Guy who invented karaoke

Inoue, a struggling musician, first thought to make the machine when a local businessman asked him to record some songs of his on an open-reel tape recorder in keys that made it easier for him to sing along. He says his firm made 25, Juke 8s altogether. But without a patent there was no way for Inoue to prevent competitors from cannibalizing his business. Inoue was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize , which rewards strange but thought-provoking inventions, in By providing your email, you agree to the Quartz Privacy Policy.

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He started every morning with a long-running radio sing-along show called, straightforwardly enough, Pop Songs without Lyrics—a sort of nationwide precursor of karaoke served up over the airwaves. One day in , Negishi kept singing as he walked into the offices of Nichiden Kogyo, his electronics-assembly firm, which built 8-track tape decks for other companies in the suburbs of Tokyo. His head engineer gently ribbed the boss for his crooning.

And that, says Negishi, is when inspiration struck. His voice came through the speakers along with the music—the first karaoke song ever sung. Most of all, it was fun. He instantly grasped that this was something he could potentially sell.

He called his baby the Sparko Box. But, for now, all he had was his mad-scientist prototype. He carried the components home that evening as a surprise for his wife and three children.

One by one, they took turns singing over the tape.