Thursday 29th March

Lets Get This Party Started......

No lets just go to the Hotel and sing ourselves stupid again!. Hello all to the weekly dose of karaoke fun. Its that time again when all things karaoke come to a head and I spend all day thinking of what to sing, with a hope of the radio at work giving some inspiration or maybe the release of a new disc to have a go at. It was to prove to be the first week I got to do requests that were put up on the blog this week as well so thanks for that and special mentions will be on the way later.
It appears to have gone back to the non-singers coming into the pub of a Thursday and letting us do all the work. Never mind though, as this is great for an egomaniac like myself to improve myself to a standard of perfection. It just goes to show that even though week after week in the past we took the karaoke for granted a little but now it appears if it wasn't for us no-one would get up to entertain the rest of the pub.
Its been a very busy week this week, what with acquiring the new PS3 and also two other items that blogs will appear on very soon. Firstly, the reforming of one of my good friends bands Guns And Oatcakes. After almost a year the guys have got back together initially to do a few special dates in response to the public begging them to gig again but methinks this will turn out as a full time effort again from the lads. Secondly, myself and Hayley went to the Memorabilia show at the N.E.C. in Birmingham. Its a show dedicated to film and T.V. and allows you to purchase no end of goodies at reasonable prices. My god I sound like a salesman for the thing now! It is a great day out though and I'll fill you in more later in the week.
Tonight's songs include another four new songs for the year although I have sung a couple before, albeit a long time ago. They also include two request from people although they both beat me in the pub for doing an Andy Pipkin impression while they were singing (You know who you are :-)!!!!!!!!!!)
The songs this week were as follows 1. Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones (SC896412) 2. Modern Love by David Bowie (SC228807) 3. Mr Blue Sky by E.L.O. (SF07901) and finally 4. Bed Of Roses by Bon Jovi (DK07601)

Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones

Now I have said before that the Stones have had some great rock riffs in the past, but this one is probably one of the most well known. If you don't believe me just click on the title to watch a great live performance to judge for yourself. It is one of the bands truly great songs, and I have heard many people do covers of this song, but none as good as Mick Jagger's vocals. It starts with a great guitar intro and moves into the vocals with ease. My favorite part of the song is the Yeah Yeah Yeah Woo... part at the end, which in the live shows is a crowd participation part which usually sends them potty! Easy to sing and a firm favorite of mine. do again rating: 10/10

Modern Love by David Bowie

Another one from my collection of 80's classics. A great song to sing this one. To be honest I had never of thought of doing this one before and I'm not sure where the inspiration to sing it came from but really enjoyed having a bash at a bit of Bowie for a change, and this one may inspire me to do a few more of his classics. This also has great sing-a-long-ability to it and has a great fast paced beat which is definitely toe-tapping! do again rating: 8/10

Mr Blue Sky by E.L.O.

The first of my requests tonight (thank you Tina) . An absolute classic song by Birmingham band E.L.O. This band is much forgotten by a lot of people, and don't always get the credit they deserve for some truly fantastic tracks it the past. This is one of their most famous tracks from the late 70's and has that retro feel about it. It also, as do most E.L.O. tracks, got that operatic quality that the band brought into their music which made listening to their music more of an experience than the other stuff around at the time. The band has plenty of other stuff out on karaoke and being a fan, I expect to do some more of their stuff soon. If you click on the song title you will see how a more well known, up to date band used the music to their own ends with great results. do again rating: 5/10

Bed Of Roses by Bon Jovi

So finally this year the nagging and constant moaning from the wife has paid off and I get round to singing a Bon Jovi track. As a rock fan the band took my interest firstly due to the Slippery When Wet album in the mid-eighties. I can remember sitting in my bedroom playing air guitar and singing along to the album constantly. The album was full of tracks known by pretty much everyone today, and as a band they are one of the biggest bands in the world today due to that album. This track is from the bands fifth album, the hugely popular Keep The Faith LP, released in 1992, and went on to be a huge hit all over the world. It is a typical rock ballad, which has a great guitar performance by Richie Sambora and a great vocal from JB himself. In my link I have included a version of the song from the now famous "Evening with Bon Jovi" set recorded by MTV in 1992. This prove to be an pivotal moment in the band's history and is regarded by many as their best ever live performance. I'm sure that Hayley wasn't to disappointed in my attempt at the song and with any luck she will get to hear me sing it again. do again rating: 8/10

So there you go then. Another good batch of songs tonight. I hope that you will pop on a few more request for me, it was good not having to think too much this week on what to sing. I also wish to add that I have now given up on trying to beat the Fratelli conspiracy into getting the most sung artist chart title. In fact I am going to help them win it, as this coming Thursday I hope to have a crack at Baby Fratelli, which has just come out on karaoke, and is probably my favourite track off the album, that is if I can beat Shaun into putting the request in. For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, if you click on the song title in my review of each track, you get linked to the You Tube website and get to listen to the track. Shaun has also got this on his list of tracks sang on the night so for all you fans of old videos and classic clips get clicking on the links and enjoy. So onto my Homer quote for this week. I have tried to link a quote to how I feel the week has progressed and this week I have come up with this little gem. See you all soon.

"As I got up in front of them, I felt an intoxication that had nothing to do with alcohol. It was the intoxication of being a public spectacle." Homer J Simpson