1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so much 3 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:34,919 Speaker 1: for joining us today. Let's give a big shout out 4 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:37,840 Speaker 1: to our super producer, the Man, the myth Legend, mister 5 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:38,840 Speaker 1: Max Williams. 6 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 2: Huzzah, I am technically still alive. Yeah, it's good to hear. 7 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:46,879 Speaker 2: I know Max has been. You've been plagued by the 8 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 2: ick this season. The weather's on top of the man, 9 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 2: it is. 10 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 3: It's sitting right on your face and apparently flatulating upon it. 11 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 4: We learned the term pink ear, pink ear and cloaping. 12 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's when you close and open dirty double. 13 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 5: When you open at a restaurant, you work to the 14 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 5: closing shift and not like you know that, mid bs. 15 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 4: You and I have a very different idea of what 16 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 4: dirty double means. 17 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 3: I know, and I don't google dirty double, y'all, just 18 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 3: don't restaurant industry. 19 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 5: Everything in the restaurant industry has some innuendo to it. 20 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 5: But yeah, this is the fourth time in a year 21 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 5: of sick. That's the note in five years I did 22 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 5: and get sick. I've been sick now four times for 23 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 5: lost time, buddy. 24 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, we also we also want to again with we 25 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: always begin our our episodes with and end our episodes 26 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: with thanking the people who make the episodes possible. With 27 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: this in mind, ridiculous historians. My name's Ben Bollen. I 28 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: would like to introduce you yet again. Don't call it 29 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: a comeback to the one the only research associate in 30 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: this episode, mister Noel Brown. Can we get like an applause? 31 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: I don't have to, Okay, sure, I'll take it. 32 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 4: Thank you. Yeah, always always take the applause. 33 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,359 Speaker 3: I'll take the bow. I'll take it. It's a mid bow, 34 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 3: not a low bow. 35 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: Now we're talking about something that's been on our minds 36 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: for quite a long time. 37 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 4: Oh years, decades. I mean, I don't know you. 38 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 3: I've never known you to be a participant, but I 39 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 3: know you are a delighted spectator. 40 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 4: Right. 41 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:30,840 Speaker 1: I don't participate in the western version of karaoke with 42 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,640 Speaker 1: a large public audience of strangers, but I will. 43 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 4: I will kill that room. Bro. We got to make 44 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 4: this happen. 45 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 3: I don't think I've ever shared a private karaoke space 46 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 3: with you, and I look forward to it. 47 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 4: Do you have a go to jam? 48 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: Well, it's illegal for you to ask me. I don't 49 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: think that's true in the Philippines. 50 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 3: Oh, as far as I know, we're in the good 51 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:54,399 Speaker 3: old us of a ben. But you keep your secret spinbulling. 52 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,359 Speaker 3: I got a couple. If anyone's interested. 53 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 4: What do you got? What do you got? Well, I 54 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 4: like to do. You know, I've got a cup. I've 55 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 4: got a bit of a range. 56 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 3: So I like to do things where I sing kind 57 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 3: of low good stuff for that would be new Romantic 58 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 3: eighties kind of synth wave kind of stuff. 59 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 4: I really like, Uh, don't you want me? Baby? 60 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 3: You know, don't you want don't because you get to 61 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 3: do that kind of low Bowie Krune kind of thing. Sure, 62 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 3: speaking of Bowie and his low Crune, I like to 63 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 3: do a bit of it. It was a single, but 64 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 3: a lot of people don't know it doesn't really like 65 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 3: the room up usually but ashes to Ashes by David 66 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 3: Bowie off of the Scary Monstrous Record. And if I 67 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 3: want to showcase my higher range, I'll do and I 68 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 3: would do anything for love, but I won't do that 69 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 3: by meeth Low. 70 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 4: I've seen that. 71 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: I've seen these because folks, if you don't know, Noel 72 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: comes from an operatic background. So the man does have 73 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: the range. We are not blowing smoke quite. I would say, honestly, 74 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: you're phenomenally talented musician. 75 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 3: I appreciate that, and it means a lot to me 76 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 3: to hear you say that, and it's something that means 77 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 3: a lot to me in my life. I don't sing 78 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 3: as much as I used to, used to be in bands, 79 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 3: and I work on a lot of music, but I'm 80 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 3: just now kind of getting back into singing and recording 81 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,280 Speaker 3: my own songs as supposed to producing others. But karaoke 82 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,720 Speaker 3: is a fun, kind of democratic way of getting out 83 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 3: there and flexing your your pipes. 