The Steel Guitar Forum

Don,no matter how you spell it,IT STILLS SUCKS.

Jugglers, clowns, magicians, strippers, mimes, animal acts, karaoke singers and other suchlike can get their own gigs! Fortunately my band does not have to stoop that low yet. When we do, it'll be time to hang it up.

Well, maybe a stripper or two would be ok .

Hey Gang.Then this start out with Mr.Cox quiting his job because of Karaoke or how ever you want to spell Kari-o-Kie,this is not the problem with this off the wall Entertainment. Now,Mr. Cox tells us he's a Union Musician. Now that's the Problem! Who's crying the Blues? Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. & Pigeons

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Hey Al Collinsworth,Your dog got the right I-dear. This topic was about Bob Cox quiting a job because of Kari-o-kie. It's not about you can't have both. Both have become three parties. Karaoke,Night Club & Union. Some how crying the blues will not help,but,I'am trying to get a good understading of the mean ole Karaoke dude. Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. & Pigeons

In my neck of the woods, club owners have switched to Karaoke so they don't have to pay for their entertainment. Most of the crowd wouldn't know a good singer from a bad one, and so it goes. When they do want live entertainment, they just host a jam session. That way they still don't have to pay out any bucks for entertainment.
At a monthly gig I play, a 'Karaoke Canary' came up to me and asked if I would back her on Patsy Cline's "Crazy". I said OK and asked her what key she sang it in. She didn't know!! The next month she was there again and made the same request. I asked her to sing a little of it and find the right key. I got up to the front of the room and looked for her. . .she had left!!
PRR

50 years ago??

Well no one had good tape decks in 1957,
least none the average club could afford.
Very few if ANY were doing separate takes
live to mono without the singer,
so the singer could sing live to a
short run pressing version of the song.

TV was in it's infantcy.

Now when you get to early American Bandstand
Yes there WERE doing this live or lipsyncing to
their own tracks.

History
Karaoke today was popularized by the Japanese singer Daisuke Inoue in Kobe, Japan in the early 1970s [1]. After becoming popular in Japan, karaoke spread to East and Southeast Asia during the 1980s and subsequently to other parts of the world.

The technology simply wasn't available 50 years ago.

I had a girl come up and also ask to sing Crazy.
I said; 'What key'. She said " The RIGHT ONE."
'
'HUH, what do you mean the right one?.'

"Well I sang with a friend and he messed around
with the guitar awhile while I sang it,
and finally he said: 'THAT'S THE RIGHT KEY"!

So I always do Crazy in the right key."

Ye gawds!

David ,don't you mean you WENT CRAZY trying to find the right key?

I hear you, David. Back in the 80's we played for a grand opening of a little place in Harmony IL. We were the 'host band' so had to back up singers without their own bands. This kid got up there in a white cape and jump suit and greasy hair trying to do an Elvis impersonation. On his first song he said "Ok guys" for one of the king's songs (don't remember which one). I politely asked him what key to kick it off in. He said "Elvis' key!!" He got irritated with me when I told him he'd have to do better than that because I didn't have a crystal ball in my car. He didn't know any of Elvis' keys, so we guessed at the start of each song to which he'd hum a line, then played them. I guess I'll never know if we ever found any of Elvis' keys!!
After he was done singing and jumping around, "Elvis" left the building!!!
PRR

Girl comes up to me and says she wants to sing "Crazy". I ask what key, she looks at me with
an irritated expression and say "Soprano"!

I can spell, I just can't proofread.

Joe Butcher wrote: Next thing your gonna hear is someone whining that miniature golf is ruining the PGA.

That analogy would be right if TGC(The Golf Channel) stopped showing PGA tournaments a couple of days a week and started showing drunk people playing miniature golf.

Then it would be like clubs that get rid of live music for karaoke.

Keep the stories comming guys. They're great.

I run into the same thing at the local Opry I play at. When even I do find "THE RIGHT KEY" as David said they still sound like crap.
I had one gal come up to sing on stage and said she was going to sing "Crazy" and had a Walkman in her ear she was trying to sing along with and expected us to follow her.
Needless to say we never got thru the song nor did she.
She left the stage and everyone was happy.
Don

Alvin Blaine wrote:

Joe Butcher wrote: Next thing your gonna hear is someone whining that miniature golf is ruining the PGA.

That analogy would be right if TGC(The Golf Channel) stopped showing PGA tournaments a couple of days a week and started showing drunk people playing miniature golf.

Then it would be like clubs that get rid of live music for karaoke.

Sorry, I'll try and work on making my analogies perfect.

Dont know what its like where you live, but that hasnt happened here. Cant think of a single club that has "gotten rid" of live music for karaoke.
Karaoke is not THAT popular.
Any place I know that does it has it once a week, and usually on a night that was slow.

There is just so much over-reacting going on here.
They need to change the name of this forum to the "Whiny Victims Forum"

When I find the 'RIGHT KEY', I'm gonna write it down, then I wont have to learn all them other one's.

