They’ve Got Rhythm (Sometimes) : Karaoke Craze Has Shower Singers Mobbing Microphones in Search of a Moment of Fame

No Lionel Richie fan could have missed it. There was that intense but sensitive facial expression. That little turn of the wrist. The way he closed his eyes in concentration and placed his foot casually on the stool behind the mike.

And then, when Richie’s band began playing that well-known song, the audience at Yolanda’s Mexican restaurant in Ventura sat motionless in anticipation.

“You’re once, twice, three times a lay-ee-dee,” the man before them sang, slightly off-key with his voice cracking in spots. “And I luh-huh-huuvvv (deep breath) yoo-hoo . . .”

Actually, there was little chance of anyone confusing the blond-haired, blue-eyed singer with Richie--except, perhaps, the singer himself. And no one seemed to mind that the performance wouldn’t have lasted four beats on the “Gong Show.”

This, after all, was karaoke night. Good singers and bad, it was all just part of the show.

“We’ve been doing karaoke two nights a week for most of the year, and every table is always full,” said Joni Loftus, the restaurant’s assistant manager. “It’s brought us tons of business. It’s just gotten really popular.”

Popular may be an understatement. Since its start in Japan a few years ago, karaoke (pronounced “carry-okee” or “croak-ee,” depending on one’s whereabouts) has swept through England, Canada and now it has reached the United States.

From nightclubs in New York and Los Angeles to restaurants and bars from Simi Valley and Ojai, patrons nationwide are lining up to take their turn at what some are calling a new entertainment craze.

An Addictive Art

“Icome between three to five times a week now, and my kids come every weekend,” said Sandy Thompson, a self-proclaimed “karaoke addict” who belted out an impressive version of the country song, “Sweet Dreams” at the Ventura restaurant last week.

When she was through, her 17-year-old daughter, Tiffany Cook, stepped to the mike and tried her hand at the Pointer Sisters’ “I’m So Excited.”

“I tell you, there’s nothing like it,” Thompson said after returning to her table. “When I get up there, I’m in heaven.”

Brian Smyth, a Seabee in Oxnard who said he “works the circuit” of about six karaoke places countywide, seems to feel the same way. Getting up on stage, feeling the lights on his face and hearing the applause of the crowd, he said, “is addictive.”

“It’s a fantasy of mine to be an entertainer,” Smyth said. “Whenever I go up there, I get an adrenaline rush. You feel like a star.”

Karaoke in Japanese means “empty orchestra.” Laser discs are used to display words on a screen and provide background music that has had the lead vocals omitted. People in the audience select a song from about 750 titles and then wait for their names to be called by an emcee.

Like a high-tech version of Mitch Miller’s sing-along bouncing ball, singers are assisted by a TV monitor that provides prompts to let them know when and what to sing.

“When you’re up there, you can’t see the audience because the lights are in your face, so the monitor really helps,” said Sheila Kane, a Somis junior high school teacher who made her karaoke debut with Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou.”

“You’re also not thinking so much about what you’re doing.”

And how would Kane assess her performance? “Well, the bad thing was that I started out an octave too high on the first refrain and had to wait until the second time to come down again,” she said. “I’ve sung it better in the shower.”

Anticipating that there might be singers such as Kane who don’t know if a song is in their range, the creators of karaoke machines installed a near fail-safe device. With a turn of a knob, songs can be adjusted to just about any key.

“A lot of people start singing, and find out in the middle that the song is too high for them,” said Arlene Mathews, promotions director for Splash nightclub in Simi Valley, which started a once-a-week karaoke night in August. “They just stop, have it lowered, and start all over.”

Granted, it probably wouldn’t be something you’d see at a Madonna concert. Some singers need even more to get them through a song.

“Quite honestly, if I wasn’t drunk, there’s no way I would have gone up there,” said one man, a few moments after stumbling though an off-key rendition of “Mack the Knife” and returning to his table where five of his friends sat grinning.

“I know the words sober,” he said. “At least, I think I do.”

Christine Buchholz, whose husband said he tours karaoke clubs in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties on a regular basis, echoed those sentiments.

“There’s no way on earth I’d get up there sober,” Buchholz said, sipping on a margarita. “I couldn’t carry a tune if it had handles on it.”

Optimistic Illusions

Although some observers have wondered whether the karaoke fad is in sync with a society that is sobering up, club owners apparently don’t seem too concerned. After all, they say, one of karaoke’s major benefits to business is linked to an increased consumption of alcohol.

But that doesn’t mean, they add, that things get out of hand.

