The Architecture Song

Back in the early 1990's, a radio DJ by the name of Vin Scelsa hosted a free-form radio program called "Idiot's Delight". It aired every Sunday at 8pm and ran for three hours. I loved this program, but with three kids and a job, there was no way I could listen to it in that time slot. To solve the problem, I purchased a dual cassette deck and a bunch of 90 minute cassette tapes for the sole purpose of taping "Idiot's Delight" every Sunday night. I'd listen to these tapes the next week as I commuted back and forth from work.   Vin's eclectic taste in music often introduced me to songs I had never heard before. Whenever that happened I would transfer these songs to a "Best of Vin" tape when I got home. Over the course of 13 years, I compiled 25 of these tapes which I'd often  play in the car during family trips. 

By the mid-2000's almost all major automakers stopped offering cassette players as an option, replacing them with CD players. My "Best of Vin" tapes began to collect dust. But that wasn't a big problem. By then I had acquired most of these songs on CD's or MP3's and was burning CD's that could be played in the car. The real problem was that some of the music Vin played was either live or demo recordings that never made it to mainstream distribution. 

A few weeks ago, something caused me to fire up my ancient JVC cassette player and browse through my "Best of Vin Tapes". It was then that I rediscovered a beautiful, quirky tune from 1992 that I had completely forgotten about called "The Architecture Song", written and performed by Jon Ims. A quick scan of my iTunes library revealed that I had never acquired a digital copy of that song, so I decided to rectify that omission. But after searching the Internet for the better part of a day, I was unable to find any version of this song performed by Jon Ims. Here's what I did find: 

• Jon was a very respected songwriter. It's possible he's still  a very respected songwriter, but even AI couldn't confirm that he was alive. Per AI, he has "intentionally stepped completely away from the public eye". Take that for what you will.  
  
  
• A duo called Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen included a version of "The Architecture Song" in their album called A Sense of Place. I haven't listened to it and doubt I will.
  
  
• Another song Jon wrote (which I also love) was a #1 country hit for Trisha Yearwood called  "She's in Love With the Boy". It's actually ranked #129 on Rolling Stone's 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time. Yearwood's version is OK, I guess, but it pales in comparison to the sweet, humor-tinged version by Ims that Vin also played from time to time. Somehow, I managed to get a digital copy of it but, like "The Architecture Song", it's not available anywhere on the Internet.

All of this information was great, but not at all what I was looking for. I simply wanted a clean, digital copy of "The Architecture Song" that I could play on my iPhone whenever I wanted. My only alternative was to connect my old cassette player to my laptop (using a product I got on eBay called U-Control by a company called Behringer) and create a digital copy from the surprisingly clear analog version on my 1992 cassette tape. Take a few minutes and listen to it here. While listening, read the lyrics here. I'll wait ....

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

All done?  I know what you're probably thinking: "Wow, that was a lot of effort for such a simple country/folk  song!" Fair point. Actually, there's even more to it than this. I became so fixated with this song that I needed to know the backstory. Who was Adler? Who were the Blairs? Did they actually exist? Was this farmhouse-style house ever built? If so, where is it? Well, here comes "the rest of the story".

 

David Adler was, indeed, an architect, and a pretty accomplished one at that. Per his Wikipedia page, he was born in 1882 and died in 1949 at the age of 67. Although he was born in Wisconsin, he left at the age of 16 to attend the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, only a few miles from me. In 1900, he enrolled in Princeton University and graduated in 1904. 

 

From January 2022 to January 2025, PBS aired a 4-part series of his life, entitled  "David Adler: Great House Architect" which discussed the life and works of  David Adler (1882–1949), the "society architect". Apparently, he designed more than 45 grand homes for people that PBS referred to as "America's elite".  

