Karaoke - 27th September 2007

What can be better than going to the pub to drink some beer.......?

Going to the pub and drinking some FREE beer! :)

No, Scott didn't buy the rounds all night but rather there was free, yep really free, Magners being given out by a pair of Barbie dolls , Marketing ladies. And it very nice it was too, being free and all, and not that we've ever tried Magners before and knowing we already like it :) Scott managed to grab a couple of pints after telling the girl that Hayley would also like to try a pint (of course!) whilst I only managed to get one and the rest of Andys when he decided he didn't like it :o It was a good start to the night and when the girls came back round to canvas our opinions on the free beverage I don't think they quite got the answers they were looking for. In fact I think they were quite petrified (or maybe embarrassed) that they couldn't get any sort of sensible answer out of us (Scotts fault :p). Well, what did you want us to say: it's beer, it's free, what else is there! ...

....oh, and which pub are you going to next? :D

There were plenty of singers in tonight which made for a good atmosphere and night albeit at a cost of not singing our regular barrage of songs. In fact I only sang one of the songs that I intended to do with the others being replaced by a first song starter and an unexpected request. Props to Scott who sang 2 songs that we'd heard of tonight! Classics: Police - Message In A Bottle and Duran Duran - The Reflex and both were done and went down very well.

Not to be outdone we had our very own Sparks member lookalike (pic left, first guy on left) 'performing' seminal classics such as In The Air Tonight, Gold and Mustang Sally. It truly was a sight to behold as he punched the air with his microphone during Gold after hitting the most bum notes you're ever likely to hear, lol. Ah well, the more the merrier, it's all entertainment!! Actually, speaking of more, it seems like the Tuesday country crowd may be starting to turn up regularly on a Thursday now(notice the increase in Keith Urban and Tim McGraw songs recently). I think they may have figured out that you get more songs in on a Thursday than a Tuesday although given last Tuesdays poor turnout it may well be swinging the other way. Swings and Roundabouts I say!



Anyway, enough waffle, here's this weeks songs:

• Shaun: Bloodhound Gang - Bad Touch (2)
• Others: Lily Allen - Smile (9)
• Others: Keith Urban - Stupid Boy
• Others: Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
• Scott: Duran Duran - The Reflex (new)
• Others: Billy Joel - The Entertainer
• Tina & Hayley: Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (11)
• Shaun: Green Day - American Idiot (2)
• Others: Meatloaf - Dead Ringer For Love
• Others: DJ Sammy - Heaven (2)
• Others: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
• Others: Keith Urban - Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me
• Others: Spandau Ballet - Gold
• Scott: Police - Message In A Bottle (new)
• Others: Billy Joel - Keeping The Faith
• Tina & Hayley: Lily Allen - LDN (3)
• Others: Robbie Williams - Come Undone (3)
• Others: Whitney Houston - Saving All My Love For You (2)
• Shaun: The Fratellis - Creepin' Up The Backstairs (new)
• Others: Jamelia - Something About You
• Others: Tim McGraw - Live Like You Were Dying
• Others: The Commitments - Mustang Sally (4)
• Scott: Bob Seger - Hollywood Nights (new)
• Others: Drifters - Like Sister & Brother (2)
• Andy: Trent Tomlinson - Drunker Than Me (new)

This weeks stats:

• 25 songs sang tonight
  
• 15 had not been sung previously this year
  
• 10 have been sang already this year (1 of which was also sang last week)
  
• There have been 991 songs sung so far this year!

** SHAUNS SONGS **

Bloodhound Gang - Bad Touch		2nd time
	Year of release: 1999 Peak chart position: #4 UK Although it's only the second time I've done this song since I've started keeping track, it's a song that I've started the night off with many many times before. In fact I'm not even sure that I've ever sang it when it's not been my first song of the night. A cracking track and seemingly the only one that the Bloodhound Gang will ever be remembered for over here as they never really followed it up. With lyrics like 'you and me baby ain't nothing but mammals, let's do it like they do on the discovery channel', the song is awash with sexual innuendo and this is also prevalent in the video which is bizarre to say the least (view left). Still, great track and no doubt I will be starting another night off with it :)
	tonights-rating:	do-again-rating:

Green Day - American Idiot		1st for 2007
	Year of release: 2004 Peak chart position: #3 Uk Sang once before a while back and persuaded to sing it again tonight by Tina, this was Green Days first single released from their most successful (and seventh!) album of the same name. As the title suggests, it is a stab at being American in the post-9/11 era with all the paranoia and media attention paid to everything in the world. In fact most of the album follows, in a more subtle form, the same theme with tracks such as 'Holiday', 'Boulevard Of Broken Dreams' and 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' - all of which I've sang on the karaoke too. It's been some time that I've sang this and it may well be some time before it gets sung again. Not that I don't like it or anything because I do, it's just one of those 'now and again' songs if you know what I mean!
	tonights-rating:	do-again-rating:

The Fratellis - Creepin' Up The Backstairs		** NEW SONG **
	Year of release: 2006 Peak chart position: N/A - EP/Album Track The first song to be released from the excellent Costello Music album, although as an EP it was not eligible for the UK charts. Even though it was only a limited edition edition there was still an official video made for it (left) so maybe the original plan was for it to be released as a single. Who knows!?! Either way it typifies the Fratellis style with it's infectious riffs and catchy choruses. Of all the album tracks I've done so far I felt (oddly) that this was the one that I didn't get the most satisifaction from singing. Can't really explain why, but I'm not sure I'll do this again (well, maybe on a Tuesday) even though it wasn't that bad. :s
	tonights-rating:	do-again-rating:

After writing about the starting song tonight I thought I'd have a peek to see what songs/singers normally start the night off (results added to stats page) and here's the lowdown:

• 39 Thursday nights so far this week
• 20 of them (just over half) started by me
• 6 started by Scott & Andy (as a duet)
• Most popular starting artist is Will Smith/Fresh Prince with 7
• There has only been 1 song that was 'New' to start with - That was me on 16 Aug with Brad Paisleys - Mud On The Tires
• The girls have only started the night off once (the first week in fact) with Abbas - Voulez Vouz and that was probably because there was only 4 of us in at the time and I was in the loo :p

Never really noticed it before but it seems that there's overwhelming statistical support to prove that if you're up first then the chances are you'll be singing something that both you and the pub are familiar with.

We're also up to 991 songs for the year now which means song # 9 next week will be song 1000! After much discussion, or rather a moment of enlightment whilst pissed, Scott and I are going to attempt to duet the 9th song with the Gorillaz's - Dare. Will we succeed or will the coveted thousandth song fall to lesser mortals??

Stay tuned for next weeks gripping installment!


"in here, music is life and life is rythym" - Dream Warriors - Face In The Basin