84 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 1: If that's the phrase, oh wait, wait, wait, wait, we 85 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: have to say it. This is very familiar to a 86 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:41,119 Speaker 1: lot of us listening. But Noel, for anyone who does 87 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: not know what Carrie Okay is, how would you describe it? 88 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 3: Well, it's interesting because I mean the modern concept of 89 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 3: karaoke in terms of like a machine or a device 90 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 3: used to sing along with music with the main vocal removed, 91 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:01,279 Speaker 3: is really a relatively modern and like dating back to 92 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 3: around the late sixties early seventies. But you know, sing 93 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 3: alongs have been around for a lot longer than that. 94 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 3: Folks will likely remember or have seen, you know, in 95 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 3: retrospect with false nostalgia, the good old bouncing ball like 96 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 3: m I C K E Y m O USC or 97 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 3: some of the old Max Fleischer cartoons. So a sing 98 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 3: along kind of situation was certainly popular with these kinds 99 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 3: of shorts that would play before a feature as far 100 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,920 Speaker 3: back as like the thirties and forties. You would have 101 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:33,919 Speaker 3: lyrics on the bottom of the screen and the audience 102 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 3: was invited to participate. So I mean, at its core, 103 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 3: karaoke is a participatory musical kind of communal events, you know, 104 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 3: where people sign up on a list, whether it be 105 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 3: at a bar or a private room like you were 106 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 3: talking about Ben, although in the private room it's a 107 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 3: lot easier to get a spot because it's just you 108 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:56,600 Speaker 3: and your friends and you've rented the space for a 109 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 3: certain amount of time. But then you get up there 110 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 3: and belt out your sometimes to a little bit corny 111 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 3: midi fied recreations of the song. That has changed and 112 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,720 Speaker 3: varies widely now in terms of the quality of karaoke accompaniments. 113 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:15,599 Speaker 3: But yeah, the idea is just to kind of get 114 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 3: up there and give it your all. And I honestly 115 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 3: think that some people think karaoke is really first and 116 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 3: foremost for people that aren't people that sing all the time. 117 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,119 Speaker 3: And a lot of people don't ever sing except maybe 118 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 3: in the shower or when they're doing karaoke. 119 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 4: Yeah. The number one fear, at least in the US 120 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:39,919 Speaker 4: is public speaking, which is bizarre to you and Max 121 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:44,160 Speaker 4: and myself. Obviously we got that face tattoo a long 122 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 4: time ago. I hear drop we got when we earned 123 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 4: our stripes. 124 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, I just remembered, and I don't think you've ever 125 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:56,039 Speaker 1: heard me do it, but this may surprise you know. 126 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: I absolutely kill music of the Night. 127 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 4: Yeah. I love the Broadway karaoke eers. It's the subcategory 128 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 4: of karaokeers. 129 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 3: You'll have folks that around Halloween time will do uh, 130 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 3: you know, stuff from Nightmare before Christmas, for example. But boy, Ben, 131 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 3: music of the Night, that's that's a jammer. It's really 132 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 3: it really demonstrates some range. I'm gonna have to insist 133 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 3: on you doing that when we get our private room. 134 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: Oh boy, here we go. It's the hot tub all 135 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: over again. You're bringing up this point about you. You're 136 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: bringing up this point that I think is mission critical here, 137 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: which is the idea that carry okay as a It's 138 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: a Japanese term, and it is, like you said, sometimes 139 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: describing a machine right, a specific device. Uh. But it 140 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: also and I love this point, it also describes something 141 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: that people have been doing forever. Like you said, singing 142 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 1: in the shower. Name one person who doesn't sing in 143 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: the shower, and I will one hundred percent profile them 144 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: as a not fun person. 145 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 3: That's funny you should say that, Ben, because I don't 146 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 3: ever feel compelled to sing in the shower. Yeah, but 147 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 3: you sing in real life, that's fair. And I do 148 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,920 Speaker 3: do karaoke relatively frequently. I went for the first time 149 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 3: in quite a while the other weekend, and I didn't sing. 150 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 3: I maybe have mentioned the show, but I quit drinking 151 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 3: about a month and a half ago, and this was 152 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 3: the first time I don't care or been to a 153 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 3: karaoke situation without the assistance of alcohol, and I kind 154 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:36,559 Speaker 3: of wanted to take it easy and just sort of 155 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 3: watch my friends sing and just sort of be there 156 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 3: in a different context outside of you know, the pounding 157 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 3: shots or whatever. So it was a lot of fun 158 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,319 Speaker 3: and that we have a We mentioned the local our 159 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 3: favorite chicken wing joint here in Atlanta, they do a 160 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 3: fabulous weekly karaoke night and some friends of the show, 161 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:58,719 Speaker 3: Rowan Newby, as well as my buddy Orlando Montoya, who 162 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 3: was a local public radio guy, his big karaoke nut. 163 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 4: It's a real kind of community, you know, Orlando. Orlando's 164 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 4: a buddy. 