This is an old article I wrote for Epinions in 2005 concerning my love of karaoke…
Confessions of a karaoke junkie...
May 7, 2005
The Bottom Line Hang around in a karaoke bar long enough and you too may be bitten by the bug!
I admit it. I'm a karaoke junkie. I'm one of those obnoxious people who shows up at the local bar before karaoke officially starts and stays there until the show is over. I have had my own karaoke machine since Christmas 2004 and my private collection of karaoke discs already contains well over 1200 songs. I've even taken the time to sort the songs out, alphabetizing them in an Access database on my computer. This is not so much because I don't know what's in my collection, but more because I like to see in black and white which songs by my favorite artists that I've collected. No, I don't host my own shows, nor do I have company over for karaoke parties... but if I wanted to do either, I could-- and it's a fair bet that I'd have something to please everybody.
For those of you who don't know what karaoke is, allow me to educate you. Karaoke, loosely translated, is the Japanese word for empty orchestra. Would be musical superstars (or not) sing to pre-recorded music as the words flash across a television monitor. One can certainly have fun while doing karaoke alone, but in my opinion it's most enjoyable when done in front of an audience, the bigger the better. Some folks like listening or performing karaoke best while imbibing copious amounts of alcohol. I happen to be one of those people.
I've enjoyed karaoke off and on for the past twelve years or so. The first time I went to a karaoke bar, I was with a friend of mine from college. From the moment we stepped into Sunny's Bar in Farmville, Virginia and my friend handed me one of the songbooks, I knew I was in my element. I perused the notebook that contained the list of available songs and wrote my selections down on several song request slips. Then, I gave my selections to the karaoke host; before I knew it, my name was called for the first time and I got up to try to rock the house! On that particular evening at Sunny's, there was a group of inebriated fraternity brothers in the bar. A bunch of the pledges got up on the stage and drunkenly sang "That's The Way I Like It" by K.C. and the Sunshine Band. I turned to my friend and giggled. I knew it was going to be a memorable evening. It was, and not only for me. I don't remember which songs I sang that evening, but a couple of weeks later, I was walking around on campus with a couple of my friends and some guy said, "Hey, I know you. You're a singer, aren't you?" One of the friends who was with me was a voice major at the college, so I assumed he was talking to her. But he singled me out and said, "My parents were at Sunny's a couple of weeks ago when I was there with my fraternity brothers. They loved you. Every time you stood up, they videotaped you." I shudder to even think about what my image on that videotape must have looked like, but it was pretty cool to hear about it. After all, I didn't know this guy or his parents from Adam.
Nowadays, as I've evolved into my current status as a karaoke junkie, I get my karaoke fix at the Fort Belvoir Officer's Club. I've made friends with the couple who runs the weekly karaoke show and I've done just about every song in the songbook that I know well enough to do in public. The Fort Belvoir Club rarely gets very busy, so I generally sing at least twenty songs every Friday night in front of a sparsely populated audience. There are a few other regulars besides my husband and I and they can all sing. In fact, the Fort Belvoir club is the first one I've been to where more often than not, the karaoke participants are good singers. It's rare that people get too wildly drunk at the Officer's Club, but the flow of alcohol is enough to allow most folks to be social. My husband and I have met some very interesting people from different walks of life who each share the common thread of somehow being connected to the military.
I really got bitten by the karaoke bug when I decided that I was sick of singing the same songs from the songbook over and over each week. The first time I visited a karaoke vendor website, I opened the door to an expensive addiction. I had decided that I wanted to sing some Alison Krauss songs and the club's songbook didn't list anything by her. To satisfy my itch to sing new stuff, I went to www.karaokegalore.com and ordered three CDGs (compact disc + graphics), one in the style of Alison Krauss, one in the style of Linda Ronstadt, and one that offered songs by a variety of artists. When the CDGs arrived at my home a few days later, I immediately started practicing even though I didn't own a karaoke machine at the time. CDGs are just like compact discs and can be played on regular CD players; however, when they are played on a karaoke machine, lyrics will flash across a television screen.
