Karaoke - 12th Jul 2007

A little quieter up the hotel tonight than it's been for the last few weeks but enjoyable nonetheless.
At one point I'm sure there were more outside having a cigarette than there were inside which also means that, yes, despite being labeled 'Smoke-on-Trent' (full story here), the Hotel has thankfully stuck to the smoking ban.

There was a good selection of songs from across the board tonight, many of which I've not heard in a long time. Thanks to Scott for having a go at Linkin Parks' - Numb and Andy finally gave in to Tinas wishes for him to do Bodyrockers - I Like The Way. The latter song really needs a parody version as some of the lyrics could easily be substituted for more 'fun' ones ;) One new one for me tonight plus a couple I'd not sang yet in 2007. I'm currently working my way through Andys book to check all the songs I've ever sung from it so far but not done in a while as there are some forgotten classics in there I'm sure!!

Tonights playlist went as follows:

• Others: Eagles - Hotel California
• Shaun: Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
• Tina & Hayley: Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (9 times)
  
• Scott: Foo Fighters - Times Like These
• Others: Shania Twain - You're Still The One (5 times)
  
• Others: Queen - Too Much Love Will Kill You
• Shaun: Arctic Monkeys - Flourescent Adolescent (brand new!!)
  
• Tina & Hayley: The Bangles - Manic Monday (3 times)
  
• Scott: Linkin Park - Numb (brand new!!)
• Others: Gabrielle - Out Of Reach (4 times)
  
• Andy: Dire Straits - Money For Nothing (7 times)
  
• Others: Chris Rea - Road To Hell
• Shaun: Green Day - American Idiot
• Tina & Hayley: Savage Garden - Affirmation (2 times)
  
• Scott: Hootie & The Blowfish - Let Her Cry (brand new!!)
• Others: Foundations - Buttercup (2 times)
  
• Others: Texas - Black Eyed Boy (2 times)
  
• Others: UB40 - Food For Thought
• Others: Cascades - Rhythm Of The Rain
• Shaun: The Fratellis - Baby Fratelli (5 times)
  
• Tina & Hayley: Blondie - One Way Or Another (3 times)
  
• Scott: Take That - I'd Wait For Life (brand new!!)
• Others: Katie Melua - The Closest Thing To Crazy (4 times)
  
• Others: UB40 - Homely Girl
• Others: Mariah Carey - Hero (2 times)
  
• Others: John Denver - That God I'm A Country Boy
• Andy: Bodyrockers - I Like The Way
• Shaun: Maximo Park - Our Velocity (4 times)
• Scott: Eagles - Desperado (brand new!!)

** NEW SONG **
Arctic Monkeys - Flourescent Adolescent - I'd better not sing this one too much as it's a bugger to type!! This is my favourite song from the Monkeys new album and I really enjoyed singing it. I was hoping that it would knock Rhianna off the top of the charts this week but alas it only charted at number 5 which was a little disappointing given that that totally shite Kate Nash track is at number 3. The charts today eh? :p I've no doubt that this one will make an appearance again. do-again-rating: 9/10

Next week I'll be going for a meal (Portofinos - Italian restaurant) with my friends and colleagues from work who I hopefully can persuade some of to join me up the hotel after the meal is finished, although depending on how much drink I've consumed it may be them persuading me to go somewhere with them! We shall see and so until then, goodbye.

Linkin Park Chester: I sick when I sing!!

Now I'm glad that I can't sing like Chester!

Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington has revealed that his singing makes him sick.

"Every night when I sing, it kind of pisses off the hernia. Last night I was vomiting when I was singing."

He is to undergo surgery for a hiatal hernia, a condition that occurs when part of the stomach slides above the diaphragm, allowing stomach acid to flow freely into the oesophagus. It follows the mysterious stomach complaint that hospitalised Chester and forced the band to cancel its European tour back in June.

Not only did it teach him to appreciate life, it made him yearn to be a better person.

