BARBELITH underground
 

Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.


Underground > Radio & Music >

(Punk) Rock Karaoke

  
 
Matthew Fluxington
23:43 / 19.08.02
I was considering going to Arlene Grocery's Punk Rock Karaoke night sometime soon, and looking at their songlist, I'm pretty disappointed. Many of the songs are lame, lame, lame; and lots of great songs by bands listed aren't available - like why the hell can't you do "Train In Vain" or "London Calling" by The Clash, yet you can do fucking "Clampdown"!?! Why are so many Buzzcocks songs unavailable? Why are sooooo many great punk/indie/new wave classics missing?

So here's the premise - you tell me what songs you'd want to do were this a punk/indie/new wave karaoke night, and you had a full band ready to back you up on your selection. What songs do you want to hear other people sing?
 
 
at the scarwash
23:48 / 19.08.02
I personally believe that there should be a karaoke night entirely devoted to the Fall, squadrons of horrid social misfits driving for hours (or being-ah driven by thier mums-ah more like it) to moan and grumble bitterly about the Welfare State (and this would be in the US, mind you), and "God damn the pedantic welsh(ah)"

Mark E. Smith is my Secret Grandfather.
 
 
FinnMacCoolio
02:58 / 20.08.02
Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
just to see if someone has the endurance to stare uncomfortably offstage during the instrumental bits
You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory - Johnny Thunders
for the sentimental punk crooner in all of us
Pretty Baby Scream - Lords of the New Church
Stiv Bators is my personal Elvis
 
 
bio k9
05:07 / 20.08.02
I seem to remember Mike Watt and a bunch of other old punks doing a karaoke tour were they let kids pick & sing the songs they wanted. Fuck, I wish I'd made it to that...
 
 
rizla mission
09:46 / 20.08.02
I reckon it would be fun to give Chinese Rocks a go, or I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.

Some Joy Division karaoke would also hit the spot, I feel.
 
 
No star here laces
09:59 / 20.08.02
Funny you should mention this, Flux, cos I'm currently working on a hip-hop karaoke night over here.

The basic trouble is that karaoke is driven by the lowest common denominator (so much so that Simon Cowell picks the tunes for Gareth Gates to cover from what the most popular karaoke tunes are) so the only tunes available are the old standards. It is impossible to get any hip hop on karaoke (apart from Biz Markie's "just a friend")
 
 
Jack The Bodiless
12:16 / 20.08.02
'Dead Joe', The Birthday Party
'Tanz Debil', Einsturzende Neubauten
'New Rose', The Damned
'Too Drunk To Fuck', Dead Kennedys
'Auslander', PWEI
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
12:21 / 20.08.02
Lyra, you might want to look into having a full-band/DJ set up, because that would probably work out for you a lot better than settling for whatever instrumentals of popular tracks you can find. At least hip hop hits usually do have instrumentals readily available most of the time.

I would think doing hip hop karaoke would be a lot more difficult, cos I can imagine lots of people just stumbling through flows, messing up lines that they might even know by heart. MCing ain't easy.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
13:10 / 20.08.02
Here's some songs I'd personally want to do -

The Fall "The Classical"
Wire "I Am The Fly"
The Clash "Train In Vain"
Buzzcocks "Everybody's Happy Nowadays"
Huggybear "Her Jazz"
R.E.M. "Radio Free Europe"
Pavement "Trigger Cut"
Fugazi "Do You Like Me"
Sonic Youth "Schizophrenia"
Guided By Voices "Game Of Pricks"

Man, I could have so much fun at an exclusively GBV karaoke night. That would be the best...
 
 
Saveloy
13:13 / 20.08.02
The Raincoats - 'Fairytale in the Supermarket' (The greatest ramshackle shouty punk song ever. Should be done properly with friends as backing singers)
Dead Kennedys - 'Stealing Peoples Mail' (up and down and all over the place, sustained bits and staccato nags all in one song).
Damned - 'Stab Your Back' (see above)
The Fall - 'English Scheme' ("The lower claaaass, want cash - fat chance, scrounge bags!" One of the more singerly-songerly Fall tracks.)
The Sisters of Mercy - 'Marianne' (for showing off yr deep voice. Should not be attempted without masses of dry ice).
Wire - 'Outdoor Miner' (the chorus is as closs as we'll get to 'Hi-Ho Silver Lining')
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
13:27 / 20.08.02
For some reason, that link isn't going directly to the songlist like it should - this is the official Arlene Grocery songlist for the punk/metal night:

