1970s Rock – Foghat Shows What A Great Live Band Could Do

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Foghat Gives An Incredible Live Performance – 1974

Why is it that the 1970s produced dozens of incredibly talented rock bands?

Certainly one reason is creative singer-songwriters proliferated and produced songs that have stood the test of time.

Foghat members Tony Stevens, "Lonesome Dave" Peverett, Rod Price, Roger Earl

Foghat c. 1974 standing: Tony Stevens, front l-r “Lonesome Dave” Peverett, Rod Price, Roger Earl photo: London Features

Foghat was one of the many bands that came from England and triumphed in America. Today it has been forgotten that Foghat was among the top grossing live bands of the 70s. Even with one double platinum and eight gold records, Foghat today have been mostly bypassed in rock history as a novelty boogie rock band.

Throughout the 1970s their albums and live performances won praise from music fans. Foghat was constantly heard on FM stations. Radio staples like Slow Ride and Fool For The City are still played today.

And boy could they put on a live show. Foghat were simply beasts on stage in front of an audience.

In this fantastic 1974 version of the Willie Dixon penned blues classic I Just Want To Make Love To You, Foghat makes eleven minutes go by awfully fast. Foghat looks like they are having the best time ever being in a rock band.

This is one incredible exuberant, fun and blistering performance from Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert. Unfortunately the narcoleptic audience doesn’t realize what they are seeing regardless of the added applause track.

What constitutes the ingredients of a great live performance? Continue reading →

A Progressive New York City Hotel In 1929 Hired Women Bellhops

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In 1929 The Alamac Hotel In New York City Became The First Hotel In The Country To Hire Women Bellhops

Hotel Almanac girl bell-hops

New York Hotel Using Girl Bell-Hops

The newest wrinkle in hotel service these days is girl bell-hops. The Almanac Hotel, New York City, is probably the first hotel in the country to use girls for bell-hop service. Hotel customers say they give “real service” too. Here are three of them standing by while a patron registers. The girls are, left to right: Eleanor Julin, Mildred Wilson and Edith Gillin. – Associated Press Photo 11/13/1929

Only at the high class hotels do you still find bell-hops. Until the 1970s, almost all hotels had them.

The Alamac Hotel, (sic: Hotel Almanac in news slug), was being “progressive” at the time, by hiring female bell-hops, in what was traditionally a male occupation. Or were they? Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #96 – Rodeo At Bellevue Hospital

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The Rodeo Comes To Bellevue Hospital – 1937

Bellevue Hospital rodeo 1937

The Rodeo Visits Kiddies at Bellevue Hospital

New York City – A fancy stepping cowboy band and cowboys and cowgirls in their bright-colored shirts parade before children patients of Bellevue Hospital as they visit the hospital to stage their rodeo which is now appearing in Madison Square Garden. 10/14/1937 credit Wide World Photos

Over 3,000 people, mostly children, watched this performance at Bellevue Hospital on October 14, 1937. If you are wondering exactly where this took place, it is the rear yard of Bellevue at 29th Street facing the river. The East River Drive (renamed FDR after 1945) portion of the highway behind Bellevue had not been constructed yet. The hospital grounds had quite a bit of room to hold a rodeo. Continue reading →

Signs Of The Times – Funny Road Signs

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Real Signs Seen On The Roads

Fire Danger Don't EVen Fart sign

“Fire Danger, Don’t Even Fart” sign in Arizona

With Photoshop you can alter anything. But all these signs purport to be real.

We’ve put in whatever information we know about the signs.

Funny soad sign in Wyoming

Road sign in Wyoming

Doesn’t this sign apply to most of Wyoming?

Billboard graffiti - God Listens- To Slayer!

Someone defaced this billboard in Cincinnati

Who knew that God was a headbanger? Continue reading →

Politically Incorrect Bubble Gum Cigarettes

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You Won’t See It On Candy Store Shelves – Bubble Gum Cigarettes

Salem bubble gum cigarettes – fun for kids!

If you grew up before 1980 it was common to see this package at many candy shops, drug stores and supermarkets – bubble gum cigarettes. And yes, they were intended for children. There were also chocolate cigarettes and hard candy cigarettes, also marketed to children.

I must have “smoked” over a couple of hundred packs during my childhood.

Somehow it didn’t corrupt me or make me crave a cigarette. As a matter of fact I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life.

