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Every Friday night I have one guy take us out. As in the last karaoke song of the night. I do this for four reasons...number 1 is because I pick his songs and I try my hardest to have the last karaoke song to be upbeat and known by a lot of people...number 2 is because it signifies the end of karaoke to the customers...number 3 is because he is a good singer and let's face it...it's always nice to remember hearing a good singer (you usually remember either the really bad ones or the really good ones and I would rather have my customers remembering that one really good singer at the end of the night.) and number 4 is because he is the owner's husband and I have trained him that way (took 6 years to do).

This last singer usually does country and that is what is mostly sung at this bar and he starts the new country songs being sung. He helps me keep people out of a rut.

So, anyone else do anything like this?

I don't have any one person that closes the show, wouldn't be fair IMO if one person is always guaranteed at least a closing spot.  
Whoever is the last singer of the rotation closes the show, if I do happen to be able to start a next round, then the people that have turned in their slip have already been warned that they may not get the last song they turned in.

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We don't have one person sing us out at any of our shows, it's always the last person in the rotation at our stop time.  

Enjoy!
Susie

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Exactly and like Lonnie if we can complete the rotation, we do, if not, the last singer is the last singer regardless of who they are good, bad, or indifferent.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

I play Good-nite Sweetheart as the last song for 13 years.   I'll usually sing it unless someone calls it.  If they sing it I can put something else away so I get out as fast as possible.    Some nights everybody wants to sing it and other nights nobody cares.    If you do this right you can walk up to someone that doesn't sing and hand them a mike and let them sing it with you or someone else.   It might start them singing regularly.   You crowd gets bigger.

I had a bar owner that liked to sing.   He would come up late, after I had the end of the rotation figured out, time wise and want to do another song.   He was one of the "Who's paying you guys".    I would tell him yeah.   His kids were usually in the rotation.   Whos song do you think I tossed out first?   You guessed it.    His kids.
He never knew.    

Another bar had the sister of the owner always hanging out.  She actually did sing well.   Pretty soon her kids and her sisters kids are coming up telling me Dana wants this and Aunt Dana wants to hear this.    This is happening to the point of running 1/2 over.    With no extra pay week after week.   I finally wrote a letter to all of the jobs telling them if everybody and their brother wanted to sing over, I was going to get paid over, at the rate of $25 per half an hour.   That stopped it.    They never want shell out extra dough.   I have been giving each bar 15 minutes every night.   Over 13 years that's a lot of uncompensated time.

I have a singer that usually sings the last song. It depends on the night though.
I take him out of rotation and put him last, so no one is losing a turn. I have him sing a slow song to bring down the mood. I want to leave not stay. If he sang an upbeat song they would beg for more. I like the idea of singing "Goodnight sweetheart".
I think I'll have him try that one instead. It is nice playing a song people can get formiliar with being the last song of the night. I have a tough time shutting down because people don't want me to leave. If you condition them to that is the last song and your not budging after it is sung, they will eventially catch on your not staying.
I let him do the last song because he is there 3 nights a week like clock work. He always helps me with the heavy equipment and keeps me safe from the drunks. He's earned it!

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Not really an "out singer" but similar.

At the beginning of the night the house system of course is on.  Either the juke box or radio.  When I get ready to start, I play the instrumental song, "Green Oinions" by Booker T & The MG's.  This let's the bartender know to fade down the music and keeps me from hollaring on the mic to turn the music off.  Also people know it's time to start karaoke.  I let the music play for a couple of minutes, this let's me set the volume and then we start karoke.  At the end of the night as the last song is sang I thank everyone for coming out and immediately I play another old instrumental calkled the "Horse."  It is a fast upbeat pep band tune that I remmeber from high school.  This ends the night and gives the bartender time to have the house music going when the song is through.

Kelly

I let everyone kinda fight over the last song. I really don't take tips but generally whoever buys me a drink and asks, get's last song.

I generally play Motley Crue Every night as my last song, but sometimes we run late and I have no time. Last night we went to 2:15.

At the place I goto usually, there a lots of regulars (including a friend and I) and lots of new people...however...our KJ (who is the coolest KJ ever) usually has a regular do the last song...and I think it's based on who has the best choice. Granted...us regulars are always on the top of the list so sometimes we are in the middle and he can't do a regular closer...but he usually works it so that doesn't happen.

We don't have an OUT singer, but we have 2 OUT SONGS, usualy sung my me and/or the wife.  We run the rotation to the end of the night, usually 1am, and then do our out song...

One is "Closing TIme" by Sesmosonic (sp?)

The other is the Cheers Theme.  I re mixed the original karaoke track we had that only had the one verse, and now it has all 3 verses in it.  When we first unveiled that about 2 years ago, people we nutzs for it.

A few times the out song was the "rodeo Song" but not very often.

Wow...how many others are out there that plays Green Onions to start their show? So cool, I do too. Anyhow, about my "out" singer...no one gets bumped and he is usually up close to the beginning of rotation since he and his wife are there early and I pull his slip out at the beginning and put him at the end. Don't get me wrong...no one gets bumped for him. That is an understanding with the bar owner. Once we start a roation...we finish the rotation and I don't care if it is 5 of 2.

