Karaoke Forums

Let's go with 10 of your favorite filler songs in-between karaoke or songs you like as fillers and maybe why you always play 'em, if you want

(my apologies if there's another thread like this somewhere)

in no particular order..

10. Michael Jackson, "We Can Ride The Boogie"

is a 3:50 Baltimore House song that repeats the lines "..feel that beat, we can ride the boogie" that's sampled from his song "Rock With You" but hooked to a Baltimore house beat. I don't know why I like this as a filler song. Maybe because it's 2 birds with one stone: R&B and house.

9. Beyonce, "Partition"

Not that I necessarily like this song, but again I find myself playing it in-between singers a lot maybe because it also kills 2 birds with 1 stone: R&B and club. I always start the song at the 2:00 mark and let it play. Also, it gives a nod to the ladies in the room that I also play songs by a female artists.

8. Jay-Z, "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)

I find myself playing this song at almost every gig. I find that it works in almost every crowd where I'm at.

7. Gary Glitter, "Rock and Roll, Part II"

It's nice to play a filler song that doesn't have a lot of words every once in a while

6. Bob Marley, "Could You Be Loved"

I find that 'old school' simple reggae works a lot of rooms better than you think. Out of all the Bob Marley songs, I play this the most. Love singing it too for karaoke. I love playing Bob Marley.

5. Mary J. Blige, "Sweet Thing"

This was probably one of the first slow songs I played as a filler song as a newbie KJ. The KJ who was training me who loves to play high-energy, loud filler songs ran up to me from the back of the room screaming WTF are you playing?? He couldn't believe I'd play a slow song. Then I calmed him down and asked him to look around the room. Everyone was swaying and singing the words. I played this song at a wedding reception I was deejaying and it killed. Got everyone to couple up and slow dance and that was a mixed crowd age and race. This song always works in the crowds where I'm at. I can't turn it off sometimes. It's great for inspiring folks to sing a karaoke song, too.

4. Bee Gees, "Stayin Alive"

Works every room. I usually get compliments for playing the Bee Gees, I don't know why. I remember once my KJ Boss was in the room when I played this song and he was really impressed and was like I'm adding that to my repertoire. He's been in the biz over 20 years. Thought he of all people would've played that by now...

3. Cutty Ranks, "Who Say Me Dun"

I personally like this song. It's an 'old-school' 90s dancehall song. It doesn't always get the results I want, but I personally like it and play it every chance I remember to.

2. Akinyele, "Put It In Your Mouth"

. Ok this is a very ratchet, dirty rap song. It's hardcore from the early 90s. But this is a house-party,street type song. No way I can play the entire song as a filler. I just start at the 2:00 mark and go for a bout 30 seconds until they start cussing again. It's a nod to all the hardcore or ratchet folks who show up. It gives me street cred whenever I play it. Chicks love this ratchet song. First time I played it as a very green newbie DJ in the I'd say late 90s the chicks there asked me to play it over and over from beginning to end at least 20 times in a row. I kid you not. I play it to show folks I can take it to the streets. Just don't play the cussing part. .

1. Queen "Another One Bites The Dust"

Works every room. Love to throw it in there.

Honorable mention to: Steve Miller Band, "Fly Like An Eagle". I love playing this as a filler song too.

Pitbulls Give Me Everything does it for me. Gets them dancing everytime.

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The Line Array Experiment is over. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I typically have playlists that I set to play and then fade in and out. Whatever happens to be playing is what we get.

I have found that an upbeat 80's and early 90's playlist will work just about anywhere.

Last night I used a "Hip Hop Road Show" playlist suggested by a friend. Lots of 90's rap and hip-hop. Worked really well and it caused a couple of spontaneous dance breaks (really slow night for 4th of July).

Now and then I pick a specific song, but it depends entirely on the mood. It could be 80's pop, 90's grunge, 70's soul, 60's folk, 10's techno. I go all over the place.

But usually I just hit play and roll with the flow.

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-Chris

Ten or 12 seconds of just about anything. Seldom does it take much more than that for the next singer to start singing. I too just set it on auto pilot and what plays ...plays.

wow. interesting.

i don't use a pre-thought out playlist. i never know what i'll play on any night when it comes to filler songs. but typically, i play a different filler song in-between karaoke singers/songs. so, if i have let's say 35 songs sung in one night, you can bet i played 35 different filler songs. and i don't play the same artist twice.

i'm not on auto-pilot. and i try to compliment my song choice with what was just sung/sang. i try not to overshadow the last singer by playing something that makes everyone forget who just sang, but i try to play something that tag teams with the last song or goes in another direction without making you forget who just sang.

and i try to hit a lot of different genres through the night. i make it kind of a personal game. i try to hit as many checklists as i can. play a filler song by a solo artist, by a band, by a deceased singer, new school, old school, local artist, etc.

i'm working tonight. i'll be playing at least 35-45 random songs tonight and i have no idea what i'll be playing right now. one of my fav filler songs will make it, possibly.

I should clarify, I leverage Internet Radio playlists. So what comes across is not pre-defined. The playlists are not static.

