Official: Top 25 karaoke songs
As the Christmas party season gets under way the most popular karaoke songs attempted by Britons can be revealed for the first time.
The top 5
Waterloo, performed by Abba
Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
My Way, Frank Sinatra, Claude Francois & Jacques Revaux
I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor
Dancing Queen, Abba
By January, you won't want to hear another cadence, chord or chorus from any of them: they are the top 25 karaoke songs that Britons love to sing.
For those whose only experience of karaoke is the office Christmas party, the release of the first “official chart” could help in deciding which song to opt for – a choice which can make the difference between humiliation and the maintenance of some dignity.
At the top of the list is Waterloo, the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest winner by Abba, the Swedish pop group. The band also provides the fifth most attempted number, Dancing Queen.
The only other artists with two entries in the top 25 is the band Queen, with Bohemian Rhapsody, at number two, and Don’t Stop Me Now, at number 16.
The index has been compiled by PRS for Music, formerly the Performing Right Society, a licensing organisation which monitors music use in order to collect royalties for songwriters.
For the first time, it has collated a list of the 25 most popular from an analysis of its data going back to the early 1990s, when the karaoke craze started to take off in the UK.
Karaoke aficionados say the top 10 are all popular songs with well-known tunes and lyrics and are mostly up-tempo. With one exception, they are also relatively easy to perform and are comparatively forgiving on those without an abundance of natural singing ability.
But Bohemian Rhapsody, the second most popular, is notoriously difficult to sing, featuring several changes in harmony and rhythm, as well as complex lyrics. It is also long.
The results suggest that karaoke is more popular among older age groups. Nine of the top 25 are from the 1970s, with seven each from the 1960s and 1980s. Not one has been released since 2000 and only two – Angels, by Robbie Williams, and Livin’ La Vida Loca, by Ricky Martin – are from the 1990s.
The Beatles have only one song in the top 25 – Hey Jude, at number 15 – and there are no songs by Elvis Presley.
There is a relatively even split of songs for men and women, and three of the top 25 are traditionally sung as duets.
Nick Thistleton, from Lucky Voice, a chain of karaoke bars co-founded by Martha Lane Fox, said: “People always seem to gravitate towards the same 20 or so songs. The choices are possibly made to disguise a lack of ability, but whether you can sing well or not is not really relevant to karaoke.
“The songs that endure are those with strong melodies and lyrics that are reasonably easy.”
Karaoke originated in Japan in the 1970s and means “empty orchestra”. It swept through Asia, then the rest of the world, coming to Britain in the late 1980s and soaring in popularity in the early 1990s. As well as pub sessions, there are now several specialist karaoke bars and clubs. Home machines are now available, as well as karaoke-style computer games such as Guitar Hero and SingStar.
A karaoke machine has been selected as a luxury item on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs by guests including Ms Lane Fox, Sam Taylor-Wood, the artist, and Brenda Blethyn, the actress.
PRS monitors karaoke “plays” by collecting data from clubs, bars and karaoke disc jockeys. The more often a song is sung, the more money the songwriter is paid.
Computers in large karaoke establishments automatically store data on how many times each song is played, while the PRS surveys smaller operators and obtains their playlists.
Almost 8,000 operators hold PRS licences. The new top 25 is compiled from data going back to 1993, as far back as the PRS’s records stretch.
Actual estimated numbers of “plays” are not released by the PRS because it would breach confidentiality agreements it has with its songwriter members.
The organisation’s income from karaoke has risen by around 10 per cent over the past six years. Last year the PRS distributed £551 million in royalties, raised from all sources, among its 65,000 members.
Barney Hooper, a spokesman for the organisation, said: “There is clearly a staple of karaoke favourites that recur. People tend to love a sing-a-long and karaoke is the modern equivalent of people crowding around a piano.”
The top 25:
Waterloo, performed by Abba
Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
My Way, Frank Sinatra, Claude Francois & Jacques Revaux
I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor
Dancing Queen, Abba
Angels, Robbie Williams, Robbie Williams & Guy Chambers
Like a Virgin, Madonna, Billy Steinberg & Kelly Thomas
It’s Raining Men, Weather Girls, Paul Jabara & Paul Shaffer
Summer Nights, Olivia Newton John & John Travolta, Jim Jacobs & Casey Warren
I Should Be So Lucky, Kylie Minogue, Mike Stock, Matt Aitken & Peter Waterman
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, Elton John & Kiki Dee, Elton John & Bernie Taupin
Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond, Neil Diamond
American Pie, Don MacLean, Don MacLean
Killing Me Softly, Roberta Flack, Charles Fox & Norman Grimble
Hey Jude, The Beatles, John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Don’t Stop Me Now, Queen, Freddie Mercury
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger & Keith Richards
Delilah, Tom Jones, Barry Mason & Les Reed
New York, New York, Liza Minnelli/ Frank Sinatra, Fred Ebb & John Kander
Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler, Jim Steinman
Livin’ La Vida Loca, Ricky Martin, Draco Rosa & Desmond Child
Livin’ on a Prayer, Bon Jovi, Jon Bon Jovi
I’m a Believer, Monkees, John Stewart
Love Shack, B-52s, Catherine Pierson, Fred Schneider, J Strickland, Cynthia Wilson
River Deep Mountain High, Ike and Tina Turner, Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich
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