165 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, we used to work together back in the day 166 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 3: when I was with public radio in Augusta, Georgia Public Radio, 167 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,440 Speaker 3: and he not terribly long ago joined the Atlanta team, 168 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 3: the Atlanta branch of public radio, and he does like 169 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:19,960 Speaker 3: the afternoons and has. 170 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,679 Speaker 4: The most delightful public radio voice. 171 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 3: You could imagine. I'm Orlando Montoya, and that voice also 172 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 3: translates to a delightful singing voice. 173 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 4: Yeah, agreed. 174 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:35,439 Speaker 1: Now, let's I love the point about karaoke as community. 175 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:39,320 Speaker 1: This is something that I think exists in step with 176 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: the idea of a carry okay machine. What what is 177 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: a karaoke machine? 178 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:51,200 Speaker 3: Nell, Well, it's as simple as a device that combines 179 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 3: a microphone, some sort of playback mechanism, and a speaker. 180 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 3: Sometimes it will have a vocal effect like a reverb 181 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 3: or a delay, a type of effect where you go bop baa, 182 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:06,080 Speaker 3: or like a quicker version of that which would be 183 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 3: more of like a slapback sound. Both of those things 184 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 3: are designed for comfort for the singer because if you 185 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 3: sort of smeared a little bit with reverb, as anybody 186 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:18,079 Speaker 3: that's cut vocals in a studio will know, it makes 187 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 3: you a little more comfortable because you just sound larger 188 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 3: than life. Just to quickly backtrack before we get to 189 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 3: the kind of advent of that device that you're describing, 190 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 3: I just wanted to go back a little bit to 191 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,959 Speaker 3: the whole bouncing ball idea. It was actually invented by 192 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 3: the cartoonist Max Fleischer, you might know from like from 193 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 3: the Ink Well with Coco the Clown. Some of the 194 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,319 Speaker 3: earliest use of rotoscoping. There's a really cool Betty Boob 195 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 3: cartoon that features Mini the mouture that features the dance 196 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:50,960 Speaker 3: stylings of Cab Callaway. It starts off with him like 197 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 3: actually you know, film of him dancing, and then it 198 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 3: transitions to a rotoscoped version where his movements are basically 199 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 3: translated to this ghosts. And if anyone's familiar with rotoscoping, 200 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 3: it's a technique that you know, it's a little bit 201 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,080 Speaker 3: dated now, but it can be used for interesting creative effect. 202 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:12,559 Speaker 3: But it's where you essentially translate real life movement onto 203 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:17,280 Speaker 3: cartoon cells. For lack of a maybe more expert way 204 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 3: of describing it, but the original Cocoa Song cartoons ran 205 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 3: from nineteen twenty four to nineteen twenty seven, featuring this 206 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 3: sing along technique, which is just lyrics on the bottom 207 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 3: of the screen with the ball bouncing in rhythm to 208 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 3: let you know where you're supposed to be, you know, 209 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,720 Speaker 3: in the song lyrics. It was revised again in nineteen 210 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 3: twenty nine as a segment called Screen Songs. This was 211 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 3: for Paramount Pictures and then the film, the short film 212 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:50,560 Speaker 3: Come Take a Trip in My Airship came out in 213 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 3: nineteen twenty four. So this would often feature popular songs 214 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 3: from you know kind of I guess you could call 215 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 3: them pop right or figures at the time, we're talking 216 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 3: about folks like Irving Berlin and his tune when the 217 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 3: Midnight Chu Chu Leaves for Alabama, So not the pop 218 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 3: music we think of today. 219 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,680 Speaker 1: Oh and that, uh, that is the midnight Chuo Chuo 220 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:22,319 Speaker 1: leaves for Alabama, Alabama, not Alabama. Yeah, we're working with rhymes. 