Comments on: Karaoklich�s

Question: Karaoklichés

grrarrgh00 — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 17:58:50 -0800

What are the worst karaoke clichés?

Karaoke DJs must get sick of hearing "Baby Got Back," "Landslide," "Sweet Caroline," any top 40 song from last year, and any Sisqo/Nelly song. Are there other songs I should stay away from if I want to be a karaoke original?

By: inksyndicate

inksyndicate — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:03:09 -0800

Avoid anything having to do with "Grease," frequently sung by wavering groups of sorority types.

By: inksyndicate

inksyndicate — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:03:25 -0800

Oh, and definitely avoid John Meyer.

By: Dreama

Dreama — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:04:45 -0800

Drunken talk-singing through the "dirty" version of "Friends in Low Places."

By: mischief

mischief — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:07:55 -0800

How often do you hear that crusty Phoebe Snow screech "Loving You"?

By: dagnyscott

dagnyscott — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:09:50 -0800

"Killing Me Softly". I have heard this song frequently several times in one night. And it's not a short song. It's kind of easy to get tired of before it ends the fist time. The next few times, well, that's where the bar makes it's money on alcohol.

By: nj_subgenius

nj_subgenius — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:11:27 -0800

er, that's Minnie Riperton doing 'Loving You', not Pheobe Snow.
You might be thinking of 'Poetry Man'.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:16:08 -0800

"My way." I don't know if it's because Sid Vicious proved that you can actually get noticed for doing it badly or what.

Once while on vacation in Finland and Estonia, I spent about a total of 8 hours in karaoke bars and heard "My Way" four times.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:28:04 -0800

Total Eclipse of the Heart

By: grrarrgh00

grrarrgh00 — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:32:37 -0800

I'll add "Love Shack," "Jessie's Girl," "Margaritaville," and "Piano Man" right now. Thanks for these, and please keep 'em coming. I'm trying to compile a definitive list for my friends new to the discipline.

By: samh23

samh23 — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:35:37 -0800

The kid who, thanks to liquor, believe he can nail Bohemian rhapsody (he can't) is a standard cliche.

Also, people who try to perform the original versions of a song in the manner of the latest crappy cover version (a la singing George Michael's Faith like Limp Bizkit).

As dagnyscott indicated, tackling a crowd pleaser without realizing how long the song actually is, or, how long the guitar solo is. Other culprits in this vein include Total Eclipse of the Heart and Sweet Child O' Mine.

By: gaspode

gaspode — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 18:48:08 -0800

New York New York.

By: biscotti

biscotti — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 19:05:33 -0800

Anything by Meat Loaf.

By: honeydew

honeydew — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 19:08:39 -0800

Dear God, people. "I Will Survive."

By: sdrawkcab

sdrawkcab — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 19:22:28 -0800

I Got You, Babe (duet)
I Will Survive
Takin' Care of Business

By: Miko

Miko — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 19:36:36 -0800

Me & Bobby McGee

By: britain

britain — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 19:41:28 -0800

I used to do a mean "Let's Get it On" until Jack Black ruined it in High Fidelity.

By: honeydew

honeydew — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 19:43:40 -0800

Oh, also "Respect."

By: jewishbuddha

jewishbuddha — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 19:53:01 -0800

I think a common mistake is the "I think I know this popular song. Oh wait, it has verses? I don't know those."

One of the best karaoke performances I've ever seen, and not cliche in my experience, was of the Crash Test Dummies' Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 20:04:51 -0800

I think a common mistake is the "I think I know this popular song. Oh wait, it has verses? I don't know those."

That's exactly what happened when a group of us did Baby Got Back at my best friend's bachlorette party. I was the only one who knew words other than "Baby Got Back!".

By: Neosamurai85

Neosamurai85 — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 20:15:23 -0800

Q: What are the worst karaoke clichés?

A: Japanese people.

Because I'm so un-PC I'm Mac-ing!

...I am so very sorry. This is why people who have really bad dizzy headed feverish headaches should not be allowed near keyboards. Especially people who have really bad dizzy headed feverish headaches and have exposed themselves to the pilot episode of She-Ra within the past 24 hours.)

To redeem myself I shall add to this list of clichés the following:

"Boys Don't Cry"

"Cars"

"Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" (and anything else by Culture Club)

"Baby Got Back"

"I Want Candy"

*Anything that sucked hard with rusty dentures the first time around*

* by the Spice Girls... (that shit would make a Buddhist monk sport a tire iron with malicious intent!)

"Purple Rain"

"Blitzkrieg Bop" (If you ain't Joey's reanimated corpse, you're not allowed!)

And above all... NEVER SING the Red Nex cover of "Cotton Eye Joe"

It's simply unforgivable!

Peace.

By: Neosamurai85

Neosamurai85 — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 20:18:21 -0800

On a side note: "Cars" is cliché but still ok if done well.

