Author Archives: B.P.

Rock Your Baby To Sleep – Literally. Iron Maiden Songs Done As Lullabies

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Iron Maiden Songs Performed As Lullabies

How do you take heavy metal music and turn them into lullabies?

Until the other day I wouldn’t have known.

Still, I’m quite aware, popular music can be given any type of rendition.

Once about 20 years ago at the venerable Strand bookstore, I heard classical music being played over their sound system. I wasn’t paying close attention to the song. But I started listening closer. It sounded familiar, yet I couldn’t distinguish exactly what was being played. After about two minutes it hit me – it was Metallica and the song Harvester of Sorrow! That was the first time I heard Apocalyptica, a classical group comprised of cellists and they had recorded entire albums covering Metallica.

So it was only a matter of time before someone came up with the bright idea of making lullabies out of heavy metal songs. Hence, I recently discovered Iron Maiden tunes done as lullabies. The question you might ask is, why?

Does it matter?

If you like Iron Maiden, this should put a smile on your face, The first song I heard was The Trooper.

I couldn’t help clicking the youtube links Continue reading →

A Misunderstanding In The Record Store

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Never Send Mom To The Record Store To Buy A Record – A True Story

There was a time when the only way to buy music was to purchase it on tape or vinyl, usually at a record or department store. The year was 1983 and a friend of mine, Kyle worked in the local record store.

His knowledge and love of rock n’ roll led him to pursue this part-time minimum wage position to help support his college tuition.

Kyle’s job was to stock the store with new product as it came in and help customers with any needs.

So one day as Kyle is sorting vinyl he notices a middle-aged woman looking at the bins that hold the records. She was obviously not finding whatever it was she was searching for in the “R” section.

It’s A New Record

Kyle approached the woman, smiled and said. “Can I help you find something?”

“Oh, yes,” the woman replied, “my son sent me to buy the new rubber plant record, but I can’t seem to find it.”

Kyle’s eyebrows went up and he repeated the name to her, “rubber plant?”

“Yes, rubber plant,” the woman confirmed distinctly emphasizing-the last r in rubber. Continue reading →

The Startling Changes in New York From 1873 – 1923

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Robert Underwood Johnson Tells Of New York In 1873 and How It Changed Over 50 Years

Everything today seems to be moving at the speed of light. Changes of all sorts have greatly altered our everyday living in ways that might have been unimaginable 20 or even 10 years ago.

Some might argue there was more change at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century than there is today. All the people who lived through and witnessed that change are long dead. Maybe if you heard it from someone first hand, it might make a greater impression upon you.

Fortunately we have people like Robert Underwood Johnson (1853-1937) who put down his memories in his book, Remembered Yesterdays (Little, Brown & Co., 1923) which serves as a living time capsule of that period.

Johnson was a long time editor at The Century Magazine, a leading monthly periodical which covered news art and literature. Johnson also wrote regularly for Scribner’s Magazine.  Along with John Muir, Johnson was one of the main forces behind the creation of Yosemite National Park.  Johnson personally knew every major personage imaginable during his lifetime and his memoir reflects that.

What I found particularly interesting was a brief chapter entitled “New York in the 70’s” (meaning the 1870s). In that chapter, Johnson compares the New York City he arrived in, in 1873 with the present (1923).

This is what had occurred over 50 years. Below is an excerpt from the book:

A STUDY IN CONTRASTS

LOOKING back it is difficult to identify the New York of that time, just beginning to feel its strength, with the brilliant metropolis of to-day. Think of the points of contrast! In 1873 there were no electric lights, no skyscrapers, no trolleys, no blazing, twirling or winking signs and thus, of course, no Great White Way, Broadway being preéminently the street of business and there being little or no shopping on the cross streets above Fourteenth. Continue reading →

You Never Know What You’ll Find At Papermania Plus In Hartford

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Papermania Plus – Something For Everyone

A little bit of everything at Papermania Plus In Hartford CT. This dealer featured movie memorabilia; books, pinbacks and Fate magazines at one table.

On a beautiful summer day, customers came from many states to search among a variety of goods, not all necessarily made of paper.

Collectors congregated at Hartford, Connecticut’s XL Center for Papermania Plus 74, which took place on Saturday, August 25, 2018.

