Ok….so after looking through a few greatest karaoke song lists on line I figured I would try one out myself.  There is no method here and they are in no particular order.  I’m just going from memory of all the karaoke gigs I’ve done and trying to think of the most popular, most crowd pleasin’ tracks I can think of.   Please let me know what I’ve missed or forgotten about!  I’m sure I’ll have to make a Best Of Part 2 list soon so I’ll just throw this one out there and see what people think!   – DJ Rob

 

Best Female Karaoke Songs

 

Hit Me With Your Best Shot-  Pat Benetar

Before He Cheats – Carrie Underwood

Respect – Aretha Franklin

Me and Bobby McGee – Janis Joplin

Killing me softly  Fugees

Rolling In The Deep – Adele

You Oughta Know – Alanis Morrisette

I Will survive – Gloria Gaynor

It’s Raining Men – The Weather Girls

Shoop – Salt n Peppa

Spice Girls – Wannabe

Like A Prayer – Madonna

I Love Rock and Roll – Joan Jett

Baby One More Time – Britney Spears

Total Eclipse Of The Heart – Bonnie Tyler

Best Male Karaoke Songs

Jack and Diane – John Cougar Mellencamp

Mr Brightside  The Killers

Livin On a Prayer – Bon Jovi

Just a Gigalo – David Lee Roth

Don’t Stop Believin  Journey

Sweet Caroline  Neil Diamond

Friends In Low Places – Garth Brooks

Wonderwall – Oasis

Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns and Roses

Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

I Love This Bar – Toby Keith

Copacabana – Barry Manilow

Jessie’s Girl – Rick Springfield

Zoot Suit Riot – Squirrel Nut Zippers

Basket Case – Green Day

Santeria – Sublime

Piano Man – Billy Joel

 

Best Duet Karaoke Songs

Paradise By The Dashboard Light – Meatloaf

Summer Nights – Grease

You’re The One That I Want – Grease

Picture – Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – Elton John & Kiki Dee

Love Shack – B-52’s

Bring Me To Life – Evanesance

Don’t You Want Me Baby – Human League

 

This weekend I DJ’d two events that had a lot of old school New Brunswick folks asking for their old Melody Bar favorites.  So I thought for today I would list some of my favorite alternative 80’s dance dance tracks.  Let me know what songs you would add to the list!

 

1. Add It Up – Violent Femmes: People like to sing along to this one and get crazy.  It was fun to watch the dance floor fill up to the a cappella start to this song as people realized what I was playing.

 

1. Blue Monday – New Order:  You could put True Faith or Bizarre Love Triangle instead of Blue Monday but this is the track that makes me feel like I’m at the Melody the most.

 

1. Just Can’t Get Enough – Depeche Mode: Not Depeche Mode’s greatest song but one of their happiest tracks by far and the easiest to dance to. Always works when you are doing an 80’s dance set.

 

1. Tainted Love – Soft Cell:  My brother in law said this is the track he would put on when he was a bartender back in the 80’s when the atmosphere left something to be desired.  I still like to sing it karaoke.  I lost a bet to my buddy Vinnie one time not realizing that Tainted Love was a cover by Soft Cell.  I thought it was only the Where Did Our Love Go 12 inch remix part that was a cover but both songs are actually remakes.

 

1. Relax – Frankie Goes To Hollywood:  Remember the shirts that came after this song?  Great track.  I heard the singer refused to perform on the VH1 show bands Reunited.

 

1. Come On Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners:  This is a song that I didn’t get when it came out.  I hated it.  I turned to another channel every time it came on MTV.  What was I thinking?  Unbelievable vocal and an original sound.  Became my go to karaoke song later in life when I wanted to get the crowd pumped.

 

1. Close To Me – The Cure:  I also really like Love Cats and Why Can’t I Be You from the Cure.

 

1. Situation – Yaz: Great track.  I always thought that Erasure had a girl singer and Yaz had a guy singing.  Who knew?  Same guy on the synth writing the tracks however.

 

1. This Charming Man – Smiths: I don’t know.  Maybe you can’t dance to the Smiths after all but I couldn’t leave them off the list.  If I remember correctly How Soon Is Now? Was played at the Melody all the time….how the heck to you dance to that?  I love this band too much to leave them off the list.

 

1. 52 Girls – The B-52’s: Ok I admit I probably play Love Shack at every wedding and party for people when they ask for 80’s dance music and almost never get to play this track but It’s my favorite and it’s my list darn it!

