The Loser's Lounge is an ongoing tribute project in New York City which performs music by songwriters and bands like

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musicians of all time. He has written and ...

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (vocals, guitars) and Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing ...

, and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

. Each show explores greater- and lesser-known works by a single artist, or pits two musical forces against one another (for example, Blondie vs.

The Pretenders The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...

, or

The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

vs.

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

). The Loser's Lounge is a popular forum that brings together

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

musicians of all stripes and genres—from successful mainstream singers to underground or

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

artists. Artists who have performed at Loser's Lounge shows include

J Mascis Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. (born December 10, 1965), better known as J Mascis, is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo artist a ...

, Sean Altman,

John Flansburgh John Conant Flansburgh (born May 6, 1960) is an American musician. He is half of the long-standing Brooklyn, New York–based alternative rock duo They Might Be Giants with John Linnell, for which he writes, sings, and plays rhythm guitar. Earl ...

, April March,

Ronnie Spector Veronica Yvette Greenfield (, formerly Spector; August 10, 1943 – January 12, 2022) was an American singer who co-founded and fronted the girl group the Ronettes. She is sometimes referred to as the original "bad girl of rock and roll". ...

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble, July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie (band), Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1 ...

, Alice Cohen,

Richard Barone Richard Barone is an American rock musician who first gained attention as frontman for the Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and record producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created concert events ...

J. G. Thirlwell James George Thirlwell (born 29 January 1960), styled as JG Thirlwell and also known as Clint Ruin, Frank Want, and Foetus, among other pseudonyms, is an Australian musician, composer, and record producer known for juxtaposing a variety of dif ...

Brian Dewan Brian Dewan (born 14 June 1963) is an American multi-media artist, who produces music, audio-visual performances, decorative painting, furniture, poetry, filmstrips, illustrations, and musical instruments. He has released three albums of songs ...

Carol Jacobanis Carol Jacobanis is an American voice actress. She is mostly known her voice roles in the English language, English Dubbing (filmmaking), dubs for Japanese language, Japanese anime. Her work has been for New York City, New York–based recording st ...

, and

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

History

The original revue was created in 1993 and performed by

Joe McGinty Joe McGinty is an American composer, keyboardist and arranger who was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. McGinty is most widely known for his five years as the keyboardist for the Psychedelic Furs (after a brief stint with Robert Hazard in Phila ...

(former keyboardist for

the Psychedelic Furs The Psychedelic Furs are an English rock band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler (singer), Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from ...

and session musician for bands like The

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

) with the performer Nick Danger and the singer/songwriter Andrea Egert. Its first performances were at the Pink Pony, on

Ludlow Street Ludlow Street runs between Houston and Division streets on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Vehicular traffic runs south on this one-way street. Name Ludlow Street was named after Lieutenant Augustus Ludlow, the nava ...

on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

. Later performances at Fez under Time Cafe were backed by guitarist David Terhune's The Kustard Kings, members of which — including Terhune, guitarist Julian Maile, drummer Clem Waldmen, percussionist Eddie Zweiback, and bassist Jeremy Chatzky — continue to perform as regulars for the Loser's Lounge with McGinty and regular back-up singers Connie Petruk, Tricia Scotti, Sean Altman, and Katia Floreska. For many years Fez under Time Cafe was home to regular Loser's Lounge performances. The Fez closed as a venue in April, 2005, and since the revue has continued to perform bi-monthly at

Joe's Pub Joe's Pub, one of the six performance spaces within The Public Theater, is a music venue and restaurant that hosts live performances across genres and arts, ranging from cabaret to modern dance to world music. It is located at 425 Lafayette Str ...

. The Loser's Lounge has additionally appeared at several large rooms in New York City, including the Allen Room at AOL

Time Warner Center Deutsche Bank Center (also known as One Columbus Circle and formerly Time Warner Center) is a mixed-use building on Columbus Circle in Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building occupies the western side of Columbus Circle and strad ...

and the

Bowery Ballroom The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in Manhattan's Bowery neighborhood. The venue has enjoyed a fabled reputation among musicians as well as audiences. In 2013, industry insiders polled by ''Roll ...

, as well as out-of-state venues like

MASS MoCA The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing ...

. The group has played at notable New York musical events including Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center and

Celebrate Brooklyn Celebrate Brooklyn!, sometimes called BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!, is one of New York City’s longest-running, free, outdoor performing arts festival An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, d ...

External links

Loser's Lounge official siteKustard Kings official siteJulian Maile
member of the Kustard Kings, and NYC musician.

References

Tribute bands {{NYC-stub