Interesting input (thank you, Sandra, specifically).
I have done the odd karaoke gig for corporate events, weddings and in bars. To be honest, I cringe and hate it most of the time because those who grab the mic
are on the whole drunk and couldn't sing their way out of a paper bag. They are pissed out of their heads and are just running an ego trip...
Then again, there are some damned fine, wonderful singers out there who appear out of nowhere, often alone, because they just want to sing for people and they have wonderful talent that they want to share. I have experienced this time and time again.
In a rehab centre, I might point out, they are
ALL 100% SOBER!It is not only the wonderful singers who have championed my offer. It is not only the wonderful singers who have organised the petition (with over 180 signatures in less than 24 hours). It is not only the wonderful singers who have grabbed the management by the neck and forced them to take notice (although the special 'chief' of these people has a truly wonderful voice). It was every single person there. Even those who wouldn't / couldn't sing. I salute them all.
At the end of every gig I would close with a group song open to everybody (I would invite them up to the mics and lead it myself) and dedicated to all who wanted to sing,
We Are The World. EVERYBODY would run up and sing! I mean EVERYBODY!! The words in that song are SO therapeutic and SO motivating and SO true in REHAB. We all hold hands and BELT it out. If that ain't therapy, what is? Take a read of the lyrics...
There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And its time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can't go on pretending day by day
That someone, somehow will soon make a change
We are all a part of Gods great big family
And the truth, you know,
Love is all we need[Chorus]
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own livesIts true we'll make a better day
Just you and me
Send them your heart so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stones to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand
[Chorus]
When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if you just believe there's no way we can fall
Let us realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one[Chorus: x2]
If that ain't a song for people in rehab, I don't know one better. It brought tears to my eyes every time and it brings tears to my eyes even now just to think about the experience. Even if the Institute won't run this, it is a memory I will take to my grave.
No Elvis / Johnny Cash / Stones / U2 (and so on and so on) impersonators. That was sung from the heart!
Somehow, I feel I am up against the same kind of resistance from the beaurocrats and the management that was faced in 'Dirty Dancing'. I also feel it is an experience not unlike 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'.
IF I can pull this off and I find a new flat (I have to leave my current one before 14th August), I think there is a definite story in this, maybe even a film. Man! My dream was always for everybody in the world to be happy. Maybe I can't pull that off but maybe, just maybe, I can make everybody feel happy, at least for just a moment, with what I have to offer - karaoke
On the last night I ran the show, one of the guys grabbed both mics while I was out of the room and set up a show for me with his acoustic guitar (one mic to his soundhole and one to his voice) and with six backing singers sang a tribute song to me to say 'Thank You'. Man, that made the tears roll!
Yeah. If it makes the people happy, I am happy to be the Karaoke King
I can't be Elvis, King of Rock & Roll (my biggest influence) and I wouldn't want to be Michael Jackson (self proclaimed King of Pop) and it sure ain't what I dreamed of for myself as a singer and musician but...
I do hope it is a better choice than singing
Rehab under their breaths and resenting every moment of being there. People in rehab have guts.
Another point - the people who sing karaoke in rehab have to face each other the following morning and every single day. In a karaoke bar they can get drunk, sing(?) and disappear, never to be seen again by anybody until the next drunken time
Isn't that what musicianship is about? To entertain people and make them happy through music?