Karaoke Forums

I have the CB version which doesn't have the F-bomb, 'messed up' is substituted. And that is how everyone sings it.

I have nothing against rap, if it has no cussing in it, it can be done in our club. However the majority of rap DOES have language in it and therefore not allowed.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Like I said--language restrictions, I get, regardless of my philosophical objection to the concept of it (I'm a language nerd--all words, even those ones, are beautiful to me). The choice of not playing an entire genre is what baffled me.

I think I'd really dig your show, from what I've read of it. If I ever get a vacation again, it'll be a stop on my karaoke road trip, for sure.

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Co-host of The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly), a karaoke-themed podcast

OK maybe I'm missing something but the worst word in the whole song is He!! or do you have a different version than I do?

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I like everyone when I first meet them. If you don't like me that's not my problem it's YOURS!
A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet

$$$ it seems that money seems to be the goal here..I guess Im different..I cant be bought..wont let someone control my show..Let me say this does cussing bother me..NO..would it bother me if there was none..NO..but everyone is different..EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES..I WONT HINDER THAT..just because someone is paying you $$$$ you going to let them control you..sorry I cant and wont let that happen to me..I cant and wont be bought..as far as my show goes....after 11 yrs of doing this Im known for freedom at my shows..that why i have a large group of LGBT following.

and it seems like the GAY Community can't even have a parade without them parading their sexuality in front of the world...jamming it in your face, so to speak. Every other community that throws a parade seems to be able to leave their sexuality out of the parade route. The Irish celebrate their culture without showing us all why they tend to have large families. They celebrate their music and their heritage. They have bagpipes and step dancers and marching bands that don't have to be simulating sexual activities to enjoy "their day".

I understand that you want to be proud of being Gay and I'm okay with that. But when everything you do is about forcing others to deal with your need to display your sexuality and your freedom to use ADULT Language at every turn, I think that you only hurt the cause. I didn't see anyone at the Saint Patrick's Day Parade trying to use their their shillelagh as a dildo.

Nope can't be bought here either, but I do what I am 'contracted' to do for pay which is the ultimate goal for any business. So if they don't want any cussing on stage in THEIR place, by all means I will respect that rule. Not a matter of what I think or what I believe as far as how MY show will be run - yes bottom line is MONEY - to the bar & in my pocket.
We get gay people all the time, some are good friends of mine - they also appreciate the 'no cussing' rule, partly why they enjoy coming back.
Little story, we used to allow all songs - cuss songs included. We used to get a heavy college crowd. They would purposely always pick out the sons that had the most offensive language in them and not really sing anything but would muddle through the son and then SCREAM the cuss words. They also would buy 1 pitcher for an entire table so maybe $5 between 6 people - the tab between 6 people usually ended up being $15-20. These people also caused more fights and trouble in the club which is why the owners (again the people that pay me) requested that those songs not be sung anymore (bck then they wanted ALL hard rock gone). I argued that we would lose crowds - which we did. What I didn't expect is we gained a bigger crowd because turns out other people didn't want to hear that either. These new people were typically better spenders, better singers & gave a better overall atmosphere/feeling to the club. So I quit arguing.
While I did manage to get the hard rock back in the books, I did agree to no cussing since it affects my bottom line as well - it's a business. I prefer to work. If that makes it sound like I can be bought - damn straight, they 'bought' my services & contracted my company in THEIR club! I think 20 years, 7 nights a week at the same place is a pretty good return. I seriously doubt anyone would be stupid enough to walk away from a gig like that - no cussing included, but who knows......

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Lol @ "what's wrong with Picture."

I am no puritan, and have zero problem with cursing in its purest form; my language is far from clean in casual conversation.

That said, profanity over the mic can be a huge burden to deal with. I work in several family restaurants; it can be a hassle trying to parse out who's going to adhere to the basic rules of the establishment (more or less "keep it PG-13") and who's going to just ignore all common decency. It's my personal belief that if you're going to bring your children to a restaurant that's doing karaoke at 10PM, you have no legitimate cause to complain if you hear something you don't like -- but, point blank, that's not the client's belief. Several of these are big corporate chains, so if a complaint gets sent up the chain of command, my gigs (my primary money-makers) could be in jeopardy.

I wasn't aware of the content of Adam Sandler's "At A Medium Pace" prior to someone selecting it at one of these shows, for example. "Don't worry, I'll censor it," the singer whispered to me just as I pressed play, but considering that several big-screen TVs are broadcasting the words, I had to shut it down immediately. In situations like that, it's not so much about whether or not the singer is willing to censor themselves; songs like that are poison in those circumstances because there's no way to skirt the themes of the songs. Songs like "Little Lion Man" or "FXXX/Forget You" are fine in the hands of someone willing to edit themselves because, outside of the profanities, they're perfectly acceptable pop songs.

But, of course, it's a "when in Rome" situation. My newest gig has been going over like gangbusters for the past four months, and when I asked the owner his stance on profanity, he answered "it's not merely accepted; it's encouraged." So I drink beer, make sexually suggestive comments, and swear, just like everybody else there. And we all have a genial time.