 

 

William and Helen Blair were, indeed, an elite American couple. They married in 1912 and remained together until Helen's death in 1972. (William died in 1982 at the age of 97.) In the mid-1920's, they met with David Adler  who, at the time, was designing sprawling country homes based, in part on the American Colonial Revival style. The Blairs, with 4 children, determined that this was the style of house they needed. 

 

The House: The house was completed in 1926 and was referred to by its owners as "Port o' Call". A picture of how it looked back then is shown at the top of this post. In 1929 it was written up in Volume 50 of The Architectural Forum. In the almost impossible chance that you want to learn even more about this house, I found this YouTube video. A photo of what the house currently looks like is below. Its located in Lake Bluff, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago and is in the National Register of Historic Places. Here's the exact location if you feel like dropping in for a visit.

 

Wrapping it Up: I have no idea how to get in touch with Jon Ims. But if I did, I'd have a few questions for him regarding this song. First and foremost, what made him choose David Adler and Port o' Call as the subject of a country/folk song? I can't think of any other song in any genre that is dedicated to an architect and his house. I'd also like to know if Jon was he happy with this song? If he was, why can't I find a video of him on YouTube performing it? 

 

And what, exactly, is the message that he's trying to convey? I'm thinking it has to be connected to the refrain which is repeated 4 times, but changes slightly as it goes along. The first two times it's "On their way back home". Then it's "On the way back home". And then the last time it's "On our way back home". That had to have been done on purpose, right? I asked AI to weigh in on the song's meaning and it responded with this:

 

"The track is a deeply unconventional love song. It uses the meticulous framing, joists, and structural integrity of an old farmhouse as a metaphor for an enduring partnership."

 

Until Jon tells me otherwise, I guess I'll have to live with that. 

The Worst Song on the Radio Now: Volumes 2 and 3

Volume 1 of this series was published way back in November of 2012 and it's astonishing that an additional five or six volumes haven't already been published.  There are so many bad songs on the radio!  Somehow, though, no song ever seemed to sink quite as low as Die Young by Ke$ha, so I held back.  That was a mistake. Not every bad song needs to be the "LeBron James" of bad songs in order to be honored.  Here are a couple of songs in the "Carmelo Anthony" class.

Volume 2:   Honey I'm Good

Andy Grammar

It usually takes a few listenings before a song starts to bug me, but this one did it on the first try.  Maybe it's because it reminds me of these two all-time horrible songs:

   Thank God I'm a Country Boy by John Denver
   Cotton-Eye Joe by Rednex
 

And then there's the lyrics. At first, I thought, OK, not so bad.  It's a song about a guy staying true to his "baby at home" despite being tempted by the women at the bar.  I still disliked it, but it was palatable fluff. The third or fourth time I heard it though, the lyrics started sounding darker and creepier:

 "I could have another but I probably should not."

The guy doesn't say he won't have another; he says "I probably should not" which means (as anyone who's ever had a few beers knows) that he will have another!  While it's not clear how many drinks this guy has had already, it must have been quite a few:

"It’s been a long night here, and a long night there."

What is clear, though, is that he hasn't been thinking platonic thoughts ...

"And these long, long legs are damn near everywhere!"

... and his thoughts appear to be getting worse:

"And you’ve got that ass, but..."

It's at this point that he straightens up and tells the woman, "You've got me all wrong, baby".  Somehow, though, I doubt very strongly that she has him all wrong.  He's already started to rationalize his position:

"Better men than me have failed, drinking from that unholy grail."

How it eventually will end

In essence, then, here's the picture being painted by this song:  A guy is drinking for hours at a bar while the woman that has "all of his love" is back at home.  Sounds a little dodgy, but, hey, it sometimes happens.  But this guy isn't at a sports bar with the boys watching the big game.  He's drinking heavily at what sounds like a singles bar and checking out the girls, to the point where he compliments the ass of the woman he's talking to!  Suddenly, he snaps to his senses and realizes that if he has just one more drink, "I might not leave alone."

