Karaoke Forums

anyone out there showcase a little 'vulgar' karaoke? (your definition)

any thoughts on it or stories?

Not really something I do much (although a few of my songs have the odd casual expletive) but another singer at one of weekday shows I attend, after much persuasion, got me to sing the Rodeo song with him. His girlfriend apparently filmed the whole thing and put it on Facebook!
Edit: just to reiterate, I', not a KJ, this was just participating as a singer.

here's mine:

i try to do a very loose, spontaneous show as much as i can. (it makes me happy.) like, when i play music, i don't play a full song, i mix in and out. this way, i can play a lot of stuff, and push the envelope, musically, then quickly escape into something safe before folks can complain...i find by doing this, it gets folks attention and they wanna participate in karaoke because they feel the show is 'open-minded' or they'll hang out longer. it works for me.

so one night, at the end of the night, i play a very vulgar curse-filled song into the quick mix for the heck of it--we're about to close. i won't say which song because it will identify the person. suddenly, from the bar, a cute girl like actress natalie portman who is a semi-regular knew all the words and start singing along. folks were cheering. i hand her mike like she's a singer to be funny and she really belts it out, though it's not a karaoke song & not in karaoke. we all have a good laugh. but it was the end of the night and it was only hardcore regulars there.

so, other regulars who weren't there heard about it and wanted to see it. i'm sure pockets of folks never heard of the song, so once they hear it and the vulgarity they're a little shocked and to see a natatlie portman type belt it out word for word with a mic with the song in the background is funny and disturbing at the same time. i do it to keep my show loose and spontaneous and now i got regulars requesting to see it themselves. first they're upset but after they see it a few times, they like it.

so now the managers are used to it and will request her to do it but the requests are coming with more and more people in the room which will definitely offend. and the requests are coming from the managers now. they wanna show off how 'cool' and 'loose' we are and how we have fun at our spot. i'm feeling like i created a monster. i thought this would be a once in a blue moon thing. but non-hosts always like to beat a dead horse.

i can forsee a huge fight break out at our venue if this girl does this as a request at the wrong time or with sensitive folks in the room. problem is, when i stall to put her on from a manager's request, the same regulars who were once mad at me for starting this now love it and get mad at me when i get chicken about doing it. but as i said, i know where to push the envelope then retreat. this song has no retreat. i don't mind to continue it, but i don't like the managers requesting her to do it and we got a full house it's like they want more people to see it, but it's vulgar and it's not for everyone, and it's a shock the first time, once you're desensitized, you're ok.

so i don't know what to do. i've tried giving a warning first before she does the song, but it didn't help. she was nervous in the beginning when folks requested it, but she loves doing it now and all the lyrics from memory. sometimes i want to kill the whole and i can, but on the other hand, folks see the hangups in themselves if they don't like it which is why they like it and they want me to continue. some regulars were so against it at first, now they love it. and i'm just worried for a brawl to spill out from someone who this rubs the wrong way--especially with her on the mic screaming vulgarities right at the faces of the crowd.

anyone else have a story or input?

Public venues are not the place to have vulgar lyrics sing-a-longs. It sends the wrong message IMHO, and I forbid it at my shows. Songs like "Total eclipse of the heart" where the singers adds the "F" bomb thru-out are not allowed at my shows and it sometimes has caused some drama.
I don't see a need to swear over the microphone and I let all my singers know that if your song has a swear word other then damn or hell in it.. don't swear.

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Sound Choice and Chartbuster Certified

If I could give you 10 "likes" I would. There are enough places to find/hear vulgarity. Karaoke already has a bad enough reputation without "bringing it on". Shouldn't we try to bring our profession to a higher level and not a lower one?

Product 19, are you thinking this would make your show better? Frankly, I don't get it.

I think a better description of the venue may be in order.

I specialize in restaurant bars and lounges (better pay and better behaved clientele) and here I use the radio versions (s) of songs with those lyrics. I also let the singers know that is the way to sing them if they want to continue.

However, I have also worked in plenty of biker type rowdier bars. In cases such as these I find that most of the patrons are pretty much invulnerable to verbal offense and just let them have at it.

The real answer is in the style of venue AND having a strong enough connection with the patrons to know what will make them happy or unhappy.

Personally, I think the f -bombs are the ONLY reason songs like Cee Lo's anthem became popular at all. Not a particularly great song- just a reason to scream obsenities in public.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

i won't do them at the VFW, DAV, Eagles, Moose or Elk bars....
but Rip's is a punk bar, Catalina is a Sports bar, Robert Emmet's is an Irish bar...those i have no problem with them being done as the clientele can handle and do enjoy those songs.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Depends on the venue. The club I work at don't even want the words on the screen - so I don't even list those songs in my books to tempt anyone. Not allowed on stage over the mics either, you get 1 warning if it happens - 99% are cool about it, there's always that 1% that becomes belligerent about it, but are usually to the point of being cut off anyway.
I've worked several clubs over the years that said no holds barred & all lyrics content was a go. Funny thing is none of those clubs are in business anymore. The ones that put restrictions are still in business - coincidence - probably, but I know people that don't mind not hearing the f-bomb screamed over the mic.

