Karaoke entered my life sometime in the mid 1990’s when my friend Susan Dreyer-Leon, (then just Dreyer) invited me along with some of her high school friends to some joint in the Korea-town neighborhood of Manhattan, in the West 30’s, just below Herald Square.
Like most people, I was unnerved at the thought of doing Karaoke. There’s an image one has of having to do a performance. I’m not sure where this image comes from. Maybe it’s in a movie? At any rate, I was relieved when I realized that it was just the four or five of us, with a couple of six packs of Budweiser (the group was from St. Louis, so I guess we were honoring their background). We were in a dark room with two sofas and a large-screen television, a couple of couches, two microphones and several binders filled with more songs than I could ever think to hear in sixteen lifetimes.
It was after that night that I became a Karaoke freak. Once our school moved to within a stone’s throw of Korea-town, we were “in there like swimwear,” as the saying once went. Many a staff party ended up at the Muse Karaoke bar (which, I’m saddened to learn, has closed down) on West 26th Street, just a few blocks down from the school.
Not only was Karaoke a terrific way for our staff to blow off steam, obviously, but we also bonded, and learned about each other’s musical tastes and crooning skills, or lack thereof.
Since that time, I have successfully recruited several people into the Karaoke world, including my wife, who has, in turn, recruited her sister and several cousins. For my birthday a few years ago, Jeanette bought me a Karaoke set up that hooks right into the television, and although it doesn’t show the cheesy videos you get in some of the KTV joints, it does have some hilarious still photos that are wonderfully incongruous with the songs playing along with them.
My children have become Karaoke fans, as well, and I’ll never forget the Christmas party at our apartment in Brooklyn, when Diego’s version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star got the high score of all performers.
Karaoke is not only good fun. It’s a reminder of the importance of song in our lives. Even out-of-key, horribly rendered song. If it brings family and friends together, how bad can it be?
So enjoy National Karaoke Week, everyone!
Dan, you are so right about song being important in our lives. I'm a karaoke host (not my "real job" but a fun night-time gig!) and I can't tell you how often I hear, "Oh, I'm just here to support my friends. I can't sing." Well, guess who's got the tightest grip on the microphone by the end of the night?! The fact is, not only CAN everyone sing, we human beings DO sing, even those who aren't able to speak. We sing in our hearts, our minds, and, if we're lucky, our vocal chords...and the beauty of karaoke is that it's not a performance (hey, nobody bought a ticket) as much as an exercise in joyful expression. Read my story of how I got into karaoke here: http://www.solliterarymagazine.com/non-fiction/anne-nicolai-how-i-lost-my-voice-and-how-karaoke-found-it/. And if you're ever vacationing in Mexico, come sing with me: http://karaokeani.com!
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