It was a little tough at first, learning the songs without owning a karaoke machine. Sometimes CDGs come with a printed lyric sheet or demonstration tracks, but more often than not, they simply come by themselves. I soon found myself hunting down lyrics online or in the liner notes of regular CDs. My husband saw the trouble I was having, so at Christmas time, he decided to purchase a karaoke machine for me. Little did he know that he was about to awaken my insatiable appetite for more karaoke! Soon after I got the machine, I found myself hunting other karaoke vendors, looking for new and obscure songs to learn how to sing. I soon found myself comparing the different karaoke disc manufacturers and decided that I like Sound Choice the best (not all brands are alike). I also found myself justifying buying new CDGs because they happened to be on sale. In case you haven't been pricing karaoke CDGs later, those suckers can be expensive. Sound Choice CDGs retail for about $23 a pop. Of course, the better the quality of the music, the more expensive the disc tends to be. I've already spent hundreds of dollars on CDGs and yet I am constantly looking for more music to add to my collection! The karaoke hosts at Fort Belvoir allow karaoke participants to use their own discs, which, of course, makes me want to buy more!
Why do I love karaoke? Well, of course I love to sing and luckily for me, other people apparently like to hear me sing. I recently found out that besides my husband, I have a couple of groupies at Fort Belvoir. One week, I wasn't feeling very well, so my husband and I decided to leave. The following week when we showed up at our regular time, this man came up to me and said, "You know, a whole bunch of people who were sitting with me last week were really upset when you left without singing!" I cracked up at that news. It's always great to be noticed, especially when you're a stay at home wife with no social outlets! I thanked him for the compliment.
I also love karaoke because I've met some interesting people when I've done it. In this respect, karaoke is a little bit like Epinions. It attracts people from every walk of life who share a common interest, in this case, a love of music, either listening to it or singing it. It doesn't matter how well a person sings; it only matters that the person has fun. Drinking alcohol is also not a requirement, but I've found that it sometimes helps ease the pain of listening to the more "interesting" performances-- and it also lowers the inhibitions of those who might not otherwise participate! Of course, the bartender also makes a big difference in how much fun will be had. Until very recently, the Friday night bartender at Fort Belvoir was a Vietnamese woman who, over thirty years ago, had come to the United States from Taiwan. She always took great care of me and my husband and anyone else who visited "her bar" on Friday night. She always looked out for her customers, making sure that no one got too drunk or disorderly. Unfortunately, our Vietnamese friend was rotated to another work station and a new barkeep was brought in to take her place. I have to admit that I'm kind of hoping that the new bartender doesn't last and the old bartender comes back. She really makes the regulars feel like family.
I've increased my repertoire quite a bit over the past year, listening to other people perform songs I've never heard before. I'm sure other people have expanded their musical horizons by listening to me do songs by lesser known artists. Last night, I did a Jane Monheit song called "I'm Through With Love". When I was finished, the lady who was sitting at the table next to me and my husband leaned over and asked me who had done that song. I told her about Jane Monheit and gave her the name of the CD where she could find "I'm Through With Love". Likewise, I had never even heard of Kid Rock before I started doing karaoke at Fort Belvoir. One night, I was recruited to help someone sing "Picture", a duet that Kid Rock did with Sheryl Crow. Needless to say, I quickly learned that song as well as a little bit about Kid Rock.
Truthfully, I like karaoke wherever and whenever I can do it, but there's something about doing it in a military environment that makes it even more fun. For one thing, the audiences are generally respectful and supportive. The folks who come to the Officer's Club tend to be older, so they like to hear older songs. Although there are nights when people get drunk or otherwise behave inappropriately, it's a pretty rare occurrence. The club doesn't have the feel of a meat market, nor do most people make rude remarks. On most nights, everyone gets the chance to sing as often as they want. As a matter of fact, when I first started going to karaoke at the Officer's Club, I hesitated to sign up for a lot of songs because I didn't want to hog the mike. It wasn't long before the hosts started badgering me to sign up for more songs just because they wanted to get the show rolling and no one else was signing up to sing! Now, when I go to the club, I routinely start them off with a list of at least ten songs!
Yes, I'll admit it. I'm a karaoke junkie and damn proud of it. I have no aspirations of going on American Idol or Star Search, nor do I have any desire to try to cut an album. Doing karaoke is just a way for me to socialize and blow off steam every Friday, enjoying time with my husband and my friends, sharing my love for music, and drinking good imported beers. Oh, and of course on Saturday mornings, I often get the added bonus of enjoying a nice hangover! Okay, so that's not exactly a bonus, but at least it gives me and my husband something else to talk about.
