demoore's (demi moore?) recent post got me thinking about KTV songs and what are the best. She was talking about learning Chinese songs, and I'll give that site a try, but for now most of mine would have to be in English (when I say most, I mean all). So here's my top 5 in no particular order. I'd love to compare:
Wake Me Up (Before you go go) WHAM!
Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
Billy Jean (Michael Jackson)
Ruby Tuesday (Rolling Stones)
Kung Fu Fighting (Carl Douglass)
Honorable mentions for songs that would be great but they never have: Rapper's Delight (Sugarhill Gang), Just a Friend (Biz Markie), Big Pimpin' (Jay-Z)
It should also be noted that Dire Straits' Sultans of Swing is a fantastic KTV song if you stop it before the final 2 minutes of instrumental.
Comments
The KTV 5
What's more Chinese than KTV?
Beast of Burden
Beautiful Day
Born to Run
Hotel California (come on, it's China!)
Walk on the Wild Side
I have to work on my Chinese songs too!
The FAB Five
Am I the only one who hated Karaoke in China doing it right? Not the first activity I've felt that way about ;-)
Material Girl
Livin' on a Prayer
Free Fallin'
Ring of Fire
Thriller (how could anyone choose Billy Jean over Thriller!?)
Beat it
I have to over-rule two of you, but Beat It is better than Thriller or Billie Jean. But nonetheless it does not make the cut.
Satisfaction
The Land Down Under (Men at Work)
On the Road Again
Superfreak
Little Red Corvette
Reliving the 80s
Karaoke should bring you back to a good time in your life. It's an excuse to go out with friends, get drunk, and sing some of the most awesomest songs ever!!!
In that spirit I give you the definitive 5. Just reading this list will make you want to grow a mullet, buy tight jeans and slap a bandanna on your head
All Out of Love
Welcome to the Jungle
Eye of the Tiger
Jessie's Girl
Heart of Glass.
Just writing those down makes me want to go out to KTV now, get 10 friends and buy a few cases of beer. What better than karaoke???
the only karaoke song is
the only karaoke song is 张学友‘s 忘记你我做不到
有爱就有恨，etc.
Straight Brit
Brown Sugar
Roxeanne
Yellow
If you wanna be my lover
Last Christmas
RICKY
Livin' La Vida Loca!!!!!!!
I used to sing opera as an
I used to sing opera as an amateur tenor so can warble a bit. Beer helps:
Yesterday
Casablanca
What A Wonderful World
O Sole Mio
Hotel California
and for some reason this always goes down well with the locals
Yesterday Once More
Once I entertained a crowd outside one of the bars in Lijiang. You know they have those bars facing each other across the stream in the centre of the old city ? I sang from one bar, and a bunch of Japanese tourists replied from the other. Shortly a crowd grew, maybe about 200 people, all joining in "Ya ! Ya ! Yassoo Ya !" was the chant - god knows what that means. Anyway we were at it for an hour, one song each side - and the next day the local paper had a photo of me in full voice and the headline "Famous Singer in Lijiang!". Ahem. There is a good reason why I was an amateur singer and never turned professional...
Good fun though, although I think my cover of David Bowies "Life On Mars" left many of them rather perplexed...
Top 5 most underrated KTV songs
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
Baby Got Back - Sir Mix-A-Lot
Breakfast in America - Supertramp
The Wild Side - Lou Reed
and finally, while not an obscure or underrated song, because I can't believe it hasn't been said yet...
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
?
Is "The Wild Side" the same as "Walk on the Wild Side"?
If so it is not too under-rated since it's the only one that's been mentioned twice.
;-)
Elvis's Suspicious Minds
Red Hot Chili Peppers' Under the Bridge
Offspring's Keep 'em Separated
The Clash's Rock the Casbah
Tom Petty's It's Good to be King
New York, New York tends to get a good response from Chinese people too.
That, my friends, is a night of good KTV
5 for the ages
no woman no cry
i will always love you (dolly parton version)
common people (pulp)
livin' on a prayer
and of course, the them from titanic ("near...far...whereeeeever you are...")
Hey it's china right?
