Thursday 12th July

Its here again folks, another dose of karaoke fun for you to get your lips around. It was back to the quite night again this week with not a lot of singers in at all, leaving Shaun and myself to pick up the slack again! It was the first time that the smoking ban seemed to have an effect on the night as well. At one point there were more people outside smoking than inside singing, and Nicky only did three songs!
Now as we are a few weeks into the vote for the most popular song of the year I think it is fair to give an update this week. Def Leppard is, at the moment, running away with the lead, followed by Sam Cooke. Now as I can see it, some unfair voting has been going on with certain bloggers trying to sway the vote to Def Leppard by posting the video on line and threatening kittens! Vote 'rigging' will be frowned upon by the adjudicating committee (well the wife!) and if the Lep's win my life will be hell! So to all who have voted so far many thanks. To all who haven't yet voted, then scroll down and vote or click on the post link in the sidebar. Remember you can vote more than once, just not on the same day, and please vote for the other songs, I wanted to do a Stones track of Linkin Park. Also you could purchase the " I'm Voting for __________ " T-Shirt at my T-Shirt Emporium. And if you need any encouragement to vote at all then remember Vote or the puppy gets it!
















Now onto tonight's songs. This week I sang four new songs and one that I thought was a fast version but ended up a slow version. So the songs this week were 1. Times Like These by Foo Fighters (MM6390-05) 2. Numb by Linkin Park (THR0401-11) 3. Let Her Cry by Hootie And The Blowfish (SC2033-03) 4. I'd Wait For Life by Take That (EZI010-05) and finally 5. Desperado by The Eagles (ZMP040-08)

Times Like These by Foo Fighters link

First song of the night and I really wanted to rock the place up a bit, but instead of the fast version I got the slow acoustic version that I love, but tonight this one kind of broke my mojo a bit. Great song and I have sang this one before although not this year. After the bands great performance at Live Earth I really got the Foo Fighter rock groove going and wanted to belt this one out but I picked the wrong number so ended up feeling a bit like a damp squib! Never mind I enjoyed singing it just the same, and this weeks link is to the fantastic Live Earth performance. Rock On! on the night rating 3/10

Numb by Linkin Park link

Well at least this one was the rock version of this classic Linkin Park song. Thanks to Shaun for posting it me on X-News, giving me time to practise at home. Not the easiest of Linkin Park's tracks to sing, but I managed to give it a good go, and I felt it went really well.Numb is about how young people feel pressure in being able to live up to many expectations, especially parents. The lyrics 'all I want to do; is be more like me and be less like you' show the much demanded freedom that most underage people feel. This was the third song from Meteora, and was the bands biggest hit from the album. It features mainly Chester's vocals, with Mike only rapping a couple of lines on the track, during the chorus and during the bridge at the end of the track. It is also one of the bands best videos, filmed in Prague. on the night rating 8/10

Let Her Cry by Hootie & The Blowfish link

A little known song by a little known band. The band was formed in 1989 and released two EP's before making it big with the 1994 release 'Cracked Rear View' which had the better know track 'Only Wanna Be With You' on it. The band have a great blues style to them, and are very much easy listening. Lead singer Darius Rucker has a very distinctive voice, with overtones of the great Blues singers of the past. Not really a band that were ever going to make it big in the U.K. but a lot of their music has been used in many U.S. television shows such as E.R. Friends and the C.S.I shows, and they even had a mention on the Simpson's once. on the night rating 5/10

I'd Wait For Life by Take That link

Well I have been looking forward to this one since the boy's released it a few weeks back. It is one of the best tracks off the latest album. Definitely a different pace to the song than the other tracks released so far, 'Patience' and 'Shine', but in proper Take That tradition, it is a brilliant ballad written by Gary Barlow. The song only reached number 17 in the U.K. charts, and is the first song since 'I Found Heaven' in 1992 not to reach the top ten. It is slower than the usual Take That song's but I think the vocal on the track is brilliant, in fact one of the best by Gary Barlow in a long time, but maybe the fact it is more him than the rest of the band is the reason it didn't chart so well. This Easy Hits version is the first one out, and I'm hoping the Sunfly version might bring it to a wider audience. Great song, deserves to be heard more often. on the night rating 7/10

Desperado by The Eagles link

A complete change of musical direction for me for my final song tonight. I have always loved the original by The Eagles, but I was moved to do this track after the cover by Journey South, whose X-Factor cover I have linked above, and especially as it is one of Hayley's favourites by the band. Although it is one of the bands signature tunes, it was never released as a single. It has been covered by countless artists in its time other than Journey South, such as Johnny Cash, Linda Ronstadt and The Carpenters. It is a typical type of song by the Eagles, in the rock/country style, and has that great cowboy feel to it. A great song to end the night off with. on the night rating 6/10

So as another night draws to a close, another five great new tracks to add to my ever growing list of songs for the year. I am growing ever nearer to the one hundred different songs sang this year, so if anyone has any suggestions on what the momentous song should be feel free to let me know in the comments box. At least it won't be Let's Get Rocked!
Now as you all know I do have a small Simpson's fanatic side to me, but in know way can I be held responsible for what has gone on at the 'Cerne Abbas' hill in Dorset, to promote the new film. A giant Homer brandishing a doughnut has been painted by the side of the Cerne giant, the famous chalk man carved into the side of the hill. It's all legal and above board, and the paint is biodegradable as to not damage the environment, but its not permanent unfortunately, and will wash away in the rain, so it probably gone now! Surely after all these years the locals are bored of that giant with his knob out and at least Homer has a towel on! I vote to keep Homer on the hill and put some pants on the giant knob as it's very off putting to young children! Until next time folks.......see ya!





"Marge, I'm going to miss you so much. And it's not just the sex. It's also the food preparation."
Homer J Simpson