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Rhythn^RmeWS
SEPTEMBER 21,1998
Emerald
Alexi Lalas
The soccer star is a rookie
again — this time in the
music business/13B
Local Bars
Eugene offers a ivide
variety of bars near the
campus area/4D
WOW Hall
The local venue hosts
a variety of musical
and artistic acts/7D
Sing it loud,
Sing it proud
Karaoke, a fad that started in Japan in
1984, is a growing hobby in Eugene
A quick scan about the
lounge yields a sea of
mirrored walls, ma
roon carpeting and
dime-sized white lights. At
the far end of the dimly lit bar,
a disco ball dangles from the
ceiling refracting darts of yel
low light onto a small stage
perched in front of a big-screen
television. As the crowd of
about 35 roars with applause
from their bar stools and
cushy, Naugahyde chairs, a
woman’s seductive voice
booms over a microphone:
“Next up is Ron Dinkelmeir.”
The star of the moment saun
ters up the microphone and
convincingly belts out Ben
Folds Five’s “Brick” to
the music of an invisible
band.
That was not the new
lead singer for the band,
and this crowd isn’t
swinging like Wayne
Newton in Vegas, baby.
Dinkelnieir, 25, was
flexing his vocal muscle
at a karaoke night at the
Red Lion Inn on Coburg Road.
The Inn’s lounge hosts nights of
musical knock-offs every
Thursday and Friday from 9
p.m. to 1 a.m.
Dinkelmeir said he has been
enjoying nights of karaoke for
the past few years and said he
is not shy about crooning on
stage.
“It took me a while and a
couple of Long Islands to start
singing,” he said. “The cool
thing about karaoke is that peo
ple really appreciate enthusi
asm and the willingness to get
up there. If you consider your
self a prima donna or a star,
you get old fast.”
But karaoke itself has not
gotten very old very fast.
According to the vanBas
co Software Web page,
karaoke, or “empty orches
tra,” started in Kansai,
Japan, in 1984. Karaoke’s
popularity spread to the
United States and has
etched its way into the
Turn to KARAOKE, Page 16D
story by Michael Burnham, Y photo illustration by Laura Goss *
A Parttem} visitor
sings a love song to
karaolfe hostess
Ronny Turrell.
Cultural Forum brings Bob Dylan to Mac Court
Despite a blitz
of recent
media hype,
Dylan still
manages to
maintain his
integrity as
an artist
By Peter Broaden
Oregon Daily Emerald
Bob Dylan’s 41st album, “Time Out of
Mind,” has earned enough accolades to fill
up a magazine feature and two Web sites.
These, however, are not reasons to get a
ticket for his Sept. 24 show at Mac Court.
Let’s run down the list of some other rea
sons not to see Dylan:
Reason 1: Garth Brooks’ version of Bob
Dylan’s composition, “To Make You Feel
My Love," is the No. 1 country record in
America. (Incidentally, the lyrics are re
arranged to better capture Garth’s pipes.)
BD’s lyrics, though open for one rendi
tion after another, are best suited for his
own subtle and evocative delivery. One es
pecially tacky rendition is The Four Sea
sons bee-bopping version of "Don’t Think
Twice, It’s All Right.” If his lyrics are your
only incentive, there are many online li
braries to check out at your nearest termi
nal.
Reason 2: “Time Out of Mind” went
platinum and won three Grammy Awards.
Most of the reviews of BD’s latest come
from lifelong fans who could list as many
BD covers as The Dave Matthews Band has
original material. With a body of material
as dense and treacherous as his curly mop,
BD has a canon that few can claim to have
mastered. Though it may be his fastest-sell
ing new release, TOOM (the phonetically
appropriate acronym) is as challenging an
album as ever.
Turn to FORUM, Page 22D
COURTESY
Van Morrison and
Lucinda Williams
mil perform with
Dylan on
Thursday.