I’m gonna expand on the Billy Joel theme and go for his Greatest hits volume 1 and 2 cd, especially disc 1. I think every single person I know has this cd, and hearing any song from it never fails to get people singing, especially with a few beers in them.
“here comes a regular” The replacements
Depending on the bar, my nomination would be either:
Love Shack, by the B-52’s, or
Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw, by ol’ Jimmy Buffett.
"Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville, searchin’ for my lost shaker of salt…
Some people claim that there’s…a…WooOMAaN…to blame
that’s a pretty good one too, I figure
about half would probably agree 
Oh, what’s 'isname… Garth Brooks (I think it’s him, anyway.) Friends in Low Places is a decent one, too.
More votes for Buffett…first thought was “Why don’t we get drunk” but he has sooooo many songs people end up singing/humming/getting wasted to.
besides, how can you go wrong with someone who has an album entitled “A White Sportcoat and a Pink Crustacean”?
mc
Come on, people! Absolutely nothing can touch In taberna quando sumus from the thoroughly debauched Carmina Burana. Full rollicking lyrics here.
The Proclaimer’s “500 Miles” is always good for drunken singalong.
Even better when everyone sings in their best worst Scottish accent:
“If I get drunk!
Yes I nerrr I’m gonne be
I’m gonne be the man ooh gets droonk next to eh-you!”
Pfui. Straight people ain’t got no musical taste.
In my bar, the one that gets people singing is “Stranger in My House” by Tamia. We all have that “whoo!” in the final chorus down like professionals, too…
That or anything by Cher or Madonna.
Might just be my bar, but “Rhinestone Cowboy” unfortunately seems to get everybody singing along.
American Pie is another favourite. Nobody ever remembers all the verses, though and you tend to find the lyrics get conflated…
“And while Lenin read a book on Marx
The marching band refused to yield”
J.
Yes…Livin on a Prayer…ahhhhh. High school memories.
“Lightning Bar Blues” - written by Hoyt Axton, and probably best known for the rendition by Arlo Guthrie on Hobo’s Lullabye. But the version by Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen (who, by the way, were the ULTIMATE bar band), defines the song in all its drunken glory. And by substituting “Lone Star Beer” for “Ripple Wine,” the song is transformed:
“I don’t need no diamond ring
I don’t need no Cadillac car.
I just wanna drink my Lone Star beer
Down in the Lightning Bar.”
Silly me. I left out dear Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”.
“Smoke Smoke Smoke (That Cigarette)”, the version I have is from Commader Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, perhaps other have covered it, I have no idea.
Actually, the old Commander is about the perfect bar band anyway. Any choice from his entire catalog would be good.
You picked the wrong time to blow me, Lucille,
I’ve had some good jobs,
I’ve had some bad jobs,
but this time the teeth marks won’t heal.
You picked the wrong time to blow me, Lucille.
I definitely get the idea we’re talking about two competely different bar crowds here.
country road
take me home
to the place i belong!!
or
low lie
the fields of athenry
or
the fantastically absymal irish dance version of maniac…
maniac 2000
she’s a maniac, maniac on the floor!!
“Smoke Smoke Smoke (That Cigarette)” was originally a hit for Phil Harris, who provided a couple of tunes for the Ol’ Commander (the other one being “That’s What I Like About the South”). Both those tunes can be found on the Commander’s third album, Country Cassanova, now sadly out of print.
It may not currently be played in many bars in the states, but I would like to submit Alice, Alice, Who the Fuck is Alice?.
Munch, that’s what I meant by the “unofficial refrain” to Living Next Door to Alice (see my post above).