“It does take liquid courage for some people to get up there, but then again, no one is sloppy drunk,” said Loftus, assistant manager of Yolanda’s. “They have to be able to walk to the mike.”

And if they can’t? Do they get a designated singer?

“Let’s just say there is a way of not asking a person to sing,” she said. “You just don’t call their name.”

All of which begs the question: What motivates people to risk looking foolish by exposing their vocal cords to public scrutiny?

Ray Brown, a professor in the department of popular culture at Bowling Green University in Ohio, offered a couple of reasons.

For one, he said, the idea of having “15 minutes of fame” could prompt a lot of people to step up to the mike. “It’s our moment of notoriety,” he said.

Other people could be responding to what he sees as a national tendency to drop heroes and superstars down a notch. “There is some sense of comfort in thinking that someone else is no better than you,” he said.

“All my life, for example,” he said, tongue firmly planted in cheek, “I’ve been a better singer than Crosby or Sinatra.”

Brett Pelham, assistant professor of psychology at UCLA, tends to agree with the latter theory. The karaoke craze may have caught on, he said, because it captures the inflated ego.

“In psychological circles, it’s called optimistic illusions,” Pelham said. “The basic idea is that people have an inflated idea of their abilities. They get up there and don’t really know what they sound like.”

Pelham also said he doesn’t find it surprising that so many people have described karaoke as “addictive.”

“You have that attention for a little while, and even if it is negative, it is attention,” he said. “All things considered, though, it sounds a lot better than illegal drugs.”

They Clap Anyway

Club owners don’t dismiss that there may be psychological motivations for the craze. But they tend to see a simpler explanation for karaoke’s popularity.

“It’s just a safe environment,” said Tom Rusher, general manager of Chuy’s in Oxnard, which started karaoke nights a year ago. “I’ve never once heard anyone in the audience boo or be rude.

“Sometimes someone will get up there on a dare and be really bad, or three or four people will have been drinking and be awful, but no one throws tomatoes or anything. They clap anyway. It’s all done in fun.”

That isn’t to say, however, that karaoke isn’t being taken seriously.

Within the last few months, several clubs and restaurants in the county started karaoke competitions. There has been a noticeable effect on the audience.

Each Wednesday night at Splash in Simi Valley, the first-prize winner takes home $100 in cash, second place gets $50 and the third-place finisher wins a dinner for two. In November, the nightclub will pit finalists against each other in the karaoke grand finals. The winner gets a trip for two to Hawaii.

At Sharkey’s in Oxnard, which also has a cash contest every Wednesday, bar manager Sam Barajas has already seen a change in the intensity of the performers.

“People definitely get serious about the competition and try to imitate the star. They don’t mess around,” he said.

One man who sang a Michael Jackson song, he said, imitated all the gestures of the singer. A woman who sang Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” got on the floor and writhed. Another man sang Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” and did what Barajas said was an uncanny imitation.

“One guy keeps coming back each week and the only song he sings is ‘La Bamba.’ We also had a girl who got up and sang the national anthem and started crying. I guess she moved herself so much. But people are definitely into it.”

Now that karaoke is, in some circles, being taken more seriously and competition is getting stiffer, some of its trademark roughness around the edges may be a thing of the past.

But newcomers shouldn’t worry too much. There’s still room for those who need a few more years of practice before stepping out on stage.

“We just got these karaoke machines in about three months ago, and they’re really selling fast,” said Todd Hall, a sales clerk at World Music in Simi Valley. The machines, which have a built-in microphone and recording feature, cost between $300 and $1,200.

“I guess you can take them to parties or have your own singing contests, but mainly it’s for self-use,” he said.

“At least, that’s what most people tell us.”

The Karaoke Circuit

So the only place you’ve ever sung is in your shower? Here are a few places in the county that will let you step out onto a slightly larger stage.

Chuy’s, 2800 S. Harbor Blvd., Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard. Karaoke nights are Sundays and Tuesdays, beginning at 7:30. For information, call 985-0996.

Splash Nightclub in the Radisson Hotel, 999 Enchanted Way, in Simi Valley. Karaoke night is each Wednesday, starting at 7:30. Karaoke competitions begin between 9:30 and 10. For information, call 583-2000.

The Gaslight Restaurant, 11432 N. Ventura Ave., in Ojai. Karaoke nights are Fridays and Saturdays, starting at 8. For information, call 646-5990.

Sharkey’s, 2701 Peninsula Drive, Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard. Karaoke night is Wednesday. Both the singing and the competition start at 9. For information, call 984-7745.

Yolanda’s Mexican Cafe, 2753 E. Main St., in Ventura. Karaoke nights are Fridays and Saturdays, starting at 9. For information, call 643-2700.