"My Way" is bad news for Filipino Karaoke Bars

By Cory Doctorow at 10:05 am Tuesday, Feb 19

Joey sez: "We Filipinos take our music seriously. Some of us carry accordions around ready to provide music at a moment's notice, but others get into the dark world of Karaoke violence. Remember, Manila is a city whose most notorious youth gang in the late '80's named themselves after the group Sigue Sigue Sputnik!"

Newspapers have said Philippine karaoke parlours have been removing "My Way" from playlists because fights frequently broke out — for unfathomable reasons — when the song was sung.

The song seems to drive many drunken men to commit anything from slight physical injuries to homicide, reports said.

In a remarkably similar incident last November, one man was killed and another wounded when a brawl broke out in a karaoke bar in northern Manila, once again apparently sparked by the quality of singing.

Link Discuss (Thanks, Joey!)