Bad Brains: Attitude, Pay to Cum, Banned in D.C.
Black Flag: T.V. Party, Drinkin n Drivin
Blondie:: Call Me
Buzzcocks: Orgasm Addict, Ever Fallen in Love
The Clash: Tommy Gun, White Riot, Clampdown, I Fought the Law, Complete Control, London's Burning
Elvis Costello: Radio Radio
The Damned: New Rose
The Dead Boys: Sonic Reducer
Dead Kennedys: California Uber Alles, Kill the Poor
Fear: I Don't Care About You
Go-Go's: We Got the Beat
The Heartbreakers: Chinese Rocks
Billy Idol: Dancin' with Myself, Rebel Yell
Joan Jett: I Love Rock n Roll, Do You Wanna Touch, Bad Reputation
The Knack: My Sharona
The Misfits: Where Eagles Dare, Last Caress, Attitude
New York Dolls: Personality Crisis
The Ramones: Blitzkrieg Bop, I Wanna Be Sedated, Teenage Lobotomy, Sheena is a Punk Rocker, 53rd and 3rd, Beat on the Brat
The Sex Pistols: Bodies, Holidays in the Sun, God Save the Queen, Anarchy in the U.K.
The Stooges: Search and Destroy, Raw Power, No Fun, I Wanna be your Dog
The Undertones: Teenage Kicks


Heavy Metal Songs


Aerosmith: Walk this Way, Sweet Emotion
Alice Cooper: School's Out
Accept: Balls to the Wall
AC/DC: Dirty Deeds, Back in Black, Get it Hot, Girls Got Rhythm, If You Want Blood, Love Hungry Man, Shot Down in Flames, Night Prowler, Whole Lotta Rosie, You Shook Me All Night Long, Highway to Hell, Touch Too Much, Walk All Over You
Black Sabbath: Paranoid, Sweet Leaf, War Pigs
Blue Cheer: Summertime Blues
Boston: Rock and Roll Band
Bon Jovi: You Give Love a Bad Name
Bad Company: Feel Like Makin Love
Pat Benetar: Heartbreaker, Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Cheap Trick: Surrender
Cinderella: Shake Me
Danzig: Mother, Twist of Cain
Deep Purple: Highway Star
Def Leppard: Photograph, Foolin', Rock of Ages
Fastway: Say What You Will
Foghat:: Slowride
Grand Funk Railroad: We're an American Band
Guns'n'Roses: Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child O' Mine, Paradise City
Sammy Hagar: I Can't Drive 55
Heart: Barracuda
Iron Maiden: The Trooper, Run to the Hills, The Number of the Beast
Kiss: Christine Sixteen, I Love it Loud, Detroit Rock City, Deuce, Love Gun, Rock and Roll All Night
Judas Priest: You Got Another Thing Coming, Headin' out on The Highway, You Got Another Thing Comin'
Led Zeppelin: Rock and Roll, The Lemon Song, Heartbreaker, Communication Breakdown, Whole Lotta Love, Immigrant Song, Black Dog, Bring it on Home, Livng Loving Maid, The Ocean, What Is and What Should Never Be, We're Gonna Groove
Lita Ford: Kiss me Deadly
Metallica: Sandman, For Whom the Bell Tolls
Motorhead: Ace of Spades
Motley Crue: Dr. Feelgood, Live Wire, Looks That Kill
Ted Nugent: Cat Scratch Fever
Ozzy Osbourne: Crazy Train
Poison: Talk Dirty To Me
Queen: Tie Your Mother Down, Fat Bottomed Girls
Quiet Riot: Bang Your Head (Metal Health), Cum on Feel the Noise
Ratt: Round and Round
Skid Row: 18 and Life, Youth Gone Wild
Scorpions: No One Like You, Rock You like a Hurricane
Spinal Tap: Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You
Billy Squier: The Stroke, Everybody Wants You
Thin Lizzy: Jailbreak, The Boys are Back in Town
Twisted Sister: I Wanna Rock, We're Not Gonna Take It
Van Halen: Ain't Talkin' Bout Love, Dance The Night Away, Hot for Teacher, Panama, Unchained, Running with the Devil, Feel Your Love Tonight, Pretty Woman, You Really Got Me
 
 
Saveloy
13:46 / 20.08.02
Magazine - 'I Love You You Big Dummy' (builds up from sneery mumbling to hysterical shouting)
Jesus Lizard - 'Mouthbreather' ("Don't get me wrong he's a nice guy I like him just fine - but he is a mouthbreather" Apart from that line, it's one you can garble without anyone noticing)
PJ Harvey - Anything from side 2 of 'Rid of Me', especially 'Dry' and 'Ecstasy' (great wailing songs)
 
 
Ethan Hawke
13:54 / 20.08.02
Maybe my philosophy of Karaoke is different than other people's, but I like singing the stupidest, worst songs available at karaoke. Or at least the most inappropriate.
Obviously, nu-metal/white rappers are prime candidates for this treatment. Kid Rock and Vanilla Ice, for example, are made for drunken karaoke, as it would be nigh on impossible to make them sound worse.

-t.o.d.d., who's deadly, like a poisonous mushroom.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
14:10 / 20.08.02
I don't know - I can't see the point in singing a song live with a full band unless it's something that I really like.

