NORTHSHORE Magazine
November 2007 Issue
| Talk about taking on a whole new "beat." A scant decade ago 58-year-old retired Northbrook Police detective Don Henderson was working undercover with the FBI to bust narcotics dealers and money-laundering rings. These days, he's coaching Gen-Y speed metal fans to croon "New York, New York" like Frank Sinatra and helping middle-aged folks with "old Elvis" physiques perfect their "young Elvis" vocals to the sounds of "Love Me Tender" and "All Shook Up."
It's not like anyone at Northbrook PD could have seen this coming. Henderson will be the first to confess that he's not "much of a singer," but in 1999, after spending 27 years on the force, he went looking for a part-time business opportunity to keep himself busy. It just so happened that he and his wife, Sarah, frequented the now-defunct Guardino's Steak and Seafood in Wheeling, where they both sang karaoke. His vocal stylings didn't impress "but people kept saying I had a good voice for an announcer!" So Henderson convinced the owner, Mike Guardino, to let him try hosting Wednesday their slowest night. His easy, hey-how-ya-doin' personality quickly drew more people to the bar, and soon Guardino was asking him to take other nights.
Chain-smoking Henderson with his cropped white hair, Chicago accent ("Ya'd end up sleepin' at da station") and Ozzie and Harriet knit shirt and slacks ensemble is far from the usual rocker-wannabes hosting barkaraoke. He's also a bit of a walking dichotomy. He's friendly and voluble on the subject of karaoke ("You usually get more tips in new places") and adoring of his patrons ("I bribed 'em with free pizza and pops!") but can revert back to cop-like taciturnity when he's not the one asking the questions ("No" he can't tell us more about the Feds). But he's always been a physical cheerleader, greeting his regulars with a backslaps and hugs like a high-school football coach on the eve of a big game.
Cetainly much of Henderson's popularity lies in his geuine concern for his customers. He sets up his space at Jeffery's so that nervous singers can face the front window and the blue karaoke monitor with the words blocking out the rest of the bar behind them. I tell them, 'Don't ever look at the crowd just look at the words!'" He pays to print free hardstock cards 5,000 at a time for singers to fill out their songs anew each night. He hosts endless theme parties Super Bowl, Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, a pajama party, and Halloween, when he once dressed up as a Blues Brother many of which air on local cable-access TV. Henderson even buys songs from a Polish karaoke label in Polish for agroup of enthusiastic immigrants who like to sing at his shows.
And Henderson's motivation to do all this what was exactly? According to his official Web site, www.chicagosoundmachine.com, Henderson writes that "he saw the need for a local company that could provide entertainment at a reasonable price." But give him the third degree in person, and he'll let slip the real rationale for his little karaoke company, "I just enjoy the people," he says.
|
