30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 1 - Date Night on Smule!!

(Note:  Okay, Internet Problems on April Fool's Day, so the jokes on me!! Here is Day 1's entry)

Now as this blog today involves my friend, Chris, from Texas, who has assured me that at no time in the vernacular of a Southern accent does a single word end in the letter "g", what we'll be discussin' today is the fine art of Smule datin', or what I've come to think of a "dating" or, perhaps more specifically, "play dating" here on Smule.

But, first, some background information, and why my pal, Chris, who goes by the name @SPARKY_MAC, figures so prominently in my blog today.

If the number of your followers exceeds 499 people, then your Smule mentions and tags as well as invites sometimes has a hard time getting to people you really want to invite. The reason is because Smule is really set up only for about 500 followers and 500 people you follow.  Beyond that, and the others in the roster don't see invites on a regular basis.  In fact, their names disappear from the list of your friends, so I regularly have to type into the search bar and make note of the people I want to visit like my pal Joanne who lives in New Zealand and goes by the Smule tag @joanne_ph1.

My pals, Joanne from New Zealand, and Chris from Texas

 

I popped over to Joanne's site knowing I'd find--as I always do--great songs to sing and I was not disappointed. She had posted several fantastic songs from the "disco era" including Bee Gee's family member and little brother, Andy Gibb's "I Just Want to be Your Everything."  I couldn't "quite" remember how to sing all of that song, so I decided first to listen to other members sing it and then I would do it afterwards.  First I listened to my pal, Joanne, then I chose someone named "Sparky Mac" (who I've known sorta peripherally--we politely comment on each others duets once in a very infrequent while) to hear his version since his recording had already been played quite a few times.  I also caught comments on the site about extra "tight pants," which, okay, I found that totally intriguing...who wouldn't?

So I did what I always seem to do nowadays--I hit the "play" button and then opened the comments section to write comments on Sparky's version of the song. 

Right away I was surprised.  The music started and a man with a low, smoky voice and a very decidedly Southern drawl begin talking and said "this is going to be fun...I don't care...I don't sing disco, but I still got some falsetto...I think."  So he began to sing.  I'd never heard a Gibb brothers song sung by someone with a lower voice and certainly not ever with country-ish phrasing, but here it was on this great song.

Now anyone who knows the Bee Gees knows that they are KNOWN for their high, breathy falsetto.  It's legendary. Andy Gibb used the same voice and his brothers provided background vocals on this song.  So as we came close to the "falsetto" section, I waited with anticipation to see if this guy would be able to climb that low, attractively raspy voice to the high notes, to the falsetto and to the "woo hoos" that would get even HIGHER.

Then it happened...

This crazy high breathy falsetto broke out and I heard it...the Bee Gees!!  There are few times on Smule when you hear a singer do something so incredible or so amazing that it raises goosebumps or prompts you to comment as I did at that moment... "DANG MAN!! I LUV YOU SO DAMN MUCH NOW!!"

He then followed it with HIGHER vocal flourishes and even HIGHER "woo hoos." In between, he dropped to his lower singing voice only to bounce it back and forth with relative ease between low and high.  The best part--like me--he obviously didn't take these performances too seriously since he made funny comments in the song and let out a whispered chuckle at the end of the recording.

Since Sparky was on line and commenting on other songs, I decided to take my own "turn" at Andy Gibb.  It's a lot easier for a woman to sing this song because of the vocal range, so when I was done I tagged Sparky in the song (by typing "@sparky_mac" and then a comment).  Within about 10 minutes, he listened and commented back and "tagged" me with a comment that I saw.  By that time I had just finished ANOTHER Bee Gees song, so I tagged him in that one and told him to sing it.  But he was done with falsetto, and told me he would "drag me to something more in his vocal range."

What then took place for the next almost 2 hours was nothing short of a Smule "date."  Sparky tagged me on songs he had done (several acoustic songs where he played the guitar and sang), and I tagged him back on songs I had just sung (including some Ella Fitzgerald songs that he, oddly enough, really really liked).  As we did for each song, we commented, and then tagged the other for the next song! 

We even trotted out our nutty recordings, which, coincidentally, both involved muppets singing regular songs.  In his case, it was the legendary line dancing song "Stroking" featuring the Cookie Monster, Elmo and Stitch from Lilo and Stitch and for which Chris voiced ALL of the character voices in one impressive take.  For me, it was the "tri-et" that Frank (@startle), Snoweepumpkin and I did with Kermit and Yoda.

At the end of our "date" on Smule, we really got to know one another and our vocal abilities much better.  Chris is now one of my best and craziest friends here on Smule!

So if you have a regular singing partner that you've been sharing "mic time" with, consider arranging time to review and tag each other on songs, and comment on vocals.  It's a lot of fun and you'll learn so much about the other singer!!  And if you're lucky, you'll end up with a great new friend, as I found in Chris!!


More about the singers featured here:

Joanne can be found at her Smule name @joanne_ph1.  Jo lives in New Zealand where she works at a crisis center. She posts a wide variety of songs on her site include jazz, standards, and rock.  Join her for a good time singing!
Chris goes by the Smule tag @SPARKY_MAC.  Chris lives in Texas where he can be found singing anything from jazz to country.  He will also often play his guitar and sing duets with members. 

Me?  I'm Grace, aka. Pokeypal on Smule and you have stumbled into the first posting of my 30 blog challenge!! Join me tomorrow for even more information about Smule and its users!!