Karaoke Forums

Me too Barry! It's actually a rather well known alternative version of the classic to a certain cultural subset.

Here's a Youtube link if anyone hasn't heard it yet:

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

...and I can't believe there's no karaoke version out!

Ok, Bill, the job is yours. Get 'er done! This would fly almost anywhere....what a hoot. Makes me wanna eat some chips and salsa.

There already is a home made karaoke version of this song floating around. I've seen it.

That's just too frigging' hilliarious! Gotta have that one!

Whenever this guy does this version (and Gary love ya man for memorizing the whole thing!) I set him up good. I'll announce to the room "OK you guys you've heard this thing done a million times in here. But you haven't heard it like this!" And then I'll cut the track way back and boost his mic up as far as I can get away with.

Even if they've heard him do it before they all cheer when he starts. And the "coughing fit" part gets them laughing. When he's done he'll often get the best reaction of the night from the room.

I've never tried to create my own lyrics track before but I really ought to just for this song. And for some Richard Cheese that I still get requests for all the time.

OMG! That's awesome! Man, I sure wish I knew where to find the home made version!

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Send me a PM with your e-mail if you want to know how to get the song file in mp3g.

Another really hilarious song (based on crowd response when they're paying attention) is one called "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beerholder." One of my really good singers comes in and does this mixed in with all the excellent renditions of serious stuff he does...so it is totally unexpected...and funny. Kind of like the old "two bagger" night - you know, in case one falls off. Doh....

This thread poses a very interesting question about how an audience might respond to various performances of the "same" karaoke track. As for me, the answer is probably dependent upon the results, and I wonder if that isn't true for most listeners?

I do greatly appreciate it when a singer makes a song "his/her own", but few karaoke singers are talented enough to do that and I can't recall the last time I heard someone do so successfully.

I know from my musical experience and training that, as Jamkaraoke suggested, most musical tracks do NOT provide a level of flexibility that facilitates changing much about the song. And this fact has nothing to do with the nature of karaoke but the nature of the song itself. Professionals, such as Sinatra, had their own arrangements made (e.g. Nelson Riddle did many for Sinatra) in order to stylize a tune in the way that they hear it. And that's what Frank Sinatra was noted for.... his stylizing of a song. Many of the songs that are attributed, for examples, to Sinatra or Elvis in Karaoke catalogs are covers, but those artists became associated with those tunes because of their unique renditions of them!

Some (karaoke) singers believe that there is a talent displayed by sounding like the original track. So, they labor over the task of replicating that original artist's rendition, while not necessarily trying to sound like the original artist. My business partner prides himself on being able to sound like the original artist (in vocal qualities) when singing a song. Some karaoke singers, furthermore, believe that it is "cheating" to sing a song in a key other than the original; some won't sing a song originally sung by someone of the opposite sex. Some KJ's only list the track in their catalog that sounds most like the original (in their opinion)! So, most people who attend karaoke, without giving it any thought, expect to hear the "original" song, sung by somebody of the same gender as the original artist!

Now, I have wonder if what the typical karaoke singer is striving to accomplish isn't one of the reasons why there are so many people, in fact, who look down on karaoke (singers)? Simon Cowell of American Idol often refers to the worst performances as being "karaoke". Think about that!

"Sounding alike" is a skill for sure, the level of which is based on the talent of the original singer.

I find that a lot of singers can hit notes, and even sound good, but can't stay in time with the song. My favorite part is where they try to read all the words instead of skipping to catch up, and end up falling further and further behind.

Oh well.

Certain singers are difficult to replicate: Steve Perry, Styx, AC/DC, etc have challenging vocals. Even Bob Dylan is interesting because of the peculiar way the lyrics are syncipated with the music.

Those singers that can do this well I would label as talented.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

I do Journey and can hit all the notes. Now Love Hurts,,, that has the one high note I can't quite hit that one note!

Are you doing Journey in full voice or falsetto? Love hurts... hurts, but I get that note by switching to falsetto, and its not too bad. A lot of times it the approach to the note as well that will let you get it.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

I sing Love Hurts a la Heart - original key, chest voice all the way. One of my favorite songs to sing. Thanks for the poke - I forgot all about that song. Must remember to sing it this week.

For me, the scenarios that enjoy me more at karaoke is that it is the exact duplication of the original artist's performance because you just sing their song. You are not really the one who sang it.



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Bariatric Surgery

Depends on the song. People tell me when I do Green Day, they think it sounds exactly like the original, and I'll go with it. But for Beatles songs, for example, I usually take them down 1 or 2 steps and "rock them out" a little. I even have Karaoke Sound Tools, which I've used on "I Am The Walrus" (Zoom Karaoke) to not only bring the key -2, but also speed it up by about 4% and gives much more energy to the song.

What I also enjoy is when the karaoke version itself is "rocked out" a little. I enjoy singing "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (Beatles) and Sound Choice has a version that just rocks, which is funny because the original song is your everyday mellow "clapper" song. So I often keep an ear out for karaoke versions that are NOT an exact copy of the original, but have a bit more kick to them.

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"K-Jay"
www.kjayskaraoke.8m.com

Already in falsetto so no where to hide!

Yeah, a new spin can be fun.

I don't really try anything radical, but it is interesting to find a song gravitating toward my own tendencies and becoming less of a mimicry of the original. I've been singing "Mercy" lately (down two steps, thank you) and find that it comes out as a kind of Ray Charles blues-shout thang

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See/hear the serial version of Michael's karaoke novel, "Outro," at outronovel.blogspot.com