221 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:24,240 Speaker 4: I know it's true, it's true. 222 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 1: I love that you're pointing this out because what you're 223 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:40,319 Speaker 1: pointing out here is a fundamental human urge, the idea 224 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:45,959 Speaker 1: to participate in some way with things you enjoy. Right, 225 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 1: So the the black batah balancing over in my mind, dude, 226 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: it's the little dot or whatever logo might be. 227 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 4: Yeah, it can be styled in many different ways. 228 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 3: Ben, did you find anything about, like, what, what's the 229 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,559 Speaker 3: technique for translating this to the screen, because at the time, 230 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 3: I mean, sound sync was relatively new, and it's tough 231 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 3: to synchronize the visuals with audio with a level of 232 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 3: precision that makes it like actually time out correctly for 233 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 3: someone using it to follow along. 234 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's kind of a it's kind of like a 235 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 1: conductor for an orchestra because in the early days before 236 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: the talkies, which are I think going to stick around 237 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:37,680 Speaker 1: for a while in the in the eras of silent film, 238 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: we had on seeing orchestras or musicians playing along right. 239 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 4: Or the audience or an organist or whatever, right right, 240 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 4: or an organist or whatever. And when these folks, uh, 241 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 4: this audience would. 242 00:13:54,520 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 1: See these these indications, the orchestra or the musicians or 243 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: the organist were also following those cues. It's kind of 244 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: like the conductor going bupa pup, pup. 245 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:11,839 Speaker 4: Pup, pup, pup, Papa papa pah. You love that one. 246 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 3: It's true, and that, you know, one of the most 247 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 3: impressive to me, especially given the time. Examples of sound 248 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 3: sync to literally, you know, synchronizing musical events with on 249 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 3: screen events would be Fantasia. And if anyone's ever visited 250 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 3: the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, which I'm always 251 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 3: screaming about, there's a whole section devoted to how Disney 252 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 3: achieved that level of sound sync. 253 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 4: And it's crazy that it had to do with like holes. 254 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 3: Punched in the side of the film that synchronized to 255 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 3: various movements and events that needed to then be synchronized 256 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,119 Speaker 3: to the soundtrack. 257 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 4: Really really difficult. 258 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 3: But if you watch Fantasia, which came out in nineteen forty, 259 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 3: the level of precision in what they achieved with that 260 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 3: sound sync, it'll be like, you know, a fairy tapping 261 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 3: their wand on a flower and lighting up and glowing 262 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 3: and all of that, and it has a perfect connection 263 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 3: with an orchestra queue you know, for this the classical 264 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,720 Speaker 3: score of that film. So I mean, it's just mind 265 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:21,880 Speaker 3: boggling to me how early this kind of technology was 266 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 3: kind of mastered by masters like Walt Disney. But for 267 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 3: the Fleischer cartoons, we were talking about the movement of 268 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 3: that black baton quote unquote that bounced was a white 269 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 3: disc over the tops of the lyrics, and the movement 270 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 3: got captured on super high contrast film so that the 271 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 3: kind of guide stick, I guess was invisible and the 272 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 3: ball would appear as white on black, even though sometimes 273 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 3: the ball and lyrics would actually be super imposed over 274 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 3: still drawings or photos even live action footage. 275 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 4: Sometimes, so really really interesting stuff. So that's kind of 276 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 4: the advent of this kind of thing. 277 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 3: Not to mention a show in the nineteen sixties TV 278 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 3: show I believe that was produced for NBC called sing 279 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 3: Along with Mitch, which was hosted by a super kind 280 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 3: of outgoing and charming host named Mitch Miller. 281 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 4: We've actually got a clip from it right here. If 282 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 4: you want to take a listen, please, he'll just sit there, 283 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:26,480 Speaker 4: come on and thank. 284 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 3: A whole lot. And for folks listening at home, Mitch 285 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 3: Miller he kind of looks like Stalin. 286 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:44,560 Speaker 4: It's very interesting. 287 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 3: He's got this kind of Stalin esque beard and mustache 288 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 3: thing going on, but a lot more cheerful. So at 289 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 3: the beginning of every episode, lyrics to the songs are 290 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 3: shown at the bottom of the television screen. But they 291 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 3: didn't have the bouncing ball. It would just be kind 292 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 3: of static lyrics, unlike what you'd see in those cartoon 293 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 3: shorts that would play before features in the cinema. But 294 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 3: you asked about the device itself, karaoke as a machine, 295 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 3: it's a little bit disputed, or maybe a little bit 296 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 3: of a bone of contention, as to who the true 297 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:21,680 Speaker 3: inventor of karaoke was, because, like you said, ben karok 298 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 3: can refer to an actual physical device, and it can 299 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 3: also refer to kind of a culture, and one individual, 300 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 3: despite how important or transformative their invention might be, doesn't 301 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 3: really single handedly create a culture. So the idea for 302 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 3: a karaoke machine came to an inventor in Tokyo by 303 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 3: the name of Shigaichi Nagishi. 