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