Shaped as a cigarette with paper covering the gum, it was a way for kids to look and act like adults. The way it was displayed, was it obviously bubble gum? Only if you looked at the top and side of the packages.

For any kid, the best thing Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #95 – East River, The Harbor & Brooklyn c. 1892

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A Very Early View of Lower Manhattan Looking East Towards The East River & Brooklyn circa 1892

This magic lantern slide overlooking lower Manhattan along with the East River and Brooklyn is pre-twentieth century. Where exactly; when it was taken; and where from, was a mystery. But some things to take notice of:

1- there are no buildings exceeding five stories. Continue reading →

New York City Used To Kill Its Stray Dogs By Drowning Them

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How A Merciless City Dealt With Its Unwanted Dogs

In 19th Century New York, You Had 24 Hours To Retrieve Your Lost Dog

Unclaimed Dogs Were Drowned In The East River

The dog catcher in New York City & the dogs fate- drowned in cages in the East River – illustration Harper’s Weekly

The Dog Dilemma

What happens today when animal shelters are filled to capacity? Sometimes cats and dogs are humanely euthanized, if there is such a thing as being humanely euthanized.

Canine population control in 19th century New York was much harsher. Beginning in 1855 a new and brutal method of putting down dogs was instituted – drowning.

Some editors and citizens actually attached the word “humane” to this new way of disposal.

Before that time, wandering dogs were considered pests and usually killed on the spot, in the street. The fear of rabies and mad dogs was used as a justification for the wanton killing.

The New York Times wrote, “One thing, however, is certain: dogs are useless animals in cities, and are a nuisance, independent of their habit of occasionally running mad; and the best dog law would be one that imposed so high a tax on the owners of curs that few people would care to keep them, and those who did would see to it that the animals did not run at large, muzzled or unmuzzled.” Continue reading →

The Woman in the First Row Behind Home Plate At Milwaukee Brewers Games? It’s “Front Row Amy”

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“Front Row Amy” Gets National Attention Sitting Behind Home Plate During The Milwaukee Brewers Playoff Run

She is there for every pitch – “Front Row Amy”

The Milwaukee Brewers are battling the Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs and the games are being nationally televised. This has led to a discovery for most (male) fans outside of Milwaukee.

Front Row Amy

You’d have to be completely oblivious not to notice there is a woman sitting in the first row behind home plate at the Brewers home games always wearing a low cut blouse.

You may think she is there to distract the opposing team’s pitcher. She is not. She has been going to Brewers games for over 10 years and her name is Amy Williams, aka “Front Row Amy.”

Amy is a die-hard fan. As a season ticket holder she attends around 50 games per year. In 2011 she moved to her signature front row seat and started getting “noticed.”

As she told OnMilwaukee.com in 2011, “What first got people’s attention was probably, well, you know, “the girls.” But, I think what keeps their attention is that fact that I am so passionate about the Brewers. Brewers fans appreciate the fact that I drive an hour and a half to games by myself, that I keep score, and that I really get into the game! The Brewers are my life during baseball season, and I guess that shows when I’m at games. I love them so much it hurts! And baseball is the greatest game on Earth!” How famous is Amy? Well she has a bobble-head available for purchase. I don’t know many fans who have received that honor. She also has imitators at Miller Park, such as this person, “Front Row Andy.” Getting to the ballpark Continue reading →

Losing Your Head, 19th Century Elevators That Decapitated People – 16 True Stories

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Fatal Elevators In The 19th Century

In the late 19th century quite a number of people lost their heads in elevator accidents. Most press accounts of the incidents were thankfully short. But a few of the stories were described in sensationalist and sometimes sickening detail. The most common headline, “Decapitated By An Elevator,” as you’ll see, was not very original, Continue reading →

Old New York In Photos #94 – The Williamsburg Bridge Under Construction

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Williamsburg Bridge Under Construction As Viewed From The East River 1901

From a personal photo album comes this previously unpublished 1901 view looking north from the East River.

Besides all the vessels navigating the heavily trafficked waterway, we can see the completed towers of the Williamsburg Bridge. The cables of the bridge have been completed but the roadway beneath the span is absent.

The first bridge crossing Kings County to Manhattan was the Brooklyn Bridge, opening in 1883. It would take another 20 years before the next great span, the Williamsburg Bridge was completed. Continue reading →