Karaoke Forums

I'm curious as to how you guys and gals feel about a song such as "Ode To My Car". Personally I find the song very funny even though it does contain an F Bomb or two. Is this an example of a song you wouldn't sing?

Venue and crowd specific. Same with F**K Her Gently. Funny the first 500 times in the right bar.

Hilarious Karen, because that song came to mind, as soon as I read this thread's topic.

A GOOD KJ caters to the crown he's in. Now, if you PERSONALLY don't want to sing a song with profane language that is entirely within your perview. It is not a reflection of a KJ's "professionalism" if he does, or does not.

My Monday gig is in a small working class neighborhood bar, and no one there has virgin ears (or virgin anything else, for that matter ). The other night, our barmaid Carla did her "Pussycat Song" very nicely, with a bunch of laughs from the audience. I followed directly with "F her Gently".... by the end of it everyone was in tears, and I got a large round of applause, and compliments on the "Two fer" of humorous songs.

I know other KJ who also sing songs with foul language, and they too are among the tops in the area. One is also a comedian, and does original parody songs, RIFE with foul language.

Folks, whether you truly understand it or not, we ARE entertainers. Depending on the venue this role may be more pronounced than at others... once again depending on the venue. If you know your job, than you will know what's appropriate, and what is not for the bar you work at.

That's what a professional KJ does.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

If you judge your crowd by pointedly NOT singing songs that some situations might find offensive but ARE popular to your crowd YOU are being offensive to your crowd.

Just as a foul mouthed drunk can be offensive offensive in a church setting that does not tollerate that behavior, a religious fanatic who objects to drinking is offensive in a dive bar if they are proclaiming their views.


If 90% of your singers occasionally swear out of the mic the KJ may be the one who appears to be offensive if the pointedly avoid such behavior. By putting themseles in a different class by NOT occasionally using language that is inappropriate in some settings (like bible class, or elementary school) they are making the people who are in the setting less at ease.

Many places have different tollearance levels for offensive language, it goes from unacceptable to expected. Bars are the same way.

For many people the Bar setting is a place where they go to escape society's judgements and let off a bit of steam. Personally I have never been one for much profanity in my talking or performance but at my main venues I am far more conservative on this matter than the majority. I think my shows are improved (in that setting) when I ocasionally lighten up a bit and let a few words slip. Of course I know the crowd quite well.

The thing about profanity in a song is that in a way it is an "excuse" and sometimes people like to see people they normally judge as a bit uptight loosen up a bit.

Jam your post here is simply bizarre. The point of my last post was exactly that, we're talking about singing the songs with offensive language and specifically the KJ. It was in response to a post that talked about people yelling profanity into the mics outside of the song (obviously not what we're discussing).

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

Here is the song that I'm talking about. If the KJ or the hired Host wants to sing this song at a venue with a mixed crowd; why wouldn't the KJ or host just sing the original lyrics if they really like the song so much? Why is it so important to someone to sing the song and add in the handful of F-Bombs? The F-Bombs aren't even on the screen but the host feels that it is mandatory to add them in.....I guess just for the "F*CK" of it. The F-Bomb in this song certainly is not there to add humor to the song as in ODE TO MY CAR". It seems to be used strictly to be profane for profanities sake. Is that what you want your karaoke host to provide?
The topic is about a KARAOKE HOST singing this song. Not a customer singing it.
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Turnaround, every now a"nd then i get a little bit lonely and you're never coming round
Turnaround, every now and then i get a little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears
Turnaround, every now and then i get a little bit nervous that the best of all my years have gone by
Turnaround, every now and then i get a little bit terrified and then i see the (@$%&#!) look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, every now and then i fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, (@$%&#!) every now and then i fall apart

And i need you now tonight
And i (@$%&#!) need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all the time
(@$%&#!) I don't know what to do and i'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
(@$%&#!)'s gonna start to...

Once upon a time i was falling in love
Now i'm (@$%&#!) falling apart
Nothing i can say
A total eclipse of the heart
Well once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing i can say
A total eclipse of the heart

As a karaoke business person, would you use this particular version of Total Eclipse Of The Heart on your website to advertise your business? If you were going to hand a potential client a promo package of your abilities as a Karaoke host with some video clips of you singing at your shows; would you include this particular song in that package? If you had to audition your show to a potential client and the client asked you and your employees to sing a song or two to showcase the type of singers that you were; would this song be the one that you would choose to represent your company?

I think that customers should be allowed to sing whatever songs happen to be in the book and hopefully they would think about their choices depending on who might be in the audience. That being said, This topic is about what is or is not appropriate for a karaoke HOST to sing during his or her own show.

OK ..I guess it's just me then.

Offkey:

Unless the KJ was requested to sing that song that way OR it has become something of a ROUTINE like singing CLOSING TIME by Red Peters I don't know why any KJ would sing songs that drop the "f" bombs or other potentially offensive language.