304 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:47,440 Speaker 4: In the late sixties, around sixty nine. 305 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 3: He overheard a colleague making fun of him for his singing, 306 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:56,000 Speaker 3: because unlike me, this guy probably saying in the shower 307 00:17:56,119 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 3: and saying just walking around doing his work on the 308 00:17:58,520 --> 00:17:59,160 Speaker 3: factory floor. 309 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:00,679 Speaker 4: He owned an electrocx factory. 310 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 3: So he thought that if he could sing on top 311 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:07,480 Speaker 3: of a backing track, then this would make it a 312 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,159 Speaker 3: little less awkward than him just kind of singing badly 313 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:11,920 Speaker 3: a cappella by himself. 314 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:18,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, and this guy owned, as we said, a electronics factory, 315 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: so he had the infrastructure to create this thing to 316 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,439 Speaker 1: have his look. It comes from this pettiness, right. 317 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 4: He is the person. 318 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,920 Speaker 1: He's not the first person to think, oh, if I 319 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: could sing with a band behind me, it sounds great. 320 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:41,119 Speaker 1: He was the first person to have that thought and 321 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:45,479 Speaker 1: also have the infrastructure to support it. So in nineteen 322 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:51,840 Speaker 1: sixty seven he creates this we could call it a 323 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:56,879 Speaker 1: predecessor of the modern karaoke machine. And he did it 324 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: entirely by just pushing his pushing his kids, pushing his employees, 325 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:08,439 Speaker 1: the people who work for Presido. His head engineer shows 326 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: up one day and Nigishi says, all right, I know 327 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 1: you've got a lot on your plate. I need you 328 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 1: to do some guyver stuff for me right now. And 329 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: he's like, what about my real job, And the guy says, no, 330 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 1: don't worry about that. I need a microphone app, I 331 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: need a mixing circuit. We make these eight decks already, 332 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: so just get it done and then you know, end 333 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 1: of day, check it. 334 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 3: It would seem so yeah, and I think the factory 335 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 3: produced I believe it was what we would consider eight 336 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 3: track tapes, which are kind of these like cartridges. If 337 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 3: anyone's ever messed with one, you can get an eight 338 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 3: track player for home. 339 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 4: But they were really popular, I believe, also in cars. 340 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 3: And it was the same technology that was used for 341 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:59,560 Speaker 3: the kind of carts that radio stations would use to 342 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:02,160 Speaker 3: play sound effects and music, because you could just pop 343 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:03,879 Speaker 3: it in and it would auto play, and then it 344 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:07,120 Speaker 3: would auto flip whenever the first side was over. I've 345 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 3: actually never messed with an eight track myself, but they're 346 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 3: already making these. The basics for what was needed to 347 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 3: produce this machine were all simple pieces of audio technology, 348 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 3: Like you said, Ben, an amplifier, which is what takes 349 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,719 Speaker 3: a sound and makes it loud, pumps it through a speaker, 350 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:28,159 Speaker 3: a microphone which converts sound waves into either recordable or 351 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:32,760 Speaker 3: projectable sound, and that playback, which would be another input 352 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:34,240 Speaker 3: on that mixing device. 353 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,920 Speaker 4: What ended up being created was something called the Sparko Box. 354 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:43,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, and shout out to help me with this shout 355 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: out to La La Saintpete dot com. It's a big 356 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 1: source for us on the history of carry Okay, good. 357 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 3: Blog post, just about just kind of the trajectory of 358 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 3: some of the stuff, and I highly recommend checking it out. 359 00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 1: So back to our guy de Guiche, the madman, the 360 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:04,920 Speaker 1: utter mad lad here has taken his head engineer off 361 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 1: of what I'm sure were very important projects and said, 362 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,399 Speaker 1: make me a little box. Make me a little box 363 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:16,159 Speaker 1: so I can go around and let people know that 364 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: I really do have the pipes. And as you said, 365 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 1: they called it the Sparko Box and the Gishe partners 366 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:30,119 Speaker 1: with a local distributor liaison a fixer, and they tried 367 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,919 Speaker 1: to lease the machine to different bars in the area, 368 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:38,399 Speaker 1: kind of the way people lease out vending machines, you know, 369 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: or ATMs. They just wanted it to be a presence, 370 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:47,639 Speaker 1: but they ran into the actual musicians who were playing 371 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: guitar already in these spots. 