Take a trip to Seussville today!
Yes, today marks the 106th anniversary of the birth of Theodor Seuss Geisel in Springfield, Mass. One of America’s most beloved authors, Dr. Seuss’ books introduced us to so many memorable characters that sprang to life from his fertile imagination.
Of course, there’s the Grinch, Yertle the Turtle and the Cat in the Hat. But he also gave us the Lorax, Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose and Gerald McBoing-Boing.
As Dr. Seuss said, “Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!”:
Yes, we are deeply saddened by the recent demise of Nippertown’s headbanging radio station, The Edge, which last week was rather abruptly and unceremoniously transformed into country music station, The Cat.
The Edge, you will be missed.
So too will your annual summertime Edgefest party, which was always a guaranteed beer-soaked, mega-watt, good time…
And so let’s take a moment today to offer a longing look back at the last of the Edgefest bacchanals – August 1, 2009 when Mudvayne tore through the Altamont Fairgrounds…
Folksinger-actor-civil rights activist Harry Belafonte celebrates his 83rd birthday today.
We here at Nippertown.com would like to add our own tip of the hat to Belafonte with this clip of “Don’t Stop the Carnival,” which was filmed for a 1968 season opener of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” but was excised from the broadcast by CBS-TV censors:
There aren’t a whole lotta bands out there in Nippertown that have recieved official acclaim from the governmental powers that be, but Troy’s premier power trio earned that distinction four years ago when Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian proclaimed February 25, 2006 as “Official Super 400 Day.”
In honor of that proclamation, let’s check out a recent Super 400 live clip of “High Hopes” from Middle East Upstairs in Boston a couple of weeks ago:
By the way, Joe Daley, Kenny Hohman and Lori Friday will be launching their first full-scale tour of 2010 with a date at Market Market Cafe in Rosendale (down near Woodstock), sharing the stage with Shana Falana at 8:30pm on Saturday, March 6. The tour will swing ‘em through Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Massachussetts and New Hampshire.
They’ll wrap up the tour with a double-barreled homecoming stand – Friday, April 2 at Tess’ Lark Tavern in Albany and Saturday, April 3 at the Ale House in Troy.
Mark you calendars now!
OK, in the dedicated pursuit of Nippertown music journalism, we decided to tune in and check out the first broadcast day of the Capital Region’s “brand new” radio station, the Bridge at 100.9-FM.
It was about 2:30pm today when we tuned in, and what was the first tune we heard?
Rod Stewart’s “Hot Legs,” the quintessential example of a great talent gone oh-so-terribly-irreconcilably wrong, wrong, wrong. (See also, Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” and just about anything from his “Great American Songbook” album series).
That was followed by “Thriller,” and as Vincent Price intoned, suddenly we felt as though we were trapped beneath “the funk of 40 thousand years.”
The playlist for the next hour went something like this:
Bon Jovi/Sugarland’s “Who Says You Can’t Go Home?”
Depeche Mode’s “People Are People”
Aerosmith’s – ah, whatever – who cares? – had to go pour myself a glass of wine
Bryan Adams‘ “Straight From the Heart”
Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”
Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven”
ZZ Top’s “Legs”
Olivia Newton-John Travolta’s “You’re the One That I Want”
Cameo’s “Word Up”
Nickelback’s “If Today Was Your Last Day”
Kenny Loggins‘ “Footloose”
ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”
Collective Soul’s “Shine”
REO Speedwagon’s “Keep On Lovin’ You”
If the playlist doesn’t really explain to you clearly enough what the station’s all about, perhaps these snappy, little catch-phrases will – you know, the ones that The Bridge incessantly pumped out between songs:
“It’s all about the variety.”
“Cross on over.”
“It’s all about the variety. Everybody’s crossing over.”
“If you’re looking for any hidden meaning here, forget it. It’s just all about the variety.”
“To get more variety, you’d have to own a CD store.” (A CD store? Wow, this is a retro station, isn’t it?)
“Other stations build fences for their music. We build bridges. That way they can mingle.”
“Just a dog & pony sort of a show.” (OK, we have no idea WTF this means…)
and our favorite:
“We’ll keep playing the variety. You just keep doing what you’re doing. If you finish first, just tiptoe out quietly.”
OK, we’re going quietly…
Celebrating his 70th birthday today is the man that Bob Dylan proclaimed as “America’s greatest living poet,” Motown music master Smokey Robinson.
Roger Green commemorates the event at his Information Without the Bun site, astutely noting that “anyone who could write ‘My Girl’ AND ‘My Guy’ is the consummate songwriter.”
But Roger overlooked my all-time favorite Smokey tune – which is understandable considering that Robinson penned more than 400 songs.
So here’s a vintage ’60s clip of my fave, “Ooo Baby Baby,” from the British pop show, “Ready, Steady, Go”:
Happy Birthday, Smokey Robinson.
Yeah, I know. After all of the hoopla last week regarding the Blotto reunion concert at the Exit Dome, you probably don’t want to hear about Blotto for another, well, say, 30 more years.
