Music:       
              Some Great San Diego Karaoke Singers.
                      My Musical Friends at Woo's
                                                                     
                                                Sheraton La Jolla Shooters Lounge     Most Sundays: 6-10 

      Warning:   SATURDAYS, 7:30 -11pm can be quite noisy sometimes...
      The hotel manager has allowed "intoxicated guests" staying at the hotel  to talk very
      loudly right in front of the singer.  This may make it hard to comfortably hear the singers.
      Sadly, it can then become a noise "war" between them and the karaoke sound system.

                       Ennis and Deborah         Calvin         Preacher and Debbie      Maria and JC       Dr. Mark
                 Chuy and Mimi       Lori       Lana      Rock and Roll Mike      Da Vida        Clemencia and Allen
                 Jimmy     Miss Dale       Jeffrey       Pat      Mary Lee      Uncle Rick       Denise      Johnny C
                 Tommy     Jonathon       Rocky        May and Avin      Jerome      Lori II      Rick and Miss Woo
                 Linda K     Everett     Wild William
                     
                                            
     San Diego's Answer To Scowling Simon Cowell
        Also "The Origins of  Some Songs May Surpise You"   "Song Stealers and Musical Plagiarism"
                                                         "My Wish List for Lady Singers"

                                                                Updated   1/5/2012

               Last weekend I met a man, Mike, from Portsmouth, NH at Woo's Karaoke show in La Jolla.
               He works for the Navy and travels everywhere in the US and the UK where the US Navy
               has ships to repair and weld.  He used to be in a band and loves to sing Karaoke wherever
               he's sent.  I had seen him this Summer and asked then where he thought was the best place in
               the world he's gone to sing and listen to others sing really well.  At the time, he mentioned a
               place in Virginia Beach.  This time he said, "No question about it.  Woo's right here is the best. 
               The venue and the singers are number 1". 

               A few days later, I made the mistake of listening to FOX's Simon Cowell again on his glitzy
               X-Factor show.  It didn't take Simon more than 2 minutes to once more use the word "Karaoke"
               as a categorical pejorative.  His ultimate "put-down" of an inadequate performance is to
               call it "Karaoke quality".   He's always done this in all his shows. 

               What crap!  I realized that he's as ignorant as he is arrogant; no mean feat, that. Why do Americans
               have to listen to rude Englishmen judging American talent shows anyway?  Why did Piers Morgan
               replace Larry King?  One answer is because FOX and CNN want the broad mass of Americans  
               to feel inferior and deferential to their betters.  That way the 1% can better control the 99%. 
               Too cynical? Well maybe.  Another reason Simon gets away with his elitist snobbery is because
               that he and the media are trying to make his shows seem to have singers of such a lofty
               standard that it is quite unreachable for regular, everyday people to attain, unless they
               have Simon's God-like guidance and approval.  What a croc!  He's a wanna-be English aristocrat 
               carving out his own empire using patronizing put-downs to bully the natives. 

                                      Fox has a lot to learn about respecting ordinary people.
              
                  
                Sadistic Simon's Scowling       on Rupert Murdoch's Fox Network of "Lies for Profits".

.               Simon's favorite insights: "What the hell was that? A new form of torture?"
                "You sounded like you were being strangled." or "It was like one of those ghastly parties where
                the parents make their child get up and sing. And then in the end you  want to tell the child to 'shut up'.
                It was just 'horrible'." 

                Why, except out of a cruel, capitalistic need for self-enhancement, does he need to annihlate
                a young person trying to sing?  " I could sell you as a sleeping aid. I've never heard anything
                more boring in my life."  "Your mouth is far too big when you sing.  It's like looking in to a cave...
                I've never seen anything so huge in my life. Absolutely terrible."

               Here's what Rock star Sting, who actually is a singer, says about Simon's X-Factor:
                         "Sting said the singers who participate in the X Factor, created by Cowell in 2004,
                            were "humiliated when they get sent off". He added: "How appalling for a young person
                            to feel that rejection. It is a soap opera which has nothing to do with music...It has put
                            music back decades. .. X Factor encourages contestants to conform to stereotypes.

                         "X Factor is a preposterous show and you have judges who have no recognisable talent
                          apart from self-promotion, advising them what to wear and how to look. It is appalling.
                          The real shop floor for musical talent is pubs and clubs, that is where the original work is.
                          ... It is impossible to put an act on in a pub."

                     
                                                                         Jimmy, Preacher and Mac

               Singing is MUCH better here in San Diego than Scowling Simon will ever know. 

                          Come to Woo's and Make Your Own Determination. 

               Woo's San Diego Karaoke is much, much better than X-Factor.  I don't think there's any question. 
               Our best singers measure up very favorably to 95% of the singers you hear on X-Factor,
               America's Got Talent and American Idol.   Of course, hearing Adam Lambert some night in person
               would be extraordinary.
              