372 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 4: Yeah, I didn't realize this. I guess a cultural thing. 373 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 3: They these bar performers had a name in Japan, Nagashi, 374 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 3: which I was not familiar with at all. I guess 375 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 3: it was sort of like an era where this was 376 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 3: the popular form of entertainment, you know, in these kind 377 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,040 Speaker 3: of pubs. It's interesting too, because it's sort of the 378 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 3: same thing you run into anytime, like a new technology 379 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 3: sort of hits where there's always concern about who it's 380 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 3: going to replace, and there's always backlash from that class. 381 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:29,440 Speaker 3: Sometimes these fears are overblown, I would argue, like with 382 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,720 Speaker 3: the synthesizer. You know, when drum machines and synthesizers first 383 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 3: came out in the late seventies early eighties, while synthesizers 384 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,240 Speaker 3: earlier than that, there was a lot of concern for 385 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 3: musicians unions that the synthesizer would replace the orchestra. But 386 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 3: what ended up happening was it became a tool that 387 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 3: was completely its own thing. I'm sitting in a room 388 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 3: here surrounded by synthesizers. I would never use them to 389 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 3: try to imitate an orchestra per se. I would use 390 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 3: them as elements that might be found in an orchestras 391 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,399 Speaker 3: in term of combining different sound sources to create something 392 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,920 Speaker 3: greater than the sum of its parts. But there's no 393 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 3: replacement for a bassoon or like a kettle drum. Certainly, 394 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 3: you can now get sample packs and things that will 395 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,200 Speaker 3: you know, recreate those sounds, But a synthesizer sort of 396 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,479 Speaker 3: makes its own sort of new sound, and maybe there 397 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 3: was concern that the karaoke machine might displace these Nagashi, 398 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:26,920 Speaker 3: so it didn't really immediately take off, and Nagishi actually 399 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 3: decided to kind of abandon the whole enterprise entirely and 400 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:33,159 Speaker 3: not pursue a patent. 401 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's correct. By around the mid nineteen seventies, he 402 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 1: you know, this guy's a technocrat. He kind of got 403 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:47,239 Speaker 1: done with the idea. I think if you look at 404 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: his history, what really happened is he was able to 405 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,399 Speaker 1: prove to his colleague that he sounded better when he 406 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: sang with music, and that's really why he was done 407 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: with it. And we want to again credit where due. 408 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: We wanted to shout out Matt Alt, who interviewed Thegishi 409 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,359 Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen for a book that Matt wrote called 410 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:15,440 Speaker 1: Pure Invention, How Japan Made the Modern World. So we're 411 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 1: getting a lot of this from him. And our guy 412 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 1: produced about eight thousand Sparko boxes as you were saying, 413 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: as they're called, and delivered them across the land. Like 414 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: he tried to make a good idea. It didn't work 415 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:37,919 Speaker 1: for him, but it did set a precedent. 416 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:40,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, it really did, And I just wanted to mention 417 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 3: too that Alt in his interviews with Nigishi, pointed out 418 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 3: that maybe some of the concerns that led to this 419 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:53,639 Speaker 3: not immediately being adopted are super similar to some of 420 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,160 Speaker 3: the concerns and the debates surrounding machine learning and artificial 421 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:00,280 Speaker 3: intelligence today in terms of how it could affect or 422 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:05,840 Speaker 3: impact the jobs of everyone from writers to musicians to producers, 423 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,200 Speaker 3: because everyone's just so hot to get AI to like 424 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:12,480 Speaker 3: do all this stuff that used to be done by people, 425 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:16,720 Speaker 3: and it does it with varying degrees of success. I 426 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,880 Speaker 3: actually saw a really cool interview with the filmmaker Guilllmo 427 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,119 Speaker 3: del Toro where he said something to the effect of, 428 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,960 Speaker 3: in terms of AI used for video, that they've proven 429 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:30,399 Speaker 3: themselves to be good at creating pretty interesting screensavers and 430 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:31,399 Speaker 3: that's just about it. 431 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:33,560 Speaker 4: And I don't think he's wrong. 432 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:37,439 Speaker 3: But this tech has also been used in music production, 433 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 3: like the new version of the Apple recording software Logic Pro. 434 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:45,200 Speaker 3: It went without a meaningful update for years and years 435 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 3: and years, and in the update that came I believe 436 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 3: last year, it had all of these AI tools things 437 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:55,359 Speaker 3: for creating music out of nothing. You know, it just 438 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,400 Speaker 3: link entering in a prompt or selecting a pulldown menu 439 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 3: and it creating kind of a song for you. It's 440 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,360 Speaker 3: a little weird, though, if you're making demos at home, 441 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 3: probably not bad as a stand in for a drummer. 