I mean... it's "Cars" for crying out load!

Peace.

By: asavage

asavage — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 20:39:31 -0800

I'll add two:

A friend once did "Hello Mudda, Hello Fadder, here I am at, Camp Granada..." and only midway discovered that it's like twice as long as "American Pie". Wow that was excruciating.

The other is dykes singing "What's going on" by 4 Non Blondes.
When someone starts screaming "and I said HAY UH HAY UH HAY UH HAY UH..." It's clearly time to go outside for a cigarette.

Oh, and anything by Andrew Lloyd Weber. Or does that go without saying?

(disclaimer: hope no one's offended by "dyke". I live in SF and count at least a dozen as good friends, and I'm sure they'd give me permission)

By: Ugh

Ugh — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 20:44:26 -0800

My local sports bar which I used to frequent almost every night, had karaoke at least 3 times a week. Never once, in two years of going there, did I make it through the night without having to hear "I Will Always Love You" sometimes 3 or 4 times a night. It's just a terrible karaoke song because it totally brings down the mood, and NO ONE can ever sing it as good as Whitney Houston. You can NOT improve upon her version so please stop trying.

Another popular one was David Allan Cole's "You Don't Even Know My Name" but people seems to enjoy it because everyone knows the words and it's a lot of fun for the drunkards.

By: Witty

Witty — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 20:49:22 -0800

Couple doing that effin' Meatloaf tune... " blah blah blah dashboard lights" er sumthin'.

By: helvetica

helvetica — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 20:54:02 -0800

Brown Eyed Girl always seems to get played a lot.

By: holloway

holloway — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:37:14 -0800

Dirty Dancing's "I... had... the time of my life... and never felt like this before... Yes I swear... it's the truth... and I owe it all to you"

By: hellbient

hellbient — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:55:58 -0800

Arguing mid-song with your better half about whose part is whose in that "you're the one that I want, woo oo oo" Grease duet which no guy knows the verses to, but every girl does. Although I don't know anything about that one.
If it's not a cliché, it should be.

Or, by definition, anything from here.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:59:11 -0800

Songs to sing: "Mack the Knife" is nice because you don't actually have to sing, or "Stand by Your Man."

Couple doing that effin' Meatloaf tune... " blah blah blah dashboard lights" er sumthin'.

Funnily enough, I once had an entire relationship based on this exact concept.

By: benzo8

benzo8 — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 23:01:54 -0800

www.karaokeinfo.co.uk has a list of the Top 10 Best and Worst tunes, as voted for monthly by UK karaoke hosts who have to listen to them night in and night out...

By: grouse

grouse — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:20:02 -0800

Awesome link, benzo8. Although I can't believe these hosts aren't sick of Summer Nights by now, which has to be the biggest cliche I can think of.

By: 23skidoo

23skidoo — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:45:00 -0800

"Your Song", "Piece of my Heart" and "What I Like About You".

By: adrianhon

adrianhon — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 02:15:41 -0800

benzo8: It's amusing how Angels and I Will Survive makes it onto both the Best *and* Worst tunes lists :)

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 03:52:57 -0800

I've never been to a Kareoke where some idiot didn't try singing Angels.
I sit and wait
Does an angel contemplate my fate ?
And do they know
The places where we go
When we're grey and old ?
Arghhhh - shut up, shut up, shut up!!!!

By: seanyboy

seanyboy — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 03:56:50 -0800

Oh, and before Angels, everyone loved ...
Pearl's a singer. and
Stand by your man.
This comment and the last bought to you from across the pond. Cheesy oversung songs may differ according to country of residence.
Your statuatary rights are not affected

By: the cuban

the cuban — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 04:02:21 -0800

Road to Amarillo

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 04:03:41 -0800

You can take my "Love Shack," "Baby Got Back" and "Mack the Knife" when you pry them from my cold, dead microphone. My nomination for true karaoke hell, however, is "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina." It's, like, three hours long, and you don't know how it goes!

By: Slothrop

Slothrop — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 05:40:57 -0800

I have a friend who does terrific versions of 'Ring of Fire' and 'Burnin' Down the House.' But I've only been to karaoke about four times...

By: isotope

isotope — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 12:28:58 -0800

So I have to ask: are there any *good* songs to karaoke to?

By: TheGoldenOne

TheGoldenOne — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 12:29:01 -0800

Anything by Pat Benatar. Bah!

By: wsg

wsg — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 13:19:01 -0800

Anything by the Fifth Dimension.

Also, I know Star Search has banned forever the singing of the song "At Last" by Etta James. Not because it's a bad song. It's a great one. It's just been done to death.

By: Gucky

Gucky — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 14:34:16 -0800

From my experience, it's drunken girls singing "You Outta Know" by Alanis Morrisette and boys singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and thinking they're being funny.