Somebody better have a long talk with his baby at home.  Despite the bouncy music and cutesy refrain, this song is talking about a relationship that is one jack and coke away from disintegration.

Volume 3:  Go Big Or Go Home

American Authors

If you haven't heard this song yet, don't worry.  You will.  It was only released a couple of months ago and hasn't made it into the Billboard Hot 100 yet, but trust me, it'll be there before the month is out.  This band is a case study on how to make it big in the music world today.

They originally formed in 2006 under the name "Blue Pages" and labored in relative obscurity for 5 years, putting out mediocre pop songs such as Run Back Home.  In 2012, though, they went through a complete overhaul, emerging with a new patriotic name, a new market-focus sound (see the "Teen Girl Pop" formula described in Volume 1 of this series) and a smash hit called Best Day of My Life.  It opens with a rudimentary banjo riff (an attempt to attract the Mumford & Sons crowd?) and is simply loaded with repeated syllable hooks to the point of being laughable:

"Oo-oo-oo"
"Wo-o-o-o-o-oh" [x2]
"My li-i-i-ife"

This song is bad, but it isn't quite worthy of the coveted Worst Song on Radio Now award.  Go Big Or Go Home, though, is a tour de force of horribleness. 

It begins with the title.  The phrase "go big or go home" is a marketing slogan from the 1990's that turned into a hackneyed sports cliche years ago.  The fact that American Authors are latching onto it now tells you all you need to know about this band.  

Next, as dictated by the "Teen Girl Pop" formula, the song contains a mandatory repeated syllable hook, in this case, "Go big or go ho-o-o-o-o-me".  It's annoying, to be sure, but it's not enough.  What vaults this song into Worst status is the continuous stream of party-all-night-binge-drinking-live-for-the-moment lyrics that Ke$ha would be proud of.  For starters, there's this:

Giving my body all the things I need
Rescue me with a little whiskey
Staying out, don't need no sleep
I'll sleep when I'm dead; you can bury me

And then there's this:

I guess I'm going home
Cause all my cash is gone
I spent it all trying to feel alive

And finally, this:

Yeah, I got nothing to do tonight
I'm passed out on the floor
Up in the hotel bar
But it don't matter, cause I'm feeling fine
I'm thinking life's too short; it's passing by
So if I'm gonna go at all
Go big or go home

The message of this song is clear:  Life is too short.  You can't let it pass you by.  You need to "go big", and the best way to "go big" is to stay out all night, spend all of your money drinking whiskey until you pass out, and then get up and do it again and again.  And you can do this because you "don't need no sleep" which, as a double negative, is the only helpful (albeit unintentional) advice in the entire song.

Thanks, John...

Pretty crappy song, right?  Who in their right mind would want this to be their theme song?   The National Basketball Association, that's who!! For the last few months it has been featured in their NBA Playoff Promotions videos.  I wonder if John Abbamondi, Senior Vice President of Marketing for the NBA, listened to the lyrics of this song even once?

Farewell to Vin Scelsa and "Idiot's Delight"

I had a bittersweet "all things must pass" feeling this past weekend when I learned that Vin Scelsa had retired from broadcast radio on May 2.  Although that day had to come, it still came as a shock.  While I hadn't been listening to Vin with the same regularity as I had in year's past, I still downloaded a recorded version of his show every now and then in order to get my Vin-fix.  

WNEW DJ's in the 70's

I first became aware of Vin in the mid-70's, occasionally listening to his WNEW show on Sunday mornings.  I became an avid follower, though, in the mid-80's when his show moved to WXRK (K-Rock) and became known as "Idiot's Delight".   His show aired at 8pm on Sunday night and was scheduled to end at 2am, but when it would actually end was anyone's guess.  Since I had to get up and work on Monday mornings, I decided to invest in a dual cassette deck so that I could tape the last three hours of the show (I still rarely caught the end).  I listened to these tapes throughout the week while driving to and from work, noting the locations on the tape that contained particularly interesting songs.  When I got home, I copied these songs to a "Best of Vin" tape.  I did this for almost 12 years, resulting in 25 "Best of Vin" tapes and hundreds of excellent songs. 

