Inventor of Karaoke Machine dies at 100
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https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/shigeichi-negishi-obituary-death-d3x8pb5ch
Shigeichi Negishi often started the day at his Nichiden Kogyo electronics factory in Japan singing along to the instrumental tracks broadcast on the radio programme Pop Songs Without Lyrics. On one occasion in 1967, he was overheard crooning by his chief engineer, who teased the boss about his lack of talent.
His pride may have been wounded but it gave him an idea: what if his voice could be heard accompanied by a professional backing track? Would that improve the perception of his singing? “I asked the engineer, can we hook a microphone up to one of these tape decks so I can hear myself singing over a recording of [the programme]?” he told Matt Alt, the author of Pure Invention: How Japan Made
After his distributor denied the use of the name "karaoke" for the machine — as it sounded too similar to kanoke, the Japanese word for coffin — Negishi named his product the Sparko Box. The Sparko Box was never patented, but Negishi travelled across the country, selling approximately 8,000 Sparko boxes to various bars, restaurants and hotels.
