Karaoke Forums

It seems to me that the general consensus among KJ’s recently is that there are roughly 300 to 500 songs that likely ever get played at most venues. If you believe that is the case have you taken the time to either compile a list listing those songs or ever seen one compiled anywhere and if so, where?

It's gonna vary from venue to venue depending on your crowd but it might be possible to do within reason.

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

You can get this pretty easy for CompuHost with exporting history. I used it to make my pared-down book -- I kept every song that had ever been sung at a gig.

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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.

I have thought of doing this. I can see the dual role it would play into in helping people see what's popular but at the same time what they might want to stay away from. Have you found that people like this to be available?

What prompted me to pose my question were previous discussions here and else where touching on this very subject and that one KJ I know says she spends upwards of a $grand to print her books (65k+ songs over 15+ years) and she found it interesting that the number of 300-500 songs is very plausible and if so then why not just print a book with that number of songs and save money and valuable time in the process.

She would certainly tell her audience that she can almost guarantee she will have their chosen song no matter the size of her song book. That seems logical to me. Again if that 300 - 500 number is basically correct. OBTW. The variable of venue to venue may be correct but I'd bet that the song list each KJ parsed from their drives would be very very close alike or similar with maybe a 1% or 2% variance in songs sung at best.

I think that there is a LARGE difference between songs sung at different venues. I think there's PROBABLY a "top 100", that we've ALL listed a few of, on the forum from time to time, but that's about the extent of similar songs being sung. I make it a habit to visit, AND support other karaoke shows in my area, just to see what is at each show. I think this is the best way to LEARN what I want, and don't want in MY show. I see VERY different type of shows, SOME, I like, SOME, I hate. Some are just a JOKE, and I wouldn't call karaoke. Most of my opinion of these shows are based on what is being sung, and the ATMOSPHERE created by the songs being sung. Again, it all depends on the HOST, as to what kind of show they want to be known for having.

Srnitynow

In my last 40 shows with a total of 2195 songs sung I had 1044 unique songs sung.


Only 14 songs got sung 10 or more times (max 19)
All songs sung 6 or more times

1. Science Fiction Double Feature - Rocky Horror
2. I melt with you Modern English
3. Let's Go - Cars
4. *I Think We're alone now -Tiffany
5. Just What I needed - Cars
6. It's Oh So Quiet - Bjork
7. She's Got A Way - Billy Joel
8. *Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
9. Gloria - Patti Smith
10. Winner takes it all - Abba
11. *You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi
12. It's My Life - No Doubt
13. Criminal - Fiona Apple
14. Toto - Africa
15. Maria - Blondie
16. London Calling - Clash
17. Keep your hands to yourself - Georgia Satellites
18. Go West - Pet shop boys
19. Let's Stay Together - Al Green
20. Five Years - David Bowie
21. China Girl - David Bowie
22. *Let's Dance - David Bowie
23. Punk Rock Girl - Dead Milkmen
24. Add it Up - Violent Femmes
25. Jump in the line - Harry Belafonte
26. Peek a Boo - Siouxsie and the Banshees
27. *Proud Mary - Tina Turner
28. Little Less Conversation - Elvis
29. Most Beautiful Girl in the room - Flight of the Chonchords
30. Silver Springs - Fleetwood Mac
31. Jackson - Cash and Carpenter
32. *I want you to want me - Cheap Trick
33. Nights in white satin - Moody Blues
34. Over at the frankenstien place - Rocky Horror
35. Bad moon Rising - CCR
36. *Dont stop Believing - Journey
37. *Tainted Love - Soft Cell
38. *Sitting on the dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
39. What I say - Ray Charles
40. Suffragette City - David Bowie
41. Secret Agent Man - Johnny Rivers
42. Gone Daddy Gone - Gnarls Barkley
43. Major Tom - Peter Schilling
44. Never Gonna Give You Up- Rick Astley
45. Matilda Matilda - Harry Belafonte
46. Dim All The Lights - Donna Summer
47. F## and run - Liz Phair
48. Sara - Fleetwood Mac
49. Rock This Town - Stray Cats
50. Soul Love - David Bowie

I doubt other KJs have more than 5 or 6 max of these in their top 50 songs

The ones I have heard regularly at other shows are marked with a *

at my last 6 shows 366 songs 261 unique songs.

