Richard Cheese



Richard Cheese is an artist who does seemingly straight Cover Versions of Rock and Roll and Hip Hop songs in the style of a Lounge Lizard, backed by his band Lounge Against the Machine.


 * Lounge Against the Machine (2000)
 * Tuxicity (2002)
 * I'd Like a Virgin (2004)
 * Aperitif for Destruction (2005)
 * The Sunny Side of the Moon: The Best of Richard Cheese (2006)
 * Silent Nightclub (2006)
 * Dick at Nite (2007)
 * Viva la Vodka (2009)
 * OK Bartender (2010)
 * Lavapalooza (2010)
 * A Lounge Supreme (2011)
 * Richard Cheese Live at the Royal Wedding (2011)

"Uno, does, tres, catorce! Hola, senoritas y senores! Me llamo Ricardo Queso, let's mambo!"
 * Auto-Tune: Occasionally retained in covers of songs where the Auto-Tune is supposed to be gratuitous. He gets in an argument with his at the end of his "Stronger" cover.
 * Audience Participation Song: "She told me to--" "CUM!" "Come. Yes. Thank you."
 * Call-and-Response Song: "Chop Suey". "Why did you leave the keys upon the table?" "You wanted to!" "Oh."
 * Careful with That Axe: In the cover of "Been Caught Stealing", Richard is attacked by a dog, which is conveyed with a mix of barks, growls, and Richard screaming for help.
 * The Cover Changes the Meaning: His cover of "Down with the Sickness" tweeks the lyrics slightly to make the song about an actual sickness, rather than a metaphor for societal oppression.
 * "Just Dance" is reinterpreted as being completely depressing. "Now she's drunk, lost, no communication, can't get home because she can't find her keys, and now she can't see, ladies and gentlemen."
 * Epic Fail: He spends the entirety of the "Viva La Vida" cover trying to figure out the piano notes. He gets maybe three lines in.
 * "Galileo Galileo Galileo Galileo Galileo Galileo Galileo Galileo--I'm sorry, what's the next line?"
 * Gratuitous Spanish: Richard getting into the spirit of "Sunday Bloody Sunday":

"Pardon me, do you know where you are? You're in the jungle, baby! You're gonna die!"
 * Greatest Hits Album: Sunny Side of the Moon
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: During the Imperial March cover: "Piano solo! Bass solo! Drum solo! HAN SOLO!"
 * Indecipherable Lyrics: Undone by many of his covers, in which you can understand him perfectly. There is at least one song where he keeps it in tact, though, by mumbling all the words.
 * Lyrical Dissonance
 * Musical Pastiche
 * National Stereotypes: Johnny Lava's entire band consists of increasingly bizarre ones.
 * Pen Name: Richard Cheese is really Mark Jonathan Davis, meaning he invoked all those YouTube comments pointing out his name is Dick Cheese. The Lounge members are also given rather silly names--Bobby Ricotta (Noel Melanio), Frank Feta (Brian Fishler), and Billy Bleu (unknown.)
 * Running Gag: The word American in the line "knocking me out with those American thighs" changes every time he sings "Shook Me All Night Long".
 * The Scapegoat: Britney Spears in the "Toxic" cover, as Richard launches into a monologue blaming her for every scandal ever up to and including the War On Terror.
 * Something Completely Different: Dick at Night, which covers TV themes; Lavapalooza, which covers songs tiki-style rather than lounge-style.
 * Sophisticated As Hell: His charming, smooth demeanor is meant to create this contrast with the songs he sings.


 * Song Parody: Inverted. The lyrics are kept largely the same, but the tunes are radically changed. The only straight-forward example is "Star Wars Cantina", which is "Copacabana" with the lyrics rewritten to be a plot summary of the Star Wars original trilogy.
 * This Song Goes Out to All the Tropes: "Rape Me" is "for the ladies", "Don't Cha" "goes out to all the lesbians in the audience."