Good thread indeed! I am lucky enough not to be embarrased by my small repetoire (Oh, err, Missus) and so can easlily remember 20 or so songs. I don't really know what it would be like to try to remember hundreds as I will never be in the situation where I would need them - Ie of professional performer status.

I don't mind people singing from books though as long as they know the songs anyway and just need a little reminder. I do find it a little annoying when someone does not have a clue what they are going to sing, how they are going to sing it and appears not to have even attempted to learn the words in any way. I find it somehow discourteous to the other people in the club/singaround or whatever.

One strange thing I have noticed. There are they people who dislike singers using lyric sheets and yet those same people seem to think it is OK for a poet to use a book. Why is that? Why does it seem unprofessional for musicians and singers to use printed music or lyrics whereas it looks OK, learned even, for a poet to recite directly from the written word?

I had never really thought about it before yet, certainly in my experience, this seems to be the case. Just another spanner in the works...;-)

Cheers

Dave the Gnome