The Dan Band
Encyclopedia
The Dan Band is a comedy band from Los Angeles, California
, created by actor/comedian Dan Finnerty
.
The band is well known for its covers
of originally female-performed pop songs, with added obscenities and swearing. Their live show has become a staple of Los Angeles nightlife, with Entertainment Weekly naming it "the hottest ticket in town"
Dan has made notable appearances in the movies Old School
(singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart
" and "Lady"), The Terminal
, Starsky & Hutch
, where he performed Roberta Flack
's "Feel Like Makin' Love" at a Bat Mitzvah
, and most recently The Hangover
(performing "Candy Shop" and "Fame
") in a wedding scene reminiscent of his appearance in Old School. In 2005, they released The Dan Band Live
, their live full length debut album. They gained attention due to their expletive-heavy version of Bonnie Tyler
's "Total Eclipse of the Heart," as well as their cover versions of "Lady" by Styx
, "Milkshake" by Kelis
, Toni Basil
's "Mickey," and many others.
They filmed a one hour concert special of their live show called Dan Finnerty & The Dan Band: I Am Woman, for the Bravo network, which was directed by McG
and executive produced by Steven Spielberg
. The band released a Christmas LP called Ho: A Dan Band Xmas. The album consists completely of original Dan Band songs, with no covers. Songs on the album include "Ho, Ho, Ho" (a smooth R&B Christmas song about a prostitute) "Merry Christmakwanzakah", "Please Don't Bomb Nobody This Holiday" and "I Wanna Rock U Hard This Christmas" with a video featuring Florence Henderson
from The Brady Bunch
making the moves on Santa at a retirement home. The video for "Please Don't Bomb Nobody This Holiday" featured many celebrity cameos, including Sheryl Crow
, Christina Applegate
, Nicole Scherzinger
from The Pussycat Dolls, Kyle Gass
from Tenacious D
, Neil Patrick Harris
, Meg Ryan
, Macy Gray
, Christopher Guest
, among others. They've been the house band on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
, Pajama Party
and Spike TV's Spike Guys' Choice Awards
2009 and have made numerous appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Late Show
, CD USA
, Last Call with Carson Daly
. Dan wrote and performed an original song for the finale of the NBC
show Last Comic Standing
and was seen as a regular correspondent on The Jay Leno Show
and has continued on as a correspondent on the new The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, created by actor/comedian Dan Finnerty
Dan Finnerty
-Early and personal life:Finnerty was born in Rochester, New York, but grew up in the small town of Bath, New York and attended Emerson College in Boston. He was a member of the hit off-Broadway show Stomp in New York City. On August 8, 1995, he married actress Kathy Najimy. Gloria Steinem...
.
The band is well known for its covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of originally female-performed pop songs, with added obscenities and swearing. Their live show has become a staple of Los Angeles nightlife, with Entertainment Weekly naming it "the hottest ticket in town"
Dan has made notable appearances in the movies Old School
Old School (film)
Old School is a 2003 American comedy film released by DreamWorks SKG and directed by Todd Phillips, director of the documentary Frat House. The story was written by Court Crandall, and the film was written by Phillips and Scot Armstrong...
(singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart
Total Eclipse of the Heart
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a song written and produced by Jim Steinman and recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler for her fifth studio album, Faster Than the Speed of Night...
" and "Lady"), The Terminal
The Terminal
The Terminal is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It is about a man trapped in a terminal at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport when he is denied entry into the United States and at the same time cannot...
, Starsky & Hutch
Starsky & Hutch (film)
Starsky & Hutch is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips. The film stars Ben Stiller as David Starsky and Owen Wilson as Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson and is a film adaptation of the original television series of the same name from the 1970s....
, where he performed Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
's "Feel Like Makin' Love" at a Bat Mitzvah
B'nai Mitzvah
Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah are Jewish coming of age rituals. According to Jewish law, when Jewish boys reach 13, they become responsible for their actions and become a Bar Mitzvah . The age for girls is 12...
, and most recently The Hangover
The Hangover (film)
The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
(performing "Candy Shop" and "Fame
Fame
The words fame and famous are used in many contexts, most of them inspired by the concept of celebrity but Fame or famous may refer specifically to:* Fans of Adult Media and Entertainment Awards, created in 2006...
") in a wedding scene reminiscent of his appearance in Old School. In 2005, they released The Dan Band Live
The Dan Band Live
The Dan Band Live is the first album released by The Dan Band. It includes humorous covers of various pop songs.-Track listing:#"Free Your Mind/I Am Woman"#"Gloria/Mickey"#"Abba Medley"#"Shoop/Whatta Man/Never Gonna Get It"...
, their live full length debut album. They gained attention due to their expletive-heavy version of Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, most notable for her hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "It's a Heartache", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".-Early life:...
's "Total Eclipse of the Heart," as well as their cover versions of "Lady" by Styx
Styx (band)
Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
, "Milkshake" by Kelis
Kelis
Kelis Rogers Kelis Rogers Kelis Rogers (born August 21, 1971 is an American musical artist. She is a BRIT Award, Q Award and NME Award winner and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. She has had nine top 10 singles on the UK Singles Chart...
, Toni Basil
Toni Basil
Antonia Christina Basilotta , better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, filmmaker, film director, choreographer, and dancer, best known for her multi-million-selling worldwide #1 hit "Mickey" from 1982.-Early life:Basil was born Antonia Christina...
's "Mickey," and many others.