Honestly, in my experience, bar/restaurant owners are quicker to put the kibosh on songs for thematic reasons more than profane ones. I have a show in an urban area that's probably 75% hip-hop and modern r&b, and everyone has a fantastic, good-natured time there; profanity is discouraged, but the patrons slip from time to time. However, it's recently been infiltrated by a series of leering, creepy older men who hit on waitresses, and management has banned them from singing "My Ding-a-Ling" or "Big Balls". They're both tongue-in-cheek song-length double entendres, as opposed to being openly sexual, but no one really thinks of a bell or a lavish ballroom event when they're sung by the lecherous; still, it's a fine line to tread, because the men who sing those songs (perhaps understandably) question why they can't sing those songs but "Gin & Juice" and countless other rap songs that cheerfully promote marijuana are okay. I have no answers for them that doesn't involve waitresses worried about being cornered in the parking lot.

One last note in what is turning into an obscenely long post: the n-word is a fine, fine line to walk. White youth loves rap music; rap music loves the n-word. I understand why, practically speaking, it's generally acceptable for black people to say it and not white people, but that's a difficult thing to try to explain. I've taken to banning the word across the board so as to avoid offense, but there have been mixed reactions to it, historically. Interestingly enough, I've found that a large amount of my black regulars simply don't care. In a bar where swearing was allowed, I saw a black woman shoot daggers at a suburban white college kid for keeping the word intact during a Tupac song, but more often than not it elicits apathy or laughter. I even once witnessed a group of black patrons loudly encouraging two white girls to not edit the chorus of "Gold Digger". (I don't use it myself, even though I have a repertoire of rap songs myself; it just makes me uncomfortable to say. The one time I did, I was joining a black friend on "Forgot About Dre"; during one of my verses, he leaned over and whispered "just say it, nobody cares." I did, and it felt really weird, and thus ended my seconds-long era of using the word at karaoke.)

Actually you do not have the universal right to express yourself. There are restrictions, even in the good old US of A. You cannot yell fire in a theatre when there is no fire or you will be charged. You cannot threaten anyone or you can be charged. There are many restrictions and a bar has the right to restrict what goes on in their venues.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

gimme a break...

Yelling fire and yelling f**k have completely different ramifications and results.

The "bad" word doesn't put peoples' lives at risk.

That being said, I've never worked for an establishment that attempted to restrict song choices or performances for any reason.

Private functions are different. What the client wants or doesn't want is the final word.

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Never the same show twice!

Which the same applies for bar owners & their club.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I am actively against censoring a person's ability to say what they want, and when I started this thread, it was because of how many threads I read where people simply wouldn't play hip hop music.

That said, though, you're right--most people in the US have no idea what "free speech" actually means, and it's frustrating. The recent reddit/gawker controversy--where a columnist outed the identity of an anonymous poster on reddit who moderated some of the more offensive boards--brought up a lot of really goofy takes on the concept of free speech, none legally sound.

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Co-host of The Greatest Song Ever Sung (Poorly), a karaoke-themed podcast

But forum/boards aren't technically public - they are still privately run/operated to those owners who see fit to allow what they want as far as language, therefore free speech wouldn't apply.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Right, which is why I stated that I've never had an owner/manager restrict the song selection/performances in any way.

My distinction was between PRIVATE and PUBLIC shows. The private shows often have underage and/or elder family members where foul language or adult content would be inappropriate and/or offensive.

In a PUBLIC show at a bar/club... you can reasonably assume that everyone there is over 21 (at least 18) and they (the patrons) are not paying you directly. In a PUBLIC show, you always have the option to leave if you find the song choices/performances objectionable. That is fine with me, because that is not a restriction.

I still remember the first time that happened and someone brought it to my attention. I won't do "The Lap Dance Is Always Better When The Stripper's Crying" again, if that person is in attendance. I wouldn't have known if not for the mutual friend who informed me as to why that person left abruptly.

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Never the same show twice!

Mtn a bar is a private place with public access just to make that clear to everybody. We haven't encountered a bar saying no we can't play this or that but if one did, we'd take the job. It would be a stupid business practice to lose money on something silly as "we don't want rap/country/swear words". Feeding the family is more important than what someone may term as censorship. If it came down to paying the bills and feeding the family or being obstinate and insisting on "doing it your way". I doubt anyone would do the latter.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

Actually it is the *hit word.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

OK I've scoured the internet looking for Lyrics for this song and I can not find one where they say the S word in it. Please tell me who's version you are referring to and in what stanza it is.

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I like everyone when I first meet them. If you don't like me that's not my problem it's YOURS!
A stranger is a friend you haven't met yet

The single edit of Miller's recording features a truncated version of the guitar intro. In addition, one line of the song's lyric was altered for radio play: instead of "'Cause I don't want to get caught up in any of that funky (@$%&#!) goin' down in the city", it was changed to "funky kicks goin' down in the city". The single edit was included on the original release of Greatest Hits 1974–78, although the full album version has been used for later reissues of the compilation. The radio version is the ones I have for karaoke (SC & Backstage) anyway with the 'funky kicks' line. Not that it matters, the song has NEVER been sung as long as I can remember. The BS and other versions may use the album lyrics, I don't know.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

I don't mind if a little cussing gets through after 11,. On the other hand, I don't actively seek out songs with explicit lyrics either. Being disc based, they do wander in with other music from time to time.

That being said- and in regard to the OP, I do NOT play songs containing terms of bigotry, be they racial, religious, or in regard to creed. IMHO, these words were designed to be nothing but offensive. Therefore there is a better chance that they WILL offend. My own sensibilities aside, these songs can only do more to harm my business than help it.

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Exactly right. The radio edit song is 3:36. Album version is 4:32. Many rock stations in the late seventies and beyond had no problem playing the "unrated" version. Book of Dreams is one of my fave albums of all time!

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]