The one with all the singing

It's almost two weeks since Garry tagged me in the Karaoke Meme. So without further delay I had better sing for my supper as it were.

I've known for a long time I couldn't sing. You may have had a teacher that told you to mime during your nativity play, I was the one that the Kop Choir were shushing when singing You'll Never Walk Alone.

As I got older, my vocal talents haven't improved. But just occasionally, the shell has cracked. In fact I can tell you all three times that I have stood up in front of a crowd and sang to them. And the one thing they all have in common is that I was never alone.

The first time I was persuaded was after a healthy game of badminton. There were four of us who played regularly on a Tuesday and then traditionally went and had a pint or two and a kebab. One week we ventured into a pub where a friend of ours was DJing. A rare combination of dehydration from the badminton, alcohol, and being in a new pub where I was a relative stranger, along with a couple of mates who wouldn't let me live it down if I didn't get up and sing, all came together in a cacophony of sound. I think it sounded something nothing like this.



 Enter Mrs S. When we first met, we regularly went out on a Monday night to her local pub which had a karaoke night. In fact, all her friends as well as her, were well into the karaoke scene. She had entered a couple of competitions and got through to a final or two. No pressure on Tone (Deaf) Loc then. In fact it was one of those karaokes where there were certain regulars who sang the same song every time and deliberately stared at the ceiling to prove they knew the words (yes Keiko we all know the words to I Will Survive). I eventually capitulated and agreed to do a duet with Mrs S. But I had to make sure that everybody knew we were taking the proverbial. So as Mrs S sang the opening words, the DJ whispered to me, "You do know she is singing the John Travolta part?"



Both of those excursions into public performance took place in the early to mid 90's and I managed to avoid the temptation until a night out with my brother less than two years ago. We went to a pub near to my home that was having a comedy night and the whisper was that Jason Manford was doing a warm up for his theatre tour that night. Turned out he was so we ended staying and drinking much later than we expected. After the comedians had finished, singers were invited to warble once again. My brother chose a Simple Minds classic and I couldn't resist the opportunity to sing with my brother.  There was only one choice.



So that's my entire Karaoke back catalogue. But what is next for a man of my experience? Well if there is to be a next time, I might just go it alone and belt out a bit of Diamond.



So I'm supposed to pass the baton on. I'm sure Pete at Just thought I'd Mention will put some thought into this.