message to the planet has rather been taken over by the
karaoke marathon that you may have come across during my muti-media advertising campaign to raise sponsorship.
Perhaps it's just as well. Not much else happened in May: I had arguments with Estate Agents, my kid sister bossed me about, and I tried to raise Council Tax funds from the good Citizenry of Islington.....again.
to-
Mom & Dad
Leila & Curtis
Mo & Po
Duncan & Lynn
Bill & Ewa
Gary Marson
Dr Andy
Dr Ian
Richard Sharp
Catherine Hine
Lisa Hughes
Rachael M.
Lesley Kelly
Suzanne Leach
Julie Wilkinson
Helen Giles
Helen Lawrence
Bridget Gwilliam
Martin & Julia
Fi
Uncle Tom Cobleigh
The Reeves family
Nula at the Hospice
Islington Revenues:
Pat S, Simon R,
Iain B, Louis M,
Emine A, Mike F
Geraldine B
Elizabeth A, Sharon
B, Jackie G, Margaret D, Inez R
Joyce U, Karen V,
Janice, Matt R,
Barbara Y, Sean L,
Rajni A, Julie, Andriana P, Katherine, Gabriella S, Diana, Imran, Albina, Colin, Tony M, Dez, Jon M, Kevin R, Tracey R,
David R, Stuart K, Jenny, Val, Michelle,Peter L
John A, Hilary F,
Bruce W, Maureen
and Tessa P
L!berata:
Richard Knight
Richard Guichard
Martin Jordan
Jon Perry
Kerry Greenfield
Kevin Cummins
Rehna Valydon
Tracey Plumb
Jo Wood
FSS:
Matt & Lucy
Andy Tatman
Tony Hanley
Chris Moynghan
Kerry
John Slaughter
for your generosity
in sponsoring me for this rather silly event! Thanks for letting me cajole you into it.
was it only me that did that?).When that world meets in head on collision with the
faintly ridiculous universe of karaoke however, no-one could be exactly sure what could come from such a venture.
So, rather like putting a team of chimpanzees in front of a word processor, something worthwhile was
Perhaps the event didn't have the most auspicious start. We had an audience of none as we kicked off with "Back in the USSR". After shouting "Hello London" and "Privyet Sverdlovsk" to the rafters, everyone quicky realised that whilst the chorus was embedded somewhere in our collective memory, the melody of the verse elluded us completely.
It wasn't the only time that happened, but once I got away with it. I was nominated to sing Volare at one point, and despite really only knowing the melody of about a quarter of it, no-one really noticed as the Italian lyrics became increasingly easy to make a tune up to, and I became more and more operatic as the song progressed....even ending with the first couple of lines from Nessun Dorma. No-one seemed to twig. Or care. One or the other.
In large part we rejoiced in our differing vocal styles and abilities- I tried to keep to slower standards, and I think I stayed in tune more often than not.
I had a good shot at Like a Rolling Stone, although I couldn't resist doing a Dylan impression in the middle of it. This may have contributed to my prize of a bottle of vodka for being the most entertaining performer . Note the word "entertaining" not best- Steve Inman and Alex Palmer stood several heads and shoulders above the rest of us in terms of ability, but we soon adapted to our place, and it didn't really seem to matter, even though sometimes our communal singing sounded like something Schoenberg had written.
As with many marathon attempts, we urged each other on to get to the end in one piece. Catherine, Ilia, Marysia and I opted to do the full 24 hour hours, and whilst we sometimes felt as though we were plodding eternally trough the Isle of Dogs, we became determined to end in a blaze of glory in the Mall. Catherine, for whom we must give the credit for conceiving of and organising the event was heard to mutter "I'm going to master this song if it kills me" as the end approached.
So did he.......
Maybe I am being unfair- the time did seem to fly, but having a go at American Pie was always going to kill an hour or two. At one point I did fear that Amnesty International were going to start a letter-writing campaign to secure our release, but it all ended happily enough, with our audience expanding infinitely (to one) as we croaked our way through that hymn to selfishness- My Way.
And I didn't even get arrested for singing Stairway to Heaven.
10cc, Abba, Alison Moyet, the Animals, the Bangles (and Atomic Kitten) Barbara Streisand, Beautiful South, Ben E King, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan,Bryan Adams, the Byrds, the Carpenters, the executors of John Lennon, The Pogues, Cliff Richard (although my "Living Doll was OK), Corner Shop, David Bowie, David Gray, Don Mclean, Elton John, Elvis Presley (the King lives..), Eric Clapton, the late Eva Cassidy, Fleetwood Mac (especially to Stevie Nicks- "Dreams" may only have two chords, but I couldn't sing it) Frank Sinatra.three quarters of Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Nat King Cole, Oasis, the Platters, Pulp, Queen, Ralph Mctell, REM, Roy Orbison, especially to Van Morrison for "Brown Eyed Girl" ,but thanks to the Verve. Sometimes the drugs do work.