They filmed a one hour concert special of their live show called Dan Finnerty & The Dan Band: I Am Woman, for the Bravo network, which was directed by McG
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
and executive produced by Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
. The band released a Christmas LP called Ho: A Dan Band Xmas. The album consists completely of original Dan Band songs, with no covers. Songs on the album include "Ho, Ho, Ho" (a smooth R&B Christmas song about a prostitute) "Merry Christmakwanzakah", "Please Don't Bomb Nobody This Holiday" and "I Wanna Rock U Hard This Christmas" with a video featuring Florence Henderson
Florence Henderson
Florence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
from The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
making the moves on Santa at a retirement home. The video for "Please Don't Bomb Nobody This Holiday" featured many celebrity cameos, including Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
, Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children. Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations...
, Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, model, and actress. Scherzinger is perhaps best known for being the lead vocalist of the Pussycat Dolls....
from The Pussycat Dolls, Kyle Gass
Kyle Gass
Kyle Richard Gass , also known as KG or Kage, is an American rock musician, singer-songwriter and actor. He is a member of the bands Tenacious D and Trainwreck. In Tenacious D , Gass plays lead guitar and sings backup vocals, and also plays the role of Black's comic foil in most of their comedy...
from Tenacious D
Tenacious D
Tenacious D is an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. Composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Jack Black and lead guitarist and vocalist Kyle Gass, the band has released two albums – Tenacious D and The Pick of Destiny...
, Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
, Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American actress and producer. Raised in Bethel, Connecticut, Ryan began her acting career in 1981 in minor roles, before joining the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982...
, Macy Gray
Macy Gray
Macy Gray is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis.Gray has released five studio albums, with her fifth studio album, The Sellout,...
, Christopher Guest
Christopher Guest
Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest , better known as Christopher Guest, is an American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor and comedian. He is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed and starred in several improvisational "mockumentary" films that...
, among others. They've been the house band on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
, Pajama Party
Pajama Party (TV series)
Pajama Party was an American talk show broadcast in 2000 and hosted by Katie Puckrik. The series was an American remake of the British television series Pyjama Party also created by Puckrik which she hosted in 1996....
and Spike TV's Spike Guys' Choice Awards
Spike Guys' Choice Awards
The Spike Guys' Choice Awards is an awards show produced by the Viacom cable channel Spike and held since 2007. It is patterned after Viacom's MTV Movie Awards...
2009 and have made numerous appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
, CD USA
CD USA
CD USA, which debuted in 2006, is an American music television show airing exclusively on DirecTV's" The 101" network in the United States. The show is an American version of CD:UK, a similarly themed music show on ITV in the UK. Its hosts are John Wynn, Becky Baeling, and formerly, Jonathan...
, Last Call with Carson Daly
Last Call with Carson Daly
Last Call with Carson Daly is an American late night talk show that is broadcast on NBC. The show is hosted by Carson Daly, the half-hour show featuring celebrity interviews, documentary-style coverage of a topic, and musical performances. Last Call airs weeknights at 1:35 a.m. Eastern / 12:35 a.m....
. Dan wrote and performed an original song for the finale of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
show Last Comic Standing
Last Comic Standing
Last Comic Standing is an American reality television talent show that has aired from 2003 through 2010.The goal of the program is to select a comedian from a group, who will receive a development contract with the NBC network, and a television special first to air on the cable-TV network Comedy...
and was seen as a regular correspondent on The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show is an American comedy show created by and starring Jay Leno, that aired from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's first tenure as host of The Tonight Show...
and has continued on as a correspondent on the new The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
.
Discography
- 2000: Two Guys and a GirlTwo Guys and a GirlTwo Guys and a Girl is an American sitcom created by Kenny Schwartz and Danny Jacobson. It ran on ABC from March 10, 1998 to May 16, 2001. 81 episodes were transmitted over four seasons....
Episode "Bridesmaid Revisited" - 2003: Old SchoolOld School (film)Old School is a 2003 American comedy film released by DreamWorks SKG and directed by Todd Phillips, director of the documentary Frat House. The story was written by Court Crandall, and the film was written by Phillips and Scot Armstrong...
soundtrack - 2004: Starsky and Hutch soundtrack
- 2005: The Dan Band LiveThe Dan Band LiveThe Dan Band Live is the first album released by The Dan Band. It includes humorous covers of various pop songs.-Track listing:#"Free Your Mind/I Am Woman"#"Gloria/Mickey"#"Abba Medley"#"Shoop/Whatta Man/Never Gonna Get It"...
- 2007: Ho: A Dan Band Christmas
- 2007: Hot RodHot Rod (film)The soundtrack was composed by ex-Yes guitarist, Trevor Rabin. Several songs by the Swedish rock band Europe are in the movie, including "Cherokee" and "Rock the Night." The full trailer contains three Swedish rock band songs, Europe's "Cherokee" and "The Final Countdown," and The Hives' "See...
- 2009: The HangoverThe Hangover (film)The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
soundtrack ("Candy ShopCandy Shop"Candy Shop" is the second single by rapper 50 Cent from his second commercial album The Massacre . It features R&B singer Olivia, and was written by 50 Cent....
")
Members
- Dan Finnerty - lead
- Gene Reed - backing vocals
- John Kozeluh - backing vocals
- David Arana/Byron Thames - keyboard
- Marc Strommer - guitar
- Einar Pedersen/Daniel Shulman - bass
- Dave Johnstone/Ivan Delaforce - drums