Karaoke Forums

Last night I had one of our newer singers (who is fast becoming a regular) tell me that in his age he has had to remove himself from a few of his favorite Karaoke night hot spots. He is 77 years old, looks fantastic by the way, and has a hard time with finding singers in his age group etc. At this particular venue it is a very mixed crowd with ages from 21-77. Pretty much all of the regulars are very outgoing and friendly, always greet newcomers, invite them to a table etc. Even last week this guy was "flirting" with some 30ish ladies and when he sang one got up and danced with him while he sang. Pretty fun night.
Back on point here His reason for leaving the other places was the vulgarity. Some of music that was being sung or screamed was raunchy tracks that had "body" parts in the lyrics. He spoke with the hosts of these shows and was given pretty much the same answer all around. No Censorship at my shows.
He likes to bring his lady friends on occasion and would be embarrassed to subject them to this type of public display.
Thoughts?
Do any of you censor your shows?
Who omits these types of songs from their books altogether?

It's been covered quite a bit but i am sure everyone will be thrilled to jump in yet again. I think every KJ should run their show to attract the type of clients they wish to attract. If you want a no holds barred type of show, let it all happen. If you want to attract singers that might be offended then ban any song with a bad word in it. I chose something in the middle. A song that might have a word or two was completely acceptable. Songs that the entire lyrics were fowl I did not stand for. I didn't get or allow a lot of rap, mainly because:

Almost everyone butchered them so badly that 90% sucked.
I didn't want to sit and listen to them where I could censor them.
I didn't want to sit and listen to it period.

You gotta do what's best for who you want to draw and no two shows are run the same and there really isn't a right or wrong answer on it.

I think that is the bar owner/manager's call.

My bar owner has told me straight up that he doesn't want me cencoring any of my karaoke or filler songs, so I follow his order. My bar is kinda a neighborhood dive bar, so it fits the bill.

We have had a few people complain about vulgarity before, especially the Tenacious D "F Her Gently" song, which seems to be sung once a night.

In the end, my personal view is that vulgarity is all about intent. I have no problem with people having fun with songs that happen to feature lighthearted vulgarity. Any vulgarity that targets a specific person or group or is intended to make any sort of religious or political statement is very much grounds for getting kicked out of our bar, but just using a word that a small % of people don't like, especially when it's part of the song and typically lighthearted fun, is often the offended party's problem. The same words are uttered about 3,000 times at the pool table, dart boards, and frankly all over the bar in most bars all over the country, and some words that were "curse words" 5-10 years ago are on primetime TV and public radio these days. I'm not going to make a value judgement there, but I will say that people can do what they want to do in public, as long as they aren't doing it malisciously, in my opinion.

BTW, the last group that complained about song lyrics in my bar were 50-60 somethings that were dressed like they were looking for the country club bar. I would bet they curse up a storm on the golf course themselves, so I wasn't particularly concerned when they told me they were offended by the lyrics of a lighthearted karaoke song. If it had been "Money" by Pink Floyd or "Who Are You" by the Who, both of which curse, or any classic rock song about weed/LCD, or any of the hundreds of euphemisms by the Doors and Beatles, I guarantee they would have been singing right along.

There's no accounting for taste!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

TopherM has a point where the venue is censored. They certainly have a heavy say in what is allowed and what wasn't. My bar didn't care much either but I did apply my own censoring and I think the bar owner would have agreed had he heard some of the songs that were requested. It just didn't have to come up.

I also agree that it's a bar and the same words are getting said all over the joint in most cases. But I can understand not wanting all of that coming through loud and clear on a mic.

"When in doubt, leave it out!" I'm probably going to get a ration of $#!* for this, but I don't care!

I'm by no means a prude. However, many of today's "Urban" songs are laden with explicit and demeaning lyrics. Many may view this as art. I view it as trash. In my area that kind of music attracts a very bad element. So much so that it is the kiss of death to many area nightclubs. Therefore I choose not to allow it sung at ANY of my shows. Modern Rock doesn't get a pass either. No not as prevalent in the above mentioned genre, but there are some songs with explicit lyrics too. Many times it's the "F" word. I'm just as adamant on not allowing these songs as well.