"You kind of figure out that your entire existence can be flipped upside-down in a matter of minutes and no one is safe. When I was in the hospital, I was thinking to myself, 'Oh, man, I'm upset with one of my family members, And that could have been the last time I talked to him. I don't want that to happen again,” he told MTV, referring to the stomach complaint, rather than some life-threatening illness.

"I'm kind of queasy all the time," Bennington added. "I'm basically gonna be sick to my stomach until I have the surgery done.”

Hiatal hernias are fairly common, causing burning pain and nausea. Most of the time they can be controlled with antacids, diet regulation and inclining of the head and shoulders. But sometimes, as with Bennington, they require surgery.

"Food doesn't stay in my stomach. It comes in and out whenever it feels like. So when I'm singing and I'm actually using my whole body to sing, things get forced out while I'm performing.”

Full Article here

Karaoke - 5th Jul 2007

When I woke up on Friday and felt a bit off I thought that it was perhaps the effects of Thursdays nights drinks binge, but unfortunately not, it was instead the start of some goddamn virus that has kept me feeling like utter sh#te for the last week. Now that it's finally clearing up (I'm not feeling queasy and my head doesn't hurt as much!) it's having it's last throw of the dice by leaving me with a nasty cough. Grrrr!! Not had anything this bad for sometime and it seems to be making it's way around work too... I blame the air-con for that.

Anyway, It's not kept me away from the computer but I didn't have the energy or brainpower to muster up the enthusiasm to blog and so that's why this weeks is so late! I'll bring a note from my mum tomorrow.

After all that, last Thursday up the hotel wasn't too bad. No Tina or Louise so just Scott, Hayley and myself in our corner although we were joined by some of the Tuesday regulars yet again (you'll notice this by the upturn in the number of country tracks sang tonight!! ;) ). Someone suggested I should have a 'I've been mentioned on Shaunios blog' T-shirt to wear up the hotel, so Russ, are you gonna buy one? :p

Some new songs for me tonight ranging from dire to ok. Certainly nothing that I could say "yes, I really enjoyed that" too but I guess if you never try then you never know (and we'd all be singing Words and Angels week in week out). After last weeks little stats update, Scotts taken it as a challenge to get the entire Stones back catalogue sung up the hotel and he weighed in with no less than three more tonight. I have to admit to knowing none of them! Not sure why I seem to not know many of his songs just lately. Probably because when most of them came out I was heavily into rave (happy hardcore!) or rap/hip-hop back in my earlier years and totally ignored the indie/rock/pop scene pretty much from 1985/86 to the late 90's. Even now I sit here listening to Jack N Chill - The Jack That House Built on my recently acquired 6 disk Ultimate Rave Album! Quality stuff :) Nowadays my taste is a lot more varied (thankfully!) and I still like to dig out some of the old stuff and reminisce although there is still so many great songs out there from time gone by that I've yet to discover too.

Here's a random question for the day: Can you remember what the first ever song was that you sang on karaoke? For me, it was Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise back in around 97 I think (although may have been later) and Thursday nights have pretty much never been free since.

Forward a decade later, and this is what we're singing nowadays:

• Others: Travis Tritt - Trouble
• Others: Pussycat Dolls - Sway
• Shaun: The Fratellis - For The Girl (acoustic)
• Others: Texas - I Don't Want A Lover
• Scott: Big Country - King Of Emotion
• Others: Gary Nichols - I Can't Love You Anymore
• Others: Sara Evans - Suds In The Bucket
• Others: Alannah Myles - Black Velvet
• Shaun: The Fratellis - Ole Black N Blue Eyes
• Others: Whitney Houston - The Greatest Love Of All
• Others: Elvis - Love Letters
• Scott: Rolling Stones - Mixed Emotions
• Andy: Jake Owen - Yee-Haw
• Others: Brad Paisley - Ticks
• Others: The Killers - Read My Mind
• Shaun: The Pigeon Detectives - I'm Not Sorry
• Others: Diana Ross - Chain Reaction
• Others: UB40 - I Got You Babe
• Scott: Rolling Stones - You Got Me Rocking
• Others: The Killers - All These Things That I've Done
• Others: Lonestar - Amazed
• Shaun: Yello - The Race
• Others: Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
• Others: Burt Bacharach - I'll Never Fall In Love Again
• Scott: Rolling Stones - Wild Horses
• Others: Zoe Birkett - Get Happy

