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Karaoke
Is Okey-Dokey for “Coast DJ” Ireland
Blame it on
your no good, cheatin’ Now, that’s a mouthful, dear readers. My own karaoke experiences have been rather uninteresting—except when Georgie dragged me along with her, of course. Still, I was curious to see if the phenomenon—which originated among Japanese businessmen about 20 years ago—was showing any signs of tapering off. A good history is available at karaokescene.com/history. I stopped by Snapperhead’s on 30A on a Wednesday night around 11:30 and was horrified by some of what I heard, not the least of which was my own D.O.A. rendition of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that karaoke audiences are uncommonly kind to their fellow wannabes, maybe because they know they’ll be in the hot seat soon enough. Emerald Coast DJ & Videography’s Shannon Ireland (coastdj.com) hosts regular karaoke gigs at the 30A hot spot as well as the 3Thirty1 Bar on Sundays. He’s been in the game for a decade and says karaoke has gotten even more popular. “Just about every bar in Panama City has it,” he adds, suggesting that perhaps the rest of the Emerald Coast needs to wake up and join the modern world. Indeed, Ireland must be doing something right if a real musician like Dread Clampitt’s Kyle Ogle is willing to get up on that little stage and belt out a kick-ass version of I’m a Ramblin’ Man. “I never sang karaoke in my life,” Ogle tells me afterwards. But when he found his favorite Waylon Jennings song in Ireland’s book, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. “You wouldn’t think people would want to get up and do it front of everybody, but there’s one lady that comes to every one of my things. She’s at almost every show,” Ireland says. She’s sitting by herself at the bar reading a copy of The Beachcomber between her bold attempts at Cher’s Believe and the Barry Manilow oldie Copacabana. While the woman avoids the campy interpretations the songs beg for, I admire her dedication. Those song choices are hardly typical, Ireland says. “I don’t know if it’s easier to sing or what, but karaoke is definitely country oriented. Redneck Woman is huge,” Ireland says. Indeed, a young woman treated the Snapperhead’s crowd to a rousing rendition—“Hell, YEAH!”—indicating that Gretchen Wilson’s song would make the revised all-time top ten list (see sidebar). “At the beginning of the night, I’ll have to sing 20 songs. My favorites to sing are Hank Jr., George Jones, and David Allan Coe.” Besides warming up the crowd with his creditable vocal skills, Ireland’s duties include “getting people into it and excited, having a ball! Just making sure everyone gets to do it. If someone new comes in, I’ll get them up there. I have to keep it organized.” The karaoke ringmaster also works in a few wall-rattling dance numbers between karaoke songs. While his karaoke show is always in high demand, Ireland finds time to DJ at weddings and school dances. “What’s funny is when I DJ’d at Crestview High School. I thought they’d want top-20 stuff, but they wanted me to rock the place! They wanted old Zeppelin, AC/DC, Guns and Roses, stuff like that. It’s not what I had in mind, but I was prepared.” Ireland has also added videography, mainly weddings and corporate-related, to his expanding list of services offered. Despite the younger crowd’s affection for classic rock, Ireland has to keep his songbook updated constantly with backing track CDs that cost anywhere from 20 to 40 bucks a pop. Recent additions include rap songs like Snoop Dogg’s Drop It Like It’s Hot and the latest chartbusters from Eminem and Gwen Stefani. “I need more Eagles and Jimmy Buffet,” Ireland says. “But I have a pretty good selection.” So what’s the coolest thing you’ve ever seen at a karaoke night? “Besides the nudity?” Ireland laughs. “One time this boy—I guess he was a spring breaker—sang Copacabana, and this couple got up on stage with him. He was doing these great moves while they were up there dancing. It was a really good show.” Meanwhile, I keep flashing back to the first night I sang karaoke with Georgianna O’Connor. We did a duet of Ring of Fire and for three minutes and twenty seconds, it seemed like we were the only two people in that crowded bar. Except for the guy who was booing really loud. SIDEBAR: Top 10 Karaoke
Songs 1. I Will
Survive. Made famous by disco diva Gloria Gaynor in 1979, this
anthem was revived by Jim Carrey-as-Andy Kaufman-as-Tony Clifton
in Milos Forman’s film Man on the Moon. |
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Georgianna
O’Connor was the greatest karaoke singer I ever knew. She
could nail the old Hank Snow tongue twister I’ve Been Everywhere
like you wouldn’t believe. (You may know the song from Johnny
Cash’s Unchained CD, featured in television commercials
for Choice Hotels.) I tried to tackle this impossible song about
a year ago at a bar in Crestview with unsurprisingly disastrous
results. Georgie girl was something special, though—a breath
of fresh air in a world populated with bad Hank Williams, Jr.
and Axl Rose imitators. She could warble Loretta Lynn tunes like
Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ with Lovin’ on Your
Mind, her own painful experiences overshadowing any hidden desire
to emulate the country legend. Another standout in Georgie’s
repertoire was the tricky Blame It on Your Heart—written
by the legendary Harlan Howard and popularized by Patty Loveless:
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