Karaoke - JCPenney Christmas Catalog - 1991

 

    I'm a sucker for home karaoke. I want my own in-home karaoke bar so I can enjoy the fun of singing my favorite songs, complete with studio background tracks, into a microphone at the top of my lungs without having to do it in front of drunks, strangers, or pretty much anybody. It wasn't until the early 90s that karaoke machines started becoming affordable enough that people who weren't Sharper Image-shopping techheads could afford to have them in their homes. Most of the time, they simply consisted of a tape player/amplifier with a mic jack. However, if you were really good, Santa might have brought you a video karaoke system, so you could view the words on a TV screen and not have to fumble with those paper lyric inserts (that sometimes didn't even have the lyrics printed on them!)
     I absolutely love the picture above. First of all, there's the boy, whom JCPenney was kind enough to label as Exhibit B. The boy is dressed like every boy in my 7th grade year book. Secondly, he's rocking out pretty hard to what the screen is showing to be "Jingle Bells". In fact, it looks like he's gotten so caught up in it that he's completely stopped singing. Then, of course, there's the part of the picture I'm sure you all have barely been able to take your eyes from - Exhibit A - the dad. This guy is clearly very supportive of his children, throwing his heart and soul into everything they do. He's giving his son the double-handed disco point that says, "Way to go, son! Get down with your bad self!" (and sometimes says, "Hey good lookin', be back to pick you up later.") There's no way the boy in the melon-colored shirt is having half as good a time as his dad. I wish "Jingle Bells" had that kind of effect on me.