Karaoke Forums

I can understand that some "customers" will often look for that song that will "shock" the crowd. Certain venues seem to be fine with the F-Bomb being dropped on a regular basis while other venues allow no profanity whatsoever. I've been to both kinds of places and I can handle anything being sung without feeling offended. The question here is what kind of impression does a karaoke host give to a potential customer when he or she chooses to sing songs that are laden with F-Bombs? Perhaps a person may be visiting various karaoke establishments looking to hire a host for the Country Club that he or she works for or the restaurant that he owns. If the first impression that this person gets is that the host enjoys using profanity on the mic, this could be the deal breaker that causes him to look elsewhere for his karaoke entertainment. It seems to me that every karaoke host is constantly advertising what kind of show that they provide. You never know who may be in the audience looking to hire you for a private party or a regular weekly gig. I'm interested in finding out how the KJ's here feel about the subject. Do you sing songs with profanity at your own shows and if you have hosts working for you; do you allow them to sing those types of songs at your shows?

I work at one of the bars that has absolutely no problems with profanity, but I personally do not use profanity in my show. I think it just falls under basic professionalism in any job you do where you want to be viewed as a professional by your audience.

_________________
C Mc
KJ, FL

I have alot of songs that contain PA words..it dont bother me if someone sings them or not..I believe in free speech...besides in a bar you hear it all the time and think nothing of it but to hear it over a mic ,,is wrong....give me a break...

It's a simple answer... Depends on what type of KJ you want to portray yourself to be.

The type of KJ you are is a reflection of your personality .....
Some KJ's will swear on mic and drink too much - dress poorly etc etc.

Others complete opposite.

I wouldn't sing any songs with potentially offensive language

Agree with Jam on this one - use of F bombs and other gratuitous cussing may appeal to a certain crowd but that certainly isn't a crowd I want to have at my show or to potentially attract. Just isn't necessary. How do you want to appear? If you don't care, or are working on establishing a reputation for being a host that can only work in certain places (that condone public displays of that sort of vocab) go for it.

Depends on the song and the venue. I'm a fairly conservative person, but at one venue, it is expected that I sing Red Peters' closing song, which very politely tells people to get the ____ out. Everyone loves the song and sings along. Other venues I woudn't. It has nothing to do with class (ahem, ahem). Just what your customers and venue expect.

Demurely,

Birdofsong

Profanity on-mike? Not for me. It's not the image I want to portray, or the crowd I like to attract.

For the customers, it depends on what the venue wants. Some are anything goes, some want a more family oriented show. I don't make decisions on what customers can and cannot sing.

If people ask, I tell 'em that cussing on-mike is a good way to look like an ignorant putz.

_________________
Dave's not here.

I know so many KJs who are very lewd and make a lot of off color jokes. DOesn't bother me, but I simply cannot bring myself to do it. I rarely sing songs with bad words (or edit them upon singing), unless I have a mostly young crowd. Must be all those years of working as a DJ at an NPR affiliate station drilled into my head

_________________
Wam bam thank you m'am.

As a general rule I don't. However there is one song that I almost HAVE to make an exception for... Rehab's "Sitting At A Bar." Everyone loves that song and it always seems to help make for a funner atmosphere. However, I sang the Hank Williams version and I actually got booed becasue the house felt I let them down by not singin (in their opinion) was the BEST part of the song! So now I usually try to get on one of my friends to sing the Rehab version. And if no one does, then I will just have to take one for the team and sing it myself!

Some songs are not language content at all in the song, but the singer's portrayl of it would. When a Male wants to sings Total Eclipse of the Heart, it's going to be the Dan Bands version that he'll be singing. The Devil Went Down to Georgia, does Johnny tell that SOB or SOG that's he's there ever been? Hank Jr's Family Tradition, Buffet's Lost Shaker of Salt, or Coe's request to not call him Darlin.........Those will get the Crowd to express the vulgarity.

I feel there's a thin line of singing in the blue (NIN Closer) or just singing to be shocking (Lonely Island I'm on a Boat)

But as always if it's in the book, fair game. A KJ I went to had a great crowd when he performed RATM's Killing in the Name.

Let me just say that I don't put any songs in my book that I'd be ashamed to sing and I never edit my song books. Get the picture?

I find pompous and arrogant the folks here that assume that people who like songs with profanity in them are some lower class of citizen. That because they dare utter a curse or two that they also "drink too much - dress poorly etc ". Awful presumptuous. God we go through this discussion here at least once every couple months. I have a regular that likes to sing Aqualung, does that make him a pedophile? Should I go through the list of classic tunes ad naseum again that include lyrics that could be considered vulgar?