Confessions of a karaoke junkie...
May 7, 2005
The Bottom Line Hang around in a karaoke bar long enough and you too may be bitten by the bug!
I admit it. I'm a karaoke junkie. I'm one of those obnoxious people who shows up at the local bar before karaoke officially starts and stays there until the show is over. I have had my own karaoke machine since Christmas 2004 and my private collection of karaoke discs already contains well over 1200 songs. I've even taken the time to sort the songs out, alphabetizing them in an Access database on my computer. This is not so much because I don't know what's in my collection, but more because I like to see in black and white which songs by my favorite artists that I've collected. No, I don't host my own shows, nor do I have company over for karaoke parties... but if I wanted to do either, I could-- and it's a fair bet that I'd have something to please everybody.
For those of you who don't know what karaoke is, allow me to educate you. Karaoke, loosely translated, is the Japanese word for empty orchestra. Would be musical superstars (or not) sing to pre-recorded music as the words flash across a television monitor. One can certainly have fun while doing karaoke alone, but in my opinion it's most enjoyable when done in front of an audience, the bigger the better. Some folks like listening or performing karaoke best while imbibing copious amounts of alcohol. I happen to be one of those people.
I've enjoyed karaoke off and on for the past twelve years or so. The first time I went to a karaoke bar, I was with a friend of mine from college. From the moment we stepped into Sunny's Bar in Farmville, Virginia and my friend handed me one of the songbooks, I knew I was in my element. I perused the notebook that contained the list of available songs and wrote my selections down on several song request slips. Then, I gave my selections to the karaoke host; before I knew it, my name was called for the first time and I got up to try to rock the house! On that particular evening at Sunny's, there was a group of inebriated fraternity brothers in the bar. A bunch of the pledges got up on the stage and drunkenly sang "That's The Way I Like It" by K.C. and the Sunshine Band. I turned to my friend and giggled. I knew it was going to be a memorable evening. It was, and not only for me. I don't remember which songs I sang that evening, but a couple of weeks later, I was walking around on campus with a couple of my friends and some guy said, "Hey, I know you. You're a singer, aren't you?" One of the friends who was with me was a voice major at the college, so I assumed he was talking to her. But he singled me out and said, "My parents were at Sunny's a couple of weeks ago when I was there with my fraternity brothers. They loved you. Every time you stood up, they videotaped you." I shudder to even think about what my image on that videotape must have looked like, but it was pretty cool to hear about it. After all, I didn't know this guy or his parents from Adam.
Nowadays, as I've evolved into my current status as a karaoke junkie, I get my karaoke fix at the Fort Belvoir Officer's Club. I've made friends with the couple who runs the weekly karaoke show and I've done just about every song in the songbook that I know well enough to do in public. The Fort Belvoir Club rarely gets very busy, so I generally sing at least twenty songs every Friday night in front of a sparsely populated audience. There are a few other regulars besides my husband and I and they can all sing. In fact, the Fort Belvoir club is the first one I've been to where more often than not, the karaoke participants are good singers. It's rare that people get too wildly drunk at the Officer's Club, but the flow of alcohol is enough to allow most folks to be social. My husband and I have met some very interesting people from different walks of life who each share the common thread of somehow being connected to the military.
I really got bitten by the karaoke bug when I decided that I was sick of singing the same songs from the songbook over and over each week. The first time I visited a karaoke vendor website, I opened the door to an expensive addiction. I had decided that I wanted to sing some Alison Krauss songs and the club's songbook didn't list anything by her. To satisfy my itch to sing new stuff, I went to www.karaokegalore.com and ordered three CDGs (compact disc + graphics), one in the style of Alison Krauss, one in the style of Linda Ronstadt, and one that offered songs by a variety of artists. When the CDGs arrived at my home a few days later, I immediately started practicing even though I didn't own a karaoke machine at the time. CDGs are just like compact discs and can be played on regular CD players; however, when they are played on a karaoke machine, lyrics will flash across a television screen.
