Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine (or simply Richard Cheese) is a cover band and comedy act, performing popular songs in a lounge/swing style, reminiscent of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Tony Bennett. Lounge singer Richard Cheese is a character created and portrayed by Los Angeles-based actor/comedian/singer Mark Jonathan Davis.
Davis developed the Richard Cheese lounge singer idea in the mid-1990s while working as a producer at KROQ-FM in Los Angeles. Davis portrayed a character named "Paul the 55-Year-Old Intern" on the Kevin and Bean morning show, and Paul recorded a single called "Paul on 45", which was a humorous medley of KROQ songs arranged in a swing/big band style.
Davis pitched this idea as an album concept, and the band's debut album Richard Cheese: Lounge Against the Machine ("Featuring 16 Swingin' Covers of Alternative Standards") was released in 2000 by Oglio Records. Since 2000, Davis's Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine band has released 28 albums.