It's difficult to describe "Idiot's Delight" to someone who has never actually listened to the program, but I'll try. First and foremost, of course, was the music. It was a "free form" program, meaning that Vin was not constrained by a station-dictated playlist.  He could play anything that he wanted: new music, old music, opera, country, rag time, Broadway show tunes, big band music, zydeco, world music.  I think you get the picture.  One thing about his program was certain:  you would hear at least one song each week that you would never hear anywhere else.  

If Vin really liked a new song, he might play it 2 or 3 times in a row. If a song had been covered by multiple artists, he might play a half-dozen of those covers in a row.  WXRK was a commercial radio station, so Vin was required to play commercials; but those commercials didn't have to come at a specific time.  As such, there were times that a set of music went on for 20-30 minutes without interruption.  Occasionally, Vin would apologize to the audience for the length of a set, saying that he had planned on ending it sooner but it just wouldn't stop, as though the set had a mind of its own. Within a set, Vin was the master of the segue and the audience played along, trying to figure out how a particular song related to the prior or (even more fun) trying to guess the song that was coming next.  

Larry Kirwan of Black 47 with Vin

As valuable as the music was, "Idiot's Delight" was much more than that.  If something of importance happened in the world, you wanted to hear Vin's take on it.  Whether it dealt with politics, religion, entertainment, current events or the death of a cultural icon, Vin's viewpoint was always worth listening to. These monologs sometimes went on for 15 minutes or more and were usually laced with his iconic and infectious laugh.  If you didn't like hearing Vin laugh, well, you couldn't be a fan of the show.  You also tuned in to hear Vin's  interviews.  If the guest was a musician, there would almost always be live music.  If the guest was an author, either Vin or the author would read a few passages from the author's new book. 

Vin put everything he had into his program;  he held nothing back.  When he was happy, we knew it.  When he was sad or depressed -- which happened from time to time -- we knew that as well.  He called himself the "Bayonne Butch" and the "Bayonne Bear" We knew his wife's name (Freddie) and listened to stories about his daughter, Kate, as she grew up.  All of this created an extremely loyal fan base that followed him from radio station to radio station.  That fan base became mobilized in the mid-90's thanks to an email-driven newsgroup called "The Idiot's Delight Digest" (IDD).  While the original digest no longer exists, the IDD continues to this day, having morphed into a Yahoo Group and a Facebook page. There is also a fan site called Vin!dication that contains a partial archives of Vin's shows, including one that dates back to 1976.  Such is the devotion that Vin inspired.  

While there may be a DJ somewhere in the world doing a show similar to "Idiot's Delight" I've yet to find it, either on the radio or on the Internet.  I have a feeling that I'll be downloading archived shows from Vin!dication for years to come.

Adios compañero ...

