It's okay, really. Go ahead sing as much of the song as you can. See that's what this book is about. Being able to let go and just SING! Even if you can't carry a tune, Karaoke makes you feel like it's okay to suck and still be on the stage singing to a bunch of strangers.

 

"It's a spiritual quest.

This spiritual quest, like so many spiritual quests, involves Bonnie Tyler."

 

  This book is not just a book about karaoke, it's actually a biography, which for some reason I didn't realize until after I started reading it and a spot in the book made me look at the label on the spine. It has a lot of other stuff in it. Like the time he went to a Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp. (which I felt was one of the boring parts of the book)

"Over the years, I've gotten totally obsessed.

Like I said, I have a karaoke problem.

But admitting the fact that you have a problem is the first step toward making it an even bigger problem."

 

 

Rob Sheffield is older than me so the type of music he talks about is not the music I was obsessed with growing up, but there were plenty of bands and  songs I knew. Like -

 The Beatles - he goes through a chapter talking about how during your life you love one Beatles song then in a little while you mature and another one becomes your favorite.

I also never payed attention to what was going on in the song  "She Loves You" until he pointed it out. Weird. (pg 155)

 

Rod Stewart -

"Nice try, Oedipus, but there are in fact three ages of man:

1. He thinks Rod Stewart is cool

2. He doesn't think Rod Stewart is cool.

3. He is Rod Stewart.

No man ever plans to turn into Rod Stewart. It just happens. There are days when I dread this fate. And there are other days when I think every minute of my life I don't spend being Rod Stewart is a waste of time."

 

I didn't know that they wouldn't play a line of his song "Tonight's The Night" on the radio because it talked about "spreading your wings". What a joke. Now they have songs like Blurred Lines on the air.

 

Neil Diamond - Yes, I know who Neil Diamond is, and I could probably sing the whole album of The Jazz Singer. My mom was a big fan , and when your parents are big fans of some one when your little, that means you are too, because it's the only records in the house!

"Honey's sweet, but it ain't nothing next to baby's treat" - Neil not only wrote that line, he kept it in the song. Now, if you or I were trying to write a hit, and we came up with a lyric like that, would we say, "Hey, I think that's a keeper - our work is done here" ? Ah, no. We would immediately crumple the paper, burn the tape, and never mention it to even a closest friend."

 

 He also talked about movies like Jaws, Star Wars. TV shows like Welcome Back Kotter.

If you know what I'm talking about, then you'd understand this book. I'm afraid the younger generations just won't get some of the references.

 

Now I'll admit..  at the time I started this book I'd never been to a "Karaoke bar" or to a Karaoke night at some bowling alley or any where else. So I was kinda fascinated by the whole "getting up in front of strangers and singing". I can't believe it's still popular. Doesn't it seem like it's just a crazy fad and it would have been long gone by now?

BUT about halfway through the book my little coffee shop down the road had Karaoke Night. So I bravely took my teenage sons and their friends and we went.

Did I sing? Hell yes! Even my youngest who HATES talking in public got on that stage and became a Showman. He was twirling around kicking out his legs, flirting with the audience.(who were just the people that came with us, Thank God!)

Sheffield talks about when you first start singing you find out whose voice suits you and whose doesn't. this is true. I found mine. It's Pat Benatar. (That's right Hit Me With your Best Shot!) But I can also have the Joan Jett quality

 

"We came here to be stars

. But it goes deeper than that - we came here to make each other stars."

Music has always been an important part of Mr. Sheffield’s life. As a writer for Rolling Stone magazine he had transformed that into a profession as well. In 2001 Mr. Sheffield was a young widower, had recently moved to New York City and by his own admission was still in the depths of mourning the sudden death of his wife. On a rare night out with friends he was introduced to karaoke and a new love story began … not only with karaoke but with the woman who would, due in large part to her own love of music, not only rescue him from the depths of his self-imposed solitude but also become his second wife.

This book is a little bit love story, a little bit the history of karaoke and a whole lot about the importance of music in our lives. The memories of certain occasions in Mr. Sheffield’s life are emphasized with songs … whether he is quoting lyrics or amusing his reader with anecdotes about his poorly performed (by his own admission) karaoke versions of those songs. Every so often he cleverly worked the lyrics of a song into the flow of his writing and I found myself immediately starting to hum the song in my head. This is the second book I have read recently that made me wish it came with an accompanying CD. He pays homage to most of the popular artists over the last several decades, as well as some lesser-known (to me) ones paying special attention to Rod Stewart, The Beatles and Rush. He moves smoothly from pop music – does anyone besides me even remember “Love Grows Where Rosemary Goes” – through Indie, Country and Heavy Metal. I don’t think he ignored any music genre. All of that “plays” softly in the background as he shares about his parents, his life, living close to the World Trade Center on 9/11, personal grief and falling in love again.

