Most everyone has liked to pretend they were rock or pop stars. Back in the day, we’d use hairbrushes and combs as stand-ins for microphones. When my kids were younger it was the remote control. And, we all had at least one friend, usually a guy (I’m not being sexist here, it’s just the way it was), who’d be wailing on an air guitar. As the Rolling Stones said, “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll … but I like it.”

Sometime in the early 1970s, according to Wikipedia, karaoke originated in Kobe, Japan, where one Daisuke Inoue invented a machine that produced five minutes of singalong time. Those five minutes cost less than one dollar. The word karaoke means “empty orchestra.” True enough, there isn’t any live music going on during karaoke nights at bars and restaurants; there’s just the recorded music of songs and the lyrics are on a screen for each singer.

Sometimes you can request a song from the deejay/person operating the karaoke machine, and sometimes folks just sing whatever comes up; kinda like Russian roulette, without the bullets. I use that extreme simile because I am not a singer ... with one exception: “Angie” by The Stones. My dear friend Deb Beam (who IS a singer) once heard me singing along with the radio or something (insert Mr. Bill face here) and determined that I can sing ... in the key of “Angie.” But, hey, like Mick sings in the song, “ ... They can’t say we (I) never tried ...!” Anyway, the thought of having to sing a song with high notes to hit is scary as hell, especially in public! 

Here in the U.S. folks were singing along with Mitch (Miller) and company thanks to lyrics at the bottom of the TV screens in the early ’60s. I remember singing along to some songs with Mitch – the words I knew at that tender young age, anyway! And, I could have sworn the intro or closing theme song to “My Mother the Car” had a bouncing ball singalong, but I couldn’t find any trace of it on Youtube. So much for that memory!

By the 1990s karaoke was slowly gaining in popularity. Karaoke machines were not just commercial grade anymore. People were buying home versions – even Fisher Price got into the act (so to speak!). At some point karaoke machines came with a guitar, disco lights, bubbles ... all you needed to do was invite a bunch of friends over. OK, there’s a bit more to it than that – you need the machine, microphone(s), a mixer (to blend the recorded music and voices), a speaker (amplifier) OR a powered mixer that's both amplifier and mixer in one! While researching I came across this website, www.karaoke-tutor.com – with answers to any and all questions surrounding home karaoke.

Anyway, around the Boothbay region, Boat House Bistro, over on the By-Way, holds karaoke nights alternating weeks January through early April. Actual singers and wannabes will be heading on down to the popular eatery and music venue for the return of karaoke for a fourth winter on Friday, Jan. 19 ... Yeah-yeah-yeah (read it like The Beatles sing it)... that is this Friday.

“We do it to help people beat the winter blues,” said Ralph Smith of the Bistro and Mine Oyster. “We offer some drink specials and everyone sings and has some fun.”

Darrell Gudroe will return as deejay for the fun night of music that begins at 8 p.m. in the bar on the second floor. He says there’s a core group of 20 singers and 12 or so of that group attend every karaoke night; then as the evening goes on, between 15 to 20 others follow the music and join in.

“Last year there was a large screen TV in the downstairs dining room and you could hear people singing as they came up the stairs to the bar,” said Gudroe. “I always intend to stop at midnight, but I look at the clock and it’s 1 a.m. and we’re still singing! I start wrapping things up then.”

Popular songs that Gudroe could recall off the top of his head (this wasn’t an interview he could prepare for) were tunes by the big hair bands of the 80s, current pop songs, some country, and selections by classic rock ’n rollers like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

All singers bring a list of three or four songs that they want to sing, which they give to Gudroe after adding their names to the signup sheet at the bar. He keeps the tempo moving right along by always having the next singer ’n song queued up – and each week that includes a new song. “You can credit Jill Reynolds for suggesting singers add one new song to their lists each week,” Gudroe said.

Jill’s been at Bistro karaoke night as a waitress and as a singer. Why, I asked her, is karaoke so popular? Jill replied (without hesitation), “Because everyone loves to sing!”

And, that’s with a microphone … not a hairbrush!

Darrell: cue “Angie” …