Could you imagine a modern-day family or a theater audience gathering together to sing along with a movie or TV program as the lyrics streamed across the screen, preferably with a bouncing ball to keep the proper tempo? No? Neither can I. We’ve become so jaded.
But people used to love to do this. From what I can determine by from my lazy Google search, the bouncing ball was first invented and employed in theaters in 1924. You can see a clip of the Roswell Sisters making great use of it in 1932 while singing the disturbingly racist song, Sleepy Time Down South, here.
There was also a well-known TV program in the 60’s called Sing Along With Mitch, and for the longest time, I could swear I had a vague memory of this show. But I thought it included the bouncing ball, and in fact, it only had the lyrics. Besides, NBC stopped showing reruns by 1966, so I’d have been less than two years old.
There are a few Youtube videos of Sing Along With Mitch, so I decided to check them out, to see if they rang any bells. And if I’m honest, to my modern eyes, this show kind of gives me the creeps. I don’t know. It’s something about the earnestness of it all, and his 25 man chorus, all dressed identically, like automatons. They also employed some really weird camera angles, and I don’t know if they had a very low budget or what, but they stood in a big, featureless room.
So there you have it: the bouncing ball as a precursor to karaoke. Karaoke is still popular, but it, too, makes me want to run screaming for the exit. And if you heard my singing voice, you’d probably thank me for that.
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