               I think an important reason why Woo's is so good is because it does attract good singers and they
               help, encourage and inspire each other.  Singing here is free and for fun.  It is not a competition.
              And it is most certainly NOT for profits.                            
              
               Another is that digitization really interferes with the quality of the sound.  No place
               in the bar is more than 30' from the singer.  And if you like the song, all you have to
               do is applaud and walk up to the singer and say "Thanks".    

               Some of our Karaoke singers are professional singers. Quite a few sing as well as those
               we have heard in lounges in Las Vegas.  I personally like many of their versions of
               certain songs more than the original recording's singer's version.  

                Simon is so wrong to malign Karaoke.  Lots of well-known singers were discovered
                there.   But from a listeners' viewpoint,  Karaoke lets you appreciate the poetry of the
                songs, because you can read the words that are being sung.  The songs touch what
                makes us all human.  A good way to see what goes into singing entertaingly is to try it yourself. 
                That's how you learn to appreciate the variety of skills it takes.  Along the way,  you will
                discover that listeners defintely want to be touched emotionally.    The more the singers
                give of themselves, the more the audience loves them.  Life is that way, too.

Let me introduce some of Woo's singers in no particular order.....
                                
                                                           Wild William 

ENNIS (AKA The Candyman) and DEBORAH are at the top of my list.  Debbie is so modest         and SO GOOD.  I always try to move closer when she sings.  I don't want to to miss a single note.          And if the night gets too exciting, I want you to know Ennis is a paramedic. We are blessed to         hear them most Saturday and Sunday nights at Woo's.

Calvin and "Preacher Man"       Here, in my humble opinion,  is far better entertainment than arrogant Simon Cowell's X-Factor.     I am trying to become Preacher's agent.  These two guys are always good.                 Haven't seen Calvin for a month.  We'll bring him back.

    Dr. Mark shows that neurologists know a thing or two about the heart, too.
    Who could resist that look and his sweet songs?  But behind that sweet
    smile is also a master singer of the confrontation between Jekyll and Hyde?   

                               Lori and Lana Singing at Woo's
       Lana- - At Last (in style of Etta James).
       Lana - Hurts So Bad (in style of Little Anthony & Imperials)
       On The Outside Looking In (in style of Little Anthony & Imperials) 

  
                                           Lana with admirers, Rock and Roll Mike. William and Rick at Woo's

 
                                What a smile!

What superlatives adequately describe DaVida's songs and voice.  She hits notes so clearly.  She      adds her own take to the songs, too.  And then there's that smile, as big as whole world.  Did you know      she is a Tony award winning TV journalist?  She has many, many devoted admirers, including me.      The buzz of the bar always stops when she gets up to sing,.   .

         Clemencia and Alan are KJs, like Miss Woo.  Alan likes rock and roll songs
           while Clemencia sings mostly country spmgs.  They sing with wonderful enthusiasm and class.
           Clemenica's timing is so fine.  I wish I had her musical self-control and modulation. 
           Come and listen to her sing, Shirley Bassey's Never, Never, Never.  What timing!
           She also sings Patsy Cline classics as well as anyone.  Every now and then she sings two
           of my all-time favorites, Sweet Dreams and Just out of Reach.  
  
   
  Alan - smilin', rockin', rollin' songster.

Lori sang on tour with Jerome (further below) and is from Tennessee, not that you'd             have her confused with a Yankee when you hear her sing her country songs.  The hand             on her shoulder belongs to Carl, a race car driver.   I feel a little guilty about editing him             out of the picture, but we haven't got him to sing yet.  Just so that he won't object, on             the right side is the same picture with him and his wife, Lori..

Big Everett        I love this guy.  He's all heart.  Come and listen to the energy he gives away.      And I like him because he keeps asking me to sing a great blues song by the      late, great Gary Moore, Still Got The Blues. I'm going to get him to sing it.      There are no "song-stealers"!   Look at its You-Tube ratings for Gary Moore's      song:  15,793 likes, 166 dislikes   You gotta wonder who could not like this song.

Linda K  - Like to dance?  Linda loves to get your feet a movin'.  Linda,  I can't seem to find     a picture of you.     Mr. Dale - Never a bad note.  A lover of duets with ladies.  And a great singer of my Hank Williams'     favorite, Long Gone Lonesome Blues.  I forgive him this, because he always laughs even at my     worst jokes.  He's moved 30 miles away.  But he'll come back.   I can't locate a picture.  But Dale     stands out whether on the stage, sitting at a table or guarding the bar.     Two more very good lady singers at Woo's from New Year's Eve - 2011-2012..

