In the comments of every Number Ones column over at Stereogum:
@dj-professor-dan rates every Number One based on how good they are at karaoke.
For the one-year anniversary of the mammoth SiriusXM Number Twos countdown, I thought about doing the same idea.
I originally thought about writing a note for every song in the top 100.
But I decided instead that my post would encompass everything I thought was a “10/10” at Karaoke. (Despite that I sent my original ratings to DJPD, who thought differently. And that’s okay.)
My list ended up around 1/10 of the full list:
With 56 songs.
I might not want to hear all of these songs again – but I can’t deny they’re great at karaoke. Here’s a couple of things you might expect:
1: No rap songs.
Trying to imitate a rapper’s flow is generally difficult and just makes you look like a doofus.
2: No instrumentals.
Although… “Wipe Out” would be funny, in this kind of way.
3: No songs that are long enough and repetitive enough to bore the audience and the host.
This is why “We Are Family,” “Lyin’ Eyes,” and “Purple Rain” aren’t on here.
Here’s the list, in SiriusXM ranked order. Asterisk (*) are songs that I think are among the best karaoke songs ever:
495. “Use Me“ by Bill Withers
469. “I’d Love You to Want Me” by Lobo
433. “Burning Love“ by Elvis Presley
413. “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
407. “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me“ by Elton John
390. “Be My Baby“ by the Ronettes
* 384. “Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival:
378. “Born to Be Wild“ by Steppenwolf
370. “Chain of Fools“ by Aretha Franklin
368. “Killing Me Softly with His Song“ by the Fugees (airplay-only hit)
* 339. “Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
328. “Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues
320. “The Wanderer“ by Dion
303. “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” by the Georgia Satellites
295. “Green River“ by Creedence Clearwater Revival
283. “What’s Going On“ by Marvin Gaye
* 282. “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver
* 275. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley
267. “Tears in Heaven” by Eric Clapton
221. “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You“ by Frankie Valli
*218. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper
211. “7 Years“ by Lukas Graham
198. “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything“ by Barry White
177. “Twist and Shout“ by the Beatles
* 176. “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk & Pharrell
165. “Memories“ by Maroon 5
152. “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley
150. “Pour Some Sugar on Me“ by Def Leppard
145. “Is This Love“ by Whitesnake
135. “Dancing in the Dark“ by Bruce Springsteen
* 128. “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty
127. “Don’t Dream It’s Over“ by Crowded House
126. “The Reason“ by Hoobastank
116. “Boulevard of Broken Dreams“ by Green Day
113. “Open Arms” by Journey
* 109. “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa
106. “Dream Lover” by Bobby Darin
91. “Easy Lover“ by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins
86. “Forget You“ by CeeLo Green
83. “Return to Sender“ by Elvis Presley
* 75. “Take Me to Church” by Hozier
66. “Start Me Up“ by the Rolling Stones
62. “Just the Two of Us” by Grover Washington Jr. & Bill Withers
* 53. “Sugar” by Maroon 5
*”Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen
* 50. “Rosanna” by Toto
41. “Bad Romance“ by Lady Gaga
* 37. “Stay with Me” by Sam Smith
25. “Y.M.C.A.“ by the Village People
*19. “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran
17. “Need You Now“ by Lady A(ntebellum)
15. “Bad Habits“ by Ed Sheeran
11. “Counting Stars“ by OneRepublic
8. “Hurts So Good“ by John (Cougar) Mellencamp
6. “You’re Still the One“ by Shania Twain
And:
2. “Levitating” by Dua Lipa
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What? No “I Touch Myself?”
I was never a good singer and I’ve been even worse since thyroid surgery did a little damage to my vocal cords, so I admire anyone who can carry a tune. These are great choices but how many could be done by average, non-professional singers? However, if the fun is in struggling with vocals in public, I think “Don’t Dream It’s Over” has some tricky falsetto parts, “Nights In White Satin” is deceptively high, and then there’s “Bohemian Freakin’ Rhapsody.”
