Mission Mission

My pal Chad is really into karaoke. (As am I.) Apparently he says so on his online-dating profiles, and here’s what happens when a nice young lady doesn’t heed his warning:

Done and done. Easy peasy.

Now, before you rip on Chad for being so quick to pass, and before you rip on this nice young lady for not branching out more at karaoke, think about it… Back in the old days, it might take you 10 years of marriage (followed by a bitter divorce) to figure out that it wasn’t going to work because the only song she’d karaoke was “Gangsta’s.” Modern romance cuts right to the chase!

(Also, be sure to check out DJ Purple’s debut at SoMa StrEat Food Park this Saturday night!)

In terms of quantity, this definitely doesn’t top the 45 songs I sang in May, but it was still a good month:

1. Hounds of Love – The Futureheads
2. Supersoaker – Kings of Leon
3. Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
4. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division
5. Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again – The Angels
6. Too Much Time on My Hands – Styx
7. Reflektor – Arcade Fire
8. Silly Love Songs – Wings
9. Real Wild Child – Iggy Pop
10. You Don’t Know How It Feels – Tom Petty
11. Let Me Go – Cake
12. Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town – Kenny Rogers
13. I’m Sticking with You – The Velvet Underground
14. Conquest – The White Stripes
15. Country Girl – Primal Scream
16. Dancing in the Moonlight – Thin Lizzy
17. Baby, I Love You – Ramones
18. Love Stinks – J. Geils Band

And the lesson remains the same: karaoke is super fun, the karaoke scene here in SF is pretty killer, and you can sing a wide variety of cool songs if you want.

(I like going to DJ Purple on Tuesdays at Tupelo in North Beach and Thursdays at Slate here in the Mission, KJ Paul on Saturdays at SoMa StrEat Food Park sometimes, and Roger Niner at Butter on Sundays. How bout you?) (Oh and I sang “Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town” at this awesome dive in Santa Monica called the Gaslite.)

It’s been too long! Here’s all the info:

It’s been more than *half a year* since SINGIN’ & PINGIN’ made an appearance in the Mission — where it all started! We’ve been doing the festival thing and venturing to other neighborhoods and cities, but now we’re back!!!

• Singin’ & Pingin’ = DJ PURPLE + AMERICAN TRIPPS
• DJ Purple = DANCE KARAOKE
• American Tripps = BERLIN-STYLE PING PONG
• Verdi Club = DREAMY SURROUNDINGS
• June 20th = SUMMER SOLSTICE EVE
• Summer Solstice = TIME TO GET CRRRAZY
• The Mission = THE PLACE TO BE

The Verdi Club, in the heart of the Mission District, is seriously the place you want to be as spring turns into summer: expert bartenders, chill lighting, all the dance floor we could possibly need… We cannot wait!

And there will be homemade tacos! RSVP and invite your friends! DJ Purple’s songbook can be found here. (Get to work!)

Palo Alto Weekly just published a big feature on DJ Purple, and they dug deep. Here’s some epic DJ Purple history:

Hays came to the Peninsula from New Jersey in the ’80s to pursue an undergraduate degree at Stanford University. Although he was a capable student — he says he earned high marks in high school and that he turned down an acceptance letter from Harvard University — ultimately Hays gave up on his studies so he could pursue a career in music.

At the time, Hays played in a number of dance-music cover bands — some of which were well-known in certain circles of Stanford students, he says. Back when he dropped out of Stanford, Hays says he was thinking he’d continue playing live music in bands. His instruments include saxophone, keyboard and guitar among others. However, as time passed, he started playing solo shows, using samplers and laptops as his backing band, and before long, he had mostly abandoned live instrumentation in favor of mixing dance music at parties, bars and clubs.

Though it’s been more than a decade since Hays played regularly with a band, the lessons he learned while performing with other musicians on stage have greatly informed the work he does as DJ Purple. Hays frequently plays saxophone or harmonica during songs to spice up a musical interlude or give a certain passage more punch. He will sometimes sing backup harmonies. And he has even been known to reach out to regulars via Facebook to suggest a song he thinks they’d be good at or to give pointers on microphone and singing technique. [link]

Yeah, he once messaged me to suggest I do “Little L” by Jamiroquai and it took me about 3 years to work up the courage. (By the time I did it, he’d forgotten it was his idea.)

Be sure to check out DJ Purple’s show every Thursday at Slate Bar on 16th Street, and this Friday there’s the very special Singin’ & Pingin’ returns to the Mission party at Verdi Club:

[Photo by Corntard]

That signature ‘stache, getting down during that signature sax solo! Two local karaoke legends, shredding as one!! What a sight!!! (Paul elected to perform “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” last night at Purple’s regular Thursday night gig at Slate, and together they nailed it.)

