"So, for our next project," Raj said to the other bandmates seated around one of the tables at The Candy Bar, "I was thinking we could do a few covers of songs, just to keep our playing sharp."
"Covers?" Beth asked aloud.
"Yeah!" Raj replied. "I was at my social studies teacher's wedding last Thursday, and she got this band that was doing nice covers of songs, so, I thought, 'Why not do the same thing? A nostalgia act!'."
"It makes sense," Craig said. "We don't have to make new material all the time. Besides, we have school and homework, and we can't always meet up."
"I wouldn't mind singing other people's songs," Sparkle Cadet said. "But what should we sing?"
Raj pondered about it. "Maybe we can do something by a middle-of-the-road artist?"
"Ooh, I like that," J.P. replied. "How about 'Life is a Highway' by Tom Cochrane? My dad gave me his CD a couple of years ago."
"Who's Tom Cochrane?" Craig interjected.
"Canadian singer," Stacks replied.
"You listen to him?" J.P. asked her.
"No, but I read a book on Canadian country singers."
"If we're doing foreigners," Kelsey spoke out, "can we do 'Sympathy for the Devil'?"
"I'm not so sure the Rolling Stones are a fit for a group of kids who made up a pop rock song," Sparkle said.
"Well, that sucks," Kelsey said, crossing her arms in frustration.
"Maybe we can do something by Dolly Parton?" Stacks offered.
"What song?" Raj questioned.
"'9 to 5'?"
"Sounds like a good fit," Beth concurred. "Has that tough but feminine energy."
"I think we can put that on the list," Raj declared. Turning to his boyfriend Shawn at the bar counter, he called out for a pen and paper.
"Coming up," he replied, pulling out a black pen and a notepad and threw them at Raj.
Once the pen and pad came in, he wrote down "9 to 5". "Okay, Dolly is in," he announced. "Any others we can try?"
"How about something by Boyz II Men?" Craig offered.
"Kinda hard to do when four of us are girls," Beth said, "but I think we can make it work. What song?"
"I don't know, 'End of the Road'? My dad has the album that song came in."
"We'll look into it," Raj declared, and he added it to the list.
"Can you add 'Life is a Highway'?" J.P. asked. "I still think we should sing it." Raj put that song in, too.
"Okay, you want a tamer song?" Kelsey offered. "I'll give you it: 'Lost in France' by Bonnie Tyler."
"The 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' singer?" Stacks eyed her girlfriend with curiosity. "Why don't we sing that instead?"
"We'd need an orchestra for that," Kelsey replied. "Unfortunately, we have no money for one. I only have five bucks, and they're for buying you flowers."
"I have an accordion," Beth said.
"You do?" J.P. wondered aloud.
"Yeah, I could play it. We could try it out."
"Okay, 'Lost in France' is a go," Raj declared.
"Great!" Kelsey said with joy.
"Can we do something from TV?" Beth asked. "I was thinking of doing 'Makin' Up for Lost Time' by Crystal Gayle and Gary Morris."
"That sounds like a deep cut," Craig said.
"How do you know that?" Sparkle asked.
"My parents loved to watch Dallas," Beth replied. "They bought it when they released that single."
"I'll try it out," J.P. said.
Raj put that on the list. "Sparkle, darling," he said, "what song would you like to sing?"
She thought about it. "A Celine Dion song?"
"I like her! I have her CDs! Let's do that!" J.P. said.
"Which song is it?" Craig queried.
"I'm thinking… We'll sing 'Next Plane Out'."
"Nice," J.P. declared.
"On the list," Raj announced. "Now, for my pick. I think, for a band like ours, we could do Elton John's 'Rocket Man'."
"That makes a lot of sense," Sparkle concurred. "It fits my theme!"
Turning to Shawn, Raj asked, "What would you like us to sing?"
"Easy," he answered, "Kiss's 'Rock and Roll All Nite'."
"I didn't know you were into Kiss," J.P. said.
"Well, when we were going against King Xavier, Raj and I made up a playlist of songs for psychological warfare. I heard that song on the radio; it was a great fit."
"And I say it's marvelous," Raj declared, and added it to the list. He held up the paper and showed it to the other bandmates.
"That looks like a great playlist," Sparkle commented.
"We could, like, make it into an album," J.P. noted.
"I think we have to ask for permission," Craig said.
"We're not actually gonna record it," Raj explained as he handed the paper to Stacks. "It's practice."
"Anyway, we could think about it in the future," Kelsey added. "Right now, we just got to learn how to actually play it."
"I think I can find music sheets for most of these songs," Stacks said, "but I think we'll generally be playing by ear."
"So, we'll be doing more instruments this time around?" Beth remarked. "I think I'll take that challenge. We could try acoustic guitars, or bongos."
"People," Raj declared, "I think we've got ourselves juiced up for a jam session!"
While most of the songs are upfront, "Lost in France" is a song I've been listening to a lot lately. Okay, so, I don't have the same taste as Jeff Rosenstock, cut me some slack!
The rights to Dallas are of course, under Warner Bros. Discovery.