Karaoke Forums

Ah... BD... That would lead me (and that's just me) to assume that you can hum, perfectly, 9000 original  recording on demand, including not only the melodic line but the significant instrumention thereon, backup vocals and prominent rifts.  

OR... you have a copy of each original recording and have simultaneously listened to them and the CDG's you've evaluated for "accuracy".

We have Geo Strait devotees on this thread who can't quite agree who produced the best version of All My Ex's.   Many available versions are close, not one is completely right, even if off only as to tempo.  So, which version should a professional KJ have in his/her catalog?  I have listened to my original of that song since the song was discussed in this thread and have compared it to 4 karaoke versions since.  I don't really find anyone of the versions near perfect and would find it difficult to name a preferance!  I wouldn't mind (though I wouldn't intentionally go out to have 3 versions of a song) having the SC, CB and Legends version.  And while it's not the BEST, the SAVA copy I own works just fine for me!

This is just my personal preference, but I like having all the different versions of songs listed in my books when I do an occasional side gig.

Still do it Excel style, and to save space and list all the versions in the collection, I put my prefered version numbers first in column C (after Artist & Song Title), second favorite versions in column D, third favorite in E, etc. At least that way people who don't "know" the brands will usually pick the number of the prefered one that I listed first, and the singers who are more particular about singing from a certain company's disc can still check down the line to see if it's there, 'cause I give different manufacturers their own "code" in the number so people can identify who makes the song.

Not totally efficient, but at least I don't have to list the same song five times in a row on seperate lines to show all the versions. Call it a happy compromise.

Since I was 13, I have been singing to songs on the radio.   Playing guitar also helps.    So I know all about keeping tempo.    I have always been into art & music.   My mind is not cluttered with meaningless sports stuff.    I have been imitating the lead singers all that time.   So my recall of how a song goes is pretty good.   That also goes for the effects used on said songs.    That comes from my years of experience.   So do I know all 9,500 songs?   No.   And technically it's over 15,000 songs counting all of the crappy versions.     Do I know which is the best musical version of all 9,500 songs?   No.    Do I listen to people that tell me that another version might be better?  Yes.   Have I done side-by-side comparisions of songs ?   Yes.     Am I still revising my selections?   Yes.    Have I heard most of the 9,500 songs?   It's pretty close.    There are some very obscure songs on karaoke.     Do I know how they should sound?   Yes, almost.    There are a few songs I have never heard and couldn't tell you if it was musically correct.   Am I closer than most other KJs?     Yes      Are there any musical versions of songs on karaoke that are 100% correct?   I highly doubt it.    But there are many many versions that people can not tell, it isn't the original artist.    Especially when I sing them.     Many people think they are listening to the jukebox and it's actually me.   A couple just told me this Saturday night.   He asked if I sang on the radio.     They sound like they will become followers.    Also had many new people Saturday.   They were very impressed with the sound and the quality of the singers.   I attract quality.     The equipment investment has/continues to be repaying me.

It's good to be king.  :worship:

I also have access to the 26-2700 or so, Pioneer songs versions, which are IMO the best musically redone karaoke songs.     They spared no expense in their versions.     They were the industry leaders for many years.      It was them, (first with videos) all the other karaoke companies tried to beat.     So most of my musical versions are very close to the radio versions.

BD... you're clearly better than I am.  I started music lessons at 8 and began playing out at 16 in bands that played, primarilly the standards along with plenty of latin music and the latest RnR. I sang Doo Wop on the "streets of NY" with the likes of Vito (from the "Salutations").  I also have no sports trivia in my head.  But I definitely cannot do what you can in terms of hearing, corrrectly in my head, thousands of popular songs.

So.... we'll keep this simple and leave it up to you.  Aside from disks that are not readily available, what is the best rendition of All My Ex's Live In Texas, and why?  After that which is the best rendition of Meatloaf's "Paradise By The Dashboard Light", and why?  THIS TASK, OF COURSE, YOU WILL ACCOMPLISH STRICTLY FROM MEMORY, RIGHT?

P>S> I just listened to the four (cheap) versions of "Reunited" I've gotten so far in my library.  They all sound good to me!

He wouldn't know about paradise since he took it out of his books.

However with his charming personality, I am sure he is intimately aware of All his ex's.......

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Let's Kick the Tires and Light the Fires!

