Oh well.
I felt compelled to go out tonight.
Sure it was snowing, sure the roads were slippery, but I don't get many opportunities to get out so I headed to the Mad Hatter.
The radio said it was going to get warmer as the night would get on, so I figured I was safe.
I arrived at the Mad Hatter surprised to see the crowd was pretty large and yes, SHE was there. Still, I sat away from her. She was surrounded anyway. I first sat next to a guy who was a bit too obnoxious for my liking. He was one of them guys who chats up strangers asking dumb questions about karaoke and he grabbed my book of songs to boot.
Oh, well, I moved to a table with another book so I wouldn't have my back to the stage.
My singing?
Well, I wanted my first song to be one I was strong at and chose Squeeze "Black Coffee In Bed". One of my "go to" songs to figure out how strong my voice will be, plus the red head likes the 80's songs. I liked how it went so I got gutsier with my second choice.
Here's the vintage 80's video for the song.
And is there anyone more gutsy for a natural baritone to try than Curtis Mayfield? Well, I can do falsetto so, yeahhhhhh. "Freddie's Dead" is one of those songs I have always wanted to do. My friend Bucky, turned me on to the song a decade ago. I've done "Superfly" but it always seemed insulting for a white guy to do the song. Anyway, I did better than expected, in my opinion at least.
I found a clip of Curtis Mayfield in his early 70's glory singing the song in a studio. It's a little different than the single version of the song.
So, yeah, I'm a very obsessive person in regards to singing songs I haven't done and seen before. The Waterboys were a group from the 80's that had limited success in the US. Therefore, I had never seen any of their songs at the karaoke places I go to. They kinda have an Irish folk quality to them with a lot of fiddle action. One of their more notable songs is "The Whole Of The Moon" an upbeat tempo song about a girl who is at first optimistic but descends into madness. that may explain why the object of my crush went to the bathroom. I love the video, in its U2/Police like cinematography.
It's near Christmas so I have taken the opportunity to sing the "rockin" Christmas songs in which there is only two.
One of them is "Father Christmas" by the Kinks. It has great righteous anger and is relevant to today's economy. The video of the song sucks but the sound's good.
Whoaaaaa, Isthmus be my lucky day because a song I've been wanting to for at least 6 years in in the song book. Porno For Pyros was a short lived band that Perry Farrel formed after Jane's Addiction broke up. They had one big hit called "Pets". I took it on full force not caring that he last time I did a Perry Farrrell sung song "Caught Stealing", I butchered it more than Hormel does pigs in a year. I didn't exactly become a vegan with "Pets", but I know I would do it better with more practice. I forgot how weird the video was when I searched for it. The female bodybuilders, ewwww.
Finally, I did yet another song I hadn't done before. This one by a man who is very limited with his vocal abilities. I'm talking 'bout you, Ringo Starr! Anyway, back in the 70's, he sang a lot of songs that were written by a guy named Richard Starkey. Starkey wrote a few songs for the Beatles like "Octopus Garden" and "Don't Pass Me By" and It's like the guy knew exactly what Ringo would be able to handle. He really got inside Ringo's head.
One of Ringo's solo songs Starkey wrote was "Oh My My", a boogie woogie type song done at the time when Ringo hung out with T-Rex's Marc Bolan. I did the song pretty good, it wasn't hard. I wish there was a vintage video or clip. It was a choice between concert footage recorded on a cell phone or still photos done to the original single. I opted for the latter.
Anyway, the snow turned to rain. I didn't get any further with the red head but I DID get the attention of her blonde friend who said I rock.
right on.
Anyway, I was hungry. Tuesdays meant that I would go to the Windmill hot dog place and get a hamburger.
They are open very late. 3AM! It's around the block from Jack's but a bit out of the way from Mathatters, but I like talking to the guy who works there. He's a fan of comic books and The Venture Brothers starring my buddy Miggy as Professor Venture. As I walked in, lo and behold, but who walks out but HER! I said "hi!" in that nervous way that that revealed my awkwardness. I tried to cover up by saying "Wow, man you already started my burger even before I got to the door!" I think that was me trying to impress her about how I was down with the guy who worked there.
sigh.
She walked out the door into the night and I settled in talking comic book movies with a guy who I see every week and I don't know his name.
But here's the thing, he knows mine. I never gave it. How did he get it....
hmmm....?
Good night everybody!
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