Karaoke Forums

What you guys are saying doesn't surprise me at all. This current generation of young adults accepts and sometimes actually likes the music of their parents far more than my generation ever did.

The songs you guys mentioned don't surprise me either. They are also done in my room. Practically all of them were inserted into movies that they (including my own kids) watched over and over as videos growing up. They were often supposed to be jokes, but were taken more seriously by our impressionable kids when they were preteens and teens.

When my room requests Day-O they often don't even know what to call it. They'll say put me up for Beetlejuice! But they'll know the thing by heart. I know my own kids were glued to that movie as soon as we got it as a video, and I think was true to all in that generation... it was just a fascinating movie if you were that age.

Sounds like you had fun MickyJ.

I am under the opinion that the VENUE itself will dicate the type of crowds and age of the patrons. Older KJ along with an Older STAFF will draw older crowds.
Restaurant type of venues...also an older type of crowd.

Now if you have a barstaff of all collega kids it won't matter why age the KJ is ..as long as they are good and don't act like someones Granpa

HOW OLD IS THE BARSTAFF ????

I am sure there was a lot of that. But it was pretty genuine, and they weren't exactly overburdened with decent singers, either.

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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.

Funny but I remember liking all sorts of music when young and researching older music and even liking the songs from the movies from the 30s. Then there were a few generations that came along that might even say, "Beatles? Tired of hearing about you 60s people."

Now my day job is with young people raised by hippie, music loving parents and everyone is either in a band or wants to be in a band--just like the "old" days. They have been coaching me on good new songs but they also have a good knowledge of music history. I find I suddenly have some currency from being alive in the 60s. "YOU saw the BEATLES LIVE!" Finally I'm "awesome. "
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OUr bartendress that liked the new music was in her late 30s. She just got switched out for an older one but the new one is a school bus driver with 23 year old daughters. She is very youth oriented and she knows and likes the newer music also. I doubt if we will make any inroads with the young people unless we can get a crowd of them all at once and it is a pretty discouraging atmosphere for that. But I see no choice for us but to try or die. Just found out one of the other KJs down the road may have lost their gig (different night from us) due to dropping attendance.

With the exception of the doorman/security, none of us in my home room are kids anymore.

Avg crowd here is 20-40. The fact that it sounds like a dj club or live band volume is again one of the main reasons they keep returning. On slower nights - especially in the beginning, it doesn't need to be that loud, but as the crowd rolls in - bodies start absorbing, chatter levels increase, by the end of the night, the volume will be at a point where you feel you are at a club with a live band.

The bartenders will on occasion ask me to turn it down a little, but not very often.

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These are done quite often - Sweet Caroline not as often anymore, but oddly BMUBC is done alot BY the 20 YO's.

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We have one lady bartender pushing 60 works every Sun-Wed, another in her 50's every Thur-Sat. The other 3 are in their 30's & low 40's rotate opposite shifts (their shifts go night shift one week & day shift the next), 2 waitresses in their 20's, 2 in their 30's & all bartenders cocktail on the floor as well after they let the waitresses off.

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I've always liked the older music--big band, tin pan alley, and 1940's. As Duke Ellington was supposed to have said, "There's two kinds of music, the good kind, and the other kind." These older songs have a certain class and elegance to them, and I think they are songs that at least kids will always like. I remember an older guy telling me how his grandchildren loved Glenn Miller music. Chattanooga Choo Choo was one of my favorite songs when I was little. I think there is something about it that a kid can recognize it instantly as a classic well-writ song.

I bought my 5 year old nephew a classical music cd by the great pianist, Horowitz, because I wanted him to get some exposure to classical music. The night I dropped it off, we were playing some game at the dining room table and we had the cd on. It was interesting that when Mozart's Rondo alla Turca started playing, my nephew looks up from the game and said, "Just a minute". He runs over to the cd player to see what number the song is! I thought it was pretty funny but it's great song that I think most people who listen to it like the first time they hear it, even though it is over 200 years old. Here is a guy playing it on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGDHe14m8ew

I think a lot of the Beatles songs have the same like-ability to them. Songs such as In My Life, Eight Days a Week, Got to Get You into My Life, are classics. They have great melody. They can be sung in harmony. They have interesting instrumental accompaniment--there is a lot to like about the song.