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-Chris

lemme suggest to those who may have a pre-set playlist or does auto-pilot, try for one night to play filler songs on the fly, spontaneous, if you never have and see how you like it

this is how i feel like i own my shows: i play whatever filler song i feel like playing at that moment. it's how i get all my frustrations out at the end of the day. choice. and i don't kid myself. i'm playing filler songs for myself. if you know what i mean. its 60% me, 40% for the crowd.

if a chick comes up singing a female ballad, i'll counter act by playing a filler song with a male ballad. or if someone sings a hip hop song, i'll find a country song with the same title and play that. i never know what i'll feel like playing next. it's tit for tat all night long.

if someone sings a new song from 2014, i'm playing a song from the 60s but something not too jarring. or i'll play something from 2013.

i always try to keep my audience guessing what i'll play next. they can tell i do it on the fly.

No set play lists for me either, but I do play certain genres of music according to what gig I'm at. I love filler music in between singers and I usually key off the crowd. If the energy is fading I'll play something upbeat, etc.

Remember back in the day when there were no computers, etc. and how much silence there was?

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Sound Choice and Chartbuster Certified

I feature only one -- "Dead Air". And not much of that.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Dead air or filler music = "no singing"..... certainly counter to what karaoke is all about.

I'd like to know more about using Internet Radio playlists. I use playlists, but I also override the list all the time, so that puts me in "Semi-automatic" mode. Some great suggestions here, I'll probably try some of them out tonight. I liked Baltimore House, "We Can Ride The Boogie" but could only find YouTube videos of it. I would never play Akinyele, "Put It In Your Mouth" at one of my karaoke shows, but I do have it my DJ library

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Karaoke that just sounds better!

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Spotify and Pandora both have playlists based on Genre, Time Periods, etc. S

Pandora doesn't let you select specific songs so you are always at the mercy of their algorithm.

Spotify allows you to be specific. I am using it a lot more because I have more control. Some really great user generated playlists there. And since I don't listen to pop radio, it makes it much easier to identify what is current.

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-Chris

I just though about it and I don't use the filler music that much. I can fill in the time with announcements ect. between most singers. If it's a slow night I get up and sing allot and then put on something when my voice gets tiered.

No tune favorites, no particular order. I’m using iPod assigned to a spare channel; let it play continuously & just raise the slider volume up, enough that I can still be heard announcing/calling the next singer. Fade out as the next karaoke song starts. Do I really want to pre-select the next filler song to complement the karaoke song just played? Another one added for me to perform an exacting task, a song that will play for 5-10sec on a busy night? no, thanks!

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Not really, I always had a cd player on another channel playing music between singers, never full songs - just enough for the next singer ro get up to the stage.

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

I take it a step further.

All of my filler is upbeat danceable songs, and I have each cued to where the beat drops or the hook starts, like a real DJ set would be. I generally play about 30-45 seconds of each between singers, but I'm getting the maximum effect out of each song by playing the most recognizable part of the song. I also mix in some DJ tricks, and have a few songs that I'll remix on the fly by juggling between cue points and decks. I do this all with 720p music videos as well as mixing in some movie/pop culture audio samples and GIF clips. And it's not uncommon for my filler to be oldies at the beginning of the night when the older happy hour crowd is still hanging around, then a pop/top 40 and country mix in the heart of the night when the 21-35 crowd is there, then old school hip-hop/R&B towards the end of the night when the drinkers want to party. I can mix in and out of any genre depending on the makeup of the crowd, which varies wildly at my bar.

Lots more work for me, but I like to stay busy, and the crowd appreciates the extra effort. I don't rely on my singers to create energy in the room, I keep it very high despite whatever the singers are doing.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

i make it more appropriate for different venues, but my favorites are guitar instrumentals.
Vinnie Moore, NNY
Joe Satriani: Satch Boogie, Crushing Day
Steve Vai: Juice, Jiboom
Eric Johnson: Cliffs of Dover, Righteous
stuff like that, upbeat and energetic, but no song that someone might be singing that night.

for my country venues i use stuff like
Brad Paisley: Monster Rag, Throttleneck, Nervous Breakdown, Cluster Pluck
James Burton: Mystery Train
Chet Atkins: Orange Blossom Special
Danny Gatton: Remmington Ride

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

I play a lot of whatever's in the Billboard Hot 100 and their Country top 15 list because of the market I'm in. I mix that in with random selections from the Mobile Beat top 200 wedding songs.

I like the guitar instrumentals idea - I've alwas loved Cliffs of Dover.

I have more of a country based clientele. But don't do a lot of country filler. Here's a few that come to mind that keep our party going, that aren't thought of as often:

Sex is on Fire - Kings of Leon
Dark Night - The Blasters
Apache - The Sugarhill Gang
Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On - Neal McCoy
Little Latin Lupe Lu - Righteous Brothers
The Authority Song - John Cougar Mellancamp
Pour Me - Trick Pony
Hooked on an 8 Second Ride - Chris Ledoux
Let's Put The X in Sex - KISS
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
On The Dark Side - John Cafferty
Touch of Grey - Greatful Dead
Road Goes On Forever (But The Party Never Ends) - Robert Earl Keen
Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde - Travis Tritt

Check out these guys!!!
Hermes House Band:
Country Roads
Que Sera Sera
I Will Survive