INVENTOR OF THE KARAOKE MACHINE DIES AT 100

Shigeichi Negishi, a Japanese engineer who invented the karaoke machine, has died at the age of 100. Mr. Negishi died on Jan 26 from natural causes. The idea for the karaoke machine came to Negishi in 1967 after a colleague quipped that he had a terrible singing voice. Negishi thought, “If only they could hear my voice over a backing track!” Negishi’s machine was called the Sparko Box, coming to market in 1967, four years before another machine called the 8 Juke, which some consider the first karaoke machine. But in Japan, Negishi has long been considered the father of the invention. He instructed a staff member in his company to build a device with a microphone, speaker and tape deck. The music tracks played on tape. He took it home to show his family, which was the first karaoke session. When it came time to name the new device, Negishi chose the word karaoke, which had long been used in Japan to refer to singers who used backing tracks to perform. The word itself is a mixture of the worlds “empty” and “orchestra” in Japanese. But he never patented the device, missing out on millions.
* Which is, perhaps, punishment enough for having invented the karaoke machine.
* They say he suffered an aneurysm while banging his head to the instrumental break in “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
* I guess he never noticed his invention didn’t actually help with the whole “terrible singing voice” problem.
* Ironically, they couldn’t find anybody to sing at his funeral.