Being of a “certain age” this book included many songs that could be included in the soundtrack of my own life and, although loath to admit it, I have enjoyed one or two Corona fueled karaoke performances myself, so this was a fun read.

Top Seven:

 

Autobiography by Morrissey

This book gets the #1 spot even though actually I haven’t finished it yet. I figure you can only read a book for the first time once and I want to savor it. My girlfriend keeps all three copies we own locked in a trunk so that I won’t tear through it.

 

It is so rare that I can include human interest in this list! My girlfriend reads one copy while the other lies in readiness.

 

Turn Around Bright Eyes by Rob Sheffield

I wrote a long review here. This is a memoir about karaoke and true love.

 

Ziggyology: A Brief History of Ziggy Stardust by Simon Goddard

The author has some odd ideas, and the first 90 pages are about kabuki theater and the origin of the universe, but this is a really cool book. The conceit is that David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona was like a real person taking over Bowie’s life. There are a lot of crazy coincidences that will blow your mind. My favorite parts were 1) when Bowie finally saw the Velvet Underground live and then met Lou Reed but it turned out it wasn’t really Lou Reed at all 2) everything about Marc Bolan; he is presented as David Bowie’s doppelganger who is trying to sabotage him. Also there are some very nice photos, and the book design is gorgeous.

The cover

 

Wired Up: Glam, Proto Punk & Bubblegum European Picture Sleeves 1970-1976. ed by Mary Blount and Jeremy Thompson

A collection of insanely cool &/or indescribably weird ‘70s album covers, beautifully laid out art-book style. The pages open flat. There are some interesting short essays and interviews too. A few well-known bands are included, but the criteria is just distinctive European album cover art from a time when people would buy records based on what the sleeve looked like. My girlfriend gave me this book for Chuannukah which was great because it was something I really wanted but never would have gotten for myself.

So my girlfriend has learned how to have lucid dreams, and the next frontier is for me to mentally send her a picture while she is sleeping, which we both know is impossible but it’s fun to try. I used an image from this book for one of the pictures. This practice is very restful for me because when I wake up in the middle of the night instead of worrying about one thing and another, I can just think, “Red background, two glam Asian girls with long hair in kimono-style minidresses and silver knee high go go boots, Ride Captain Ride.” Then sometimes I fall right back to sleep.

Bowie: Album by Album by Paolo Hewitt

I debated with myself over whether or not to include this because I haven’t really read it yet, just looked at the pictures, so I wasn’t sure if it counted as a book I’ve read. Last year I didn’t include David Bowie Styles in my Best of 2012 because I only looked at the pictures. But I decided that I did read this in a coffee-table-book kind of way, even though this is more than a coffee table book. It’s just lovely.

 

Calling Dr. Laura by Nicole Georges

Fun, touching, lesbian, Portlandish graphic novel about a young woman finding out that her father is alive even though her mother said he was dead.

 

The Lost Daughter by Mary Williams

A memoir about growing up poor in a chaotic, neglectful family while her Black Panther father was imprisoned. One bright spot was going to a posh summer camp run by Jane Fonda. Mary confided in Jane Fonda about how she had been sexually assaulted, and Jane Fonda adopted her (in every sense except legally.) Mary had many adventures including working in Antarctica and running a non-profit for Sudanese “lost boys,” and then finally reconnected with her biological family. I felt there was something missing, a sense of the writer being able to sum up her whole life so far and say what it was all about, but I didn’t really care because it was interesting.

 

What Else?

 

Walden on Wheels: On the Open Road From Debt to Freedom by Ken Ilgunas

Kid pays off his college debt in three years by working in grim conditions in Alaska, then decides he can get through grad school with no debt if he lives in his van, and learns what freedom and autonomy really are.

 

After Visiting Friends by Michael Hainey

There was always some mystery surrounding Hainey’s father’s death, so Hainey finally decided to use his journalistic skills to uncover the truth. 

 

American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics by Dan Savage

You don’t have to agree with Dan Savage on everything to like this book. The parts that I remember best are when he has the head of the National Organization for Marriage over to his house for dinner so he can debate him, and the heartbreaking part when his mom dies.

 

Next Up: my favorite part! Best of 1913, and bonus 1813 and 2113!

I laughed, I cried. This book was a real tonic for me. (Results not guaranteed for you.)

