Chapter 2: Karaoke!

10/8/2014

Day 8: I am not going to lie. I love to sing. I am not really that good at it, but I enjoy in nevertheless. As you can imagine, I am therefore quite drawn to karaoke. My first experience with karaoke in Japan was actually during my first trip when, in the fine tradition of extreme hospitality of my Japanese hosts, I was taken sightseeing on a Saturday and then treated to dinner at my host's home later that evening. (My host, Mr. Ueno, also provided what has been a very valuable lesson over my career. His English skill was actually not great, but his communication skill was off the chart good. Because of this, we had little to no trouble communicating. Communication skill is WAY more important than language skill.)  Anyway, after dinner, Mr. Ueno took me to what I can only assume was his favorite local bar, where I met several of his friends (none of whom really spoke English either). At some point during the very enjoyable evening, they started doing karaoke and when my turn came up, I nervously paged through the book trying desperately to find a song that a) was in English and b) I was familiar enough with to muddle through.  When I hit upon this classic from the Clash, "I Fought the Law," I figured I was all set.  So, I had them cue up the song, I powered through it with great gusto, and I returned to my seat.  Everything was great, right? Well, mostly. As I returned to my seat, one of my hosts leaned over and said something to the effect of, "very good, Paul-san, but that song is most famous in Japan for being in ads for Honda." (wah, wah)

10/9/2014

Day 9: Karaoke is not just for soloists you know. Actually, Jen and I have been know to try to pull off a couple of duets before as well. Our favorite (at least MY favorite) is this little ditty from the Barenaked Ladies, "If I Had $1,000,000." We first broke this out at a one of Jen's company Christmas parties at a bar near Jen's previous office in downtown Detroit. It was a big hit for the environmental consultant crowd.  A few years later, Toyota was holding its own Christmas party (this time at the Rock Financial Center in Novi, a slightly larger venue) and karaoke was one of the evening's entertainment options. The poor karaoke operator was struggling. No one seemed to want to participate (casino night was also going on, you see. That fake money wasn't going to lose itself.) So Jen and I, emboldened by our rave reviews at the previous party, decided to take pity on her and give our go-to song a try. So we got up there, sang our hearts and lungs out and turned to the host with a look of "you're welcome." But, instead of gratitude, we were met by some sort of rude comment to the effect of, "yeah, great... why don't you guys go gamble in the other room." Haters gonna hate, I guess.

10/10/2014

Day 10: It is always cool to have a friend that owns a karaoke system. It is even better if that friend also had an annual xmas party. The friend in question here is actually Jen's grade school friend, Steve Serra. For many years after we moved to Michigan, Jen and I would make the short trek to Battle Creek over the holidays for a fun evening of food, libation, and eventually karaoke in Steve's basement. It was always fun to hang out with my adopted gang from Marshall: Stephanie Livingston, Andy Elms, Abigail Powers, and from time to time, the likes of Amy Palmer, Margaret and Jeff Lori, and even Carol Smith. The only challenge on the karaoke side, as was typically the case, was to find tracks that I actually knew well enough to attempt.  Today's song "Hash Pipe" from Weezer was one of those random tracks that was actually in Steve's playlist and that for several years, me and Abigail would often attempt together. It is a little harder to get together these days with the little one, but those nights in Battle Creek were always a good time.

10/11/2014

Day 11: Singing karaoke in the basement or a bar with your friend is certainly fun, but those that have traveled to Japan or big cities such as NYC have likely also experienced the novelty of the specialty private room karaoke establishments. After living and/or working Ann Arbor for a few years, we also came to discover that it also has a few similar karaoke establishments, most notably Blue Karaoke on Liberty, near downtown. There was a few year there where Jen and I and several friends would spend the evenings of our birthdays or other special events belting away in the Blue Karaoke basement. The experience was pretty authentic, all the way down to the non-sequitor Asian music videos that loop on the video screen. The playlist at Blue Karaoke was quite extensive, and today's selection "Karma Police" from Radiohead's fabulous 1997 album OK Computer, was one of my favorites to attempt to sing.  As I remember, my rendition seemed to make an... impression on both Bonnie and Sarah (perhaps due to my insistence on attempting the falsetto part), but I am not sure if it was positive or negative. In any event, I am sure most will enjoy the original version more than mine.

10/12/2014

Day 12: Of all of my karaoke experiences, perhaps my most memorial took place in Marquette, MI in the UP the evening following the Michigan Brewer's Guild Fall Beer Festival in 2010. Jen and I made the trek, mostly so that we could say that at least one of us (Jen) had hit the MI Beer Festival Grand Slam by attending all 4 (at the time) events in the same calendar year. As it turns out, Jen went to high school with the people that own Dark Horse, and we would up spending the night with the owner's wife at a dive Irish Bar in Marquette.  It was karaoke night, and this was a very serious karaoke crowd. I was determined to sing something, and I fretted over the book for quite a while before I hit on the B-52's classic "Rock Lobster". The fact the Fred Sneider tends to sing more in spoken word than anything resembling harmony made it a safer bet. When my turn came up, I sauntered up to the stage and knocked it out of the park... or at least hit a single. I think the track was just quirky enough, just retro enough that I got away with it. The looks I got from the crowd were what I would consider "I can dig it" with a hesitant nod. I now consider this to be my go-to karaoke number; just ask Serdar (if he still remembers his 40th). Well, this brings this chapter and the vaguely Asian portion of my story to a close.

So, where was I again? Ah, I remember, I started almost 2 weeks ago talking about the roots of my love of music. Let's return once again to that era, to 1986. After all, everybody loves a good Origin Story.