It was a little tough at first, learning the songs without owning a karaoke machine. Sometimes CDGs come with a printed lyric sheet or demonstration tracks, but more often than not, they simply come by themselves. I soon found myself hunting down lyrics online or in the liner notes of regular CDs. My husband saw the trouble I was having, so at Christmas time, he decided to purchase a karaoke machine for me. Little did he know that he was about to awaken my insatiable appetite for more karaoke! Soon after I got the machine, I found myself hunting other karaoke vendors, looking for new and obscure songs to learn how to sing. I soon found myself comparing the different karaoke disc manufacturers and decided that I like Sound Choice the best (not all brands are alike). I also found myself justifying buying new CDGs because they happened to be on sale. In case you haven't been pricing karaoke CDGs later, those suckers can be expensive. Sound Choice CDGs retail for about $23 a pop. Of course, the better the quality of the music, the more expensive the disc tends to be. I've already spent hundreds of dollars on CDGs and yet I am constantly looking for more music to add to my collection! The karaoke hosts at Fort Belvoir allow karaoke participants to use their own discs, which, of course, makes me want to buy more!
Why do I love karaoke? Well, of course I love to sing and luckily for me, other people apparently like to hear me sing. I recently found out that besides my husband, I have a couple of groupies at Fort Belvoir. One week, I wasn't feeling very well, so my husband and I decided to leave. The following week when we showed up at our regular time, this man came up to me and said, "You know, a whole bunch of people who were sitting with me last week were really upset when you left without singing!" I cracked up at that news. It's always great to be noticed, especially when you're a stay at home wife with no social outlets! I thanked him for the compliment.
I also love karaoke because I've met some interesting people when I've done it. In this respect, karaoke is a little bit like Epinions. It attracts people from every walk of life who share a common interest, in this case, a love of music, either listening to it or singing it. It doesn't matter how well a person sings; it only matters that the person has fun. Drinking alcohol is also not a requirement, but I've found that it sometimes helps ease the pain of listening to the more "interesting" performances-- and it also lowers the inhibitions of those who might not otherwise participate! Of course, the bartender also makes a big difference in how much fun will be had. Until very recently, the Friday night bartender at Fort Belvoir was a Vietnamese woman who, over thirty years ago, had come to the United States from Taiwan. She always took great care of me and my husband and anyone else who visited "her bar" on Friday night. She always looked out for her customers, making sure that no one got too drunk or disorderly. Unfortunately, our Vietnamese friend was rotated to another work station and a new barkeep was brought in to take her place. I have to admit that I'm kind of hoping that the new bartender doesn't last and the old bartender comes back. She really makes the regulars feel like family.
I've increased my repertoire quite a bit over the past year, listening to other people perform songs I've never heard before. I'm sure other people have expanded their musical horizons by listening to me do songs by lesser known artists. Last night, I did a Jane Monheit song called "I'm Through With Love". When I was finished, the lady who was sitting at the table next to me and my husband leaned over and asked me who had done that song. I told her about Jane Monheit and gave her the name of the CD where she could find "I'm Through With Love". Likewise, I had never even heard of Kid Rock before I started doing karaoke at Fort Belvoir. One night, I was recruited to help someone sing "Picture", a duet that Kid Rock did with Sheryl Crow. Needless to say, I quickly learned that song as well as a little bit about Kid Rock.
Truthfully, I like karaoke wherever and whenever I can do it, but there's something about doing it in a military environment that makes it even more fun. For one thing, the audiences are generally respectful and supportive. The folks who come to the Officer's Club tend to be older, so they like to hear older songs. Although there are nights when people get drunk or otherwise behave inappropriately, it's a pretty rare occurrence. The club doesn't have the feel of a meat market, nor do most people make rude remarks. On most nights, everyone gets the chance to sing as often as they want. As a matter of fact, when I first started going to karaoke at the Officer's Club, I hesitated to sign up for a lot of songs because I didn't want to hog the mike. It wasn't long before the hosts started badgering me to sign up for more songs just because they wanted to get the show rolling and no one else was signing up to sing! Now, when I go to the club, I routinely start them off with a list of at least ten songs!
Yes, I'll admit it. I'm a karaoke junkie and damn proud of it. I have no aspirations of going on American Idol or Star Search, nor do I have any desire to try to cut an album. Doing karaoke is just a way for me to socialize and blow off steam every Friday, enjoying time with my husband and my friends, sharing my love for music, and drinking good imported beers. Oh, and of course on Saturday mornings, I often get the added bonus of enjoying a nice hangover! Okay, so that's not exactly a bonus, but at least it gives me and my husband something else to talk about.
