The caption for this press photo is:
News Commentator Edward R. Murrow holds a match to the cigarette Marilyn Monroe extends to her puckered lips, during discussions at the Ambassador Hotel in New York regarding the luscious actress’ forthcoming appearance on Murrow’s “Person To Person” television show. Scheduled for April 8th, the TV show will be the second one Miss Monroe has ever done.
Metallica’s Cliff Burton Died 25 Years Ago, September 27, 1986
In 1984, I already owned a 51 minute, soon to be thrash classic called Kill ‘Em All. So when I played a new cassette tape for my father and told him “this is the best heavy metal album I ever heard and one day this band will be acknowledged as great, although they will probably never be popular,” I was sure he would agree with me.
He agreed with one part- that they would never be popular and years later we would both be proven wrong. They did become very popular. The band was Metallica and the cassette tape was Ride The Lightning. My father couldn’t understand how I could listen to it. Too fast, too loud, too much screaming. His hard rock tastes stopped somewhere between Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper. Getting no radio airplay, Continue reading
It probably made the crosstown trip faster than we currently do.
I like the sign in the background – Milk, Cider, Cream Soda, Buttermilk, Lemonade 3¢.
And I love old handwriting:
Tuesday A.M. Dear Mamma, What do you think of this for rapid N.Y. Please send my letters to Aunt Emma’s. Came Monday, will write to-day Love, Evan(?)
According to Appleton’s Dictionary of New York in 1905, there were 7-8 mail deliveries per day and the postal service made a profit. Continue reading
WRXP-FM (101.9) Becomes All News WEMP-FM
Commercial FM album rock radio is dead. Period.
That slow death began when WPLJ-FM flipped to CHR in 1983. It has been in a steady decline since then. The WRXP-FM flip to all news in August confirms that no station programmer can succeed in New York in the capturing of a dedicated rock listening audience large enough to satisfy the bosses. These behemoth, chain radio station owners care about three things and they are: ad dollars, ratings and demographics.
The remaining rock commercial stations in the tri-state area: WAXQ-FM (NYC Classic Rock) , WBAB-FM (Long Island Rock) and WDHA-FM (Dover, NJ Rock) play the same rotation of old songs, with few new artists mixed in, so how is that going to attract new listeners? Satellite radio (narrowcasting), ipods and streams have hastened that death.
But the real underlying reason is, is that kids are not being introduced to rock n’ roll for the most part, except through the few parents who know how important it is to explore music with their children. Otherwise they will listen to the junk that all their friends listen to. Rock n’ roll has lost a generation of listeners that I fear cannot be recovered. The few young people who do listen to rock, are the exception.
Playboy After Dark – Featuring the Original Deep Purple
Hugh Hefner’s swinging, late 1960’s TV show, Playboy After Dark had a wide variety of musicians, comedians and interesting people appear as guests. This clip recorded in late 1968, is one of the earliest television performances and one of the last to show the original Deep Purple performing their breakthrough song Hush.
This line-up is known as Deep Purple Mark I. By the time this segment aired November 14, 1969, original vocalist Rod Evans and bass player Nick Simper, both founding members of the band, had been out of the band since July 1969 and were replaced by Ian Gillan and Roger Glover. The new incarnation of Deep Purple would go on to have worldwide commercial success and set a standard for other hard rock and heavy metal bands to follow. Continue reading
The Name Game Continues
While New Zealand may have outlawed some names, the USA, with the exception of what a judge may find to be a frivolous name, (Your Majesty; Copyright; Superman) still allows people to name themselves or their offspring pretty much whatever they want.
So when George Blackburn, 64, of Bethalto, IL recently got divorced, he wanted a fresh start and legally renamed himself Led Zeppelin II. According to an article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch the newly named Zeppelin said: Continue reading
One of the most famous film highlights of a baseball game is from September 28, Game 1 of the 1955 World Series where the Brooklyn Dodgers star Jackie Robinson stole home against the New York Yankees. The photograph above captures the bang-bang action. The play was incredibly close and you could look at the film 100 times and still not be sure of the outcome. Robinson was called safe by umpire Bill Summers. To this day, Yankees catcher Yogi Berra vehemently Continue reading
Woman Steals Identity of 8-Year-Old Girl Killed in an Auto Accident 30 Years Ago
This story out of Delray Beach, Florida confirms that identity thieves are the scum of the earth.
Juliet Sherry-Ann Smith Mahabir the “alleged” identity thief, was caught when the Florida Division of Insurance Fraud received a tip that Mahabir had “fraudulently obtained” a U.S. Passport.
Yes, besides being an identity thief, Mahabir is apparently an illegal alien.
I can only imagine what the deceased girl’s family whose identity Mahabir stole must be feeling.
After reading this – I have only two questions:
1- Why was she released on such low bail?
2- She is an illegal alien – shouldn’t she be deported?
I believe Jack Benny was one of the funniest comedians of all time. Benny could elicit more laughs with a look, gesture or single utterance than other comedians could with an entire monologue. He became a star in vaudeville and was one of the few entertainers who made the transition to radio, film and eventually television successfully. Although Jack Benny has been dead for over 37 years, he is still fondly remembered by millions of fans.
Radio comedian Fred Allen is almost completely forgotten today. His sharp, acerbic wit Continue reading
Date – July 2011
Time – Morning Rush Hour
Weather – On and Off Light Drizzle
Lots of traffic coming off the FDR Drive and many vehicles moving northbound on York Avenue. The NYC traffic enforcement agents are usually directing traffic here.
61st Street and York Avenue
Yet on that same corner – 61st Street and York Ave. It’s dry under here.
Shooting the breeze.
One block away on 61st Street and First Ave.
and finally – 60th Street and First Avenue…under the Queensboro Bridge.
‘Nuff said.
Happy Labor Day.