Anyway, which of these would be easiest for us tonally challenged?
Re: “Don’t Dream It’s Over”
On a good day, I can hit the notes without going into falsetto voce. I can do the same with “Viva La Vida”. I’d estimate I can pull it off without inducing winces from an audience about 30% of the time.
Which begs the question: should I be doing this? Is the falsetto from the recording essential, and am I “fixing” something that was never broken?
I’m so used to hearing the falsetto that I’d be surprised if it wasn’t there, but now I’m curious to hear you do it.
*trying it right now*
Now we know that the “t” in mt58 stands for “tenor”.
I wish.
Uh, if you’re singing high falsetto parts in full chest voice, you are indeed a tenor, my friend and a high one at that. Altos may even actually welcome you into the fold at times if you’re lucky. That’s a selective bunch.
I thought it was Tarot, or typo, or Twain, or maybe all three.
There are no “shoulds” in karaoke. Whatever works best for you. If you are actually trying to sound like the recording, then try the falsetto, but I think it’s best to do what is comfortable for you.
Based on the description of your voice, v-dog, the best song on this list for you to try in my opinion is “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis. Here are some other songs not on this list that I would recommend seeing if they are a good fit for you. They are songs I have recommended to singers with lower or limited range. I’ve done some of them myself. Your mileage may vary, but maybe give some of these a try.
Losing My Religion- R.E.M.
Sundown- Gordon Lightfoot
If You Could Read My Mind- Gordon Lightfoot
Enjoy the Silence- Depeche Mode
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door- Dylan (NOT the GnR version)
Sultans of Swing- Dire Straights
Whip It- Devo
Couldn’t Get it Right- Climax Blues Band
Under the Milky Way Tonight- The Church
Good Riddance- Green Day
Peaceful Easy Feeling- Eagles
Love Her Madly- Doors
People Are Strange- Doors
Most Beatles songs with Ringo on lead vocal tend to be manageable, and some of his solo stuff.
Also, be aware that most deejays can lower or raise the keys to your liking. You just have to ask.
I would not recommend Losing My Religion.
Because that song is terrible.
Maybe not, but “Whip It” sounds like fun.
I’ve sung Whip It about 5 times and it’s killed every time, at least in my mind it has. It’s tremendous fun.
Michael Stipe looks like such a dork in the music video for “Shiny Happy People”, I completely missed the meaning of the song until recently when I stumbled upon an essay. I was so blown away. I had zero idea. I thought it was just dumb fun song like “Friday, I’m in Love”.
“Be My Baby.” Vocal range is less than an octave. Just sing in a lower key than Ronnie and you’ll be fine.
Did not expect to see Tears In Heaven in a list of surefire karaoke hits. Maybe its cos I associate karaoke with drunk people having a good time or sober people showing off that I can’t imagine anyone going for a track that would bring the mood down so much.
I would like to see someone tackle Bohemian Rhapsody though. Surely needs a stiff drink before tackling that.
I’ve done it and was happy with it, but I don’t always worry about the crowd.
I sing what I like. Every now and then I’ll give in to the “vibe of the room” but most of the time, they aren’t paying that close attention to me unless they know me anyway, not to the point where it’s worth worrying about..
Mrs. Crawford and I are very much not into drinking or the bar scene, and karaoke usually happens in bars. Thus, I have only karaoke-d one time…at a birthday party. I chose “Sold” by John Michael Montgomery, which is a fun country song with a ton of lyrics in a short amount of time. I enjoyed it!
I actually think about this kind of often…”Hey, this would be a great karaoke song!”. I should really make a list.
Do 2 or 3 people ever work out harmonies and karaoke together actually attempting to sound good? I would love that, but maybe people have more fun when you try not to sound too professional. “Hey, man, you’re trying too hard!”
I’ve done karaoke three times. The first as a trio, the others as a duo. This is due to the fact I am tonally challenged. No one wants to hear me solo.