I sing what I know the crowd can handle. If that means I know they'll go crazy for a rendition of the rodeo song or crazy (@$%&#!) or On A Boat, I'll sing them. If the crowd is the type that will be offended I won't. If the crowd enjoys it but there's one or two that get offended, well I wish they hadn't been offended but I'm there to entertain and I'm not going to skip a song people want to hear to protect the minorities' sensitive ears, least of all in a bar where much worse is heard on a consistent basis.

_________________
DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

The choice of song one would not sing has nothing to do with pompousness or arrogant.

_________________
I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Well put. It is interesting that some people seem to consider themselves very much above the very clients they are providing a service for.

It's fine if you don't want to swear but incredibly uncool to look down at another kj that might choose a song that their customers might find entertaining.

Birdofsong

There's room for profanity at my younger rock/hip-hoppish show since most singers fall under 30 there.

I PERSONALLY don't SAY/SING offending words, other than "punk-azz" in Santeria by sublime. If they're THERE on the screen I just don't personally pronounce them.

For all the singers, i DO have a sign on the tv that reads "please no f-bombs" but some of the hip hop songs these kids like have them in them. I can only EDIT so much out of the songbooks before THAT popular song is requested again.

Like others, FAIR GAME if it's in the books. MY shows run kinda late, there's never any kids when i start, so adults usually can handle "BAD WORDS" but once again, NOT by me. It's a professionalism thing for me.

I referred to the persona I prefer to keep in public. I also specifically said I made no decisions on what a customer sings.

As for outside the song, have you ever had a customer come up, loose a string of profanities over the mike, and NOT look like an ignorant putz?

_________________
Dave's not here.

As in my "other" professional life, I choose to NOT offend anyone. Private parties are another matter and whomever hires me gets what they pay me for. Again, like i posted earlier, it depends where you're working. What occurs to me is this: If I am scouting for other jobs and have told potential venues where I work so they can see me in action, the last thing I want to happen is for a potential venue owner to walk in and hear me singing/saying something that offends them or anyone else in the room. As I also said earlier, I prefer to work in places that flourish without the off-color stuff. Just my preference - and over the last 15 years I've worked in a lot of different places. NIN "Closer" and the like, let the punkazz kid joints listen to that 50 times a year.

Know your crowd.

That is all.

Ahh but that's not the situation we're talking about here. The topic of this thread is songs with profanity and a few here early on made some pretty disparaging remarks generalizing all clients that enjoy songs with profane language in them as being some lower class of human. Let me make this clear (specifically for you Jian since you very obviously missed my point), I have no problem if KJ's specifically decide not to sing those songs, that's your right and your choice and I do see your perspective on not enjoying singing that type of stuff. What I have a problem with and called out as Pompous and Arrogant is the suggestion that people who sing or enjoy listening to those songs are somehow not worthy of the class of show that some here think they put on. The high and mighty KJ, king of all that is moral and right.

Yes there are those who sing those songs just for the childish enjoyment of blurting out curses into a loud PA for everyone to hear. As you pointed out Moonrider, many will insert them into songs that don't have them or blurt them out outside the song itself. However, when it comes to the topic of this thread, which is the KJ performing those tunes, many of us do it, have fun with it and still maintain professionalism. I'll be honest, someone who's not going to hire me because I sang a song like that in a bar on an open Karaoke night is likely someone I'm not going to enjoy working with anyway so y'all can have 'em.

_________________
DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Tony --I think it's YOU that missed the entire topic --The questions is SHOULD KJ'S SING SONGS WITH POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE ????????? Has nothing to do with if singers should be allowed to sing songs. As usually things people post here get taken out of context and twisted. KJ's who sing the occasional song that contain some profanity for the sake of Humor or have some meaning to the venue and the regulars should be OK. But I think in MOST venues a KJ who sings songs with potentially OFFENSIVE language would be looked down upon. The ORIGINAL QUESTIONS does not ask about songs with cuss words ...its reads OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE . If it could be POTENIALLY OFFENSIVE to just 1 customer wouldn't it best if the HOST of the show did not sing it ????? I've worked in some bars that could care less if I or any singer sang offensive songs but as a KJ you need to know if that would fly in your venue. As a general rule -- I thinks its best that a KJ refrain from singing songs that could be OFFENSIVE ...until your know your venue

I have been the meanest and dirtiest bars in the world. I do not believe in censorship unless is not prorocol for the venue if it is family oriented.

Personally I am a professoional on the mic, do not use profanity and when I am hosting I dont even sing tear jerkers but only sing upbeat songs. It is my job to entertain and mantain a positive atmosphere esp when the singers are behaving in a manner that is alienating the crowd.

_________________
Join The Karaokle Singers Social Network. Upload Your Music!!