Btw check out the line to get into the party last night (at 12:45 no less!):

During “Careless Whisper” obviously.

[via Corntard]

Woweeee, 7 whole years! Here’s how DJ Purple puts it on the invite to Thursday night’s celebration:

IT’S HERE! 7 YEARS! Let’s celebrate the history of Dance Karaoke, born in the Mission, raised by Jack’s Club and YOU! And now going strong at Slate Bar!

Read our in-depth interview from back in 2011 for more on the history of DJ Purple’s revolutionary Dance Karaoke party (with photos from back at Jack’s). And if you were a longtime Jack’s regular and still haven’t made it out to the new show at Slate, now’s the time! Purple says it’s gonna be a fabulous reunion! (And you should probably get hip to the new Easy Song Search!)

Also, looks like DJ Purple is calling on all of us to celebrate #ThrowbackThursday by posting vintage pics from back in the Jack’s days all day tomorrow. Here’s one of my faves (by Vic Wong):

At his larger events, he says, DJ Purple‘s been running into the problem of having too many song submissions, too many unprepared singers, and too many people who put in five or ten requests and then bounce. And consequently too many people waiting long waits to sing. So tonight at Folsom Street Foundry he’s trying out a new system, one that promises to eliminate factors that lead to frustrating waits. I can’t wait to see how it works!

Also, the venue will have half a dozen movie projectors blasting DJ Purple’s lyrics onto every available surface, which should be awesome. Folsom Street Foundry is located just a short distance outside the Mission:

RSVP and invite your friends!

For more info on the DJ Purple experience, read our in-depth interview with the man himself from back in 2011

And if you’re most into the pingin’ part, the SF Berlin-Style Ping Pong League kicks off its spring season this coming Monday at the same venue.

We’ve been rabid fans of Candy for a loooong time, ever since we saw her absolutely nail “Super Bass” at a DJ Purple karaoke party at Jack’s, waaaay back in the day. (Candy does it better than Nicki Minaj herself, no lie.)

Anyway, her band, Candy’s Crush, is making their live debut right here in the Mission this Friday night (which is both Valentine’s Day *and* Mission Mission’s 7th anniversary) at Verdi Club, opening for the world’s greatest LCD Soundsystem cover band, North American Scum.

We asked Candy if she might be able to give us an idea of what to expect, and she was like totes:

What’s your #1 musical influence?

Prince. Musically and lyrically, he is everything I want to be.

What’s your favorite part about being onstage in front of an audience?

There’s nothing better than being onstage. Personally, I live life pretty much entirely to entertain myself, and if, by doing so, I can entertain other people as well, I feel very satisfied.

How’d you put together your band?

Keith (our bass player) and I started this band after having a conversation about our mutual love for Chaka Khan. We wanted to do something funky that would get people to dance. At the time we were also in weird places with our love lives, so naturally starting a band sounded like a good way to get all the girls/boys. (I’ll put that to the test at our first show!) After that, we eventually recruited Koop (drums) and Rich (guitar) so we could have the sexiest band ever.

How do you feel about Valentine’s Day?

My 5th grade boyfriend bought me chocolates, a fake rose, took me roller skating and made me a mix tape for Valentine’s day (which included Blackstreet, No Doubt and Queen). It finally occurred to me in recent years that Valentine’s Day would never, ever again be so good. Instead of ranting about it, I prefer to use this holiday as an excuse to be with good people, get down on the dance floor and (hopefully) get some action. What more could anyone ask for?

Amen! Get advance tickets (since they’re cheaper than tickets at the door) and RSVP and invite yr friends!

Let’s start south and work our way north…

The Knockout, as it often does on NYE, has Teenage Dance Craze starring the legendary Russell Quan. Expect some Beatles! RSVP and invite your friends!

Virgil’s Sea Room becomes Virgil’s Soul Room with a little help from the Hard French crew plus Wam Bam Ashleyanne! Plus, El Rio will probably be doing something cool too, so we can all hop back and forth real easy. RSVP and invite your friends!

The Business are doing their first ever New Year’s Eve  show! If we’d rather laugh than dance, this may be the way to go (though there’s also a show on the 30th, so we could definitely do both). RSVP and invite your friends!

(Btw Ashleyanne is doing her girl groups night tonight at Elbo Room!)

Slate’s party has some Miami Vice shit going on on the poster. What more do we need to know? RSVP and invite your friends!

(Btw this Thursday at Slate is DJ Purple’s birthday, and it sounds like it’s gonna be a real banger!)

Finally, on the off chance we’re willing to travel a couple blocks outside of the Mission, there’s this Talking Heads-themed party, at this new Folsom Street Foundry place we keep hearing about. RSVP and invite your friends!