On none of these occasions did we consider working out harmonies. That time as a trio we didn’t even consider whether we knew the lyrics. We did not sound professional, we may have spent as much time laughing at our ineptitude as actually singing.
On no occasion did anyone express a desire to hear more.
It was fun while it lasted though.
I have seen a group get up and sing a Boys II Men song and just nail the harmonies. It was awe inspiring. I don’t see that sort of thing often though. The harmonies are often on the backing track so I have not found it necessary to do so myself when singing with others. Plus people I sing with could get thrown off if I did harmonies. I’ve had a few bad experiences trying to grab the tenor line on Happy Birthday and trainwrecking the whole thing because people got confused.
This is a topic that resonates with me. I did karaoke on a near weekly basis at a local dive bar for a period of about 3 years from 2017-2020. I still go occasionally but not as often. I compiled a list of 141 songs that I had sung, ranked in order of how well I thought I did. (Yeah, I know.) 3 of them were on your list- Tears in Heaven, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and the song that is #1 on my karaoke list, and perhaps life itself, Nights in White Satin. That one won me a $100 gift card.
I have not sung Take Me Home, Country Roads at karaoke, but I did sing it at a funeral last week and it’s definitely one I should try someday at karaoke as people love it.
Your “No Instrumentals” rule would be simple common sense, one would think, but I did see a guy get up and do Tequila one night and strangely enough, it worked.
Good advice about long or repetitive songs. It can result in some genuine awkwardness. I sang Don’t Fear the Reaper one night, and when it said on the screen that there was an over 400 measure instrumental break, I realized it may not have been such a good idea. And there’s no cowbell during that time, so you can’t rely on that old gimmick. After awhile, I ran out of ideas and just stood there. Never good.
I always try to do songs within my range, so some songs on your list won’t work for me, but others are worth giving a shot. Interested to know how many of these you have done.
Just “Open Arms” personally.
Great list! But sorry, I have to say, “Purple Rain” is an *!
It’s one of my go-tos. I even sang it a few weeks ago at a karaoke competition. Admittedly I didn’t win, but I don’t consider that as being Prince’s fault.
I assume the radio edit? It’s tough not to be impatient when a guitar solo is interminable.
It usually is the radio edit, much to my disappointment since I always bring my inflatable guitar along, ready to bust out a solo, and get everyone to sing along with all the “oooo”s.
One possible reason for my not winning the karaoke competition – other than the fact that it was based on votes by the audience, who could buy extra votes through additional drinks purchases, and who all voted for their friends – is that my inflatable guitar mysteriously deflated during the guitar solo, an embarrassing situation.
Great list of tunes. Are these sure-fire picks for you personally, or songs you think will work generally?
If someone can nail the vocals of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” it’ll be the highlight of the night. But I hesitate to call it a never-fail pick for karaoke. Not least because I myself failed at it. It was miserable, probably more for the rest of the room than for me.
I am not an incredible singer, but there are some songs that I can nail. Some of my faves include:
Guns N Roses: Welcome to the Jungle
The Smiths: Panic
Franz Ferdinand: Take Me Out
R.E.M.: Losing My Religion
The B-52s: Rock Lobster (gotta do some crazy dances during the instrumental parts)
Radiohead: My Iron Lung
Talking Heads: Psycho Killer
Smashing Pumpkins: Today
Joy Division: Atmosphere
Yuki: Joy (to impress my Japanese friends)
And Home Karaoke picks, for those hard-to-find selections:
Skinny Puppy: Smothered Hope
Pere Ubu: Caligari’s Mirror
The Birthday Party: Junkyard
There are some cool choices here. I’ve done Today and Take Me Out. They were both challenging but I felt pretty good about the results.
Generally
I did karaoke once for a project our features department did on trying something you’ve never done. A colleague who was far more comfortable with karaoke helped me by playing Kiki to my Elton on “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart. “
I did that one with my sister. It is so much fun.