But on the other hand, if you go to and all country karaoke show and sing a Beatles song....perhaps you should stick with Rocky Racoon?

My ideal karaoke place would be one where a great mixture of songs is sung. This would probably be a place that has a big mix of young, old, and midlings.

I think if you want to attracting young singers, you should purchase some hign tech or advanced instrucments like karaoke amplifier karaoke jukebox] once you have these equipments, many young and pop singers will contact you soon.
You can have a try.

Edit: Please don't spam this thread..Jian

Shortys hires young good looking lil gals with personality plus and are excellent waitresses. They even dance on the bar. Then karaoke nights is ladies nights beer draft and wells half price. This brings in the younger crowd and us old farts aint goin anywhere else either.

Watch Paul the mngr pinch the middle gal on the butt. We have a very personable working relationship with all involved. The gal in black that joins them was helping me with hosting when she was 18..

With my hosts I stress boom boom boom no silence fast tempo filler. It gets a little nuts sometimes

[youtube]-sD3B60cnNY[/youtube]

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This is an excellent, excellent question and one I am still grappling with. I believe that young singers, even children, can add enthusiasm and excitement to a show. I have found that the more diversified is the customer base, singer base and selection of songs that is sung, the more enjoyable is the show.

Not forgetting how different, different parts of the country can be one to the other, I am referencing what I have experienced while living in FL for the last 19 years. My experience while living in NJ was quite different.

In FL the younger folks tend to go out AFTER 10PM, sometimes closer to 11PM. Many karaoke venues want to start at 8 or earlier. I had one show that started at 8 and attracted an older crowd. After I convinced the management to start at 9, I picked up a "bunch" of twenty-somethings which livened the place up considerably and attracted many more customers to the show!

Many of the seniors are on the way home by 11PM while many youngsters are first getting warmed up. Hence, some of you have referred to two crowds, the crowd before and after 11pm.

Also consider this: If the people you attract don't bring in others, the only crowd you will have is whatever you start with..... unless the venue advertises. And while they need to advertise, generally speaking, if they don't advertise in a fashion that attracts younger people, they won't bring in young singers

Now, I can see where the sound for some parts of the country are a draw to younger folks. There are so many dance clubs around here that people looking for the thump of a sump and the non-stop energy of dance music are not looking for karaoke based upon the sound. They are looking FIRST AND FOREMOST to have a good time, no cover charge, to meet good people, to find reasonably priced drinks and decent finger food

I have been to some small venues, and played at one on the beach that seated about 50 people. I used my Fender Passport, which was, of course, too loud for the older customers who were up close. And since I didn't want to lose the "youngsters" I had attracted in from the beach, I turned the sound down to half-power after I had gotten the show going and the crowd in. That's the best I could do to accommodate the "oldsters". I just couldn't turn it down lower than that. And using any other equipment would, frankly, be a pain trying to get down to the beach with and overkill regarding the size of the place! And in short, nobody stayed because of my Fender Passport, and nobody left because of it! And I had a lot of repeat customers!

I know in our area there are certain 'magnet' people who will somehow manage to always bring a crowd with them - they have a lot of friends who maybe love to hear them sing and this group often accompany the singer to their fave shows. Instant crowd. Most of the time this is a younger crowd.

I totally agree.
I totally disagree if the topic is young singers. Sound is number 1.

Agree. They are looking for karaoke with authority.

I will try and quantify a bit. If you only have 10" speakers, forget about it. You need 15" speakers at a minimum, with 400 watts or more RMS hitting each speaker. In my rural area, that gives enough -- at an absolute minimum, mind you -- for the young singer at a small place. If you are in anything other than a small barroom, then you want a pair of 18" subs and a couple of thousand total RMS watts going to them and the mains.

