Presumably, The Weinsteins Took A Pass On This One

Speaking of Daisuke, this is supposedly the poster for the 2005 Japanese film based upon his life. Judging by this image, Karaoke is a mix of The Empire Strikes Back and Duets, and therefore the greatest movie of all time. So many questions: Why does everyone look so anxious? Is that giant-sized golden microphone reproduced to scale? And what could that little dog possibly be doing amid all of this?

CD JAPAN: Karaoke

The Face That Launched A Million Drunken Sing-Alongs

The guy with the big smile—and the even bigger array of audio equipment—is none other than Inoue Daisuke, who's widely credited with inventing the first karaoke machine in 1971. You can get an overview of Inoue-san's life story in this Independent article from last summer, but here's a very, very truncated summary: While drumming in a bar band in Kobe, he stumbled upon the idea of recording his own backing tracks; soon, he was leasing out tapes and machines to bars around the city, unknowingly launching a worldwide, multi-million industry. Alas, Daisuke never patented his discovery, and he now sells devices that prevent bugs from damaging karaoke machines (one of which, I'm guessing, can be found here). Respect due!

THE INDEPENDENT ONLINE: The Man who taught the world to sing

Karaoke: It's All Well And Good, But Will It Kill You?

When you subscribe to "karaoke news" on Google alerts, your tend to get two kinds of stories: The "area resident aims for the stars" small-town newspaper pieces—in which some local star's karaoke-fueled past is noted—and the reliably suspect "news of the weird" stories. The following Times Online piece clearly belongs in the latter category:

Japanese doctors report a surge in the condition known as “karaoke polyp”, a growth on the vocal cords caused by excessive warbling in bars and parlours. Formerly an affliction of middle-aged businessmen, the malady has spread among housewives and young people because of the continuing popularity of karaoke.

Ear, nose and throat clinics report a doubling in cases of karaoke polyps and the operation necessary to remove them. A surge of popular songs of especially high pitch, which put excessive strain on the vocal cords, is being blamed for the polyp plague.

The story itself is based in part on a Japanese newspaper, and it's likely that something got lost in translation here: After all, of the supposed 47 million karaoke fans in Japan, the number being treated for such a condition is phenomenally low (one clinic performed 170 procedures last year, which, when extrapolated, hardly points to an epidemic). It's more likely that singers suffering damaged polyps are probably also hardcore smokers—which, in Japan, is all but a given. In other words: Don't sweat it if your throat starts to tingle after a few too many renditions of "Danger Zone."

TIMES ONLINE: Karaoke Songs bring a lump to the throat