John Daker

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John Daker from in the video on the Internet

John Daker became the subject of an Internet phenomenon similar to that of the "Star Wars kid". A video of his vocal performance originally aired on a Peoria, Illinois public-access channel in 1990.

In the video, he performs two songs: "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" and "That's Amore" in a pseudo-operatic voice with various odd and sometimes alarming facial expressions to accompany his vocal stylings. Daker remains totally still with his arms at his side during most of his performance. Additionally, during his performance, he tends to forget lyrics and either looks confused or simply hums along until he recalls a word (often, the wrong word). Simply by watching the video, it is difficult to tell if he is embarrassed, truly trying to sing the song, extremely nervous, or slightly inebriated. The video is available on the Internet.

1 The story behind the video
2 National Exposure
3 Alternatively
4 External links

[edit] The story behind the video

The piano player in the Daker video is recital organizer Reva Unsicker (née Reva Singley June 10, 1915 - August 3, 1995). She had been teaching singing, piano, and organ in Peoria, Illinois for fifty-five years at the time this video was made. She attended First United Methodist Church in Peoria.

Twice a year she would have her students perform their recitals on the local cable access channel, and the hour-long programs developed a cult following in the vein of Mrs. Miller. Videotapes of the "Revafests," as they were called, were sought after. John Daker was always on the Revafests. He sang, among other songs, the theme to "The Woody Woodpecker Show."

[edit] National Exposure

The clip of John Daker singing first appeared on the personal web site of Ken Vuncannon (exivus.com). Since then, the clip has received national exposure from various websites including EBaum's World, YouTube, and iFilm. The clip was also number one on VH1's Web Junk 20.

[edit] Alternatively

John Daker was also a character in Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion series. John Daker was one of the incarnations of the Eternal Champion, and was referred to in several of Moorcock's books. Other incarnations: Corum, Elric, Erekosë, Hawkmoon, and many more.