That reminds me -- what's the difference between a saloon and an elephant fart?





































One's a barroom and the other's a BAROOOOM!

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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.

You can disagree with what happens in your locale based upon your experience Bill, but you cannot disagree with my experience. And as I suggested in my first post on this thread, let's not lose sight of how different, different parts of the country can be!

I pulled in twenty-somethings with my Fender Passport. And I don't pull in anymore of them with my 12" QSC's and my 18" sub! The mix I provide is the same and the fun and energy I help generate is the same!

And as I've said before, the KJ who up until recently had the best sound system didn't have the most popular show by any means.... his personality left much to be desired! An on the other hand, there are KJ's with fabulous personalities whose turnout of younger folk trumps shows with "big" systems, every time!

Had another bang-up Tuesday night gig, average age of the closing time crowd was about 25. No trouble with ballads, really -- no one was putting them in.

We have one young lady who comes from 60 miles away to be there -- she uses the slow part from 7:30-9:00 to practice (as we always have a short rotation then) and then wheels out her crowd-pleasing stuff later. She again leveled the house with Mercy and finished up with My Give-a-damn's Busted. We had young ladies dancing in the aisles to Pour Some Sugar On Me. And we had more guys than gals, of course -- you just need to bring in several good-looking girls and that takes care of itself.

Went slowly from three old-timers singing ballads to a few young people to the word getting out and it being the place to be one night a month in our small town. All from having some power, some decent material, and a willingness to turn up the volume. I hope I am not causing Wednesday absenteeism. I try to quit before midnight but they won't let me.

P.S. Not a bit of filler music in sight, just straight karaoke. And the energy is so high that they start yelling when they recognize the chords of popular songs.

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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.

mckyj57 said:


Unless you have a fairly small room to start with, I'll agree with the 15" speakers so that you can get a rich bass sound. But 400 watts? I'll only agree to that if your speakers are so crappy you have to have that just to get them to move. That is (IMHO) ridiculous overkill unless your club is the size of a high school gymnasium. You'll never use anywhere near that much in the "average" karaoke club, ever. And if you're using 18" subs and "a couple of thousand total RMS watts" it must be a fair-sized outdoor event or a converted aircraft hanger. It seems to me that it's somewhat like using a tractor-trailer to deliver pizzas... sure you'll get the job done but you don't need that to do it with.

There is a difference between sound "volume" and sound "presence." It is possible to have plenty of presence for singing OR dancing without killing the world with destructive "volume."

Once in a great while, I'll pop into someone else's show if I have a night off and from my observation (and IMHO), I see too many KJ's that are either on one end of the spectrum or the other in regard to their sound systems.

You got the "cheapies" who don't know squat and won't spend squat for halfway decent sound and then you have those that pile in so much equipment you'd think they were running sound for an outdoor concert. And most of the time, neither one really knows how to run the equipment they purchased efficiently or properly.

There's one KJ in town that has so much equipment that he stacks up 6 SKB cases straight up. The finished "tower of sound" (not including speakers) is literally EIGHT FEET HIGH. Sure, he has a ton of amps in the bottom 2 to drive his gigantic subs, a JVC cartridge player, a Pioneer laser disc player, a Pioneer V-10, a Numark player, four (count 'em: FOUR) compressors, and the list goes on. It takes him 2 hours to set up and his system sounds like crap-o-lah. Lots of "volume" and NO "presence."

Anyone would sound better if they just screamed through a wet towel hanging upside down, or used equipment with the "Realistic" brand name emblazoned on the side and a "Mr. Microphone."

And no mckyJ57, he does not have a hot-spot monitor and places the mains ahead of the singer... so you can't hear yourself. All that equipment, thousands of dollars that sound like crap and you still can't hear yourself.... lovely.

And CHIP, what is the point of your above post?

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