It's also true that I probably would not be drunk while at something like this...
 
 
Ethan Hawke
14:13 / 20.08.02
Oh, I didn't mean for Lyra's hip-hop night in particular. I meant for your everyday karaoke situations.

And drunkenness isn't a prerequisite for stupid fun.
 
 
Saveloy
14:32 / 20.08.02
Exactly, that's what singing is for, in my book - it's the best way to be emotionally OTT and absurd without being drunk. Which is not to say that it isn't great when you're pissed as well.

Soul Bossa - 'Sore Loser' (a great one for belting out in a drunken, lurching stylee)
 
 
Cop Killer
18:30 / 20.08.02
I think the punk they have is fine for karaoke, but I think the real problem is the fact that they only have two Judas Priest songs and neither of them is "Breaking the Law" nor do they have "Living After Midnight"; it's not like I'm asking for "Painkiller" or anything, but who wouldn't wanna bust out "Breaking the Law" at karaoke? I am, however, glad that they had a shitload of AC/DC songs to do, that kinda rocks.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
18:50 / 20.08.02
I don't know, just going on what they do have, it's questionable - lots of well-known classics by the artists they do represent are there, lots of really crucial artists are ignored - Wire, The Fall, Minor Threat, Fugazi, and Mission Of Burma, especially. God, having no Wire is just no class, man!

I also really don't like the conflation of punk with hair metal. That really rubs me the wrong way...
 
 
Jack Fear
19:32 / 20.08.02
SO start your own band, you bunch of whingeing fucks.
 
 
rizla mission
08:48 / 21.08.02
(Fugazi karaoke .. what a concept..)

How about a boy/girl duet on 'Death Valley '69'? That would be great!

And wouldn't hip-hop karaoke be near impossible? I mean, I can't see even a sober hip-hop obsessive would have the memory & verbal dexterity to blast out Ghostface Killah verses on demand, let alone a drunk guy who only turned up cos it sounded fun .. that way lies madness, surely! (Or, at least, everyone mumbling through the verses and joining in on the choruses)
 
 
rizla mission
08:50 / 21.08.02
(or Fall karaoke .. my god!)

Jack Fear:
SO start your own band, you bunch of whingeing fucks.

Didn't I tell you he's Mike Watt?
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
10:32 / 21.08.02
Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun.
 
 
Jack Fear
13:56 / 21.08.02
Getting a life is easy with the Mike Watt Method™.



Our clear and easy flowcharts show you how.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
14:19 / 21.08.02
Jack, get off it - this is a thread about KARAOKE, which has nothing to do with starting your own band, and everything to do with being lazy and going to some place where you can sing other people's songs lacking commitment entirely. You know, a fun one-off thing. Not at all like starting yr own band, especially since karaoke is primarily for mediocre singers and people who can't play instruments. Get it?
 
 
Jack Fear
14:57 / 21.08.02
Ever played in a band, Flux?

More specifically: ever played in a wedding band?

Because there's usually some jackass at the recption who's had one too many pops and wants to sing one with the band, and you can't turn him down and you can't embarrass him because he's a friend of the family and they're the ones who are going to write you a check at the end of the night.

It doesn't happen at every gig, but when it does it's excruciating--but you grit your teeth and try to be a pro about it, and if you can make the guy sound halfway decent, that's something to be proud of.

The band at Arlene Grocery have chosen to make a career out of that excruciating moment. This band has put in the time learning almost two hundred songs, and must play them with competent professionalism, following your changes in tempo, making you look good—all so you can be "lazy" and "mediocre" but still come out a hero to your friends—when it would be so easy (and tempting) for them to make you look like a pathetic stumbling jerkoff.

Know this: the band hates you. Hates you with every fiber of their being. And they're right to do so.

And all you can think to do is piss and moan about their set-list.

These guys may be masochists, but they're still too fucking good for you.
 
 
Matthew Fluxington
15:12 / 21.08.02
Which is exactly why I'm not harassing them about it, and instead starting a thread about what folks here would want to perform under ideal circumstances. For fun.

Maybe it should be noted that I've never sung karaoke in my life, nor have I witnessed it in person.
 
 
Saveloy
15:36 / 21.08.02
Yeah, Jack, piss and moan about your own problems. We've put a lot of thought and effort into these whinings and all you can do is piss and moan about it. You must have pissed and moaned at almost 200 whinges in the last couple of months. Go start an editorial column or something.
 
 
Jack Fear
15:58 / 21.08.02
 
 
Cop Killer
18:39 / 26.08.02
Y'know, I really don't think that Fugazi or Wire or the Fall would be good for Karaoke. Because, whatever the genre, karaoke is for the lowest common denominator, for the "hits" not for the pretentious people that want to sing hip songs by hip bands. And also, what the hell is wrong with the pairing of hair metal and punk rock, they're almost the same thing when you get right down to it.
 
  
Add Your Reply