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I specifically look for venues that DO NOT CENSOR. I put that in bold so it would not be confused with PROMOTE FOUL LANGUAGE. There is an obvious difference between the two.

I believe songs were written by someone who had intent. Be that to convey an emotion strongly, with humor, with anger, or even to just get a rise out of someone. So I don't censor my singers and I don't generally work at venues that do censor. I have a few places where they allow children up to a certain time (usually no more than 1.5 hours after show start) and I do ask singers to respect that. In a little over 4 years it has never been an issue.

I rarely have to reign people in though. I encourage people to relax, and have fun.

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-Chris

good point Chris, even at Emmets, if there are kids there (they have good food and kids can be there till about 10) no one has pushed back when i ask them to wait on Nine Inch Nail's Closer till after the kids leave.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

There is no censoring at my shows either, but oddly none of those songs seem to be in my books. Craziest thing I ever did see. No one has ever said a single word to me about content and no one has ever tried to push the envelope in spite of the fact that in over several hundred shows there have only been a couple of children present. I have a full venue for almost every show, all year long, and my point is that you don't have to have vulgar content to be successful.

i wouldn't say "better". i may do somethings just to make things "interesting" whether it's interesting in a good way or interesting in a bad way. i've been kjaying at this spot for years. i do back-to-back nights on friday & saturdays. so i'm keenly aware that i better assume different hosting 'personalities' otherwise they'll bring in someone else. you know? i can't be a one-trick pony.....

and, me playing 'vulgar' music was not part of the karaoke show. i just happened to play a short clip of vulgar music and it got a reaction. and now folks want to witness the reaction. it's not part of the karaoke and trust, i'm not a fan of vulgarity. cursing isn't a part of my show. i try to play clean music. but, i will toss in things that i don't agree with simply because i work a gig back-to-back nights. i'm big on being spontaneous. but vulgarity is def a no-no at my shows. i'm just saying i will trickle it in here and there because it is a part of life and i can't ignore it. but it doesn't have a platform at my show.

i'm at a restaurant. ha. so vulgarity is def a no-no. and i know that. and i'm against vulgarity. been against it. but i played the song while we were about to close. and i did it for me. and i did it to show folks there that i'm aware vulgarity is out there though it's not a part of my show. but what i didn't foresee is that it would get popular because a girl who happened to be there knew the song and sang it word for word and now others wanna see her do that. what was supposed to be a 45-second clip of vulgar music at the end of the night turned into playing the rest of the song for her and now having folks request the full song with her singing it. but, it happens, though.

what i was wondering is: should i kill this now before it really gets out of hand, or see where this goes? it's still in the stage where i can kill it. i'm still in control...and this vulgarity is not a cornerstone of my show at all. it just gets brought up if the girl happens to be in the crowd that night.

but, the last time she did it by request, one of the most outspoken people to support it to continue was someone a little older than me who was very against the vulgarity at first. now this older person cheers for it. so i'm thinking the restaurant is trying to follow my lead on this where i first played the vulgar song not to show that i support it but to show that i'm aware it exists, though it's not part of my show. and i think my venue is following me on it. like i think the venue is backing me up one: why are we so hung up on the vulgarity? we're all adults. it's after hours...

There was a story in my local paper this morning about a rap style threat on Facebook about how the author of the post was going to "kill his wife, shoot up the school, and slit an FBI agents throat". The targets of these threats didn't take this lightly but the courts are on the fence about freedom of speech under the rules of "artistic expression". Since when is it artist to sing about killing someone? I'm sure there are many of the treasured vulgar words included in the rant as well. Where are we headed with this?
It is not part of my life and hopefully will never be. Promote indecency and vulgarity and in the end that will be all that is left. Currently there are 1,025,109.8 words in the English dictionary, I'm sure the lyricist could find another one.

They said the same thing about Lenny Bruce 50+ years ago and arrested him multiple times for obscenity. Art is always going to push the boundaries and offend someone. It's not all flowers and rainbows.

Let me see... I'm not sure but I don't think there was the internet, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, texting, etc.... but I could be wrong. And our children have access to all that in many homes. You could find this kind of stuff if you went out and searched for it but you could not get it while holed up in your room. There is a big difference with then and now!

Weren't the phones rotary then?

The proprietor sets the rules, not the employees or sub-contractors.

I have never had a proprietor tell me how I had to run my show. If they can't trust that I know what I'm doing I'll go somewhere else.

I don't censor my singers but I also do not list really vulgar songs. There are a few that have *hit, bit*h but most other songs I list are radio edit versions. I also work at a restaurant so people blaring out *uc* over the mic just is not cool. In different venues I have no problems sing what you want.

Asking kj not to allow certain types of songs or language in 'their' establishment is not telling you how to run your show. They have every right to say we don't want songs with F-Bombs, or hard core rap music or old music from the 50's or older, etc. It's still their place and they obviously want to draw or deter certain clientele.

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