Karaoke Fever
Karaoke of the day Under the Boardwalk
The guy sat in his chair, a walking stick in one hand and a microphone in the other. You couldn't, by any stretch of the imagination, describe his voice as tuneful. It was more like the sound of gravel being dropped from the back of a truck. Blueberry Hill is ok by me. It's a good song and has a good tune, no matter whose version you listen to but last night's version was one of the worst I've ever heard. The melody disappeared and the guy's version of the lyrics, "Though we’re apart...you’re part of me still" became "With legs apart etc." was neither an improvement nor funny. I have a suspicion that he thought he was Louis Armstrong. I thought he was a pain in the ass.
One of the local experts told me that the guys sang ok but the women were all too nasal. I tried to explain to him that the problem was not the ladies' nasals but the sound guy's hearing. He was deaf and was boosting the high frequencies so he could hear what the girls were singing. Local expert said it was probbly the nasals that damaged people's hearing so I agreed with him. I'd have said anything just to shut him up.
Last night's crowd specialised in slow romantic ballads. The sort that expose you if you can't pitch. Why these people don't pick up-tempo songs beats me. I asked a guy who was making a very good job of Neil Diamond if he sang anyone else's songs. Big mistake. When he was singing he was Neil Diamond so why should he sing someone else's songs? Another guy told me he sang anyone's songs but only in his Elvis voice. He had a very interesting technique. He only sang when the peak of his baseball cap was covering the whole of his face. I guess it proved that he knew the words but it did look very strange.
My personal favourite was a lady who sang "Fever". She started well but went to pieces after the first verse. She forgot the tune, which is quite an achievement in itself and then tried to sing the rest of the words using the same notes as the bass accompaniment. It could have been an interesting experiment but wasn't. She certainly was a big woman with a powerful pair of lungs.
The guy sat in his chair, a walking stick in one hand and a microphone in the other. You couldn't, by any stretch of the imagination, describe his voice as tuneful. It was more like the sound of gravel being dropped from the back of a truck. Blueberry Hill is ok by me. It's a good song and has a good tune, no matter whose version you listen to but last night's version was one of the worst I've ever heard. The melody disappeared and the guy's version of the lyrics, "Though we’re apart...you’re part of me still" became "With legs apart etc." was neither an improvement nor funny. I have a suspicion that he thought he was Louis Armstrong. I thought he was a pain in the ass.
One of the local experts told me that the guys sang ok but the women were all too nasal. I tried to explain to him that the problem was not the ladies' nasals but the sound guy's hearing. He was deaf and was boosting the high frequencies so he could hear what the girls were singing. Local expert said it was probbly the nasals that damaged people's hearing so I agreed with him. I'd have said anything just to shut him up.
Last night's crowd specialised in slow romantic ballads. The sort that expose you if you can't pitch. Why these people don't pick up-tempo songs beats me. I asked a guy who was making a very good job of Neil Diamond if he sang anyone else's songs. Big mistake. When he was singing he was Neil Diamond so why should he sing someone else's songs? Another guy told me he sang anyone's songs but only in his Elvis voice. He had a very interesting technique. He only sang when the peak of his baseball cap was covering the whole of his face. I guess it proved that he knew the words but it did look very strange.
My personal favourite was a lady who sang "Fever". She started well but went to pieces after the first verse. She forgot the tune, which is quite an achievement in itself and then tried to sing the rest of the words using the same notes as the bass accompaniment. It could have been an interesting experiment but wasn't. She certainly was a big woman with a powerful pair of lungs.
Posted by Milt at 7:29:00 pm
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