Last and least among Woo's singers is Wild William.     He loves old country songs but still considers the period 1968-1979 to be the golden age     of popular music.  Miss Woo keeps asking him to sing     Hank William's "My Bucket's Got A Hole in It."  He calls it a Spiritual song about a     Holy Bucket.   His musical tastes are eclectic.  See the many songs he thinks you will like here..     Each week he falls in love with an entirely new and long forgotten song. People love     rediscovering beautiful songs they had long forgotten and William loves it whenyounger     people say "Wow. Thanks...I've never heard those songs before."        Williams' real Karaoke goal is to get adoring looks like Marty Robbins did singing     "I Walk Alone" Look at the video...      Listen to William sing his favorite Blues song - Still Got The Blues by  Gary Moore who      died a few months ago.  Youtube shows the number of thumbs ups and down.       39,884 likes, 407 dislikes  for this song  performed live by Moore.  Read the comments there.      William - Ring of Fire (in style of Johnny Cash)       Always on My Mind (in style of Willie Nelson

        Many Songs' Origins Will Surprise You.

  You may not know that the original song that became Mack the Knife
   was 'Die Moritat von Mackie Messer' from the 'Threepenny opera'
   by populist Bertolt Brecht, one of my heroes. The rolled "R" sounds here
   sounds like a cat purring.  Maybe, that's why I like it.  A hundred years ago,
   mostly "less educated",  poorer rural workers in southern Germany used it.  
   Brecht was born in Bavaria and extremely sympathetic to workers struggling
   to survive in a society that legitimized exploitation by calling it self "free" and capitalist.
   He wrote a documentary about mass unemployment:  Kuhle Wampor (Empty Belly):
   Wem gehört die Welt? (Who owns The World?) 

   Brecht was a fierce anti-Fascist.  He fled Germany, coming to America from Finland in 1941. 
   In the US after the was he was black-listed for being a Communist sympathizer.  He
   appeared before the  House Un-American Activities Committee.   "Dressed in overalls
   and smoking an acrid cigar that made some of the committee members feel slightly ill",
   Brecht testified that he had never been a member of the Communist Party, while making
   repeated wry jokes about the inquisition.  "Though he was never a member of the Communist Party,
   Brecht had been deeply schooled in Marxism by the dissident communist Karl Korsch. Korsch's version of
   the Marxist dialectic influenced Brecht greatly, both his aesthetic theory and theatrical practice. Brecht received
   the Stalin Peace Prize in 1954.   Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertolt_Brecht

   Read about Brecht's heroes  Charlie Chaplin and the clown Karl Valentin   in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertolt_Brecht
  
   It is his melody in Alabama song that became the Door's Whisky Bar (Moon over Alabama).  David Bowie's
   modified version is impressive.
                  

 
Brecht Saint Joan of the Stockyards      In September 1947 Charlie Chaplin was subpoenaed to appear before the
House UnAmerican Activities' Committee, but his critics were aftraid of him immense popularity.  They postponed
his meeting three times.  Like the unaccountable weasle he was, J. Edgar Hoover, and the FBI, by then had a
1,900 page file on his political activities. Hoover advised the Attorney General that when Chaplin left the
country he should be allowed to return.   Charlie wrote in his Autobiography that he met Upton Sinclair.
"We were driving to his house in Pasadena for lunch and he asked me in his soft-spoken way if I believed
in the profit system. It was a disarming question, but instinctively I felt it went to the very root of the matter,
  and from that moment I became interested and saw politics not as history but as an economic problem. "

"I remain just one thing, and one thing only — and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane
than any politician." http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin

SONG STEALERS:                                                     We Can't Help Learning from Each Other.                               But Sharing Is Not Compatible with Die-Hard Capitalism      Take the case of Gary Moore's Still Got The Blues.   and a song called "Nordrach"      (named after a village) by the German band Jud's Gallery.  A German court ruled that the guitar      solo on the title  track was plagiarized from this song.   The German version was the inspiration,      no doubt in my mind, though Moore made it much, much more profoundly moving.  The original      German band did not lead with this or seem to appreciate its power.  Instead, the relevant      passage, which sounds clumsy and redundant by comparison, was included 6:14 minutes into      a 10 minute-long set and only lasted 1:40.  The entire Nordrach may be listened  to here:       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqudqHsrQaY      Moore denied knowing of the song, due to its unavailability on record or CD at the time of studio work      on his album; the court stated that the song could have been heard on the radio or in a live performance      during that time. The court also stated that there was no evidence that the guitar solo was lifted from      "Nordrach",  but copyright infringement in Germany does not depend on outright theft. Moore was       ordered to pay Jürgen Winter, leader of Jud's Gallery, an undisclosed amount in damages.          In the US, Canada, and the U.K. for there to be plagiarism, it must be proven that that the plagiarizer      probably had access to the plagiarized material.. See the discussion at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_plagiarism      Compare Billy Joel's intro for the "The Stranger" (1977) and Moore's "Spanish Guitar"      Who Cares?  Pravindaswani74   They are differently special.  As are Hank William's Move it on Over (1947)      and Bill Haley's Rock around The Clock (1956).    Law suits show the barest tip of the ice berg.  We      all listen and learn from each other.  See a history of musical plagiarism law suits.

      Send comments, complaints or congrats as well as photos to to william_schmidt@hotmail.com