I only found 9 of Dr. Fred's 50 songs that are sung at my two shows.

Also most lists don't specify the likelihood that those numerous songs are performed by THE SAME PEOPLE week after week.

Would be different if specs came from an enormously large venue with varying singers and those were calculated.

It is kinda hard to pinpoint what the list would be since some genres rule in different parts of the country/continent/world.

A good starting point might be Mobile Beats Top 200 most requested DJ songs. Since these are played at most DJ events making them widely circulated those songs, even oldies stay fresh in people's minds and the more you hear something, the more familiar you are with it, and may try it. -just a thought.

Good List by the way Dr. Fred. Thanks for posting! It must've taken you some time to put that up there.

True of the top 50, only about 25 have been sung by more than one person in the last year or so, and about 5 of them are my mic check songs at the start of the show.

Even for many of the songs that are sung by more than one person it may be 7 times by one person and once by another one.

I also get about 2-3 song requests a night that are NOT made as karaoke as far as I can tell.

I have a list of 3000 songs I am looking for.

True of the top 50, only about 25 have been sung by more than one person in the last year or so, and about 5 of them are my mic check songs at the start of the show.

Even for many of the songs that are sung by more than one person it may be 7 times by one person and once by another one.

OK, that's 10 for me that are sung with any regularity at my shows.

As this thread might have been prompted by my post about Karaoke "Menus" - just putting out 500 most requested titles instead of full books - here's my Top 25:

Picture (Duet) - Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
Living On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
Goodbye Earl - Dixie Chicks
Don’t Stop Believin’ - Journey
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar
Piano Man - Billy Joel
Whatta Man - Salt ‘N’ Pepa
Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard
Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood
Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler
I Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher
Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett
I Love Rock And Roll - Joan Jett & Blackhearts
Friends In Low Places - Garth Brooks
Sweet Child O’ Mine - Guns ‘N’ Roses
Love Shack (Duet) - B-52’s
I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
Wanted Dead Or Alive - Bon Jovi
Turn The Page - Bob Seger
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

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[font=Lucida Console]DangerousKaraoke.com[/font]
[font=Lucida Console]"Sing for the day, sing for the moment, sing for the time of your life!"[/font]

Well, in the last 365 days the numbers break down like this:

3080 different songs sung
1595 were sung only once
536 were sung twice
222 songs were sung at least 10 or more times

1. Picture 65 times
2. You never even called me by name 57 Times
3. Cumbersome 52 times
4. All Summer Long 51 times
5. You Oughta Know 50 times
6. Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy 49 times
7. Before He Cheats 47 times
8. Proud Mary (Ike & Tina) 43 times
9. Goodnight Sweetheart 42 times
10. Wanted Dead or Alive 42 times

Many of these songs are bar specific favorites, which explains their duplication. I have a guy who sings Cumbersome every Friday night, and I sing it myself on occasion and for the most part that's the only time it gets sung, while Picture gets sung by a variety people almost every night.

My conclusion with this data, combined with my knowledge of the circumstances indicates that the number of times a song is sung doesn't necessarily indicate it's popularity. I would also say a KJ's library becomes very individualized by the bars that he or she plays in... as each bar has its own favorites... so in reality, those "unsung songs" may yet be of use if you change gigs or take a private party job in the future.

My library is pretty comprehensive, and the number of different songs (i.e.no duplicates) I have is somewhere in the 18k range so I am only using about 17% of my total library.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Thank you to those that took the time to post the lists. It's interesting to see what everyones most played lists are.

I don't think I'll ever just condense to the most sung songs. Number one, I paid for all the songs I have and on the small chance someone might pick one I'd like to give them that option. Secondly I welcome the random off beat song. Please be my guest to sing something different than everyone else - please.

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Actually, at my one gig Babs, I have a couple of people who do just that. After I showed them the "most unique" list on compuhost they've been in competition ever since to be the "Most Unique Singer." Milton's list is at 120... just behind me... but I'm the host... . Very cool each week to see what they'll come up with. Sometimes it bombs, sometimes a gem is uncovered, but its always fun!

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!