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My Transition From Singer To KJ
I started singing on karaoke in the early 1990’s. I’d entered competitions on holiday before and did quite well, but I was always a nervous singer. Both my Mum and Dad were great singers, and I always felt worse if they were in the crowd watching me, as I never felt good enough.It was my Ex-husband that saw the sign for karaoke. He knew I loved singing, so told me about it, and we decided to venture in the next Friday. I clearly remember that I was wearing a black jumpsuit, belted around the waist (I had a waist in those days!). I scanned the books and felt fairly confident that I could sing The Greatest Love Of All without being booed off the stage. I put in my ticket, and downed a few vodkas and lime for courage before I was called up. With my eyes barely open, I warbled through the tune, my legs feeling like jelly beneath me, and the mic shaking in my hand.
The karaoke host was Irish Mick, “Micksey” to his friends, and he gushed with enthusiasm after my performance, which gave me a huge rush. I probably did at least one other tune during the evening, but can’t remember what, I was still high from the first one! Micksey took me under his wing, and I became a firm follower of his karaoke show, which was always busy, no matter which venue he was at. I still trembled every time I got up to sing, and I still needed a few comforting vodkas before I got up, but my confidence grew as time passed. I made lots of friends during those early years, many of whom I am proud to still be able to call friends.
A couple of years went by, and Micksey decided that his workload was too heavy to do all by himself, and so he asked me if I would like to host for him. He supplied and set up the gear, all I had to do was host the show, then break down and take it back to him at the end of the night. We never had filler music in those days, just a pause and some chat while I changed discs for the next singer. I got to host in quite a few different venues, and other friends of mine, Mick and Toni, who had set up their own show asked me to look after their stuff and gigs while they went away to Australia for 6 weeks. So now I had two sets of gigs for a while!
My Ex-husband and I occasionally discussed getting our own gear, as he liked to host every now and then as well, but we had two different styles, and I knew we wouldn’t work well together, so we never got ‘round to it. That was a blessing really, as we split up in 1996, and I carried on hosting for Micksey..
Shortly afterwards, I met the man who was to become my next husband…….funnily enough at karaoke! I wasn’t hosting that night, but was attending one of Mick & Toni’s gigs, and apparently he fell in love with my voice ( He was young and drunk….nuff said!)
Things started to deteriorate between Micksey and I…..without going into too many details, his wife wanted a fresh face to present the karaoke, and had set her sights upon a newcomer to the scene ( He’s probably reading this * wink * ). Suddenly the sound wasn’t good enough, people were apparently complaining about things etc etc. I knew what the game was, and bowed out gracefully before things got nasty.
Back to being a singer again, I carried on attending karaoke, but broadened my horizons by visiting different shows, some good, some not so good…….but always a laugh! I had re-married by now, and Paul was a different kettle of fish to my previous husband. He didn’t crave the limelight, but treated me like a goddess. Nothing was too much for me. ( funny how 6 years of marriage can change that huh? ) Anyway, my birthday was approaching, and Paul suggested he buy me a karaoke machine so I could practise at home. We toddled off to Session Music in Tooting intending to spend a couple of hundred pounds on a CDG machine, and walked out a couple of hours later with a complete system, and my savings in the bank blown! LOL
I had nothing lined up, not a thing…….didn’t even know if anyone would want to hire me, but Paul had every faith in me, and encouraged me to keep going. I knew that the Essential six-pack I had bought would not get me very far, so decided to build up my discs before I went touting for any work. In no time at all, I had over a thousand songs, which I felt was adequate to at least start with, and with my heart in my mouth, I grabbed the Yellow Pages.
The first place I phoned was The Duke Of Gloucester. Micksey had done karaoke there years before, but to my knowledge they no longer did it. I explained that I was just setting up, and was looking for work. What a bonus when George the Guvnor said that he and his wife had just been talking about doing something on a Friday night to pull in some people! We arranged a date for three weeks down the line, so that I had time to get some posters and flyers made and sent out. I feverishly set to work, engaging the talents of my friend ( also called George ) to get the posters and such made up for me. While all this was going on, I had a call from Paul’s sister to say that the people that ran the karaoke in The Waddon were leaving as they lived too far away, and she was expecting another baby. The landlady wanted to see me! Wow! One definite and one potential gig within the space of a couple of weeks!
I also rang an agent that had seen me in my hosting days, and told him I was available in my own right, and he signed me up straight away, without seeing my equipment or anything! He’s a sweetie!
My gig at The Duke approached, and I thought, in my naivety, that it would be a good idea to go to the karaoke I frequented on a Wednesday night, and tell a few of my friends and fellow singers down there about it, in the hopes that it would swell numbers. Well, that place didn’t have karaoke on a Friday night, so that would be alright wouldn’t it? Ummm..NOPE! I had given out a few flyers, discreetly I thought, to a few people that I knew personally…..when suddenly, the landlord of the pub got up on the stage, one of my flyers in hand, and demanded to know who was touting for business in his pub! He then (to my delight!) proceeded to read out the entire contents of the flyer, giving date, time and venue!! Absolute classic advertising, and it wasn’t even intended! When he finished I raised my hand and said that it was me, and that I was sorry, I didn’t realise it would cause a fuss! He was actually quite nice about it once he realised it was me!
The 14th May 1999 was my first gig, and it surpassed all expectations. The place wasn’t busy, it was rammed! I cried when I saw how many people had turned up to support me, and I still cry to this day when I think of all the lovely people that still support me.
Paul was my rock, my technical guru…..and without him I would never have got as far as I have, credit where credit is due.
Two weeks later I started The Waddon, two weeks after that I got Scruffy’s through the agent…and the rest as they say is history!
I love this job!
Mandy Barnett
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