Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine (or simply Richard Cheese) is a cover band and comedy act, performing popular songs in a lounge/swing style. Lounge singer Richard Cheese is a character created and portrayed by Los Angeles–based actor/comedian/singer Mark Jonathan Davis.
History
Davis had previously worked as Director of Comedy Network Programming for Premiere Networks. He developed the Richard Cheese lounge singer idea in the mid-1990s. The band's work was first broadcast in 2000 by KROQ-FM and the Dr. Demento show.
The band's debut album Lounge Against the Machine was released in 2000 by Oglio Records. 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 2005 to 2006, Surfdog Records released three Richard Cheese CDs: Aperitif for Destruction, a studio album, Silent Nightclub, a collection of songs tangentially related to the holiday season, and The Sunny Side of the Moon: The Best of Richard Cheese, which included newly re-recorded versions of six covers from previous albums, plus four new studio recordings. Surfdog also re-released the Richard Cheese albums Tuxicity and I'd Like a Virgin on their label.
Beginning in 2007, the band returned to releasing its own albums, through Davis's independent Coverage Records label.
Film work
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.
In 2016, the band had two songs in the motion picture Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and released a one-track parody album called Live at Wayne Financial Tower in which the band's performance is cut short by Superman's heat vision.
The role of pianist and musical director Bobby Ricotta is currently played by Noel Melanio. The band's first drummer, Buddy Gouda, was played by Todd LaValley, and then by Charles Byler. Byler left the band in 2004; he was replaced by Brian Fishler, and the drummer's stage name was changed to Frank Feta. The current bass player, Billy Bleu, is portrayed by Ron Belcher.
Discography
All self-released as Coverage Records except where noted.
Studio albums
- Lounge Against the Machine (2000) (Oglio Records)
- Tuxicity (2002) (Surfdog Records)
- OK Bartender – No. 15 on Billboard Comedy Album Chart, April 9, 2010
- Numbers of the Beast – No. 6 on Billboard Comedy Album Chart, August 15, 2020
- Big Cheese Energy – No. 10 on Billboard Comedy Album Chart, March 13, 2021
See also
- The Lounge Kittens, an English comedy band who performed rock and heavy metal songs in a lounge music style.
- Black Velvet Flag, an American trio who performed punk rock songs in a lounge music style.
- Frank Bennett, an Australian jazz singer who recorded several big band arrangements of popular songs.