Happy feet - Paolo Conte
Prairie Town - Randy Bachman
Witchitai-to - Jim Pepper
Some Kinda Fatigue - Yo La Tengo
The Modern Dance - Pere Ubu
Fell off the Floor Man - dEUS
How Can We Hang On To A Dream - Tim Hardin
Complainte pour Ste Catherine - The McGarrigles
O Superman - Laurie Anderson
Nobody Cares About The Railroad Anymore - Harry Nilsson
A House Is Not A Motel - Love
Tarantella - Lounge Lizards
Everybody Knows - Leonard Cohen
Chase the Wind - Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Zack Attack Rap - Zachary Richard
Rhythm King - Luna
I Ain't Lyin' - The Skeletons
Badi-Da - Mark Lanegan
Honi Soit - John Cale
Nomads - High Llamas
I Love the Unknown - Clem Snide
Lorenz and Watson - Ryuichi Sakamoto
Just One Kiss - Beau Jocque
I Radio Heaven - Over the Rhine
Better Back Off - Marshall Crenshaw
Black Slacks - Robert Gordon
My Monkey Made a Man Out of Me - Candy Butchers
Toxic Girl - Kings of Convenience
Alleged - Beta Band
Parallel or Together - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Nitro - Dick Dale
My Favorite Kiss - Frank Black
Hello In There - John Prine
It's The Little Things - Robert Earl Keen
If I Had Known - Greg Brown
Love Is All Around - REM
Azalea Festival - John and Mary
King of Beers - Too Much Joy
Hey Nonny Nonny - Violent Femmes
Walking Down Madison - Kirsty MacColl
Take A Look At My Heart - John Prine and Bruce Springsteen
Cafe Memphis - Willie Nile
Fallen - Philip Rambow
This Town Ain't Big Enough - Sparks
Burning Flies - Looper
City Drops into the Night - Jim Carroll Band
I Hate My Freakin' ISP - Todd Rundgren
Drink Too Much - Tom Clark and the High Action Boys
When Panthers Roamed in Arkansas - Kate Campbell
Funky Ceili - Black 47


Further Reading:

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/vin-scelsa-leaves-the-airwaves
http://www.wnyc.org/story/there-goes-last-dj/
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/13/style/airwaves-delight.html
http://www.robynpforrryan.com/uploads/2/0/5/3/20534754/vincescelsa.pdf

Vin Scelsa Idiot's Delight - Non Official Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btr7YZBcOc4

The Worst Song on the Radio Now: Volume 1

I've always loved music.  I can still remember lying in bed in 1965 -- a ten year old with a small black transistor radio -- listening to WABC's Top 100 Songs of 1965.   But there have been two times in my life when I just couldn't listen to the music being played on popular radio: in the mid-to-late 70's during the disco craze, and in the mid 80's when bands like Boston, Styx, Rush, and Queen ruled the airwaves.

I'm not saying that either of these music genres were bad;  they just didn't interest me and pushed other music off the air.  Well, it's happened again.  A genre of music that I call "Teen Girl Pop" is now dominating commercial radio.  Songs in this genre contain at least one (but usually several) of the following characteristics:

• Driving Drum Beat:  This music is meant to be played and listened to at clubs while dancing;
• Banal Lyrics:  Partying, flirting, binge-drinking, breaking up, making up, living for the moment ... I think you get the picture.
• Distorted Vocals:  A technique that makes the singer sound as though he or she is singing through a megaphone or a bullhorn. Think of The Strokes, only more so. 
• Repeated Syllabic Lyrics:  Sure, this has been around since "talkin' 'bout my g-g-generation", but it's exploded since Lady GaGa's "p-p-p-poker face" .  A few wildly popular examples:  "Where have you been all my li-i-i-i-ife?", "the o-o-o-one, the o-o-o-one, the o-o-o-one, the one that got away", "kiss me, ki-ki-kiss me", and "as long as you la-la-la-la-love me, love me".
• Dubstep Break:  Thankfully, these breaks are never long enough to cause nose bleeds, but just long enough to try and make the song sound hip.
• Rap Interlude:  Nothing sounds as genuine as a rich 20-something white woman breaking into rap in mid-song. 

With that as background, here's a list of consecutive songs that were played on a popular New Jersey radio station last week while I was working out at my gym for one hour.  I've highlighted what, for me, is "The Worst Song On The Radio Now". 

If, somehow, you have yet to hear this song, click here.

So, besides being a song in a genre that I don't particularly like, what caused me to lose all objectivity and call this song -- not just a bad song -- but the worst song?

Style:  As with many of the songs listed above, it slavishly adheres to the "Teen Girl Pop" formula.  It has a driving guitar beat, the usual lyrics about drinking, dancing and partying, and a rap interlude.

Music:  Some songs in the "Teen Girl Pop" song actually contain interesting music which requires a real band with actual musical skills.  Not so here.  The music in this song can be easily replicated by a high school kid with a drum machine and a synthesizer.  

