Country Dan and his Karaoke RULES & Info

I know that most of THIS page will be (OK, IS) kind of boring, but there is information here that is really important. If you are someplace where I am running Karaoke and you DON'T follow some of these, you may not hear your name called or see it on a screen to sing.

Please be sure that you write down (PRINT) Your Name the Song Name, and the Original Artist on the sign up sheet. (Yes, ALL THREE, in the proper places) I have different types of music and this information sends me to the right place to get YOUR song ready. If you don't give the Artists name, you COULD get a parody of what you wanted or a totally different song that happens to have the same name by a different singer. If there is a (MPX) on screen by your name, it just means "I" have to make sure there's no singer on the track with you. NO MORE NUMBERS to remember or PRINT down, just Your name, The Song Name and Original Artist.

NOTICE That the line reads "PRINT" AND "CLEARLY".

Print CLEARLY - Print CLEARLY - Print CLEARLY And yet AGAIN... NOTICE That the line reads "PRINT" AND "CLEARLY". Yo! I SAID PRINT AND CLEARLY! :-)

If I can't read your writing, I'll just skip you. Even drunk printing is more legible than some sober folks writing.

*** = A rule that MUST be taken seriously.

*** Unless you have specific permission to "HELP" someone sing a song, or there are two or more names on the sign up sheet, do NOT expect me to give you a Mic, OR turn on / up the one you may have. Some people are VERY annoyed are being "helped" with a song when they think they are doing quite well. :-) (I would be one of those. I LOVE people singing with me IF IT'S HARMONY. If someone asks to sing with me and sings the same notes I am singing, POOF... MOST others are like that or feel like that as well.)

*** Do not OUT SING the person that has the Mic even if you don’t have one. If they can hear you, it can throw them off (OR make things worse). I actually have a "10 Commandments of Karaoke" that I will start passing out again and posted here. It is more in fun than anything else, but parts of it really need to be taken to heart.

*** If you sign up for someone else and (a) they don't know that you did it, or (b) I call them and they don't want to sing because you are "making them", YOU have to sing the song. (If you do it to get to sing more often, you will be banned from singing at all!) In other words, don't be "pulling pranks" on people that might back fire. The OTHER reason for this is that there are times when there is a BIG list / stack of songs / singers and the time it takes to remove one and get the next singer after calling YOUR target could have had another singer up and finished. If they ASKED you to fill it out for them, then they should have come to me earlier and asked me to remove them from the list of singers. If you use this rule to get to sing more than the normal rotation, you won't sing at all.

*** Do not YELL or scream in, or pound on or blow in the Mic's. You can damage the mic, the amp or the speakers. These things did not come cheap and I'm SURE that you don't want to pay to replace something that you broke. I REPEAT... Do not blow in the mic's or "thump" on them to see if they are on. Just SAY "TEST" and you'll hear yourself. If or when there are corded mic's, NEVER swing them By the cords.

****>>> You can only sign up, or put your name on the list ONCE at a time. Since the Song list / books are available when you are there, you may well have 3, 5 or 20 songs you'd like to sing. Write down ONE at a time on the list and when I call you to sing, AND you finish THAT song, you can put yourself back on the list immediately. If you DO have your name on the list more than once, even if one is for a duet, I Will cross off the 2nd line . No one gets to sing two or more songs in a row unless there are really special circumstances or you are paying for the private party. The occasional DUET 'will' get "A" singer or a group up twice in a row, once in awhile. Note! If there are a few of you in a group and you want to seng a few songs AS a group, each song must have one name from the group to sign up. I don't care if you all sing, but each name can only be on the list once. (Again, when you finish your song, you are not on the list. If this confuses you, ask me and I will explain in more detail.) DO NOT ABUSE THIS EITHER! <<<

*** My books are NOT coasters for your drink(s), not that you'd know this by looking at them! If I see one of my books on your table or the bar sitting in a puddle of something or under your glass, I WILL pick it up, note YOU, and you won't be singing. The books take me HOURS to print and assemble, as well as costing a fortune, and I don't appreciate people messing them up because they aren't paying attention. Every time some one bends a book clear back on itself, it breaks a few clips, screws up a page or just breaks the bindings. Don't do it... When I had Kinko's print my books, they cost me a MINIMUM of $100.00 PER BOOK. Their last quote was $147.00 per book. If I visited your house and used any book there as a coaster, you'd be ticked...

*** When I call "Last Call Sign Up's" that's exactly what I mean. When I say "LAST SONG", that's ALSO exactly what I mean. If you come back up and try to sign up one more song, or get testy because you want to do one more, all it's going to do is tick me off and your chances NEXT TIME just went WAY DOWN. Since things are digital now, I just pull the list when I have the time filled to go to or past the normal shut off time. There are also times when I HAVE to have things closed down in time for the bar itself to close up and get everyone out as well as doing what THEY want, on the schedule they want me to do it. Remember that there are laws that the bars HAVE to abide by if they want to keep their licenses. I try really hard not to over book the time, so when I say no more sign up's, I mean it...