Anything Britney
The fact that Britney Spears has completely lost her mind makes signing her at karaoke infinitely more fun. It's just a matter of time before she hits the vegas strip or starts touring exclusively is Japan a la michael jackson 6 years ago
Ammendment
Can I add Eye of the Tiger to my list? How good is that?
KTV Chains
What are the best KTV chains in china with big foreign music selections?
CASH BOX
It's pretty consistent all around the country. Lots of
WHAM!!!!!!!
Billie Jean
Now two people have argued that Billie Jean is not the best song on Thriller, so I feel a need to defend myself.
First, obviously Thriller has probably the best video ever, and of course it's a great song. Plus, it's a title track on one of the best albums ever which gives it a lot of cred.
Second, Beat It is fantastic two, but it's clearly the Stephen Baldwin of the bunch: yeah it's good and it's got great moments, but he couldn't play the Hunt for Red October role (just follow me).
So it's Thriller and Billie Jean. I'll give you this is a close call, but here's the case for the latter. The beat comes on before the rest of the music, and you're immediately pumped. Again, the Thriller opening with the creaking door is cool, but going right to the beat and having it be so recognizable is awesome. Then, the fact that the whole song is about a woman accusing Michael Jackson of being the father of her son is so implausible now, and then combined with the implications that he was sleeping with LOTS of women, it's just too much. So obvious bonus points so that (side note: michael always claimed it was about a woman who accused his brother, so in fairness, even then he wasn't pretending to like grown women too much).
So, great beat, great song, and lyrics that are particularly funny given Michael's rep (I mean if you think dark, dry humor about pedophiles is funny). Bonus points because the video is probably the SECOND best video ever.
Mcartney's new album
Anyone heard the ex-Beatle's new album. Sounds like a soon-to-be KTV favorite!
Depressing
The music is okay on Sir Paul's new album, but there's a song all about how he's about to die. And someone pointed out that his old "will you still need me, when I'm 64" is now dated as he recently turned 65. Yikes. And he's the only non-ugly beatle left!
Paul McCartney
Incidentally, there is a New Yorker article from June 4 all about McCartney.
Since you mention his age I should point out the article is entitled "When I'm Sixty-Four"
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/06/04/070604fa_fact_colapinto
Josh
Dead or Alive? - Ringo Starr
Besides being the surviving member of The Beatles, McCartney is a music impresario ...
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/06/04/070604fa_fact_colapinto
Ringo
I think they mean musically dead
Pssssst ...........
Ringo & his 9th All-Starr band
are on tour this summer ......
14-June Toronto, Canada Casino Rama
15-June Toronto, Canada Casino Rama
16-June Clarkson, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
17-June Chicago, IL Rosemont Theatre
21-June Santa Rosa, CA Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
23-June Sacramento, CA Cache Creek Casino
24-June Universal City, CA Gibson Ampitheater
25-June Palm Springs, CA Fantasy Springs Auditorium
27-June Livermore, CA Wente Vineyards
28-June Pala, CA Pala Casino
29-June San Diego, CA Humphreys Concerts by the Bay
1-July Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Resort
2-July Albuquerque, NM Sandia Casino
3-July Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre
7-July Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckard Hall
8-July Boca Raton, FL Mizner Amphitheatre
9-July Melbourne, FL King Center
http://www.ringostarr.com/tour.php
Ringo
Ringo wasn't a real member of the group. They just kept him around to make a point about how handsome and talented the rest of them were!
Ringo was the coolest Beatle
1) He narrated "Thomas The Tank Engine"
2) He looked like he didn't give a fuck
3) He was the business in the memorial "Concert For George" (see the DVD)
4) He recorded "Photograph", & "Back Off Boogaloo", both ace
5) He's only one with a decent backing band these days
6) He's the only one not dead or divorced from a one legged trollope after all his cash.
7) He still records for EMI. Paul records for Starbucks. Go figure.
News and photo comparisons between the two can be made at:
www.photos.mccartney.net/ringo.html
1: come on eileen 2: karma
1: come on eileen
2: karma chamelion
3: your my best friend
4:girls just wanna have fun
5: dont go breaking my heart
good
good
good
good
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