B
Brian Shoemaker
Guest
In addition to Scott's weekly column, he also has a weekly email newsletter.
Scott has followed Gamecock sports for more than 30 years and provides commentary from a fan perspective. His columns appear on Gamecock Central each Monday during football season and other times throughout the year. You can follow Scott on Twitter at @scdonfire.
Rock On!
Scott Davis, Gamecock Central columnist
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
I was in a bar in Greenville (what's up, Fitzpatrick's!), and I'd consumed a few things involving Jack Daniel's, and I told a girl (who would eventually become my wife), "You see, karaoke is not about singing. It's about ROCKING!"
Why this person married me remains a mystery. But that doesn't change the essential truth. If you are going to step on stage and pick up a microphone, you don't need to be talented. You just need to believe that you're talented and act accordingly. And people will believe you, as long as you believe it.
I've been karaokeing since karaoke was invented. It's the perfect pastime for nerds like me who think they could've made it in Nashville if only a couple of things had gone their way.
If you've been to a bar in Upstate South Carolina in the last 15 years, chances are you've heard me work magic on the likes of Def Leppard and John Cougar Mellencamp.
And one thing I've realized over the years is that you really can carry a crowd if you pretend you are as talented as Mariah Carey or the late Whitney Houston. I don't care how bad you are. That's all anyone wants you to do up there: Believe.
If you believe in yourself, you cannot fail.
And as South Carolina prepares to face a Kentucky team this weekend that believes in itself very much, I want them to walk into this football game knowing exactly who they are. They don't need to pretend.
Unlike me on a karaoke stage, the Gamecocks actually are talented. They are better at playing football than Kentucky. It's not about losing to the Wildcats four years in a row. It's not about ending streaks. It's just about being exactly who you are.
Own it.
South Carolina's football team is better than Kentucky's is. South Carolina's athletes are better than Kentucky's are. So get up on stage, pick up that microphone and act like that.
It's not about singing, it's about rocking.
I want to see the Gamecocks own the moment and rock on. The stage is set. The microphone's ready. It's time.
Random Thoughts from Someone Who Has Absolutely Karaoked Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" in His Lifetime
* This is a true story. When one of my aunts got married 15 years or so ago, I was inexplicably left in charge of the microphone for the reception, using a karaoke machine that my young cousins had at the time (they were somewhere around 13, 11, and 10 at the time).
The idea was that I would make occasional announcements once an hour or so. Instead, I started singing. And kept singing. At one point, I actually drove people out of the room.
As one of my aunts left a few hours later, she pulled me aside and said, "That was, um, interesting. I enjoyed the Elvis song, though." (I had not sung any Elvis songs that night). I apologize to everyone involved in that one. It's not about singing, it's about rocking.
* This is a true story. I once went to a party in which a mere five people were present and absolutely blew out Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" on a karaoke machine on someone's back porch. Sadly, that happened. People actually saw it happen and lived to tell about it.
* This is a true story: I once sang "Bohemian Rhapsody" on a karaoke machine at a family reunion to stunned relatives on a patio at my cousin's house in Columbia. That happened.
* The Karaoke Hall of Fame:
You want to step on stage and own it? Here's how you do it. Any earnest ballad from the 1980s will succeed, as well as almost any country song and any heavy metal song can happen as long as you believe.
You've gotta believe.
I think these songs are impossible to get wrong no matter how bad you are, so this is the Karaoke Hall of Fame:
- Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi
- Photograph by Def Leppard
- Luckenbach, Texas by Waylon Jennings
- Whiskey River by Willie Nelson
- Neon Moon by Brooks & Dunn
- Making Love Out of Nothing at All by Air Supply
- Sailing by Christopher Cross
- Lady by the Little River Band
- Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks
- Jump by the Pointer Sisters
- Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
- Anything by "divas" like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey, Christina and Britney, etc.
- Almost anything by Elton John, but especially "Rocket Man," "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road," "Saturday Night's Alright" and "Tiny Dancer"
Take those songs under your wing and you'll be in good hands.
* Enjoyed this article from The New Yorker this week about the history of Christian rock. If you've ever spent time on a church van as a weird little kid (and I certainly have) this will bring back memories for you.
For the Gamecocks, it's time to rock on. They are better than Kentucky. Pick up the mike and rock on.
Believe.
You are who you are.
It really is that simple.
Help us grow. Thank you for being a part of the Gamecock Central community. If you enjoy this newsletter, please forward this email to a friend or two. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up here to start receiving your own copy.