BD if you did take Paradise out of your books that shouldn't stop you from giving us all your evaluation.  No one is asking you to put it back into your catalog.

Well if I KNEW I didn't like the version they had I would most certainly ask if they had another version.  If they didn't I would ask if I could bring my own disk the next time.  If I didn't know the version they had and it was the only one they had available I would probably go ahead and give it a go...being a KJ I would expect it to be a decent version or it shouldn't be there period.  

If they DID have a different version that I liked available I'm not really sure about how I would remember it...especially if I was going to a lot of different shows with different KJ's...which for me personally wouldn't be a problem since I don't do that.  I would just be able to remember.

If all they had was a version I felt sounded crap and they wouldn't agree to let me use my own disc I would probably just never sing that particular song...there are plenty of songs I like to sing so just one wouldn't burst my bubble...unless of course the KJ was rude to me about the whole situation...in which case I would find another show.

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[glow=violet] **Sing like nobody's listening...live like there's no tomorrow**[/glow]

And of course, Sinnamon, not everyone carries around their own disks!

So, I am becoming more and more convinced that the best advice is to display and carry every available version in ones library.

I play the Pioneer version of "All My Ex's."     And anyway Texas isn't big enough for all of my ex's.     They are now getting green cards and filling up Mexico.  LMAO

When I'm done with a woman, they're like a car with 300,000 miles on 'em.     Pretty worn out.  :shock:  :dancin:  :worship:

Paradise is not in my book because I have only ever, in 14 years heard one couple sing the song close to being right.   And 8 1/2 minutes of couples butchering that song is way too long.    I use to play it and I always ended up doing the narration part, because nobody could read that fast and they weren't expecting it to be there.

BD...very adept sidestep (not two step as in TEXAS).

Since, Pioneer disks are no longer available, it is not valid selection based upon the established criteria.  One reason for the requirement that a selected version be available is to allow those of us who believe in your amazing skills to run out and puchase the version you deem to be the best!?

As to Paradise the DK version HAS the narration and is also the only version I have tried that accurately displays all of the duet parts!

However, for one who knows the narration and the parts, I find that the ALL HITS version is most accurate, musically.  If I owned the DK version, I would definitely want it, along with the AH version in my library!!!  Why? So people who don't know the song that well have a better shot of singing it completely/correctly (with the DK version).  For those who like/don't mind doing the narration, know the song well and appreciate the better musical rendition, I'll have the AH version!

Lastly, if one accepts the answer "Pioneer" (which is not acceptable because it is not available), you provided no rationale why that should be considered the best version.  What other versions have you compared it to and what makes the Pioneer superior to those others?

Well you really didn't state that in the OP that it should be in print.  Being out of print shouldn't matter, if it's the best version listed.  



I list both the Sound Choice & All Hits version - and agree with the All Hits assessment.  The SC version also has the narration done for you - although NEITHER have the duet version at the end correctly, not sure about the DK version, don't have that one.



I find many of the Pioneer versions better in sound quality over other brands - mainly production quality was much fuller IMO, but again, no longer available wasnt a part of your original query, it seemed you were asking about version close to the original or not, not whether the versions were still available or not.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Of course everyone doesn't...but the karaoke addiction hit me hard and fast and before I knew it I had bought my own home system and started collecting cdg's...  

And some KJ's just won't play a customer's disk...which is understandable.  But there are SO many versions of some songs available I would think it would be a royal headache to try to have every single version AND have them listed in your books.  I DO like the column idea though...only having the song itself listed once and then the different versions listed.  It's kind of a pain going through a book and seeing the same song 10 times on different pages.  :yes:

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[glow=violet] **Sing like nobody's listening...live like there's no tomorrow**[/glow]

Sinnamon,  when I began to sing Karaoke, I initially laughed at catalogs with a gazillion versions of the same song. I wondered why that was necessary.

As I sang more and more, I realized there were versions of songs that I preferred over others, and that some versions s--ked.  So when a catalog offers me choices, I appreciate that.  If I am trying something new, I'll look at the manufacturer (if the catalog provides that info) to determine which version to try for the first time.

Lonman, just read your tip about the $5 DK disks and ordered 8 of them.  One of the tracks ordered is my  "coveted" (DKG2022) version of Paradise.  And yes, it has the missing duet part!

Also, sorry to all if my terminology in the challenge "not readily available" was a poor choice of words.  I don't believe Pioneer disks are still being sold?

