Name: Kevin Johnson
Place: Koreatown, Los Angeles, CA
Your relationship to music: karaoker
Industry: IT Specialist, and sometime freelance writer/critic
I first met our second contributor to Five Song Project in May of 2013 at book club. Kevin was invited to join our group by another book club member and friend. Our first meeting together was for the book “Nothing Lasts Forever” by Robert Thorpe which was, if you didn’t know, the book Die Hard is based on. Kevin didn’t know any of us that first meeting and unbeknownst to him, the friend had decided to ghost the group. It could have been very awkward, but it wasn’t. Kevin has this way of navigating awkward situations in a way that I am very envious of. He has been an active member and friend ever since that first meeting. He has a great voice and uses it often in the various karaoke rooms in the L.A. area.
5songprjct: How would you describe the theme of your five songs?
Kevin: These songs in particular exemplify what I believe to be best about karaoke. There are unofficial rules that ensure everyone has as good a time as possible. You might want to break the ice, lighten things up, or just show off. You may even want to bring people together and have them sing along in one glorious mob. The following five songs just may help you do that.
5songpjct: What was the hardest thing about this project?
Kevin: A-ha! Keeping other people in mind versus just making it about myself. The bulk of those are my go-to’s, save for “My Girl” and “We Are The World,” which I’ve only done once. So I kept making other lists, especially after coming back from karaoke. But I kept Hall & Oates, Rick Astley & Billy Joel because they’re so well known. Very few people don’t know those songs. But yeah, I had to make sure I wasn’t just making a list for me. Once I did that, it was easy. There’s a fun factor involved and all those songs are very fun.
Your assignment for Sunday, January 7, 2018:
Continuing on with our format, your assignment today is to listen to these five songs. Throughout the week we will let you know why they were chosen. These are songs 6-10 on the Spotify playlist for this blog and available to view on YouTube, when available, by clicking the song title.
[1] Daryl Hall & John Oates. “Kiss on My List.” Voices, RCA Records, 1980. (Written by Janna Allen and Hall)
[2] Rick Astley . “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Whenever You Need Somebody, RCA Records, 1987. (Written by Stock, Aitken, and Waterman)
[3] Billy Joel. “Uptown Girl.” An Innocent Man, Columbia, 1983.
[4] The Temptations. “My Girl.” The Temptations Sing Smokey, Motown, 1965. (Written by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White)
[5] U.S.A. for Africa. “We Are The World” We Are the World, Columbia, 1985 (Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie)
THE FIRST of Kevin’s songs tomorrow.