I loved Rob Sheffield’s previous memoir, Love Is a Mix Tape, which was all about his first wife and all the mix tapes they made and her death. This one starts right where the last one left off. Love Is A Mix Tape had a very low-key style and comic touch that made it seem fluffy and lightweight even though it was about being widowed (widowered?), but then it haunted me (in a good way) and I ended up re-reading it a couple times. So this time I was prepared for Turn Around Bright Eyes to be kind of a sleeper! I feel like these are both books it’s easy to underrate, precisely because they’re charming.

The topic of the book is karaoke and how it helped the writer get in touch with his feelings, creativity, and true nature. This was funny for me because my girlfriend just did this project about how playing the drums helped her get in touch with her feelings, creativity, and true nature, so it seemed strangely familiar. If you think karaoke is a thin topic for a book, you’re right, but it is really just a jumping off point. So there’s also a lot of other stuff in the book that’s just tangentially related but interesting, like about his father or how he learned to not hate the band Rush. I identified with the writer because I also can’t sing. He explains it, “I have loved music all my life and as they say you always hurt the one you love.”

Actually, I’m going to let the writer explain what this book is really about: “The happy chapter of my life was over, and the world had run out of surprises. But it turned out my life was just beginning.” “There’s no future without tears. Are you really setting your hopes on not getting hurt at all? You think that’s an option?” “When you chew your way out a steel trap, you don’t return for a receipt.” “Nobody knows if your present mood is just your present mood—-maybe it’s not a mood, maybe it won’t end.” “Once again, I get scared of overdoing, and then end up finding out overdoing is the only thing to do.” “I was lucky to get a second chance. I thought I was too late, but it turns out I was just in time.” “At any moment, a song can come out of nowhere to shake you up, jump-start your emotions, ruin your life.” There, that’s clear, right?

My favorite chapters were:
-Chapter 3, Sing Your Life, because he lays out the whole point of the book in it.
-Chapter 4, Work It, which has a great description of Greenpoint, Brooklyn where the writer lived on Eckford Street, because I lived there for six years. Also sometime later he talks about Foodswings. Yay, best vegan food in the borough!
-Chapter 7, Crazy In Love, which was about microphones. Because he runs down who looks good with a mic, talks about the first time he ever saw the thing where the singer turns the mic into the crowd (it was Joe Strummer from the Clash); just fun stuff.
-Chapter 8, Rebel Yell, because it was about rock stars singing karaoke. It made me think of a picture I recently saw of the guy from Sparks singing his own hit song at karaoke in Japan, and a part in David Byrne’s Bicycle Diaries where he’s in Manila and someone tries to get him to sing Burning Down The House at karaoke but he’s taken aback and won’t do it.
-Chapter 13, Rock and Roll Fantasy, because it was about Sheffield taking part in an expensive fantasy rock band camp where he played the tambourine and it was alternately hilarious and heartbreaking. Also, whenever Sheffield meets a rock star, he overthinks it and decides to compliment them on their little-known song or band, which sometimes makes them happy but sometimes does not, and that was really funny. I get the strong impression that Rob Sheffield is a nice guy, not an asshole like rock journalists are supposed to be.
-Chapter 16, Debaser. Because this is where he meets his future second wife, an astrophysicist by day, college radio DJ by night. It’s very sweet. “I’m not sure how long it took for the Smiths to come up, but it was under two minutes.” He asks her what her favorite Pavement album is, and when she says Wowie Zowie, he decides he doesn’t have a chance with her because he’s a Slanted & Enchanted kind of guy. Then he’s eating dinner with her and some friends and they talk about the top 5 hottest guys in rock, and based on her answers I think I fancy her too.
-Chapter 26, Ziggy Stardust. Because, duh!
-My least favorite chapter was the one about Rod Stewart because: blech, do not like Rod Stewart.

I also found his depiction of NYC shortly after September 11 more true to life than anything I’ve ever seen in print. I guess that just means his perspective was more similar to my own than other stuff I read. Actually, because the book is not chronological, he started by just saying that he moved to Greenpoint from the Financial District in 2002, and I thought, “Oh great, he is not going to discuss September 11th at all, it’s just understood; how tasteful and humane of him.” But then he did later, however it was still tasteful and humane. I really liked his description of going to his first show downtown in a smelly venue after September 11. With me it was the Moldy Peaches at the Mercury Lounge in November 2001 and they vowed they were never going to play “New York City’s Like a Graveyard” again. (I wonder if they did or not?)

Lots of little things were very funny, like he stored cassette tapes in his oven, or how when he was a college librarian he kept secretly erasing the overdue fines (for a book named Sexual Unfolding) of a girl he had a crush on. Other times I wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not. Did Neil Diamond really have a conveyer belt that rotated him around the stage when he played at the Garden? Is life really that strange?