Lyrics:  This is where this song truly distinguishes itself.  Delivered with a poppy, catchy beat that you can't get out of your head, it contains lines like the following:

"It's pretty obvious that you've got a crush, that magic in your pants is making me blush."

"Oh what a shame that you came here with someone."

"Let's make the most of the night like we're going to die young."

And in case you're not getting the message, the refrain pounds it into you by repeating, "We're gonna die young."  In other words, live for today, have fun tonight with whomever you happen to be with because you might die tomorrow.  A wonderful philosophy for the "Teen Girl Pop" generation!  The amazing thing is that since this abysmal song is delivered without a single expletive, its lyrics are deemed safe for all ages.  Believe me, kids need to be protected from a song like this much more so than from a song like "Lose Yourself" by Eminem!

One more thing.  Ke$ha spells her name with a dollar sign.  That says all you need to know about the driving force behind this song and this artist.

The Brooklyn Folk Festival!

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Hannah Davies, my 4th cousin once removed.  (Doesn't everyone know their 4th cousin once removed?)  In her position as Policy Advisor at the U.N. Mission in Liberia, Hannah had an assignment that required her to work in New York City until mid-July.  While she didn't provide any details regarding this "assignment", Hannah suggested that Marilynn and I meet with her somewhere soon for some live music. 

Taken at face value, Hannah's request seemed very innocuous.  However, the last time the three of us got together for live music was on the evening of May 1, 2011, to see The Smoking Popes at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn.  If that date rings a bell it's because that was the night that Osama Bin Laden was killed during a firefight with the Navy Seals.  I wondered, could Hannah be hoping for a reprise of that night, this time involving someone like Bashar al-Assad of Syria?  A few days later, Hannah wrote back suggesting that we go to a Folk Festival.  When?  May 20th!  Where?  Brooklyn!!  Despite severe misgivings that I was being drawn into international intrigue, I agreed to go.

On the day of the event, Marilynn and I drove from Cranbury to Brooklyn to meet up with Hannah at high noon.  As we approached our rendezvous, the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall, Hannah was nowhere in sight.  We assumed that she hadn't yet arrived until we saw her standing under an overhang, deep in the shadows.  When I questioned her somewhat covert behavior, she made a comment about trying to avoid the sun — a plausible explanation since people from England are rarely exposed to it — but my misgivings intensified.  What was going on here??

We spent the next half hour wandering the streets of Brooklyn without seeing any evidence whatsoever of a Folk Festival.  We finally stopped for lunch at an outdoor cafe in MetroTech Center and asked a few people for directions.  No one had even heard of this festival!

After lunch, Hannah suggested one more stroll down Jay Street in search of the Festival, but by then I had had enough.  I was just to about to confront her and expose her clumsy attempt at orchestrating international affairs when ... there it was!  The Brooklyn Folk Festival!  As shown in the photo at the top of this post, it was not an outdoor Hoboken-style street fair with roads blocked off and live performances at a variety of venues.  Quite the opposite:  the entire Festival took place inside, behind the doors of a warehouse cleverly labeled "Sid's Hardware"!  

Clearly, I had let my imagination run wild.  And, although initially dismayed that the Festival was entirely indoors, a Brooklyn Brewery draft beer quickly remedied my mood.  The three of us then spent the next four hours enjoying a variety of folk performances. Some of the highlights:

Brett Ratliff

• Kentucky Banjo Styles Workshop led by Brett Ratliff.  I've never been able to play a musical instrument worth a damn, but it was very interesting watching Brett play the banjo and even more interesting watching him teach his technique to a bunch of people who came to the festival with their banjos.  An audio of one of the riffs that he taught the group can be heard here.  Keep in mind that when Brett played the riff it was much faster! 