Scott has followed Gamecock sports for more than 30 years and provides commentary from a fan perspective. His columns appear on Gamecock Central each Monday during football season and other times throughout the year. You can follow Scott on Twitter at @scdonfire.
Rock On!
Scott Davis, Gamecock Central columnist
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
I distinctly remember where I was when I said it.
I was in a bar in Greenville (what's up, Fitzpatrick's!), and I'd consumed a few things involving Jack Daniel's, and I told a girl (who would eventually become my wife), "You see, karaoke is not about singing. It's about ROCKING!"
Why this person married me remains a mystery. But that doesn't change the essential truth. If you are going to step on stage and pick up a microphone, you don't need to be talented. You just need to believe that you're talented and act accordingly. And people will believe you, as long as you believe it.
I've been karaokeing since karaoke was invented. It's the perfect pastime for nerds like me who think they could've made it in Nashville if only a couple of things had gone their way.
If you've been to a bar in Upstate South Carolina in the last 15 years, chances are you've heard me work magic on the likes of Def Leppard and John Cougar Mellencamp.
And one thing I've realized over the years is that you really can carry a crowd if you pretend you are as talented as Mariah Carey or the late Whitney Houston. I don't care how bad you are. That's all anyone wants you to do up there: Believe.
If you believe in yourself, you cannot fail.
And as South Carolina prepares to face a Kentucky team this weekend that believes in itself very much, I want them to walk into this football game knowing exactly who they are. They don't need to pretend.
Unlike me on a karaoke stage, the Gamecocks actually are talented. They are better at playing football than Kentucky. It's not about losing to the Wildcats four years in a row. It's not about ending streaks. It's just about being exactly who you are.
Own it.
South Carolina's football team is better than Kentucky's is. South Carolina's athletes are better than Kentucky's are. So get up on stage, pick up that microphone and act like that.
It's not about singing, it's about rocking.
I want to see the Gamecocks own the moment and rock on. The stage is set. The microphone's ready. It's time.
Random Thoughts from Someone Who Has Absolutely Karaoked Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" in His Lifetime
* This is a true story. When one of my aunts got married 15 years or so ago, I was inexplicably left in charge of the microphone for the reception, using a karaoke machine that my young cousins had at the time (they were somewhere around 13, 11, and 10 at the time).
The idea was that I would make occasional announcements once an hour or so. Instead, I started singing. And kept singing. At one point, I actually drove people out of the room.
As one of my aunts left a few hours later, she pulled me aside and said, "That was, um, interesting. I enjoyed the Elvis song, though." (I had not sung any Elvis songs that night). I apologize to everyone involved in that one. It's not about singing, it's about rocking.
* This is a true story. I once went to a party in which a mere five people were present and absolutely blew out Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" on a karaoke machine on someone's back porch. Sadly, that happened. People actually saw it happen and lived to tell about it.
* This is a true story: I once sang "Bohemian Rhapsody" on a karaoke machine at a family reunion to stunned relatives on a patio at my cousin's house in Columbia. That happened.
* The Karaoke Hall of Fame:
You want to step on stage and own it? Here's how you do it. Any earnest ballad from the 1980s will succeed, as well as almost any country song and any heavy metal song can happen as long as you believe.
You've gotta believe.
I think these songs are impossible to get wrong no matter how bad you are, so this is the Karaoke Hall of Fame:
- Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi
- Photograph by Def Leppard
- Luckenbach, Texas by Waylon Jennings
- Whiskey River by Willie Nelson
- Neon Moon by Brooks & Dunn
- Making Love Out of Nothing at All by Air Supply
- Sailing by Christopher Cross
- Lady by the Little River Band
- Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks
- Jump by the Pointer Sisters
- Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
- Anything by "divas" like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Lady Gaga, Mariah Carey, Christina and Britney, etc.
- Almost anything by Elton John, but especially "Rocket Man," "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road," "Saturday Night's Alright" and "Tiny Dancer"
Take those songs under your wing and you'll be in good hands.
* Enjoyed this article from The New Yorker this week about the history of Christian rock. If you've ever spent time on a church van as a weird little kid (and I certainly have) this will bring back memories for you.
For the Gamecocks, it's time to rock on. They are better than Kentucky. Pick up the mike and rock on.
Believe.
You are who you are.
It really is that simple.
Help us grow. Thank you for being a part of the Gamecock Central community. If you enjoy this newsletter, please forward this email to a friend or two. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up here to start receiving your own copy.