I don’t blame ya. Me, either.
But there is that funny Blotto story about jamming with some of the guys from Journey at 17 Maple Ave. in Saratoga Springs (now known as Mare). Tom Keyser alluded to it in his Preview cover story in The Times Union last week. And you can read the whole story as I wrote it about a decade ago.
But it just so happens that Steve Smith – who was the drummer in Journey back on that fateful night in 1979 – is headed into the Van Dyck in Schenectady for two shows (6 & 9:30pm) on Sunday evening with his current band, Steve Smith’s Jazz Legacy.
The lineup of Smith’s band also features alto saxophonist Andy Fusco (Buddy Rich/Mel Lewis); tenor and soprano saxophonist Walt Weiskopf (Buddy Rich/Steely Dan); pianist Mark Soskin (Sonny Rollins/Herbie Mann); bassist Baron Browne (Vital Information/Billy Cobham).
“Part of our mission will be to perform music honoring great drummers of jazz history,” explains Smith. “We have charts dedicated to Philly Joe Jones and Art Blakey, and we’re developing new material for each tour. We also intend to carry on the tradition of many of the drummer-led jazz bands, which is to communicate with music lovers of all generations, strive for excellence and play non-compromising, burning, straight-ahead jazz.”
Sounds good to me. Maybe I’ll have to drop by on Sunday, and say hi to our old pal Steve.
Boy, are our faces red…
It has come to our attention that we were wrong. Yes, wrong, wrong, wrong.
Last week, we asked the Flashback/Pop Quiz question:
What was the first rock concert at the Knickerbocker Arena (now known as the Times Union Center)?
Quite a few readers correctly named Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as the headliners of that concert on February 3, 1990, but only Michael Hochanadel named Chris Whitley as the opening act. And so we named him the winner.
Last Wednesday, on the 20th anniversary of the concert, our Pop Quiz asked two questions:
1. Who headlined the first rock show at the Knickerbocker Arena (now known as the Times Union Center)?
A: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cranked up their amps to inaugurate the new arena on February 3, 1990.
2. Who was the opening act?
A: That was the late, great, sadly under-rated neo-bluesman Chris Whitley.
Michael Hochanadel was the only person to correctly answer both questions of all the answers here on Nippertown.com and in the long-winded discussion on our Facebook page. Congratulations, Michael, you’ve won yourself a snappy set of Michael Jordan Valentines!!
These manly Valentines could be yours.
As we wrote last week, Ole Blue Eyes himself – Frank Sinatra – played the arena’s grand opening concert on January 30, 1990. Frank was definitely swingin’, but he didn’t actually rock out.
So here’s this week’s two-part Pop Quiz:
1. Who headlined the first rock show at the Knickerbocker Arena? (10 points)
2. Who was the opening act? (25 points)
Just hit the comments line below to register your answers. We’ll randomly select one entry, who will win a vintage, collectible package of Michael Jordan Valentine’s Day cards. Deadline for entries is 10am Monday, January 8.
And we’ll post the answers – and the winner – later on Monday (February 8).
Today marks the 51th anniversary of the plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens.
Yes, it’s the Day the Music Died, as Don McLean sings:
Nippertown music fans can celebrate the lives and music of Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper at The Linda in Albany at 8pm on Saturday, February 20.
In the mid-’80s, some of the best area musicians put on a The Day the Music Died show at Pauly’s Hotel in Albany. In 1999 on the 40th anniversary of the crash, another performance played to a packed Ale House in Troy. Now again in 2010, Johnny Rabb, John Tichy, Graham Tichy, Jim Haggerty and Pete Vumbaco will present a reprise of the show at The Linda – right across the street from the now-defunct Pauly’s Hotel.
Oops, we meant to post this yesterday, like we’d promised, but we forgot. Forgive us?
In celebration of the Knickerbocker Arena’s 20th anniversary this past weekend, our Pop Quiz on Friday asked:
“What were the first concerts held in the building under its subsequent names, the Pepsi Arena and the Times Union Center?”
There were no correct answers – hey, aren’t you Nippertown readers as anal-retentive as we are? – so we’re gonna run a new Knick Arena Pop Quiz tomorrow – with a cool prize.
Anyway, here are the answers to Friday’s quiz:
THE PEPSI ARENA: The appropriately romantic Valentine’s Day double-bill of Kenny G and Toni Braxton inaugurated the Pepsi Arena on February 14, 1997. The second concert scheduled for the Pepsi Arena was a much-heralded New Edition reunion concert slated for February 18, 1997, but that show was canceled due to “unfavorable interest and low ticket sales.”
THE TIMES UNION CENTER: Nippertown’s biggest year-round concert venue kicked off its new-name concert season as the Times Union Center with a big Governor Eliot Spitzer inaugural celebration featuring James Taylor, Natalie Merchant, Ben Vereen, Dan Zanes and others on January 1, 2007. Best of all, it was free.
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