Thursday 8th March

You know when you have one of those nights when all the songs you sing just seem to work on the night and it gives you a warm happy feeling inside, this was one of those nights. It was another quiet night for a Thursday and this, as I have mentioned before, always gives you the chance to try out new stuff. This week I did five song's that I haven't sang this year, and although the first track I sang as a duet with Andy was an old favourite, the other four song's were all first timers for me on karaoke. This is the second week in a row that I have sang four new song's so my vast repertoire is now getting bigger! (So is my ego apparently!!!!) But not to worry this all has a purpose! Shaun is compiling a league table for songs sang, artists sang and songs sang by individuals in the hotel (check out Shaun's blog for the first few months stats). He has also started up a great set of stats of all the songs that are being sung at the hotel at the moment so for some interesting reading check them out on http://www.editcdg.com/tofm/karaokestats.htm
On to tonight's songs then. The list is as follows 1. I Feel Fine by The Beatles (DKA3098) 2. Beautiful Day by U2 (SFG009-06) 3. Live And Let Die by Paul McCartney & Wings (SC8468-05) 4. Tumbling Dice by The Rolling Stones (LEG120-14) and 5. Layla by Eric Clapton (PSJT007-17)

I Feel Fine by The Beatles

First song of the night and this is an old classic that always seems to ease peoples fears into getting up on karaoke. The Beatles are one of the few band's that 99% of their stuff is known by everyone, so that gets them singing along and after they have a few beers they feel ok themselves to get up on karaoke and have a go too. I can't remember the number of times Andy and myself have started with this number but it's loads. We seem to be able to harmonise really well on this one and its always nice to kick in with a song everyone knows. Love to sing The Beatles as they are easy songs to sing.

Beautiful Day by U2

I think I surprised everyone tonight by letting them know that this is the first time that I have sang this one. To be honest I didn't think I would of been able to cope with it as some U2 songs do have very high note in them as Bono does have a touch of falsetto every now and then! This one thankfully is falsetto free so I coped. I think my favorite bit in the song is the break towards the end where is almost talking,but not quite talking. It sort of makes you try too hard and I found myself trying to hold back from shouting! Its another great track from a band with some great stuff to sing.

Live And Let Die by Paul McCartney & Wings

Bond theme's. We all know them. We all have our favourites. We all never admit too liking them! Me I'm a fanatic I love them all, even the daft ones like The Man With The Golden Gun by Lulu. But this one without a doubt is the best Bond theme by a country mile. This was the first Bond film I can remember really getting me into the series, so to me its a personal one too. Its just got great pounding riffs and breaks and is really easy to sing. The film is also filmed in Jamaica, my spiritual home and where I went on my honeymoon last year. We also drove down the road where the bus chase from the film was filmed and also saw the famous crocodile farm, where the "running over the crocodiles" stunt was filmed. Jamaica has a great tradition with James Bond and I can't believe it's taken me as long as it has to do this one. And to make it even better it went down really well with plenty of air guitar from the people in the pub.

Tumbling Dice by The Rolling Stones

Another favourite from the greatest band in the world. This is not one of the most widely known tracks, but to true Stones fans it is one of the best tracks they do live. As you will know from reading this blog I love to sing the Stones and I'm hoping to throw in a few I haven't done before in the coming weeks to let everyone hear the great riffs Keith Richards has come up with in the past. It is an easy song to sing, no high bits and another song that once you get into it you can ad-lib too to give it a Stones twang.

Layla by Eric Clapton

Talking about great guitar riffs this song has probably one of the most recognisable riffs ever, but not this version. This little classic is the M.T.V. unplugged version and is performed acoustically, and as I have said before the true test of a good rock track is how well it can be performed acoustically. This track is a brilliant example of this. Some may not agree, but I think this version of Layla is actually better the the rockier original, although I admit it lacks the cutting edge without the well known riff. I will have to have a go at the other version so we can all judge the two.

As you can see this was another great mix of songs. No songs from any of the new bands knocking around tonight from me, but a good chunk of stuff not heard before in the Hotel. After two very quiet weeks in the pub we have all managed to do a lot of new songs. Andy had a go at The Fratellis and did a great job. Shaun did an old favourite by singing Happy Mondays and the girls did their usual great job on Voodoo Child and also threw in a couple of new tracks which sounded great. I'm hoping that a few requests will get posted on the comments page so I can let you know how they go down if I do them. On to today's quote from the great man himself
"And how is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home wine making course, and I forgot how to drive?" Homer J Simpson