** NEW SONGS **

The Fratellis - For The Girl (acoustic) -I couldn't resist doing this having had the acoustic instrumental in my possession for some time now although despite knowing this song inside out, I managed to cock the la-la-lala bit up near the end as I just couldn't hear the guitar over my voice and with it being an acoustic, there was no beat either to time to. Still, enjoyed giving it a go though very unlikely to do again unless it's the proper album version. do-again-rating: 0/10

The Fratellis - Ole Black N Blue Eyes - The last single (EP) released from the album and I think this was a thumbs up to a fans vote on the official forum who voted this as there favourite Fratellis track. I can' t find the thread currently but I remember Creepin' Up The Back Stairs was second and Baby Fratelli third. Now, if I can just convince SBI Global that there is a demand for Creepin' then I would be very happy. Nice and easy this one although a little lower in parts than I expected. Can see it being sung again. do-again-rating: 7/10

The Pigeon Detectives - I'm Not Sorry - Nice track and quite easy to do, not much to say really. May get sung again or may disappear into obscurity, who knows! do-again-rating: 6/10

Yello - The Race - Much as I like this record, I wish I'd not even considered attempting this. Even though I was totally pissed by the time I got up to do, I'd have had a hard job making it sound any better sober. The version Sunfly have put out is spot on so credit there, but it really doesn't lend itself well to karaoke and I'll take Scott up on what he said as I made my way back: "Dont' do that again!". do-again-rating: -1/10


Overall, not a great week for me but it means that things can surely only get better (frantically touches wood and crosses fingers!). See you next week (or maybe earlier :) ).


PS: Oh, and don't forget to vote for Def Leppard - Let's Get Rocked here. Each vote for this track saves a kitten!

Karaoke - 28th Jun 2007

Back to the Hotel this week after last weeks mini-break and first off I'd like to point out that we're now at the half way point of 2007 which means that I've been blogging about our Thursday night singing for 6 months now.

I don't think I've ever stuck with anything for so long (I'm still 'playing' the guitar too!) so if you've been following events this year, thanks for sticking around and if you're reading Jamesco, you started this . Don't forget to also read Captain Jacks Tracks as well as he writes a lot more stuff than me, some of it interesting , and deserves a pat on the back for some of the time he put's into his mini-essays!

On to the night and yet again there were no new songs for me. I sang three that were for the first time this year but none that were new to me. I had intended to have a go at a couple of Linkin Park tracks but after having a go at them in the car on the way up I decided that I'm no Chester Bennington and the people in the hotel wouldn't have deserved such a verbal assault! There is a new Sunfly out now and so hopefully I'll try a couple of tracks from that (maybe Pigeon Detectives, The Twang and Yello) but other than that I'm struggling to find inspiration for new stuff at the moment. Time for a delve in the old Now That's What I Call Music collection me thinks. Any suggestions also will be taken on board.

Tina, Louise & Hayley decided to 'celebrate' a certain event this week by singing Stop! by..... the Spice Girls. Yes, they've reformed for a reunion tour and it's a pity that they didn't take heed of this song and STOP RIGHT THERE!!!! What on earth is it all about. Surely they don't need the money so it can only be for some sort of sadistic kick to see if they can get any of their singles back into the charts, or get the now grown up teenagers who once idolised them to part with a weeks wages to go see them given that they no longer need their parents permission to go to a gig. Why, why, why....

Another event that's taken place is the ban of this: Yep, this week was the last time we'll be singing in smokey pubs. I'm kind of glad in a way about the ban because there's nothing worse than a smokey pub and the hotel does occasionally get pretty bad and as an ex 20+ day a smoker for over four years you do notice it. I do feel for those who now have to stand outside in all weathers for a fag though and yes, you may say that they can go without or quit, but it's not that easy. I just hope that it doesn't stop people coming out and enjoying themselves as all the doom and gloom merchants predict, although having driven past the hotel this morning and seen the umbrellas put up outside (I guess for the smokers) they're not going stop the driving rain or bitter cold come later on in the year. It will be interesting to see how the year progresses now that the ban is in force.

