In Memoriam: Craig Vinton

By Sandra Dee and Friends

“Everyone that knew him felt he was the hub of the wheel – he wove the thread that connected so many lives.”
A dear friend and colleague, Craig J. Vinton, recently passed away very unexpectedly.
Craig was a friend, mentor, father to many, and a savvy businessman. He was instrumental in the Washington State music scene. After appearing on Putting On The Hits TV show, Craig pioneered lip sync in Washington State, forming The Allstar lip sync family. The impact it had on entertainment in the 80’s and 90’s was huge. He also introduced the first DK karaoke system to Seattle, at the Seattle Center House.
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Craig had a real passion for life, and for entertainment. He recognized special talents in people and fostered those gifts. He did the tough-love thing, like a parent would do. Everyone would talk about how we, in the music field, were underpaid for our work, but I really believe he did that to teach us our value. We would learn to know our value and develop the ability to negotiate in business dealings.
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Leaving a small carbon footprint was important to him, he had a passion for electric cars and solar energy. Craig operated under the rule, “Why buy it if you can build it?” He was innovative and had a creative solution for most technical needs.
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He enjoyed the Simpsons, and had one of the largest collections in the world. He loved Krispy Crème donuts and a great barbecue sauce. I would get a call every November from Craig asking, “Are the molasses cookies ready yet?” My answer was the same every year, “Not ‘til Christmas”. He would say, “Extra frosting please!” We had this conversation every year since 1990.
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One of the first lessons Craig taught me was to “Get it in writing”. I attribute a huge part of my direction and success in business to his mentoring and friendship. I am blessed to have had him in my life and will do my best to carry on his passion for discovering and developing new talent. Craig influenced so many people’s careers and touched so many lives, that his presence will be felt for many generations of entertainers to come.
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We, his friends, family, and lip sync community will miss being able to pick up the phone and call Craig for the solutions to our problems, large or small. We will miss his sense of humor, ingenuity and love of great entertainment. His carbon footprint may have been small, but his shoes will be very large ones to fill.