Majority of the time I will look in the book to see the selection, if I see lot's of quality companies, I will look further, if I see a bunch of SGB, BMB, Backstage, etc, I will probably use my own discs.  I always bring my own discs with me of versions I prefer - you may not even necessarily deem them the best, but it's what I prefer.  If the kj won't play it, I will ask if they have the same version, if not, I may or may not look for another song or even stay for that matter.  I go out to enjoy myself, not to be forced to sing versions that i'm not used to or may dislike.

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[shadow=deepskyblue]I'm impressed, I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before.[/shadow]

TownTenor




DITTO DITTO DITTO

I have taken the liberty of not wasting your time, by only listing the most musically correct version, as compared to what's heard on the radio.    If you have not heard the song on the radio, then it will never matter to you or anyone else, what version I play.     To me it matters.     Would you pay to see a copy cat band that played everything any way they wanted to play the song?   Or would you want to hear it the way you remember it?   And know you could sing to/with it?

Crap versions are a dime a dozen.   It's much harder to find and buy good versions.

Maybe radio stations should get people to copy the originals in their own style.  Then they could save money by playing the copy cat version, instead of the real artist.   Same song it just sounds different.  LMAO  :O

BD ... what about songs that have more than one RADIO version???  I can think of quite a number that fit this bill as different artists normally use different arrangements.  I can sing some arrangements and others are just not singable for my range.  Are you saying that I wouldn't be able to sing if I went to your show just because you didn't like an artist's arrangement?

Ya know what, BD, based upon your established criteria, there would be a limited number of songs anyone can sing.  Because..... even if your catalog correctly identifies the best version of every karaoke song ever produced (and that's not likely) very few productions ACTUALLY replicate the original!  And for the few that may match real close in your mind, someone else will detect a flaw.  So, not accepting anything less than the radio version, why not throw your entire collection out?



OOOO KKKK?

Well if it's a version sung by a particular artist and then someone years later does a remake of it, they will not be the same.   Two different artists.  So I would list it by the original artist and if it was re done by another, I would list it under the other artists name.    How hard is that to figure out?    I would still list the two most musically correct (to the radio) versions, as judged by my bionic ear.  :O  :shock:  LMAO

Now on a different matter.

The only way I like Meatloaf, is when it's smothered in ketchup.   So I'm not a fan of his.

His next new album will be call "Bat out Of Hell," "In a Wheel Chair."

I do have several versions of P By T D B Lights.   I think we played the Music Maestro version when I played it.   Since then I have obtained several other versions.     I don't know which is best because, I don't care, as I have said before.   Ask me about a song that matters.

You are absolutely correct in saying that no karaoke company can get every song right.   But I still pick the one that comes as close as possible to the radio version.    Why wouldn't I?    There are some really crappy companies out there Most have gone under.  :O   I would not buy from them.    The good ones are still around.   Just like the cream-of-the-crop KJs.   The good ones last and the hack ones pass.   Now my song book is a packed 1 1/2 inches thick (next one will be 2")with 9,500 one of a kind songs.   So maybe I should make it 4-5 inches thick and put them all in backwards and forwards and alphabetically by artist and by title and by disc numbers?   So I can look like a hack that's lying, trying to keep up with the Jones?   See how big my book is....   It's all duplicated, triplicated, and fourpulated, with song versions nobody will ever sing, and can't sing to, but hey look how many I have...    

Save a tree, print one musically correct version of every song.

You just don't get it BD.  There are few (notice I am not saying IMO, since BD never does) "musically correct" versions in your 9500 songs.  You'd be lucky if the 1500 most sung songs in your collection were "musically correct".  So, to save trees, find out the most popular songs in your collection and just put those 1500 in your song book, and hope they're muscially correct. Why print up a book with 9500 songs if most are NEVER sung and the majority of the rest are rarely sung?  Just good business sense, right?

Now, as the most professional KJ of all, how dare you refuse to cater to singers who like to do Paradise?  You don't even know which is the best version you have because ___  YOU DON'T CARE ___ AND NO, THE MM VERSION IS FAR FROM THE BEST!

If I were in your audience, how insulted would I feel if I asked you about singing that song?

As to being at the "top of the game", I learned a long time ago that many people are successful IN SPITE OF THEMSELVES.  Sometimes it's just a matter of dumb luck!!!