I do admit that my personal bias comes into play on my decision, but I don't care. I want to attract as many customers to my show as possible, and to keep them coming back. I may not be the youngest nor hippest KJ in my neck of the woods, but I must be doing something right. I've had no complaints about censoring my library, and I get new and repeat customers all the time.

Our club has a no cussing rule on stage, so almost everything Rap is out. I don't even list anything with cussing in my books anymore. I still have them all and if I know the singer, will allow them to sing provided they censor themselves.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Censor? Yes I do. But same as Lon, I do have them in my laptop, not listed in the books but reserved for when I work in bars again.

Bar environment cannot be compared to family restaurant. I kj @ the latter. I just can’t see a singer doing Prince’s pu*** control or Lil’ Wayne’s song Lollipop while little Brandon asking ‘dad, what does li** lipop mean?'

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

My censoring of karaoke is very venue specific. When I do country clubs or older clientele gigs I do not allow ANY offensive lyrics and usually don't have to worry about it. When the average age is 65 or 70, censoring doesn't really come into play.

On the other hand when I'm hosting at a few of the sports bars around town I've had to suggest another song if somebody comes up and asks to sing "show them to me" or "f$%6 her gently". I've never really had a problem with singers complaining about it and those type songs are rarely requested at those venues.

I also do a couple "dive" bars like Topher and it's pretty much whatever you wanna sing. If I have it, you can sing it. Common sense rules with things like this.

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Sound Choice and Chartbuster Certified

I ask the venue/owner during negotiations if they have an issue with language. I would rather not censor anyone ever but I know some venues feel differently. I leave it all in my book at all times and have even gone back and correctly spelled the "bad words", removing the asterisks and other goofy stuff from titles and artists.

-Chris

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-Chris

It is dependent on what the venue wants. Most shows are censored at venue request however we do have a couple that want the vulgarity due to the specific demographics. Personally I don't like it.

If I removed "Crazy B1tch" there would be a riot. It's sung every night!

This particular venue leaves it up to my discretion. Usually it is not an issue here, but on occasion it does come about. Normally I will make an announcement and wait til later in the evening etc.

I have never even had a request to get this one.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

It's not a song I would put in my book Lonman. I have built up a business on a reputation for no vulgarity, family entertainment. Have a blessed day.

Not a song I COULD put in my book due to the club restriction. I was getting at as popular as the song was, I never had a single 'written' request from singers to get it - I have a clipboard singers write their requests down and I put them all into a database.

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

You might not have received a request for that song because the regulars at your show already know the policies regarding that type of song.

your just a good trainer Lon after 7 years they know you wouldn't let that song happen.
it gets done at least weekly at my place. the only time i censor anything is earlier if someone has their kid with them. we have a good kitchen so people will come out with their family for a bit and with kids, i draw the line there. they can do the song after the kids leave. that's my own policy on it.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

My mother always had one request of me and it was to not "make shame on her". I have heard crazy (@$%&#!) on ocassion but I have never had the desire to sing it in public. Maybe it's out of respect for my mother and maybe it's because I respect myself and maybe it's out of respect for the other people in the bar that would prefer NOT to hear it.

I have sung it at home once and I guess I just don't get it. I don't seem to get any kind of extra thrill out of singing a song with "blue" language in it. Most of the people that I have heard singing it couldn't carry a tune in a bucket so maybe they just want to shock their audience because they wouldn't even be noticed otherwise and they couldn't get any attention from them any other way. I always feel sorry for them for their desperate need for attention of any kind.

I'm no prude by any stretch but when I go to karaoke, I'm expecting Bill Cosby type entertainment and not Andrew "DICE" Clay entertainment.

and running with that..........
"Bill Cosby Himself" will make me laugh harder than any Andrew Dice Clay Video.
the only two swear words Bill Says In The Entire Show Is "Damnit" (2 or 3 times) and "(@$%&#!) Hole" (Once)
if you haven't seen it...........go watch it, you will cry with laughter.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Jack and Jill went up the hill
Both with a buck and a quarter
Jill came down with $2.50.

OH!

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C Mc
KJ, FL