Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Red-hot Jose

Catching up with OB-oke's Jose Sinatra

Jose Sinatra: “No one can ever take away my beauty, my red-hot sensuality, or my modesty.”
Jose Sinatra: “No one can ever take away my beauty, my red-hot sensuality, or my modesty.”

To hear it from Bill Richardson — aka crooner Jose Sinatra — his destiny was decided by a chance highway encounter. “The Beatles passed my family in a limo as we were returning to San Diego from Disneyland on August 28, 1965. They were on their way to play Balboa Stadium. We waved, they waved. I didn’t wash my eyes for about 20 years.”

There was a time in the ’70s and ’80s when his musical aspirations took a backseat to running local movie houses such as the Ken and the Guild, where he booked everything from midnight cult attractions to arthouse classics, grindhouse cheapies, and even the occasional X-rated smoker. Then came a popular comedic lounge act launched with likeminded bookseller-turned-guitarist Jan Tonnesen (aka Troy Dante), known to play everything from a screaming version of Minnie Ripperton’s “Lovin’ You” to James Bond themes, though that act split in 2007.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

"Thunderballs"

Jose Sinatra and the Troy Dante Inferno play a James Bond parody

Jose Sinatra and the Troy Dante Inferno play a James Bond parody

“The friendship of Troy Dante, my musical partner for nearly 25 years, is a loss that refuses to heal,” says Richardson. “I miss him and I miss our band, the Troy Dante Inferno. I also miss the Beatles and Tower Records.”

Richardson has spent over a dozen years hosting a Sunday-night karaoke session at Winstons. “Jose Sinatra’s OB-oke was weekly from the start, which I think was in the autumn of 2003. That’s a lot of Sundays, and I’ve only missed one.”

So, what are OB-oke’s most frequent selections? “Over the years, the top three have been ‘Sweet Caroline,’ ‘What’s Up?’ and ‘Plush,’ though they’re sort of phasing out nowadays. There are a couple songs that actually make me nauseous, but I refuse to name them and arm the odd belligerent drunk.”

The man clearly shuns change. He rarely uses computers and has lived around North Park for 39 years. “I love Morley Field and Paras newsstand.” However, “If I could, I would wipe out all taggers, furniture and Christmas-tree dumpers, and neighbors who store arsenals of cars on my street.”

In addition, “I’ve been stolen from more than anyone I’ve ever known. Money, books, posters, an amazing number of bikes, my pickup truck three times...you name it, I’m a popular target of thieves. No one, however, can ever take away my beauty, my red-hot sensuality, or my modesty.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Birding & Brews: Breakfast Edition, ZZ Ward, Doggie Street Festival & Pet Adopt-A-Thon

Events November 21-November 23, 2024
Jose Sinatra: “No one can ever take away my beauty, my red-hot sensuality, or my modesty.”
Jose Sinatra: “No one can ever take away my beauty, my red-hot sensuality, or my modesty.”

To hear it from Bill Richardson — aka crooner Jose Sinatra — his destiny was decided by a chance highway encounter. “The Beatles passed my family in a limo as we were returning to San Diego from Disneyland on August 28, 1965. They were on their way to play Balboa Stadium. We waved, they waved. I didn’t wash my eyes for about 20 years.”

There was a time in the ’70s and ’80s when his musical aspirations took a backseat to running local movie houses such as the Ken and the Guild, where he booked everything from midnight cult attractions to arthouse classics, grindhouse cheapies, and even the occasional X-rated smoker. Then came a popular comedic lounge act launched with likeminded bookseller-turned-guitarist Jan Tonnesen (aka Troy Dante), known to play everything from a screaming version of Minnie Ripperton’s “Lovin’ You” to James Bond themes, though that act split in 2007.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

"Thunderballs"

Jose Sinatra and the Troy Dante Inferno play a James Bond parody

Jose Sinatra and the Troy Dante Inferno play a James Bond parody

“The friendship of Troy Dante, my musical partner for nearly 25 years, is a loss that refuses to heal,” says Richardson. “I miss him and I miss our band, the Troy Dante Inferno. I also miss the Beatles and Tower Records.”

Richardson has spent over a dozen years hosting a Sunday-night karaoke session at Winstons. “Jose Sinatra’s OB-oke was weekly from the start, which I think was in the autumn of 2003. That’s a lot of Sundays, and I’ve only missed one.”

So, what are OB-oke’s most frequent selections? “Over the years, the top three have been ‘Sweet Caroline,’ ‘What’s Up?’ and ‘Plush,’ though they’re sort of phasing out nowadays. There are a couple songs that actually make me nauseous, but I refuse to name them and arm the odd belligerent drunk.”

The man clearly shuns change. He rarely uses computers and has lived around North Park for 39 years. “I love Morley Field and Paras newsstand.” However, “If I could, I would wipe out all taggers, furniture and Christmas-tree dumpers, and neighbors who store arsenals of cars on my street.”

In addition, “I’ve been stolen from more than anyone I’ve ever known. Money, books, posters, an amazing number of bikes, my pickup truck three times...you name it, I’m a popular target of thieves. No one, however, can ever take away my beauty, my red-hot sensuality, or my modesty.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tigers In Cairo owes its existence to Craigslist

But it owes its name to a Cure tune and a tattoo
Next Article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader