Upper West Side Mon Amour

And speaking of Lucy Simon, as we were the other day, I should mention that the reason I was in her touring band (if I may use that phrase for an ensemble that played all of six or seven gigs during its lifetime) is that she was promoting an album she had out on RCA Victor at the time. And I knew somebody who knew somebody at RCA who recommended me for the gig.

It's actually a very nice little album -- very much in the 70s soft-rock style of her sister Carly -- and the songs were fun to play on stage. It's never been on CD, but if you're nice to me I'll burn you a copy I had transferred from vinyl. Here's my favorite track.

In any case, Lucy is a lovely person, despite the fact that she is also -- as they used to say -- Ms. Gotbucks. She had family money, obviously (Simon as in Simon and Schuster) but she was also married to a Park Avenue shrink who obviously was never going to go hungry. And they had the most amazing apartment opposite Central Park. It was the first one I ever saw that occupied its own floor; I mean, when you got out of the elevator at their stop there was no doorbell to ring or a door to knock on -- you were IN their home.

I will finish by sharing a Lucy anecdote I've never told publicly, but I think she won't mind because, well, as I said she's the female equivalent of a mensch.

The short version: a few months after our "tour" she invited me out to lunch in her neighborhood. I was delighted, and not solely because I was jonesing for a really good meal at some ritzy boite that was out of my price range, but also because I was looking forward to seeing her again. Anyway, we had a terrific time and as I was leaving with her, she asked if I was taking a cab. I replied that no, the subway stop a block away would get me home just fine. The following conversation ensued.

Lucy: "You're taking the subway?"

Me: "Sure."

Lucy: "Do you have a subway token?"

Me: "Of course."

Lucy: "Could you show it to me? I've never actually seen one."

Thats a true story, BTW.