Shoppers looking for interesting finds at Papermania Plus 74

There were all sorts of antiques, ephemera, collectables and memorabilia for sale including books, comics, original art, movie stills and posters, postcards, photographs, magazines, manuscripts and a few other things that you might be surprised to find at Papermania.

Promoter Gary Gipstein assembled more than four score quality dealers to offer their wares. Prices ranged from a dollar to four figures for some rare items.

But you don’t have to be a collector of anything specific to enjoy the show. There is so much to look at and appreciate, that it is unlikely you could come here and not go home with something desirable at a very fair price.

So what did we notice? Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #92 – Mulberry Street c. 1905

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Little Italy – Mulberry Street circa 1905

This photograph of Mulberry Street looking north from Bayard Street is via the Detroit Publishing Co. held at the Library of Congress.

It is a busy day in Little Italy and many people go about their marketing. Wagons and merchants pack the street. Continue reading →

It’s Been 56 Years Since The Death Of Marilyn Monroe

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Marilyn Monroe Was Pronounced Dead August 5, 1962

(Though She Actually Died A Day Earlier)

Hollywood August 5 – Marilyn Monroe’s Body Removed: Coroner’s attendants remove the body of film star Marilyn Monroe from a Los Angeles mortuary today, en route to the Los Angeles County Morgue. The glamorous star, 36, was found dead in her bed today probably a suicide. – AP Wirephoto, 1962

Today is the recognized anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death.

Arguably, no movie star has had such an enduring grip upon the public’s imagination so long after their death as Marilyn Monroe. Continue reading →

Classic Hollywood #71 – Clint Is “Dirty Harry” Again

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Clint Eastwood Reprises His Role As “Dirty Harry” For The Fourth Time – 1983

Megastar Clint Eastwood is soon to be seen again in his hard-hitting role as Dirty Harry. He will be starring in an explosive new thriller called “Sudden Impact”,  that will mark the 4th film about tough, unconventional detective Harry Callahan. This time, in a change of situation, Dirty Harry finds himself the target of an assassination attempt while working on a particularly nasty murder case. The first film built upon the character was “Dirty Harry”, and came to the screen in 1971. This was followed by “Magnum Force” in 1974, and “The Enforcer” in 1977. Shot mainly on location in San Francisco, the film is described as an action-packed thriller. Clint Eastwood, who also directs this production, holds the distinction in the film industry as being the biggest box-office grosser throughout the world.  He is seen here disrupting a robbery attempt in the new film. photo: Bandphoto 1983

Sudden Impact was the only time Clint Eastwood undertook directorial duties in the Dirty Harry franchise. The movie spawned one of the most memorable quotations Continue reading →

Gary Sanchez Needs A Major Attitude Adjustment – A Trip To The Minor Leagues Might Do The Trick

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It’s Time For Gary Sanchez To Be Sent To The Minors

The catcher is supposed to be the anchor of your team.

Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez has not been an anchor this year, but a weight.

Sanchez made the final out in a 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday July 23, 2018. * That out should serve as a clear sign that it is time to send Gary Sanchez to the minors – not for rehab, but for a major attitude adjustment.  *(see note at the end of the article) Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #90 – Broadway & 28th Street 1896

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Street Level View of Broadway and 28th Street -1896

We are looking north on Broadway from 28th Street. This unusual ground level photograph is from a personal photo album and was taken in October of 1896. Though the photographer is an amateur and a bit of a tilt exists in the exposure, a lot of interesting details appear here.

The ornate street sign marking West 28th Street has something attached to it that was once very common and has now gone the way of the Dodo, a mailbox. Thousands of these sort of mailboxes were once attached to lampposts and street signs throughout the city.

Just past the street sign is a large sign denoting the site of the 5th Avenue Theatre. It’s a bit of a misnomer since the theatre was situated on the corner of 28th Street and Broadway, not on Fifth Avenue.

Across the street between 28th and 29th Streets near a parked horse cart we can see a good deal of the six-story Sturtevant House Hotel. The hotel was completed in 1871 and did a solid business through the turn-of-the-century. Sturtevant House was sold in February 1903 and demolished in autumn of that year. The twelve-story Hotel Breslin went up in its place, opening on November 12, 1904.

Further up the block on the right side of Broadway on the northeast corner of 29th Street is the Victorian masterpiece, Gilsey House which began construction in 1869. Continue reading →