IMHO The KJ, should be ABOVE the crowd and maintain some sort of Professionalism even if its for the one older lady in the crowd. It's true you shouldn't stop singers from singing songs that normally contain profanity ( provided it is ok with the venue ). But you certainly COULD ask singers not to swear in the mic and yell out cuss words or change the words to songs to be obescene and SHOCKING. ...NORMALLY

Now if you work at a venue where the CROWDS expects and encourages this type of shock value ..Then all bets are off and a KJ needs to do what they need to do to please the masses.

But for a KJ to sing songs that contain profanity just for the SAKE of shock and awe is kind of .........................

Concerning this particular song "Total Eclipse Of The Heart", I've seen it sung this way before. In fact, it's become a FAD among the younger crowd to sing it this way. Evidently, this kj was young, OR was trying to impress a young crowd. I'll also bet dollars to donuts that he can't sing worth a crap. My belief (just my opinion) is that the reason they're singing the song this way is that they DON'T have the TALENT to impress the crowd with their singing ability, so they substitute the F*** bombs to achieve some type of recognition. If a SINGER tries this at my show, first they are warned, then off goes the mic. For a kj to substitute F*** bombs, it's HIS show, so I don't really give a F***.

Rosario

Now I'll make you all laugh (and some may even call me a hypocrite). I too have seen Total Eclipse done this way, I have a regular who sings it that way every time. However, to me it's a totally different subject if we're talking about changing the words to existing songs rather than simply singing a song that happens to contain potentially offensive lyrics.

Singing a song true to its form for me is not an issue. If it's got profanity in it, then that's the song as it is and I have no problem with the KJ or anyone else singing it. As I and others have said, you do have to know your crowd and there are venues/situations where I as a KJ wouldn't.

Changing the words to the songs to randomly include profanity or other potentially offensive language doesn't make a lot of sense to me, is relatively childish in most cases and is not something I would do as a KJ. In this case, we're back to what I mentioned before which is the KJ (or anyone else) simply inserting that language for a "cheap thrill".

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DJ Tony
Let It Rip Karaoke

I just look at it as "It's their dollar, they're renting the mic and stage for the duration of a song"

We used to have this one little asian dude that would drop his pants mid song. There was one year we had a streaker that would run through the bar (though technically, not a singer)

As long as it's their turn, I don't care what they do. They could violate their anus's on stage with cucumbers for all I care.

Just to be CLEAR --we are talking about the KJ AND HOST singing
not anyone else

Ewwwww!
Trust me. I care on THAT one!
Yuck!
Thanks for the bad visuals!

Did I mention the little asian dude was a host for a spell?

Still doesn't matter to me though. Maybe I'm just over liberal living 50 miles south of San Francisco. Hardly anything offends me anymore.

Offkeystar - That version of the song became popular by the Dan Band. I saw them recently when the opened for Cheap Trip here in Chicago. One of my regulars sings that version because she is often requested to sing it by the patrons. I would have no problem singing it myself if requested. In my venue people are fans of the Dan Band and enjoy singing along. It gets the crowd involved and having a good time.

I personally prefer not to do songs with profanity in them because I'm uncomfortable swearing on the mic, but when it is a well established norm in a venue that I host at for particular songs to be sung with profanity it doesn't bother me.

How do I know as a host it's okay? When the song is requested and a huge majority of people in the bar are cheering and singing along. It's not tough to figure out.

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I think it's simply a matter of good judgment on the part of the host and the policies of the club.

If the host makes too many bad choices, they'll find out the hard way that they need to change or simply work elsewhere.

Tonight I sang, "Giving head while your driving, I'm driving" and "This is when my buzzer goes." I probably shouldnt have. "Let's spend the DAY together."

First let me apologize for what I am about to post. I know this isn't going to be popular statement.

When a person uses profanity, it shows a general lack of maturity and intelligence. A person who swears like a sailor on stage has a total disregard for others, and is generally a selfish person. And if a HOST is doing just that, then I believe it's a lack of professionalism. Yes, four letter cuss words do have their place and time, but swearing for the sake of "shock" is definitely NOT cool in my book. I know this sounds like I am being "prudish", and maybe I am. But IMO, someone who deliberately used profanity to get their "point" across, even it it is in a song, has a lack of gray cells to come up with another less offensive term to get the same effect.

Just my little point of view.

In lieu of cussing, I have developed a style of innuendo that lets people figure things out themselves ... seldom is it lost on anyone, and for those who don't care to think about it, they don't get offended. I believe it is possible to live on the edge a little without taking yourself down completely.

This is such a personal thing - and very, very venue dependent. There is a time and place for everything, this subject included. Different strokes. (I can't say I don't cuss because I do, just not on the mic for some reason.)

This guy used to be my co-host.

[youtube]UjfxhO14txg[/youtube]

I had to let him go for other reasons, but a host cursing, changing the words to a song can be hilarious. At least I thought he was funny.