On July 8, I’ll take off for Thrillerfest, the annual gathering of thriller writers and fans held at the Grand Hyatt in NYC. It’s always a blast to catch up with writer friends and fans (many come back from year to year). There are many events over the three-day conference and to keep it running smoothly takes the help of lots of generous volunteers. 126 in fact. I know this because I’m scheduling them! It’s fun to try to match up folks to the things they’re interested in–readers with writers, writers who are fans of other writers. It’s all good, but frantic!
So I needed a little break tonight. We have kids, so we have an Xbox. And Xbox Karaoke Revolution arrived in the mail this week. Now, I’ve never Karaoke’d in my life. Not in a bar. Not anywhere. And I hear that the Xbox version is not real Karaoke. But it works for me!
I went last, of course. I made a character named Lindsay who wore a sweet pink twinset and some wicked cropped jeans and pink heels. And I perused the songs…too many choices, but lots of familiar tunes.
What did I pick? It was no contest.
Tainted Love, by Ed Cobb
(Soft Cell’s 1981 version)
Sometimes I feel I’ve got to
Run away I’ve got to
Get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I’ve lost my light
For I toss and turn I can’t sleep at night
(chorus)
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now I’ll run from you
This tainted love you’ve given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that’s not nearly all
Oh…tainted love
Tainted love
Now I know I’ve got to
Run away I’ve got to
Get away
You don’t really want IT any more from me
To make things right
You need someone to hold you tight
And you’LL think love is to pray
But I’m sorry I don’t pray that way
(chorus…)
Don’t touch me please
I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you though you hurt me so
Now I’m going to pack my things and go
Tainted love, tainted love (x2)
Touch me baby, tainted love (x2)
Tainted love (x3)
My score? 100,000. Perfect score! Yes. Perfect! No one was more surprised than I was. My secret? Definitely the pink heels. It wouldn’t even have been possible to do it better with beer. 😉
I would rather stand there and sing all night long, verses having to give a public presentation speach.
Karaoke is something we all have got to get used to, the first few times in a bar will scare the hell out of you, then you realize, hey I can do this and am not half bad.The secret is knowing where your voice can and can’t go. You will then pick your songs from your vocal knowledge.
Watch the booze, it will mess with the vocal cords,and of course your rhythm.
You stop spreading your vile untruths about beer!!! It ALWAYS makes karaoke better!
Oh, when are we hanging out???
I’ve only done karaoke once, a very sad moment in which I cracked and sang Ruby Tuesday. I like the Soft Cell choice way better — although never would I have gotten a 100! As for beer, it would have been necessary for my listeners and for me given the pain of hearing my own voice. I’m going to remember the tip about the pink heels. Have fun at Thriller Fest!