442 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:11,600 Speaker 3: But the Sparko Box didn't make Nigishi a bunch of 443 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,359 Speaker 3: money for the reasons that we addressed, because they really 444 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:15,480 Speaker 3: didn't take off right away. 445 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:18,800 Speaker 4: He also never pursued the pat like we said, but 446 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:20,480 Speaker 4: copycats were. 447 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 3: Hot on his heels to kind of take advantage of 448 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 3: what would be maybe better timing for this technology. 449 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:32,400 Speaker 4: Enter Daisuke inOui Inui, I believe. 450 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 1: Right, So enter Daisuke Annue. This guy comes in about 451 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: four years after the initial ideation of the Sparko Box 452 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:48,119 Speaker 1: from that technocrat, and he calls his machine the juke 453 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: eight like juke box plus eight. 454 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,479 Speaker 3: Track eight track Yeah, and it often gets credited as 455 00:26:55,640 --> 00:27:00,159 Speaker 3: being the world's very first karaoke machine. But we know that, 456 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:02,840 Speaker 3: as often as the case with inventions, he was standing 457 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:07,119 Speaker 3: on the shoulders of someone else. We don't know, I 458 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 3: don't believe, we know definitively if he was super aware 459 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:18,639 Speaker 3: of Nagishi's developments, but it's certainly likely, but it also 460 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,200 Speaker 3: could be some form of parallel thinking. But whatever the 461 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:26,119 Speaker 3: case is, the Juke eight was jumping on a trend 462 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 3: of jukebox as being popular in bars and nightclubs and 463 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 3: things like that, which is basically, anyone knows you feed in. 464 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,160 Speaker 4: A couple of coins and you get to be the DJ. 465 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 3: But what this did was added the bonus feature of 466 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 3: not only being able to be the DJ, but also 467 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:44,960 Speaker 3: being able to be the star of the show. So 468 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:49,680 Speaker 3: that kind of democratization of singing really played a huge 469 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:52,920 Speaker 3: part in this, and it did seem to take off 470 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 3: more than with the Sparko Box. And just wanted to 471 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,240 Speaker 3: shout out an article on Time Asia by Pico Iver 472 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,880 Speaker 3: and I ever points out something that I think we've 473 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:06,520 Speaker 3: talked about on other episodes of Ridiculous History. Just the 474 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:11,680 Speaker 3: nineteen hundreds marked Japan kind of establishing itself as a 475 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,040 Speaker 3: real force to be reckoned with in terms of innovation. 476 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:18,639 Speaker 3: And this is the case with lots of things that 477 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 3: they were producing in the nineteen hundreds, like companies like 478 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 3: Sony producing the Walkman, which became a cultural phenomenon, because 479 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,359 Speaker 3: again it put the power of listening to music, you know, 480 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 3: in the palm of your hand. Not to mention video 481 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 3: game companies like Nintendo and Sega and all of those 482 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,880 Speaker 3: culturally important innovations that were coming out of Japan, including 483 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 3: of course, as people also mentions companies like Bandai and 484 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 3: their you know, claw machines and things like the Tamagachi. 485 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 3: So let's hear a little bit about Innoe's upbringing. 486 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:55,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, so, Innoe is born in Osaka in nineteen forty. 487 00:28:56,080 --> 00:29:01,600 Speaker 1: He started he started as a music in high school. 488 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 1: He played percussion because he said, all you have to 489 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:10,440 Speaker 1: do is hit the drums. Before he was out of 490 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: high school, he was actually making more money than any 491 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:19,800 Speaker 1: of his fellow students because he played in a Hawaiian band. 492 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: And this Hawaiian band, by the way, is performing in 493 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: old dance holes like VA halls, kind of structures that 494 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: were left behind by the American occupation of Japan. 495 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. He did not have a technology background like Nagishi. 496 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 3: He was coming at this strictly from a kind of 497 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 3: musical perspective and figuring out ways to make money from 498 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 3: being a musician. 499 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:52,480 Speaker 4: And he was pretty good at it like. 500 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 3: By nineteen seventy, he and six other bandmates were playing 501 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:01,959 Speaker 3: in kind of more fancy joints near Kobe, and they 502 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 3: were actually serving as kind of a live karaoke band 503 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,600 Speaker 3: for folks who wanted to sing popular Japanese songs at 504 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:13,680 Speaker 3: the time, or even like military songs. His friends that 505 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:16,280 Speaker 3: he played with were able to read music, but like 506 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 3: you said, ben AOI was more concerned with just bashing 507 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 3: on the drums and never really bothered to embrace the 508 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:26,840 Speaker 3: theory side of being a musician. 