The karaoke machine is much more than an instrument which allows us to be a star for three minutes. The contributors to this lively collection address the importance of karaoke within Japanese culture and its spread to other parts of the world, exploring the influence of karaoke in such different societies as the United Kingdom, North America, Italy, Sweden, Korea and Brazil. They also consider the nature of the karaoke experience, which involves people as singers, co-singers and listeners.
Author(s): Toru Mitsui
Edition: 1
Year: 1998
Language: English
Pages: 224
BOOK COVER......Page 1
HALF-TITLE......Page 2
TITLE......Page 4
COPYRIGHT......Page 5
CONTENTS......Page 6
FIGURES......Page 8
TABLES......Page 9
CONTRIBUTORS......Page 10
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 12
Towards an ethnography of everyday singing......Page 14
Karaoke questions that nobody wanted to ask......Page 15
A selected survey of karaoke literature......Page 16
Singing digitally......Page 21
Micro-Jack-in-the-box......Page 23
Mimesis and identity......Page 25
The personalization of technology......Page 26
Possessed by a microphone: karaoke discourses in Japan......Page 28
Fitness discourse......Page 29
Socialization discourse......Page 30
Culturalist discourse......Page 31
Making money with karaoke......Page 32
About this book......Page 34
References......Page 35
Part I......Page 40
Karaoke......Page 42
Pre-karaoke days......Page 44
The prototype of karaoke......Page 47
The definition of karaoke......Page 50
Later development......Page 52
REFERENCES......Page 53
The early karaoke scene......Page 56
The karaoke box stage......Page 58
Power over the pop charts......Page 59
Flow and stock of popular songs......Page 62
Notes......Page 64
References......Page 65
Introduction......Page 66
A karaoke coffee shop in the afternoon......Page 69
Characteristics of middle-aged and older women who like karaoke......Page 71
Gender in enka lyrics sung by women......Page 76
Musical characteristics of karaoke enka......Page 81
‘On’na no Shigure’......Page 83
‘On’na no Ryoka’......Page 84
‘Chindo Monogatari’......Page 85
How to sing enka songs and express the lyrics......Page 87
References......Page 90
Part II......Page 92
Introduction......Page 94
Karaoke in the United Kingdom......Page 95
Performance......Page 96
Music......Page 97
The pub......Page 100
The music hall......Page 102
Working men’s clubs......Page 103
Historical continuity......Page 104
Metaphorical karaoke......Page 107
Notes......Page 109
References......Page 111
Prologue......Page 112
A rock concert where you are the star: the introduction of karaoke in Italy......Page 114
A singing country: the making of a national passion......Page 116
Radio, TV and open-air contests in post-war Italy......Page 118
Karaoke as highly ritualized loisir: some theoretical hypotheses......Page 119
Domestic vs. foreign songs: an analysis of karaoke playlists......Page 122
NOTES......Page 124
REFERENCES......Page 126
Interactivity......Page 128
A mixed and polystratic genre......Page 129
Karaoke made in Sweden......Page 132
‘My Way’: an illustrative example......Page 135
Between beaches and barren mountains......Page 137
Gaps open for interpretive acts......Page 140
References......Page 143
Part III......Page 146
Walking around Liberdade......Page 148
Karaoke arrives in Brazil......Page 150
The singing contest......Page 151
Competition as a device for equality and distinction......Page 153
The way of karaoke......Page 156
Disciplined amateur......Page 157
Beyond the language barrier?......Page 159
Child singers......Page 161
‘A real carnival’......Page 164
Conclusion......Page 166
Notes......Page 169
References......Page 172
8 THE KARAOKE DILEMMA......Page 174
Differing reactions to karaoke......Page 175
Karaoke’s violation of the Anglo-American quest for privacy in public space privacy in public space......Page 177
The tension between collectivism and individualism in the karaoke space......Page 180
Conclusion......Page 182
References......Page 183
9 KARAOKE IN EAST ASIA......Page 186
Taiwan: from movie room to karaoke box......Page 187
Hong Kong: singing in Cantonese......Page 189
China: a sign for a new era......Page 190
Viet Nam: pirate karaoke......Page 192
Korea: against Japanism......Page 193
Okinawa: from juke-box to karaoke......Page 195
Karaoke as cultural technology......Page 198
Modernization, Japanization and Asianization......Page 200
Re-made in Asia......Page 203
Karaoke and ‘Asian’ pop......Page 204
Conclusion......Page 205
Notes......Page 206
References......Page 207
INDEX......Page 210
