Product Description

This is a scintillating social, cultural and personal history of the worldwide phenomenon of karaoke.In this first extensive history, Brian Raftery explores the liberating and potentially life-transforming effect of karaoke. Taking us back to its roots in the early '70s, he introduces us to such figures as Daisouke Inoue, the Japanese musician who first had the idea of selling pre-recorded backing cassettes, and Sal Ferraro, the globe-hopping LA businessman who opened the first US karaoke bar in 1982.We also hit the competition circuit, encountering unique would-be stars, from a Michigan judge who loves early '80s pop to an Elvis-obsessed medical consultant from Alabama. Speaking with karaoke's many devotees and tracing its presence in clubs nationwide, Raftery takes us on a fascinating journey through both a vibrant subculture and one of the last forms of entertainment to have a truly mass appeal.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #196595 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 232 pages

Review
'Karaoke is a word built from "kara" (empty) and "okestura" (orchestra) and Raftery loves karaoke: loves it "without qualifiers, apologies or actual singing talent". He'd like to teach the world to sing; probably not in perfect harmony or even in tune but with heart, a few belts of tequila and a prerecorded backing orchestral arrangement in every hokey-karaoke bar from Honolulu to Hoboken. There are Karaoke World Championships: Raftery is there. There is a heavy metal karaoke band: Raftery hangs out with them. Karaoke, he says, validates the self-actualised Pop Idol amateur in us all.' --The Times, January 31, 2009

Review
'You can taste it in his addiction. His passion is, like the collective yearning to sing Total Eclipse Of The Heart, contagious.'

Review
'Raftery does justice to this strange phenomenon.'

Customer Reviews

for anyone who finds karaoke a life-affirming activity
This is such a charming, warm book - I also found it laugh out loud funny. It explains how the author became drawn into karaoke singing, how it became the bedrock of his social life, how it made him change and evolve (build confidence, meet women etc). He then goes on a bit of a voyage of discovery (meets the inventor, meets the people who produce backing tracks etc) to get a big more of a backstory about how this phenomenon took off.

The author's been covered in quite a few online places (Salon, the Guardian), if you want to find out more before you buy.

This is the kind of book this is: I re-read it recently when I was feeling pretty down - and it cheered me up (and made me book a k-box session).

I'm giving it 4 rather than 5 stars because I've never heard of many of the songs the author focuses on at length - might be almost too culturally specific (late 30s North Americans), but that's what you get in a personal memoir innit?