509 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 1: So you can hear some choice interview quotes with our 510 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:36,000 Speaker 1: guy here. He said that he could read music, but 511 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: most of his friends or colleagues could, so he would 512 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:45,720 Speaker 1: watch he would remember songs he heard earlier, and he 513 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:50,640 Speaker 1: would literally watch the lips of whomever was functioning as 514 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:54,560 Speaker 1: the front person as this song burked. And he said, 515 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 1: out of the one hundred and eight club musicians in Kobe, 516 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 1: i was the and the clients in my club were 517 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: the worst singers, which was funny because the name of 518 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:10,560 Speaker 1: the club, Baron was so high and that's it's funnier 519 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: in Japanese. 520 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:12,040 Speaker 4: But it does make. 521 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 3: Meaning like hyphalutin, like the idea of a baron being 522 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 3: like a very fancy man. 523 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:18,960 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, that's that's the gist of it. 524 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:24,360 Speaker 1: He he did get a lot of fans, and some 525 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 1: of his fans had access to infrastructure. This is where 526 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:31,400 Speaker 1: you know, we're getting in the weeds with this, but 527 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: this is this is pretty cool stuff. The there was 528 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:41,160 Speaker 1: a guy who just kept showing up to Annoy's gigs. 529 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,920 Speaker 1: And it turns out that he was the president of 530 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:50,920 Speaker 1: a steel manufacturer, a steel interest and h and he 531 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,240 Speaker 1: loved the way that he loved the way that this 532 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:59,360 Speaker 1: percussionist would kind of play the drums and look at 533 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: this guy as he is singing, probably out of time, 534 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: if we're being honest, out of time, out of tune, 535 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: and so and so he's like, Hey, I like your vibe. 536 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:14,480 Speaker 1: You're the best drummer I've ever met. You make me 537 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 1: sound amazing. Hey, will you go with me on a 538 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:21,320 Speaker 1: road trip? So I think I'm getting this right. But he. 539 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 4: Was asked to go on this trip. 540 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,560 Speaker 3: Unfortunately, he sadly did not feel like he could leave 541 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:31,320 Speaker 3: his bandmates in a lurch. So you know, this guy 542 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:34,240 Speaker 3: wanted him to accompany him to this getaway with for 543 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 3: fancy business folks at some hot spring, so instead of 544 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:40,360 Speaker 3: going with him and playing live, he recorded all of 545 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:44,160 Speaker 3: the accompaniments to the songs on tape and gave them 546 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:47,160 Speaker 3: to the guy to take with him to I guess play, 547 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:48,960 Speaker 3: so he and his buddies could sting along. 548 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:55,040 Speaker 1: That's right, and this boss, we have this confirmed as 549 00:32:55,080 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 1: a true story. This boss did a did use the 550 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 1: tape and had a great time. Apparently he delivered what 551 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 1: is often called an emotional rendition, which is not the 552 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 1: same thing as singing well but you know, it's like 553 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:18,960 Speaker 1: that football film Rudy. He had a lot of heart 554 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:23,840 Speaker 1: and he sang a song called leaving Haneda Airport on 555 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 1: a seven fifty flight, which is a banger if you 556 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 1: know it. And this is this is where we start 557 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:36,600 Speaker 1: to get the term that the world uses today. And 558 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:41,720 Speaker 1: hold the phone, pause the music, skip the song. We've 559 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 1: got more on the playlist for you. This is a 560 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: two part episode on the history of Kerrie. 561 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:48,080 Speaker 3: OK. 562 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 4: We will be right back in just a few with 563 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 4: the with the. 564 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:57,120 Speaker 1: Stunning conclusion, please seek along at home, big, big thanks 565 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:01,000 Speaker 1: to our super producer mister Max Williams. Noel, thank you 566 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,480 Speaker 1: so much for being our research associate on this one. 567 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:06,280 Speaker 3: It's near and dear to my heart, Ben. Thanks for 568 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:10,279 Speaker 3: the opportunity. Huge thanks to Alex Williams who composed our theme. 569 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,440 Speaker 3: Jonathan Strickland, the Quizitor, A J. Bahamas, Jacobs the Puzzler. 570 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:18,120 Speaker 1: Rachel Big Spinach, Lance Eves, Jeff Coat. 571 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:20,280 Speaker 4: You know the names. 572 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:22,320 Speaker 1: We hope you like him as well. We got a 573 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 1: weird shout out to Jimmy Carter and snuck in just 574 00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:29,800 Speaker 1: spoilers ahead, snuck in one of our favorite quotations about 575 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:32,399 Speaker 1: the guy, Jimmy, If. 576 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:37,359 Speaker 4: You're hearing this, Jimmy, can you hear me right right right? 577 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:42,160 Speaker 1: So? Ground Control to Major Tom. We can't wait to 578 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: hear from you soon. Stay tuned to. 579 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:45,800 Speaker 4: See you next time, folks. 580 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 581 00:34:56,760 --> 00:34:58,840 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.