Marilynn and I dancing a square

• Square Dancing! At about 4pm, a large space just inside the lobby was cleared away to create a dance floor.  A few of the days' performers then came forward to form a bluegrass band.  A caller than appeared and invited the audience to square dance.  Marilynn, of course, joined in immediately.  Hannah and I had just gotten a beer, so we hung back.  After the first break, though, I had to join in.  Everyone was having too much fun!  At some point in time, Hannah snapped the photo on the right, documenting the event and proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that she needed a new smart phone.

Wretched Refuse String Band

• Wretched Refuse String Band:  Any band with a name like this deserves to be listened to at least once.  This band, though, deserves to be listened to again and again!  They are billed as "New York City’s oldest, largest, and most eclectic local bluegrass and old-time string band" and have been performing for more than 35 years.  Excellent musicianship and very entertaining.  Even better, it was clear that they enjoyed playing as much as the crowd enjoyed listening!  A small taste of what it was like can be found in this video clip.

Brotherhood of the Jug Band

• Brotherhood of the Jug Band:  Yep, the guy with the black hat on the far left in this photo is playing a jug.  I might be wrong, but I think this is purely an American invention.  I've always loved jug bands and this ensemble was no exception.  They played a variety of instruments (jug, harmonica, banjo, mandolin, guitar, drums, percussion) and at least four of them took turns singing.  Excellent stuff.  Here's a 30-second clip that captures their performing style.  Too bad it isn't longer. 

All in all, it was another great afternoon/evening of music in Brooklyn with Hannah — even if there wasn't any international intrigue involved!   (I still scanned the New York Times the next morning, though, just to be sure ...)

Bluegrass Brunch!

[Left to Right: Tom Clifton, Marilynn Mullen, Hannah Davies, Rory Macqueen, Scarlet Shore, Eli Davies]

Eli Davies and Rory Macqueen came to New York City for a week to visit Hannah (while she's still a New Yorker) and to take in the sights. Since Rory has recently taken up the banjo, Eli sent me an email and suggested that Marilynn and I meet them on Sunday for "Bluegrass Brunch" at the Nolita House Restaurant on Houston Street. Also joining us for brunch were Tom Clifton (Rory's friend from King's College of Music in London), and Tom's girlfriend, Scarlet Shore.

It was a damn good thing we had reservations, because the Nolita House was fairly small. But that was actually a good thing: even though the band was at one end of the bar and we were at the other, we could still here the music. Rory probably didn't get a chance to learn any new finger-picking though.

The food was pretty good but the conversation was even better. As expected when dealing with the anyone from the Davies family (and, apparently, any of their friends as well), the conversation was all over the map. In about 3 hours we covered the political landscape (English and US), music (The Smiths, karaoke), geography ("You don't know the capitol of Sudan?"), religion ("What's up with the Pope?", lapsed Catholicism vs. lapsed Lutheranism) and books ("You wouldn't believe the crazy stack of books next to Hannah's bed!") Tons of fun that went by in a flash.

After brunch, we all went our separate ways. The Davies Sisters, incongruously, went for a pedicure. I'm not sure where Rory, Tom and Scarlet ended up, but Marilynn and I took the opportunity to stroll around NYU, Washington Square, and Greenwich Village for an hour or two. Washington Square was jammed with people enjoying the afternoon sun and listening to the buskers. Below is a photo of a group called "The Baby Soda Jazz Band" that had a large number of people crowded around them:

It turns out that these guys aren't just buskers ... they're appearing every Sunday in April at a place called Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn. If you're ever in the area, these guys would be well worth your entertainment dollar. Oh yes, accompanying the music were three swing-dancing couples, at least two of whom were professional dance teachers as well. They were as much fun to watch as the Jazz Band!

In the southwest corner of the park, a number of chess boards had been set up and virtually all of them were in use. Marilynn and I stopped for a while to watch a little girl compete against a guy who we think was a member of the NY Chess Club:

I'm guessing he was taking it easy on her, but who knows? She was holding her own against him when we left.