Where did I get this book: As soon as I learned of its existence, I put it on hold at the library. I was prepared to wait, even though there were a few people ahead of me and the book was still on order. But then, I was walking through Grand Central Terminal. . . and suddenly I could not resist. I walked into Posman Books as though pulled in by a tractor beam and walked straight up to the information desk. I did something I never do, the humiliating “I don’t remember the name of the book or the author’s name, but his other book is called. . .” thing. The clerk didn’t even have to look it up, he just smirked at me and pointed out how it was on the table right behind me. But why shouldn’t he have a little satisfaction in his life? I spent $28 on this book! I didn’t even use my one-time 20% discount because I always think I’ll need it more later. Anyway, it was worth every penny. Also just a PSA that bookstores still exist and you can in fact buy your books there.

Book design: The cover, whatever. But the interior is delightful! Each chapter heading has a drawing of a mic, and each one is different. The chapter headings all begin on the right side of the page, so if the previous chapter ends on a right-hand page, then the microphone cable is stringing all the way across the left-hand side of the page which is otherwise blank. (This will all make sense when you see it.) Very cool!

What other book is this like? It’s kind of the lite version of How Music Works by David Byrne.

Theme song: This is silly, when the whole book is itself a big playlist, but I’m going to say Destination Greenpoint by the Fleshtones.

I’m a nerd who was raised by the worst kind of nerds: music nerds. My parents pretty much raised me on music: my dad’s an entrenched singer-songwriter fan, and my mom will appreciate anything that she thinks is good; their marriage is backed with a soundtrack full of Springsteen and U2 and Dave Matthews and various other cuts. Me, I ended up with a healthy appreciation for all kinds of music, over 80 gigs of music on my computer and a rather worrying attachment to my iPod. (Considering my mental bluescreen whenever it decides to wipe itself.) So it’s really no surprise that I tend to get more attached to books that really utilize music. They don’t have to be about musicians or bands or singers, and I’ve found the books about music fans are the ones I respond to best. (This is also why that High Fidelity counts as one of my favorite movies. Well, that and John Cusack.) Enter Rob Sheffield. I picked up his debut memoir Love is a Mixtape shortly after it came out, and I’ve been a fan of his writing since. (His column is one of the few things I continue to actually read in Rolling Stone.) His brand of music nerdery responds a lot to mine wherein we just love music, okay? Sure there’s bad and good, but if you connect to it, then that’s what matters, right? So all that said. Turn Around Bright Eyes* is the proper follow-up to Love is a Mixtape, detailing the years of Sheffield’s widower life to him meeting his current wife. Like his other books, he uses a facet of the music fan to tell the story; from mix tapes to top ten lists and now karaoke. It’s not just the fact that karaoke brought him and his wife together, it’s what the idea of karaoke is about—getting up on stage and making a damn fool of yourself. And if that’s not a great metaphor for life, then I don’t know what is.Sheffield is a fantastic writer. I’ve actually been waffling on my recommendations of this book because you don’t have to read Love is a Mixtape before going into this, because Sheffield’s able to communicate his grief so well. Having read the first book does help with the full emotional weight of the first half of Turn Around… but you can go into this book without knowing the full details of Sheffield’s first marriage. And the first half of the book is fantastic. There’s a line in the first few chapters where Sheffield talks about living in New York City circa late 2001, about how he can’t escape death and mourning. And it’s through slowly escalating journeys away from all of that death that he begins to find himself again. My one issue with the book, though, is that it’s disjointed at points. I’m used to Sheffield going off and music nerding for a chapter or two; he’s done it in his previous books. However, the structure of Turn Around… doesn’t quite gel together. The first half was great, and while I like the other chapters dealing specifically with the workings of karaoke and karaoke performing—trust me, they’re really good too—structurally it doesn’t work. There’s one chapter just on rock-and-roll fantasy camps that doesn’t quite fit the rest of the book; it’s good but it feels weird to bring into a book about karaoke. (Not helping is the very overt mention that Sheffield went to the camp on a Rolling Stone assignment that got shelved.) There’s really not a lot of exploration with him meeting his current wife or their relationship—we get the details of their meeting and wry observations on Sheffield’s anxiety of being a boyfriend, but there’s a sharp cut to their engagement and no real examination of the relationship itself. I really wanted to see more of that in here.Still, it’s a great book. It manages to be funny and touching and sweet without dwelling on the grief or making it overly saccharine. And even the disjointed, music nerdery parts are still really good reads on their own (see the essays on the trajectory of “Don’t Stop Believing” and “Livin’ on a Prayer” as karaoke anthems and Neil Diamond as proto-karaoke superstar). Sheffield’s books are a must for music fans, and this is a definite addition to my library. *I dare you to read that title and not burst out singing**. You can’t do it.**every now and then I fall apaaaaart…****** IN GERMAN!