It’s safe to say that, next to a group’s music, their name is the most important thing. The right tag can make all the difference in the world. Imagine if The Rolling Stones had been called The Bunny Rabbits. All their menace and cool would have evaporated as their name rolled off your tongue. The right name gives a clue to a band’s identity. It’s been said that a cover band is a musical jukebox. If that’s the case, than it’s fitting that name of a classic jukebox has been borrowed by San Diego’s top covers band Rockola. More than just a bar band, Rockola, which performs at Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge on March 13, reproduces a wide range of vintage hits from the ’50s to the ’70s. A typical night might include anything from Bill Haley & The Comets’ 1950s evergreen tune “Rock Around the Clock” or The Moody Blues’ classical pop song “Nights in White Satin.” It’s all done with a scary accuracy that has seen the quartet fill local venues as big as Birch North Park Theatre and play large events across the continent. The group, which includes frontman Bob Tedde, guitarist Mark DeCerbo, bassist Doug Booth and drummer Bobby Sale, has won eight San Diego Music Awards and backed numerous celebrities, including actor Don Johnson, Jack Bruce (Cream) and Joey Molland (Badfinger). According to DeCerbo, it’s hard to narrow down a list of their audiences’ biggest favorites. “We’ve been doing shows for so long that we can tailor a set list to a crowd pretty quickly,” DeCerbo said. “Different things go over at different events for different reasons, but you really can’t go wrong with pulling out a Beatles song.” Of the Fab Four’s tunes, DeCerbo rates their earlier tunes as among the biggest crowd pleasers. “All of their songs get a good reaction, but for audience participation it’s hard to beat ‘Twist and Shout,’ DeCerbo said. He noted that, although some songs in their set list are five decades old, age isn’t a factor when it comes to the audience’s enjoyment of their show. “Most people weren’t even born when a lot of these songs were first hits,” DeCerbo said. “But every one of them is a tune that has hung onto the public’s consciousness. Rock ’n’ roll has been around long enough that songs like ‘Woolly Bully’ and ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ seem to be practically ingrained into our psyche.” Despite being known in his own right as a singer-songwriter, DeCerbo is happy to keep Rockola’s focus squarely on cover tunes. In addition to his role in Rockola, DeCerbo fronts his own long-running group Four Eyes, which recently issued a compilation CD anthology, covering 1978-1990. “Although I’d like to think that songs that we pen ourselves can stand against some of the vintage tracks we play, our own music would be out of place in this setting,” DeCerbo said. “People coming to see this band want to hear the classics the way they remember them.” DeCerbo is proud of what Rockola has accomplished. “We’ve been making music with Rockola for ‘decades’,” DeCerbo said. “And it’s no less fun than it ever was. All you have to see is the happy look on someone’s face watching the band to see the connection you can make with music. “You make someone smile, clap their hands or tap their feet and it doesn’t matter that you’ve played the song a hundred times before,” he said. “It’s a special moment to be treasured.” Rockola performs at Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge, 2241 Shelter Island Drive on Friday, March 13 at 9 p.m. The show is for those 21 and up. For more information, visit www.hum-kphreysbythebay.com.