Saturday, January 16, 2010

Singing Valentines

It’s that time of year again. In a few short weeks we will celebrate Valentines Day, the (pardon the expression) “loveliest day of the year.” Every year I make you men aware of your opportunity to have your sweetheart serenaded by a quartet of gentlemen on your behalf.

I had the privilege of singing Valentines last year with three different quartets, and it was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. We performed over a two-day period, since Valentines Day fell on a Saturday. Many men prefer to have the woman surprised at work, so we sang both Friday and Saturday. This year it gets even better, since the actual day will be a Sunday. Therefore, our quartets will be going out for three days, Friday through Sunday. I can’t speak for the quartets in other cities, but I suspect they will do the same.

If you’ve never bought a singing valentine for your wife, or girlfriend, or fiancĂ©, or other significant loved one in your life, you don’t know what you’re missing. I doubt that there is anything else you can do on Valentines Day that will equal the experience she will have when four tuxedo-clad men show up at her home or in her workplace, present a long-stem red rose and a card with your personal greeting on it and then sing two love songs to her.

My quartets sang 35 times last year, and the response was phenomenal. The ones we sang in the home were the most personal, and the tears flowed every time. But the ones we sang at the workplace, especially at schools, were the most fun, because our audience was larger, and the school children were so impressed.

We sang to women and men—that’s right, we’re gender neutral—and our audience included teenage girls, widows, mothers and daughters. We started at 7 AM and didn’t quit until 7 PM. On Saturday we performed even later, and one set we performed was for a party being held by a retired Army general.

There were six quartets that circulated throughout the metropolitan area singing, and we presented 185 Singing Valentines over the two-day run. It wasn’t inexpensive for the senders, but I bet every one of them felt it was worth every penny.

If you would like to send a Singing Valentine to your sweetheart this year, most cities have the service available. You can usually place an order online or by phone. Just use the link http://singingvalentines.com/lookup.aspx to locate the service in your area. If you order early and you allow a four-hour window, you can probably get a discount. The extras, like having the presentation at your Valentine dinner at your favorite restaurant are a little extra money, but are always worth it.

I will probably sing with several quartets again this year—tenors are always in demand, since they are in short supply. So here it is fellas. If you are trying to come up with a good gift for Valentines Day, I guarantee that you cannot do any better than a Singing Valentine. If you don’t score big with your honey, it won’t be our fault.

Here are the lyrics to the two songs usually sung for the ladies:

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Let Me Call You Sweetheart, I’m in love with you.
Let me hear you whisper that you love me too.
Keep the lovelight glowing in your eyes so true.
Let me call you sweetheart, I’m in love with you.


Heart Of My Heart

Heart of my heart, I love you.
Life would be naught without you.
Light of my life, my darling,
I love you… I love you.
I can forget you never.
From you I ne’er can sever.
Say you’ll be mine – forever.
I love you.

How can she resist?