 

 

Now if you’re reading this list as a fan of the Melody and are my age I didn’t start really hanging out at the Melody until the 90’s and there were a lot of great 90’s alternative songs that you’d think of when reminiscing about the Melody.  (Charlatans UK – The Only One I Know, Blur – There’s No Other Way, Step On – Happy Mondays…..the stuff that Matt Pinfield and the other DJs used to spin in the early 90’s).  What other alternative 80’s or 90’s dance tracks did you love?  Let me know and maybe I’ll add it to my next 80’s party playlist!

 

Today’s gig was a classic car show at Van Dyk Park Place in Franklin Lakes, NJ.   While the cars went all the way back to a 1910 Ford Model T the music request for the day was 50’s and 60’s oldies.  So I thought for today I would make a list of my favorite summertime oldies music!

 

1. I Get Around – Beach Boys – You could really just put on a beach boys greatest hits and have a great summertime oldies party.  I once saw some documentary footage of the Beach Boys in the studio laying down some of their 4 party harmonies live.  Wow.  We all know Brian Wilson is a genius but if you think of the human voice as a musical instrument you need to realize that these guys possessed some of the finest sounding pipes ever!
2. No Particular Place To Go – Chuck Berry  – Chuck’s career never got back to where it was after his arrest for transporting girls across state lines for immoral purposes but this one was a hit for him in the later 60’s.  A car, a girl and a tricky safety belt….classic!
3. Runaround Sue – Dion – This song is magic!  It’s one of those songs that can still get a crowd on a dance floor after all this time.  Put it on at a karaoke night and watch everyone clap along….great track.
4. Oh, Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison – Most of the time we think of Roy Orbison singin’ for the lonely….but this is his party track.  Great guitar riff along with those little tiger growls that Roy does at the end.  Oh yeah!
5. Do Wah Diddy – Manfred Mann – Brilliant nonsense phrase, check.  Call and response part, check.  Let’s not forget the scene in Stripes where Bill Murray and his gang of  boot camp misfits singing this as they practice their marching.  I loved that movie when I was a kid.  Yes, this oldie has it all.
6. Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran – Ever notice that in todays R&B dance hits there is always a super low voice encouraging us to “Let The Beat Drop”?  Back in the 50’s they used this technique of the super low voice.  Then it usually represented the parental/boss authority figure.  Always nice to have a different voice offering another perspective in a hit song.
7. Little Bit O’ Soul – the Music Explosion – In high school I got invited to play second guitar in a band that had two guys who could actually sing and this was one of the songs we covered.  Great memories and a great song!
8. Leader of the Pack – the Shangri-La’s – I once read a great article about the Brill Building in NYC where a lot of the great pop music from this period was created (including this song of course).  The guy who wrote it basically came up with the idea off the top of his head because he had a deadline to write a hit song.   “Look out!  Look out!  Look out!”  Could a song be more dramatic?
9. Dancing In The Street – Martha Reeves & the Vandellas – When I was young and would dream of touring the USA in a rock and roll band one part of this fantasy was that I would write a song that gave shout outs to all the great cities across the country and then when I played that particular city and said the name of the city in my song the crowd would go especially wild.  If I ever meet Martha or one of the Vandellas I’ll have to ask them how cool it was to play this song in Philadelphia PA, or Baltimore and DC now.
10. Rebel Rouser – Duane Eddy – Hard to pick a favorite instrumental guitar tune to put on this list.  I mean if I was crusing in one of the black Ford Thunderbird’s in the parking lot back in the fifties I guess I would want to put on Link Wray’s rumble and scare the crap out of everyone.  But for this list of summertime oldies parties I’ll put Rebel Rouser.  Duane’s got that perfect tremolo guitar sound and the sax solo is great and the melodic echoes of “When The Saints Come Marching In” is pretty awesome.

 

 

Ok….so doing a list of Oldies tunes is pretty impossible because there are too many to choose from!  Here are some other titles I love.  Sweet Soul Music – Arthur Conley, Do You Love Me – The Contours (NOBODY PUTS BABY IN A CORNER!),  Boy From New York City – Ad Libs, Come On Let’s Go – Ritchie Valens, Devil With The Blue Dress On – Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Land of 1,000 Dances – Wilson Pickett.  I could go on and on.  What are some of your favorites?