Nothing wrong with Classic music  :)  Booker Jones, Steve Cropper were brilliant....hard to believe he wrote that stuff 45 years ago....Booker T and the MG's were Hammond Organ at it's best... "Time is Tight" was one of the first songs I learned when I bought a Hammond B-3, Also great roller-skating stuff... . I failed miserably trying to play that stuff because the pedals aren't easy to coordinate for those of us that aren't used to leg and footwork while playing keyboards...  Yet I loved listening to Booker T... Quite an inspiration pre-British invasion rock.... He also was quite a bluesman, played Sax at 16 with big names, and was a child prodigy classically trained musician (according to some), and wrote stuff like "Born under a bad sign"...  I liked his arrangements, just nice to listen to... Time is Tight builds to an amazing crescendo.....

Anyway, sorry about the rant..... that's great stuff    Dang I miss the "MG's" Hammond B-3 use in music. Yet Hammond this year reissued the large B-3 console as a 30th year tribute.... They discontinued the actually 400 lb B-3 and M-3 units in 1975.... Now it's back but digital...I'd love to hear on newer version... Supposedly identical sounding, with the older nice furniture cab....

anyway....yack yack yack...hehehe...

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Steven,

You're right. The B-3 was great.  Just made me think,...I have an old Fender Rhodes electric piano packed away somewhere.  You know the one that weighed a ton.  LOL

Side note:  If my information is correct, one of the first songs to utilize the "Moog" was Del Shannon's "Runaway."

Kelly

I can't remember a time that I ever stopped playing at 1:00AM ( The time I get paid to).   Usually I run over time and usually I announce the "last karaoke song" and have one of the regulars sing us out - usually MY WAY or GOD BLESS THE USA and this is normally sung by the same guy.  Most nights this is around 1:20AM then depending on my mood I'll sing the VERY LAST song ..I like to sing Jackson Brownes LOAD OUT/STAY  mix.

Kelly,  Despite close calls,  I managed to hang onto my B-3 and leslie's, glad I still have it.  Mine's a '75 the last year of their first run of production.  I had a Rhodes 73 suitcase,  there was also an 88, and a Rhodes Satellite, with two cabs..... Yep, Fender Rhodes is heavy, I'm thinking between the cab, and piano top of the suitcase model. it was about 160 lbs ?  I don't really recall...  Yet so is my Yamaha electra-grand, and CP-25.... remember them ?  The CP-25 is 120 lbs... Yet I like SOLID older equipment  :)    I also love the wurlitzer EP-200..... Nice sound... Yet little beat the sound of a Fender Rhodes thru just an MXR phase 90...REAL nice sound !!!  I'd grab a Rhodes today, (as I would a wurly)....yet they aren't easy to come by these days, at least in really nice shape....  

Did you know Mellotron is back Kelly ? Models I think start at about 4K on...... Maybe the Novatron too, not sure... I loved these, yet they were HEAVY, and broke easily !!

http://www.mellotron.com/

In Canada being reissued..  The Pinder model I think is back too...Now those were NICE sounding  :)..


Now I have to hit Ebay, and see if anyones selling Arp, Moog, Mellotron, or vintage keyboard stuff on Ebay..... Wasn't uncommon years ago to see Wurlitzer EP-200's in average shape closing for around 800+ bucks.....Fender Rhodes for some reason don't sell for the price Wulitzer gets in the vintage market these days...



(I like that Mellotron kept the same type cabinets and old fashioned console layout...those were gorgeous "tape loop" sample sounds that a person could achieve from these consoles (which looked VERY plain, almost like a cheap Silvertone family chord organ from the late 60's,.) Yet samples didn't get more authentic than this ! because you were playing the actually instrument, yet playing it analog so dynamics changed, it wasn't exact like digital...There was some randomness to analog which is actually more authentic, because with musical instruments attack and decay are NEVER identicle from one note to the next....

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

I usually try to make sure I have an upbeat song in towards the end of the night and I do often end up being the last singer.  Usually finish on either Karma Chameleon or Daydream Believer.

Not about the last song but it's close.    At the biker wannabe bar I used to play in, the 77 year old mother-in-law wants to sing as her last song Margaritaville  she says it will really get the crowd going.   I half jokingly told her I was trying to settle them down.    Right in the middle of the song a 6 person fight broke out that included the owner getting punched.    I told her she was never singing that song again.     I shut it down right then.   That was my excuse to stop early.   You can never tell who the trouble instigater will be.

Thank you guys for the ideas. My out singer now sings "goodnight sweetheart".
See what you started  LMAO

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we have been using "goodnight sweetheart" for almost 4 years. Everyone seems to relate to the song as well as the message.

Even the "one more song types" get this message and rarely will attempt to convince or bribe me to go a couple more songs.

In fact I have several customers that look forward to joining in with me to close the evening.

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

I think that is the best part of having a closing song. Conditioning
the audience so they don't torchure you with the don't close up attitude.

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