*** I LOVE talking with people but if I am loading songs (There can be many loaded and Queued up at one time now) and I say Hang on a sec., please give me the time to get it done and paused. I can get frustrated at times when the equipment isn't working exactly the way I want and I tend to show that frustration more than I'd like. If I am more distracted I mess up and the next singer isn't up as soon as they should be then I am MORE frustrated. When I can, I sometimes try take the Mic to the next singer. If a place is packed, I'll just call the next one up. If I call you 3 times and don't get a response, you get skipped and to do THAT song and you get pushed back by one. One MORE call for 3 times and you're crossed off the list as though you did the song. If I get that far, you need to fill out another line on the list. If you are leaving and have a song up, PLEASE let me know so I can pull it out of the rotation, and get on to the next singer. If you are going to be gone for a FEW minutes, let me know and I'll hold your spot.

There are a few MORE things but I think that's enough with rules for now. :-)
From here down is just information, but read it anyway.

Multiple song listings in the books mean that a song is on MORE THAN ONE CD or I have more than one track by differing Karaoke companies or there are more copies of the song OR it was done by more than one artist, OR the old list truncated a name or artist, making that listing different. Styles MAY be different so you ALSO need to verify the ARTIST that did the song THERE ARE MISTAKES, Even on the CD’s / tracks, as to who did a version and sometimes the song itself is WRONG on the CD, even though the label says it's there. If you have a preference for Sound Choice, Pocket Songs, Music Maestro, Sunfly, etc., let me know. The newest brand I have been getting is ZOOM. So far, most sound EXACTLY like the original singer's track. When I bought Katy Perry's Firesork, I bought 3 before I found the GOOD one on a ZOOM track. I do try to keep those as well as a FEW that have a singer on the Karaoke track... (MPX means there is a full vocal on the track that I can mute.)

NO GRAPHICS means NO Video, No words, NOTHING on the screen or Monitors unless I happen to play some OTHER video that has nothing to do with the song you are singing. In this case you have to KNOW the song. PLEASE pay attention to this in the books as well as the artist you THINK did the song you want to sing. It can catch ME sometimes and I typed most of these things. And yes, I know there ARE mistakes in the book and on the CD's themselves. You can also bring in your own CD's EARLY as I have to pull them to the digital player. Karaoke or regular CD's that you want to "sing along with" as long as you realize that standard CD's don't have graphics or words on the screen. There are some songs that have never been released for Karaoke that some folks still sing. Sometimes I can mute or delete the vocal on a regular track and on others I can't, so you'd be singing along with the original, IF you choose to go that route. If I don't have a standard song, I will not go get it if it's not available on a karaoke track. If it's available on Karaoke, I will search it out and purchase it.

If The "Artist" column has some "? BTHOM" it means: "Beats The Heck Outta Me". :-) If YOU know, tell me..
You must put YOUR NAME the SONG NAME and ORIGINAL ARTIST's NAME, on your sign up line. Make sure you keep all your information on the same line. When you've finished a song you (and /or others) can put just your name on the list and come back a BIT later to finish the line with the other information.
If you are showing on the monitors as needing a song, you will never get to position #1. The next singer (or you) must be careful to put your name and song info on the proper line. Not the one above or below your name that doesn't have a song yet, either.
If you have ANY questions, feel free to ask me. I TRY to keep couples together so when the first has finished a song, that one may put both back on the list. This is for 2 or 3 people only. No groups of 4, 5, 6 etc. If your name is on the list and there is no song by it, I will skip you until you have given me the info I need.

There are MANY STYLES of music in my books, the "Country Dan" is because that is usually what "I" sing, when I sing. If it is busy or crowded and there are a lot of singers lined up, I will not put myself in the rotation at all unless asked. Even then, I've said no to a few folks when it was really busy. If it is slow and there are 10 or less singers, you will hear me from time to time OR if I get that extra special request to sing a song (that I KNOW). If it is BUSY, I will also NOT allow LONG songs like "Hotel California". American Pie, Paradise by the Dashboard...etc. In the time it takes to sing that, two other singers could have been up and done.

There is at least one book that I have printed. One book has all the songs sorted by the SONG TITLE (All by song title books have been stolen or destroyed) and the second has all of the songs sorted by the original artist, FIRST NAME FIRST AND LAST NAME FIRST. Look for singers listed both ways. Each book will say which it is on the FRONT COVER of the book as well as in this little bit of information. Check the B's AND the G's for Garth Brooks when looking through the ARTISTS book. I HAD a few books by Title and a few by Artist. Most have been destroyed by drunks and there is now (Oct. 2013) only copiy of the Artist book left. The Book does NOT have everything available in it. The files you can download from here DO have EVERYTHING in them. (Check the main LIST page AND the NEW MUSIC page)

NO GRAPHICS (by the song name) means NO Video, No words, NOTHING on the screen or Monitors unless I happen to play some OTHER video that has nothing to do with the song you are singing. In this case you have to KNOW the song. PLEASE pay attention to this in the books as well as the artist you THINK did the song you want to sing. It can catch ME sometimes and I typed these darn things.

My song lists are printed/created on the date you will find on the file name here on the List page. As you find mistakes, (And you WILL) please let me know so I can fix `em.

Remember that you can download the entire list from this web page! (Go to the right link, OK? <grin>) ALL music, whether or not it's made it to the books I have with me, is in the online list, unless brand new and on the main page of this site.

Note too that I'm an anal retentive Aries, so I do repeat myself more than a few times... :-)