Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine (or simply Richard Cheese) is a

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. N ...

and comedy act, performing popular songs in a

lounge Lounge may refer to: Architecture * Lounge, the living room of a dwelling * Lounge, a public waiting area in a hotel's lobby * Lounge, a style of commercial alcohol- bar * Airport lounge or train lounge (e.g., Amtrak's Acela Lounge), a premium ...

/swing style. Lounge singer Richard Cheese is a character created and portrayed by

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

–based actor/comedian/singer Mark Jonathan Davis.

History

Davis developed the Richard Cheese lounge singer idea in the mid-1990s. The band's work was first broadcast in 2000 by

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The sta ...

and the

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

show.

Releases

The band's debut album ''Lounge Against the Machine'' was released in 2000 by

Oglio Records Oglio Records is an American record company started in 1993 by Carl Caprioglio. The label issues compilations of rare 1980s modern rock and new wave songs, many previously unreleased on CD. In addition to releasing new material by artists such ...

. 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 to 2006,

Surfdog Records Surfdog Records is a record label, music publishing company, merchandising company, and marketing company based in Encinitas, California. Its roster includes artists of the rock, punk, swing, rockabilly, reggae, lounge, and alternative gen ...

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 plus three new covers. 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 its independent Coverage Records label: ''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 released a studio album on CD titled ''Licensed to Spill'' in 2017, and a greatest hits digital compilation titled ''Lord of the Swings: The Best of Richard Cheese, Volume 2'' in 2018. In 2019, the band released ''Richard Cheese's Big Swingin' Organ'', an album of instrumental organ versions of nine of their songs. Also, in 2019 it released a one-track parody album titled ''Richard Cheese: Live on Titan'' which satirized the ending of the motion picture '' Avengers: Infinity War''. A studio album titled ''Numbers Of The Beast'' was released digitally on July 31, 2020, and another studio album titled ''Big Cheese Energy'' was released digitally on February 26, 2021. Since 2000, Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine band has released 28 albums.

Film work

Richard Cheese's cover of Disturbed's " Down with the Sickness" was featured in the 2004

Zack Snyder Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with ''Dawn of the Dead (2004 film), Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead (1978 film), of the same name ...

-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 Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

's heat vision. Warner Bros. hired the band to perform and appear as animated LEGO mini-figs in the 2017 film ''

The Lego Batman Movie ''The Lego Batman Movie'' is a 2017 animated superhero comedy film, based on characters created by DC Comics and the Lego Batman toy line. It was directed by Chris McKay (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay that is based on a ...

''. In May 2021, Snyder's ''

Army of the Dead ''Army of the Dead'' is a 2021 American post-apocalyptic zombie heist film directed by Zack Snyder from a screenplay he co-wrote with Shay Hatten and Joby Harold, based on a story he also created. The film features an ensemble cast consist ...

'' movie featured Richard Cheese singing the opening song "Viva Las Vegas" in a duet with Allison Crowe. The character of Richard Cheese appeared in the Kristen Wiig comedy '' Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar'', released in February 2021.

Band members

As of 2015 the lineup of the Lounge Against The Machine band was: * Richard Cheese – vocals * Bobby Ricotta – piano, keyboards * Frank Feta – drums, percussion * Billy Bleu – upright bass, bass The names are all

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

s that refer to types of cheese (

ricotta Ricotta () is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the casein h ...

feta Feta ( ; ) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in brin ...

bleu Bleu or BLEU may refer to: * '' Three Colors: Blue'', a 1993 film * BLEU (Bilingual Evaluation Understudy), a machine translation evaluation metric * Belgium–Luxembourg Economic Union * Blue cheese, a type of cheese * Parti bleu, 19th century ...

). 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 and singles

*''Lounge Against the Machine'' (2000) (Oglio Records) *''Tuxicity'' (2003) (Surfdog Records) *''Aperitif for Destruction'' (2005) (Surfdog Records) *''Silent Nightclub'' (2006) (Surfdog Records) *''I'd Like a Virgin'' (2006) (Surfdog Records) *''Dick at Nite'' (2007) *''Viva la Vodka'' (2009) *''OK Bartender'' (2010) *''Lavapalooza'' (2010) (as ''Richard Cheese presents Johnny Aloha'') *''Richard Cheese: Live at the Royal Wedding'' (2011) *''Cocktails with Santa'' *''A Lounge Supreme'' (2011) *''Back in Black Tie'' (2012) *''The Lounge Awakens'' (2015) *''Supermassive Black Tux'' (2015) *''Bakin' at the Boulder ive at the Boulder Theater' (2015) *''Licensed to Spill'' (2017) *''The Royal Baby Album'' *''Richard Cheese's Big Swingin' Organ!'' (2019) *''Numbers of the Beast'' (2020) *''Big Cheese Energy'' (2021) *''Snappier Than Ever: The Original Songs'' (2021) *''Besame Queso'' (2022) *''Pussy Party'' (2022) *''Live From Hollywood'' (2023) *''Blue No Matter Who'' (2024)

Compilation albums

*''The Sunny Side of the Moon: The Best of Richard Cheese'' (2006) (Surfdog Records) *''Hail to the Cheese: Richard Cheese's All-American Greatest Hits'' (digital only) (2012) *''Down With the Dickness: Richard Cheese's Dirtiest Greatest Hits'' (digital only) (2012) *''Lord of the Swings: The Best of Richard Cheese, Vol. 2'' (digital only) (2018) *''Microphone Colossus: The Best of Richard Cheese, Vol. 3'' (digital only) (2025)

Film soundtracks

*'' Dawn of the Dead'' Down with the Sickness (2004, Universal) *'' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' Night and Day, first meeting of Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent (2016, Warner Bros.) *'' The Lego Batman Movie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (2017, Warner Bros.) *'' Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar'' Soundtrack (2021, Milan/Sony) *''

'' Soundtrack (2021, Milan/Sony)

Charts

*''The Sunny Side of the Moon'' – No. 9 on ''Billboard'' Comedy Album Chart, March 17, 2006 *''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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheese, Richard American parodists American comedy musical groups Cover bands Musical groups established in 2000 Parody musicians Lounge music groups