All in all a beautiful day --- New York City at its best!!

Cranstock 2009!

Village Park in Cranbury was hopping on Saturday, September 26, when the inaugural celebration of Cranstock, a free music festival, kicked off. Marilynn and I invited Hannah Davies, a not-so-distant cousin from NYC, to the event. The entire musical line-up for the day is shown below, on the back of a truly collector's-item T-shirt being modeled by yours truly:

The Testostertones, an a capella men's choral group from Princeton High School were great, but their set was way too short. Here's a YouTube video which gives you some idea of their talent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ReiIRKITU0.

Exit 8A (referring to the Cranbury Exit off of the NJ Turnpike) is a garage band composed of 15 and 16 year old Cranbury kids. What they lacked in polish they more than made up for with enthusiasm and budding musical skill. Their best moment was probably their cover of "Scar Tissue" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The next performer, Stephen Szczepanik, was described as a "classical acoustic guitarist". His talent was obvious but his overall performance was, perhaps, a tad laid back for the general Cranstock crowd that had come to hoot and holler.

Selkow, a band containing 2 former Cranbury residents (Matt Foster and Mike Golisano), came on next. Their performance was excellent showing plenty of polish and skill. For the most part, they played original material, but they did an excellent job with three cover songs as well: "Who'll Stop the Rain" by Credence Clearwater Revival, "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash and "Time" by Pink Floyd.

The last local group to perform was, without a doubt, the hit of the show: The Crandaddies, a cover group composed of local Cranbury fathers. Although I knew just about everyone in the band, I had no inkling of the skill level that they possessed. They started off with a bang, performing a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road" that was surprisingly good, from the opening harmonica to the closing saxophone solo. The musical abilities of everyone in the group was quite impressive, as were the vocals and overall stage presence of their lead singer. The only people enjoying The Crandaddies more than the crowd was The Crandaddies themselves. They were having a lot of fun, and it showed.

The last band of the night -- and the feature band of the festival -- was a band from northern NJ called The Robert Murdock Band. They were billed as a British Invasion tribute band but, after 5 hours of Cranstock, Marilynn, Hannah and I had had enough. And since The Crandaddies had just closed their set with a great rendition of "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones, we had already seen our British Invasion tribute band for the evening.

All in all, it was an excellent event. Here's hoping that there's a Cranstock 2010!

Day 7: Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros

I'm sure this video will look like trash, but it shows that we were literally right on the stage for this incredible performance. Highly highly recommended!! I'll write more later when I get more time.

OK, now I have a little more time! Marilynn, Tommy Kinslow and I went to see this band knowing next to nothing about them. I had heard one or two of their songs on a Philadelphia college radio station, but I couldn't quite remember their sound. However, they were listed as "Editors Pick" for Thursday in London's "Time Out" magazine, and tickets were only 6 pounds, and there were two other bands playing, and it was a cool bar anyway, so ... we decided to go.

It is almost impossible to describe these guys. I don't know a hell of a lot about them, but they seem to fashion themselves as modern day hippies. Their leader, Edward Sharpe, is more like a cult leader than a band leader. The entire band -- and the whole crowd for that matter -- gets caught up in his energy. Sharpe wasn't on the stage for more than 5 seconds when his shoes came off. A minute later, his shirt was off. He often jumped into the crowd and sang from the floor. He grabbed Tommy a couple of times and, at one point, gave him a palm to the forehead "healing gesture" of some sort. On another song, he jumped down and started dancing with Marilynn! Quite the showman. The band was great as well, playing a variety of instruments: piano, accordian, trumpet, bongos, and a variety of other drums, guitars and percussion instruments.

Check out this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hehPEoAk8eE. It will give you a good idea what the group sounds like, but it won't give you any idea whatsoever as to what one of their concerts feels like. To do that you have to be there, in person, as close to the stage as possible. And, if you have them, bring your love beads.