Anyway, enough waffle and onto this weeks songs:

• Shaun: Will Smith - Getting' Jiggy Wit it
• Scott: Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash
• Andy: Tone Loc - Funky Cold Medina
• Tina, Louise & Hayley: Bryan Adams & Mel C - When You're Gone
• Shaun: Wyclef Jean - Perfect Gentleman
• Others: The Pretenders - I'll Stand By You
• Scott: Robbie Williams - Come Undone
• Tina, Louise & Hayley: The Bangles - Manic Monday
• Others: Womack & Womack - Teardrops
• Others: Do You Know The Way To San Jose - Dionne Warwick
• Shaun: The Killers - Somebody Told Me
• Scott: Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
• Tina, Louise & Hayley: Spice Girls - Stop
• Others: Oleta Adams - Get Here
• Others: Alanis Morissette - Ironic
• Others: Roxette - Listen To Your Heart
• Others: Weather Girls - It's Raining Men
• Others: Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girls
• Shaun: The Fratellis - Henrietta
• Scott: A Better Man - Robbie Williams
• Tina, Louise & Hayley: Savage Garden - Affirmation
• Others: Katie Melua - The Closest Thing To Crazy
• Others: Carly Simon - You're So Vain
• Others: Candi Staton - Young Hearts Run Free

Some changes in the stats this week with Britney Spears' - I Love Rock N Roll and the Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams taking over as joint most sang song with The Fratellis' - Whistle For The Choir now pushed back into third place. The Frats are still holding firm at the top of the artists chart and although the pack is bunching up underneath to make a challenge I think they will hold out for the year

Other random stats from the Thursday night song chart:

• There have been 652 songs sang on a Thursday night in the Birches Head Hotel in 2007
• 441 of these songs are unique. That means that on any given night you won't have heard roughly 2 out of every 3 songs sung before in this year.
  
• 73 of these were Scotts, 69 mine, 27 Andys and 22 the girls.
  
• On an average night, 25 songs will be sung
• The first song sung this year was Abba's Voulez-Vouz by Louise & Hayley. It has not been sung since.
• Elvis and The Beatles have the highest number of different songs sung from their catalog with 11 each.
  
• For Scotts benefit, the Rolling Stones are next with 9 different tracks.
  
• The most hated song is Boyzone - Words

Ok, so I made the last one up, but you know it's true

So, here's too another 6 months (and beyond!) and until next week, Me.SayGoodbye(True)

Karaoke - 21st Jun 2007

As I was away on my rain soaked holiday this week, there's no write up from me, but you can find what went on over at Captain Jacks place here.

Thanks to Scott for noting the songs down and here they are:

• Scott & Andy: The Beatles - Love Me Do
• Scott: Rolling Stones - Street Fighting Man
• Others: Mariah Carey - Hero
• Andy: Dire Straits - Money For Nothing
• Tina & Hayley: Britney Spears - I Love Rock N Roll
• Others: The Corrs - Dreams
• Others: Pink - Get The Party Started
• Scott: Aerosmith - Big Ten Inch Record
• Tina & Hayley: Lily Allen - Smile
• Andy: Golden Earring - Radar Love
• Others: Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
• Others: Nikki French - Total Eclipse Of The Heart
• Scott: Bon Jovi - You Want To Make A Memory
• Others: Beautiful South - Perfect 10
• Tina & Hayley: The Bangles - Manic Monday
• Others: Dusty Springfield - Son Of A Preacher Man
• Others: Whitney Houston & Ce Ce Williams - Count On Me
• Scott: Aerosmith - Dream On
• Others: Robbie Williams - Let Me Entertain You
• Andy: Sugarhill Gang - Rappers Delight
• Tina & Hayley: Stephy - Chelsea
• Others: Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody
• Others: James Morrison - Wonderful World
• Others: Neil Diamond - Forever In Blue Jeans
• Scott: Rod Stewart - Tonight's The Night