Part One: What’s the weirdest song you’ve ever seen on a karaoke “menu”? Could be the most obscure, most obscene, or ill-suited to the karaoke format…whatever the reason, it was just surprising for you to see it listed.
Here in Japan the English song menu generally consists of old favorites like the Beatles and Carpenters, current pop hits, and a few oddballs. I’ve spotted Boney M’s “Rasputin” (the disco tune about…Rasputin) and Monty Python’s “Sit on My Face”. I almost did myself an injury when I noticed that one! But as tempting as it was, I couldn’t bring myself to try to sing it. Maybe if I were really certain I was the only person present who could speak English…
Part Two: What’s the strangest karaoke song/video matchup you’ve seen?
The more upscale places seem to at least put some token effort into finding footage that suits the tone of the song, such as black-and-white shots of hitchhikers and drifters for Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”, or scenes of the big city and urban punk guys for Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life”. But others just use the same ol’ stock footage no matter what the song it. Personally, I wouldn’t have chosen shots of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Coliseum in Rome to accompany Blondie’s “Atomic”. This same footage worked only slightly better when I saw it used again with Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
However, the weirdest mismatch I’ve ever seen involved another Queen song, “We Will Rock You”. For most of the song it was typical karaoke stock footage of city streets, cool cars, and attractive young people, the sort of stuff that goes all right with most rock songs. Then at the end we find ourselves in an airy apartment with a pretty woman, who gives visual expression to the message of the song by…pouring herself a cup of tea and sitting down on the couch as the final chord dies away. Rock on, babe!
The weirdest song on a karaoke list that I’ve ever seen was Fatboy Slim’s the Rockefeller Skank ("…the funk soul brother check it out now, the funk soul brother right about now…" etc etc.)
I know there’s some talented people out there but I cannot imagine anyone being able to sing a passable karaoke version of that song.
I was surprised to see the song “Everybody Needs Somebody” from the end of the Blues Brothers. When I sang it, I was surprised again when the first thing that came up was Elwood’s spoken intro, complete with “And we would especially like to welcome all the representatives of Illinois’ law enforcement community…”
Then there was the Eurobeat techno remix of the Mickey Mouse Club theme…
As for weird video combinations, one time when I was doing “This Night” by Billy Joel, the accompanying video was of a road rally somewhere. 50’s style R&B love song, sung to a video of mud, water, and crashing cars.
Another time, someone picked “Fly Me to the Moon,” but accidentally entered the Neon Genesis Evangelion version. Understandable, if you’re familiar with the Eva anime, but the video – clips from the show – really creeped out the people who weren’t.
I’ve also seen some…interesting versions of lyrics.
“Close to You” by the Carpenters: “That’s why all the girls go down/every time you’re around”
“You’ll Be In My Heart” by Phil Collins: “Just lick all of your sugar” (should’ve been “just look over your shoulder”)
