Do it MIC way

Set loose your inner Sinatra with karaoke nights on the Oregon Coast

Story & photos by Gretchen Ammerman

Oregon Coast TODAY

Despite having lived in two places that were boomtowns in the early days of Karaoke, Honolulu and San Francisco, it wasn’t until quite recently that I tried my hand at the mic.

It was at Primaltones Community Venue in Newport, and I couldn’t have picked a better place.

The crowd was small but enthusiastic and supportive, even after I, for some reason, chose to tackle a particularly pitchy Joni Mitchell song.

Though most places that host karaoke nights have weekly offerings, the events at Primaltones are less frequent, the next one being open mic and karaoke followed by a dance party this Friday, Jan. 20.

Michael Babinski, who hosts weekly karaoke gatherings at the Bay Haven Inn in Newport and Snug Harbor in Lincoln City, uses three programs to “access pretty much any karaoke song ever made.”

He began hosting in 2014 after years of having zero interest in karaoke.

“For many years, my wife and I avoided karaoke bars like the plague,” he said. “But we went into Wing Wa in Depoe Bay one night when they were doing it and I decided to check out what songs there were to sing. When I saw they had ‘Minnie the Moocher,’ I decided to give it a shot and actually really enjoyed it.”

His wife tried it next and also liked it, so the couple became regulars. One night, the host asked Babinski to stand in for him.

“I thought I would just do one and that would be it,” he said. “Turns out I really liked it. I like to make people happy and this seems to, for the most part. If I can give someone a compliment I will.”

Babinski usually opens the night with his “one-man band,” including a washboard and various implements of percussion before opening the floor to all comers.

“I love to sing,” he said. “I was in a band, but we broke up during the pandemic so this gives me that chance to perform but also to support other people.”

He also supports people that, like him, want to do more than sing.

“It's fairly rare, but people will come in with instruments,” he said. “There’s one guy that comes in with a guitar pretty regularly and I hook him right into my equipment.”

Once Babinski was in, he was all in. He even has done research on karaoke, sharing a few pieces of information about it from formation to its effect on some places in the world.

“Karaoke was invented in 1971 by a Japanese singer who recognized that his fans wanted to sing along with his songs," he said. “The first karaoke bar in the US opened in 1982 in Los Angeles. In the Philippines, nine people have been killed for singing the song ‘My Way.’ The newspapers there call it the ‘My Way Murders.’”

Over time, Babinski has seen a pattern in the most chosen songs.

“The streaming service I use lists by popularity,” he said. “Right now, the number one song people pick is ‘Tennessee Whisky.’”

Definitely a far cry from “Minnie the Moocher.”

Join “Doctor B.” for karaoke every Thursday and Friday at the Bay Haven Inn, located at 608 SW Bay Blvd., from 8:30 pm until midnight, and every Saturday and Sunday at the Snug Harbor, located at 5001 SE Hwy. 101. In Lincoln City from 8:30 pm until midnight.

At the Bay Haven Inn, Karaoke is hosted by “Willy” every other Saturday from 8:30 to midnight.

At Wing Wa, located at 330 Hwy. 101 in Depoe Bay, Nick James hosts Karaoke Thursday, Friday and Saturday Nights from 9 pm to 1 am.

Open mic and karaoke at Primaltones Community Venue begins at 8 pm this Friday, Jan. 20, and the dance party begins at 11 pm. The venue is located at 2925 SE Ferry Slip Road in Newport.

For more information, go to primaltones.com.