Songfacts®:

• Tesla's version of "Signs" is a live acoustic cover of a song from 1970 by the Five Man Electrical Band, a rock group that was popular in their native Canada but little known in America until "Signs" became an unexpected hit there, going to #3 in the summer of 1971.
  
  It's a salient protest song asking why the privileged class gets access to natural resources that should really be shared by all. This is embodied by the "no trespassing" and "keep out" signs that make it clear outsiders aren't welcome. These signs send a clear message and also block out some beautiful scenery.
• Tesla recorded the song live on July 2, 1990 at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia. At the time, they were an opening act on Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood Tour, which played in Middletown, New York on July 1 and had a show in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania on July 3. Instead of taking the day off, Tesla detoured to Philadelphia to play an acoustic set at the Trocadero, which they recorded and filmed. The band had been playing acoustic sets at radio station appearances for a while (it's easier to lug around an acoustic guitar than an amp) and were getting a great reaction, so they knew they were on to something. They had a hit with "Love Song," which they would always play at these acoustic showcases along with some of their other tracks and a collection of covers.
  
  For the Trocadero show, each band member got to choose a cover song. Lead singer Jeff Keith went with "Signs," which went over really well with the crowd. The recording had loads of energy and the video showed the band at their best. They released it as a single in November 1990 and it gradually picked up airplay on radio stations and MTV, climbing to #8 in April 1991.
  
  Oh, the other cover selections by the band members:
  
  Tommy Skeoch (guitar) - "Mother's Little Helper"
  Brian Wheat (bass) - "We Can Work It Out"
  Frank Hannon (guitar) - "Truckin'"
  Troy Luccketta (drums) - "Lodi"
• Tesla frontman Jeff Keith loved the original Five Man Acoustical Jam version of "Signs," which he heard a lot growing up in Oklahoma. "I still remember sitting in a buddy's car in Oklahoma and listening to 'Signs' - the song was big there," he told Songfacts.
  
  But his bandmates didn't know the song - they were from Northern California where the song wasn't popular. Keith had to track down a copy of the song so they could learn it.
• The Philadelphia acoustic concert where Tesla played "Signs" was released as an album called Five Man Acoustical Jam, the title a tribute to the Five Man Electrical Band, who did the original version of the song.
• Tesla's "Signs" is an acoustic rock landmark. The "unplugged" trend was driven by MTV, with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora's performance of "Wanted Dead Or Alive" at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards leading the way. Later that year, MTV launched their "Unplugged" concert series, starting with the band Squeeze. That first season also included performances by Elton John, Aerosmith and Don Henley, and while they were very popular on the network, none of the music was officially released.
  
  Tesla showed that an acoustic cover could be a hit when "Signs" was released at the end of 1990 and the Five Man Acoustical Jam album went Platinum. Starting in 1991 with Paul McCartney's Unplugged (The Official Bootleg), many of these performances were officially released. The first hit to emerge from the series was Mariah Carey's revival of I'll Be There by The Jackson 5, which went to #1 in June 1992. This was followed by Eric Clapton's slowed-down take on "Layla," which made #12 that November. Interestingly, the original versions of "Signs," "I'll Be There" and "Layla" were all released in 1970.
• Tesla almost f-ed up the song by changing the line "blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind" to "f--king up the scenery, breakin' my mind." This required an edit for the radio version, and there was no elegant way to do it because it's a live recording. They ended up reverse the audio in the offending word, which is a jarring edit.
• "Signs" is the biggest hit for Tesla, but "Love Song" is was also a big hit and the band sold a lot of albums. In fact, every album they ever released charted within the top 40. The band fell apart in the mid-'90s and broke up for a while, but they got back together in 2000 and have been together ever since.