Karaoke Bars Put Patrons at the Mike, in the Spotlight

Businessman Mike Hara sat at the piano bar at the Suzuran Restaurant in Gardena, solemnly sipping a drink and taking an occasional drag from a cigarette.

Suddenly, Hara leaned over and whispered into the ear of bar owner Kimi Ishida, then picked up a microphone lying in front of him. As images of Japan began to flicker on a video monitor over the bar, the gray-suited Hara, his back to his audience, crooned a plaintive song in Japanese.

He Comes for Karaoke

Hara’s fellow patrons in the smoke-filled restaurant paid scant attention.

But Hara didn’t seem to mind. The 40-year-old Gardena resident comes to Suzuran at least once a week, not for an audience, but for karaoke .

“I’ve been in the U.S. a long time and sometimes I miss my country,” said the native of Japan after concluding the song with a dramatic crescendo. “This reminds me of my country.”

In Japanese, karaoke means empty orchestra. The concept is simple: A host invites anyone with a little chutzpah to sing, with musical accompaniment provided on tape. Meanwhile, large video screens around the bar show the gutsy singers themselves or an MTV-style video, with the lyrics of the song displayed across the bottom.

Promoters bill it as “the piano bar of the ‘80s.” Most American-born patrons use it as the perfect bar-scene icebreaker, while many Japanese-born karaoke customers view it as a nostalgic reminder of home.

Would-be stars get the chance to sing their favorite songs as a growing number of area nightclubs buy or lease the electronic sound and video systems that are used to accompany the novice singers. The equipment has created a new niche in the home audio/video market.

In the South Bay, which has large numbers of businessmen who work in California for companies based in Japan, karaoke began appearing about five years ago. There are more than a dozen such clubs throughout the area, mostly in Torrance and Gardena.

A few years ago, karaoke could be found in Southern California, but only in bars and restaurants that catered primarily to the Japanese. Today, some karaoke bars remain traditionally Japanese, but the clientele is becoming increasingly diverse as other South Bay residents discover karaoke , bar owners said.

Karaoke is beginning to make a big splash with Los Angeles-area yuppies, according to its promoters. An increasing number of night spots, such as Merlin McFly’s in Santa Monica, Barwinkles in Long Beach and Mr. J’s in Santa Ana are reserving one or two nights a week for people who like to sing in front of strangers.

At Club Hara-Juku in Torrance, karaoke appeals to a multi-ethnic clientele because “most people like to sing,” said manager Tony Tani. Karaoke contests on Wednesdays and open-microphone audience participation on weekend nights draw big crowds, he said.

Kimi Ishida, who owns Suzuran with her husband Tom, said that since they began offering karaoke five years ago, their clientele has broadened to include all kinds of karaoke fans, from business professionals to blue-collar workers. Several dozen customers have become regular “performers” at the club, she said.

At Barwinkles, Eliza Gurule was singing on a recent night. “I love to get in front of the crowds!” said the ebullient mother of two. “I feel like I’m on ‘Star Search.’ ”

Karaoke “is really blossoming now,” said Gene Settler, president of the L.A.-based Singing Machine Co., which he said was the first to begin manufacturing karaoke equipment in the United States in 1982. Settler said he distributes sets across the country.

A good voice is not a requirement for living out a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy. But being a bit of a ham helps.

“It’s fun,” said Suzuran regular Shanna Tanaka, slightly breathless after an enthusiastic rendition of “Johnny Angel.” Tanaka, who often sings at the bar with her husband, Rodney, said she even takes singing lessons “because I don’t want to embarrass people when I sing.”

Customers at Suzuran, a cozy, 40-seat restaurant on Redondo Beach Boulevard, said singing there is like performing for friends.

“I don’t feel like everybody’s listening, because everybody’s drinking and having a good time,” Tanaka shouted over the noise of about 30 patrons.

In Homes and Bars

The entertainment’s burgeoning popularity here has not gone unnoticed in Japan, where karaoke is a big hit in homes and bars. Recently, a Tokyo television crew did several stories on Japanese companies doing business in Southern California. It featured one company, Pioneer Laser Entertainment Inc., a Pioneer Electronics division that opened last year to sell karaoke equipment.

Reporter Ikuko Kurokawa, who works for one of Japan’s major TV networks, said in an interview that karaoke here is different than in Japan. In Japan, she said, karaoke bars are often geared toward businessmen who go to them after work to drink and “release stress and frustration.” Here, both men and women enjoy karaoke . And the atmosphere here has more of a party feeling, she said. Local karaoke features everything from lullabies to rock.

Settler said his company has sold more than 100,000 karaoke units for businesses and homes. They range in price from $49 for a dual cassette recorder, which can tape a singer on one side using prerecorded music from the second side, to a $6,000 model. “One set retails for $1,795 and the yuppies are buying that,” Settler said.

Laser Technology

Pioneer, which sells the systems using laser technology and ranging from $900 to $3,000, has sold about 4,000 karaoke units in the past year, mostly in California and Hawaii, according to Jake Ramirez, assistant manager for Pioneer’s Southwest region.

The more economical units are being bought for home use, but the company’s big push is to sell commercially, Ramirez said. Restaurants and bars are buying the equipment because “it’s cheap entertainment,” he said.

“Everyone has a hidden desire to be a rock ‘n’ roll star,” Ramirez said.

Aspirations to stardom apply even to strait-laced businessmen in the South Bay, where there are more than a dozen karaoke clubs, mostly in Gardena and Torrance.

Taxed as Entertainment

“We started seeing it about five years ago and initially we were kind of naive as to what it was,” said Gardena revenue supervisor Tony Vieira, who oversees the issuing of city business licenses and permits. “We had to make a determination whether it was entertainment or not.”

Gardena officials decided karaoke was entertainment, similar to that provided by amateur comedy clubs, and began charging an annual entertainment permit fee of $300 to karaoke bars, Vieira said.

One karaoke enthusiast, Phillip Murachi of Torrance, works by day as an importer for a Japanese construction supply company, but by night habitually regales Suzuran clients with traditional Japanese songs remembered from his boyhood in Tokyo, in addition to Western tunes.

On a recent weeknight at Suzuran’s, Murachi, 38, beamed as he listened to the scattered applause for his low-key rendition of “Love Me Tender.”

“The clapping hands--that’s very good,” Murachi said. “It satisfies.”