Members Michael Martin Posted July 1, 2014 Members Share Posted July 1, 2014 Greetings! I've been doing some pretty serious busking on Friday nights this summer here in my college town hometown with my summer band, which consists of me on guitar/vocals, a female singer with a tambourine (our front man), and a non-singing cajon player. We start playing about 11:30 PM on the primary streetcorner in the bar district, get steady traffic for awhile, and when the bars close at 2AM we get a big group who are all feeling quite uninhibited and want to sing along with us. So we save the good singalongs for that moment--but we don't know that many. One that we do know and really works is "What's Up" by Four Non-Blondes. I think it works because everyone has heard it, and even drunk people can sing the chorus because it's so catchy and simple. Another that works great is "Wagon Wheel". But we need more songs--I need your ideas for other songs to play at these rowdy moments. All suggestions welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted July 2, 2014 Members Share Posted July 2, 2014 Please don't groan but these are some of the songs that I've found myself singing while an inebriated college student but it's been 20 years now. Piano ManFriends In Low PlacesAmerican PieFreebirdCome on EileenRun Around I'll try and come up with some better ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dan Furr 59 Posted July 2, 2014 Members Share Posted July 2, 2014 If it makes you happy, why the hell are you so sad? Sheryl Crowe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rainrainwash3 Posted July 2, 2014 Members Share Posted July 2, 2014 "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Rolling Stones usually does well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted July 2, 2014 Members Share Posted July 2, 2014 Singalong songs either have to be very well-known by a lot of people, or have a repetitive chorus of nonsense syllables that people can pickup on the fly. I'm thinking stuff like Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" and the Beatles "Hey Jude". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted July 2, 2014 Members Share Posted July 2, 2014 How about some more cliché tunes? MargaritavilleFreebird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted July 2, 2014 Members Share Posted July 2, 2014 [YOUTUBE]WPeeTXN44sM[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted July 3, 2014 Members Share Posted July 3, 2014 Back in the day Beatles stuff worked well. American Pie and Alice's Restaurant too. Last time I paid attention to a singalong it was Do Wah Diddy Diddy and Act Naturally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guildfire Posted July 3, 2014 Members Share Posted July 3, 2014 Cecelia by Paul Simon is catchy and easily picked up by all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted July 4, 2014 Members Share Posted July 4, 2014 So, Wagon Wheel is a good one? *thinks to himself the title does not register* Your locale is what kind of culture? Urban, suburban or rural or does it matter? Sing-a-longs in my neighborhood might not convey well in yours. Are we partying hard on 100 Bottles Of Beer, Ohio, Bicycle Built For Two, Woodstock, Blue Suede Shoes or...??? Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Michael Martin Posted July 4, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 4, 2014 It's a university town (Ames Iowa). The people out on the street at that hour are almost all twenty-somethings (and a few slightly younger with fake IDs--you see them get busted now and then). I have found that today's college kids are pretty well-versed in classic rock and famous pop tunes from about the mid-60s onward. At one of these busking sessions a 20ish guy asked whether I could play "Last Dance with Mary Jane" and I said yes but I don't know all the words. So we let him sing it, and the whole crowd knew the chorus. A lot of these kids like contemporary country as well, and a lot of them like rap. Our singer Molly did "Baby Got Back" one night and it was amazing how many were able to keep up with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Michael Martin Posted July 4, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 4, 2014 BTW "Wagon Wheel" is a song by Old Crow Medicine Show. Darius Rucker also had a big hit with it. Fantastic sing-along and an all-around great song IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted July 5, 2014 Members Share Posted July 5, 2014 Then you need to grab a list of classic rock material and from it select out the so-called top 40 songs, some beat to death, and from them select those that best fit your ensemble. Only you can know that when you see them. The whole of that shouldn't take a full evening to arrive at a number of doable songs. Keep them distinct. Don't make a list of I, IV, V songs all in the same key, frinstance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fatback Posted July 8, 2014 Members Share Posted July 8, 2014 So, Wagon Wheel is a good one? *thinks to himself the title does not register* Your locale is what kind of culture? Urban, suburban or rural or does it matter? Sing-a-longs in my neighborhood might not convey well in yours. Are we partying hard on 100 Bottles Of Beer, Ohio, Bicycle Built For Two, Woodstock, Blue Suede Shoes or...??? Thoughts? Three wheels on my wagon?? Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted July 8, 2014 Members Share Posted July 8, 2014 Just listened to Wagon Wheel for the 1st time and I swear I hear that same refrain in pretty much every country offering I've chanced to hear. Oh well, they all can't be originals . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Michael Martin Posted July 10, 2014 Author Members Share Posted July 10, 2014 Just listened to Wagon Wheel for the 1st time and I swear I hear that same refrain in pretty much every country offering I've chanced to hear. Oh well, they all can't be originals . I'm not a country music guy, but there's a few older country songs I've always loved, like George Jones's "He Stopped Loving Her Today" or Cash's "Ring of Fire". Or "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain". Or "Angel of the Morning". Or "Ode to Billy Joe"...there's lots more. What appeals to me about them is that they are simple and catchy and memorable, and also they are great stories one way or another. Contemporary country doesn't do as much for me--as with other genres there's a lot of overtly formulaic stuff on the radio that is eye-rollingly clichéd and you hear the next rhyme coming from about 50 miles away. But there's some good stuff in there. I especially like Josh Turner--oh man what a voice. Check out his "Long Black Train". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted July 10, 2014 Members Share Posted July 10, 2014 . . . Contemporary country doesn't do as much for me . . . But there's some good stuff in there. I especially like Josh Turner--oh man what a voice. Check out his "Long Black Train". Same with me. Josh Turner's voice gives hope to all us guys who can't sing like Frankie Valli. Love the song too. When I write Country, it tends to be very old school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted July 11, 2014 Members Share Posted July 11, 2014 You can't go wrong with Wagon Wheel. Even my wife likes it and she HATES country music. If I play Fleetwood Mac the Travis Picking makes her hackles raise but If I break out the flatpick and yodel she's OK with it. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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