Will 'miniature golf' really make a difference to the 'PGA'(Pedal Guitar Association)

Ron Mc

Joe Butcher wrote: Dont know what its like where you live, but that hasnt happened here. Cant think of a single club that has "gotten rid" of live music for karaoke.
Karaoke is not THAT popular.
Any place I know that does it has it once a week, and usually on a night that was slow.

There is just so much over-reacting going on here.
They need to change the name of this forum to the "Whiny Victims Forum"

Joe;
Just because it has not happened to you in your particular area doesn't mean that the problem doesn't exist. I personally know of two clubs here in Western New York that did exactly what everyone here is discussing - replaced live music with kareoke. Then there were a couple of others that went to DJ's and only have live music on certain occasions. Then, there are those that downsized from full 5 and 6 piece bands to one and two piece solo artists (using noneother than kareoke back-up tracks). It didn't effect any of my gigs personally, however, that doesn't mean that it's not a problem. You're very lucky, so far, but don't take it for granted that it can't or won't happen in your area or the venues that you might play.

BTW Just because someone may have a different take on the subject doesn't make them a "whiner". This forum would get awfully boring if everyone were always in total agreement with each other.

"sensory overload purgatory"

Dan, that's going in my vocab book...

I agree with Mark here. Watch out Joe, the forces of economics are at work every day. I hope it never happens to you.

Joe Butcher wrote:

Alvin Blaine wrote:

Joe Butcher wrote: Next thing your gonna hear is someone whining that miniature golf is ruining the PGA.

That analogy would be right if TGC(The Golf Channel) stopped showing PGA tournaments a couple of days a week and started showing drunk people playing miniature golf.

Then it would be like clubs that get rid of live music for karaoke.

Sorry, I'll try and work on making my analogies perfect.

Dont know what its like where you live, but that hasnt happened here. Cant think of a single club that has "gotten rid" of live music for karaoke.
Karaoke is not THAT popular.
Any place I know that does it has it once a week, and usually on a night that was slow.

There is just so much over-reacting going on here.
They need to change the name of this forum to the "Whiny Victims Forum"

The Karaoke fad did hit here in Vegas about ten or 15 years ago and almost every lounge and club had it at least one night a week. Yes I did lose jobs because of it.

Now that the fad has faded, those clubs and lounges are dropping Karaoke, but they don't seem to be going back to live music. Most have been turning into "Celebrity Lounges" with Djs.

DJ's are also very popular around here. I have talked to several club owners and it boils down to economics, not taste in music. Basically, they want the under thiry crowd because they "drink more" than us "older folks." I'm in the "over fifty" crowd, so I'm only good for a beer or two. I don't drink the $6.00 a shot premium vodkas and that kind of stuff. Most club owners love the stuff my band does, but live music doesn't pull like "high tech" entertainment. Again, it's not just my personal experience. In the last 10 years I have worked with five different bands, of which only one is still playing, a couple of times a month. Most of the musicians I know are in the same boat. Occasional gigs, or jam sessions. Friday and Saturday nights are dedicated to DJ's and Karaoke. If it can happen in Vegas, it can happen anywhere.

Joe,you sure need to meet that little girl Dorthy and her pooch Toto.

If you would play cover, you would know what key to play it in. Dwight Yoakam's "Fast As You" ,Key of E. Everyone sings it in the Key of E. If you don't know the song they want to sing,don't do it. Most people who don't play in bands and just want to sing, don't know a key from a pitch fork.They just sing along with the recording. That is one of the advantages of doing cover as close a possible. If you don't C# you are going to Bb Joe

Man,I didn't think Brother " Joe " hit a sore spot over this topic that isn't the topic anymore until he (JOE) Teed every-body off that loves that little white Ball.I Guess Karaoke (Karioke) has more power then the Musicians who are crying the blues over letting this get out of hand in the first place. I have a real take on all of this Karaoke self made neighborhood independent Stars. As professional Union Musicians, what happen to Brotherhood of keeping Country Music alive with the Steel Guitar? Did Karaoke kill that too? Help me out here cause the sore spot is still sore! Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. & Pigeons

I respect Bob's view on "kroakee". I don't know that I would have quit the gig over it, though, but Bob does not want to be any where near kroakee. By quitting, he made a statement to that particular establishment, who probably just blew him off about it anyways. But at least you stood up for what you believe and feel. It's frustrating.

And I myself would not give an inche to support something that has taken away from live music. In my area, Southern Oklahoma/North Texas, and Dallas/Fort Worth, and now OKC area, most of the smaller bars quit hiring live bands to hire DJ's and kroakee guys--$150 a night vs. $400-$500 a night. You do the math, and see what the club owners save a year. So for the clubs that still DO hire bands, there is some pretty stiff competition. Fewer gigs to be had.

Joe Butcher, Glad you are doing so good you can't see this happening around you---enjoy it while you can. Hope the phone does not quit ringing for you.

But Dj's and kroakee are just a simpton. Drinking laws are getting stiffer and stiffer each year, and the bar bizz suffers. Bar owners are just trying to survive, too. The times they are a changing.

But it is just another case of survival of the fittest. It boils down to what the local public will or will not support, and that is a balancing act that hinges on promotion, what the public is told that is cool to do now, and whether the public believes it and follows. Just my view