In any event, it turned out to be true, which is one of the reasons (i.e., I'm really exhausted coping) I've recyled it now. It also seems newly relevant, given that the aforementioned SFV is -- post his occupation of our nation's capitol -- now threatening to send Federal troops into other liberal cities, specifically including the Big Apple.
Hey -- good luck with that one, Donny. To paraphrase Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca -- "There are certain sections of New York, shithead, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade."
Which leads us, inexorably, to the subject of today's business. To wit:
...and your favorite (or least favorite) post-Beatles Pop/Rock/Folk/Soul song/record about/referencing New York City and environs in the title or lyrics is...???
Okay, no arbitrary rules here, but if you nominate any version of "New York, New York" I will come to your house and kill you AND your family. Sorry.
Obviously, NY-themed songs are almost too numerous to mention, but in case you're wondering, my fave(s) is a tie between...
...and...
As you may recall, Fear was a band much beloved of John Belushi, and the song above holds a special place in my heart because they performed it during their legendary SNL appearance, at which they almost literally brought the house down (a story I'll perhaps retell on another occasion).
As for the Tradewinds record, hell -- what could be a more poignant existential dilemma than being the only living surfer boy in New York? 😎
Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?
And have a great weekend everybody!!!
It's too early for me to prioritize my way through all of Springsteen's NYC songs.
ReplyDeleteInstead I'll go the other way with Randy Newman's I Love LA , just for the opening lines.
Man, just as I (a West Coaster) am on the East Coast and amidst one of my NYC fan moments! Bruce's music, sure. Also, Willie Nile's "Streets of New York" as a whole, is a wonderful record and romantic love letter to the city. Especially the title track.
ReplyDeleteYou are wise, grasshopper. Gonna be writing about Willie on Monday.
DeleteI'll nominate the NY Dolls' 'Babylon.'
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Fear, I remember sitting through the depressing slog of Penelope Spheeris's first 'Decline of Western Civilization,' when Fear turned up and brought the thing to life.
Two -.
ReplyDeleteWalk on the wild side - Lou Reed
All my friends are - Jim Carroll
Correction - People Who Died
DeleteJim Carroll
One More -
ReplyDeleteLaura Nyro - New York Tandaberry
Marshall Crenshaw - Rockin' Around in NYC (Best)
ReplyDeleteBilly Joel - New York State Of Mind (Not sure if Best or Worst; figure out this weekend)
Shattered - The Stones
ReplyDeleteNew York Telephone Conversation - Lou Reed
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and Positively 4th Street - both by that Dylan fellow
Spanish Harlem Incident - again that Bobby guy
Spanish Harlem - Ben E. King
ReplyDeleteConey Island Winter - Garland Jeffreys https://youtu.be/d-Ur3wi97tk
- Paul in DK
Lou Reed: 'Coney Island Baby' and three dozen more.
ReplyDeleteRamones - Rockaway Beach, 53rd & 3rd, I Just Want To Have Something To Do
ReplyDeleteI always thought a lot of their songs were based on their NYC experiences, even if they didn't reference the city.
Gil Scott Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - in the same vein
ReplyDeleteGrandmaster Flash - The Message
Both are in my top 50.
Now that I'm awake, besides Springsteen, it would have to be the greatest Christmas song ever, the Pogues Fairytale of New York.
ReplyDeleteThe Stones... Shattered
ReplyDeleteSorry Gummo, missed yours
DeleteLeast favorite by a major artist: New York City - John Lennon.
ReplyDeleteCaptain Al
westchester county ... loudon wainwright 3
ReplyDeleteJust a few more -
ReplyDelete59th Street Song - S&G
NY City Cops - the Strokes
53rd and 3rd - The Ramones
An Open Letter To NYC - Beasty Boys
steve - is my stuff going to blog spam or just getting lost in the ether? oddly, this one will probably publish ... but my comments are vanishing
ReplyDeleteVR
Vicki -- the answer is I don't know. There's no reason I can figure that you should be having problems all of a sudden.
DeleteI've never had a blog, so I don't know how it works. Is there a spam folder that the blog owner can access? Some of my comments are getting flagged, filtered or lost in the ozone and I can't figure out why. The strange thing is that some, perhaps like this one, if it goes through, publish. But the ones that pertain to the subject of the blog entry vanish. Are you allowed to make back-to-back comments? I'm just trying to figure this out. If that's even possible (smile emoji)
ReplyDeleteVR
VR
You know as much as I do, kiddo. As for a spam folder, if there is one, nobody's told me. And why anything you write is suddenly being flagged makes no sense at all to me.
DeleteVR -- I just asked my pal and smarter blogger Sal for some advice on the problem. We'll see.....
ReplyDelete"I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" by Nilsson.
ReplyDeleteSteve - Sorry for the trouble. Thanks for your efforts. I googled about it and lots of other people have had this problem. There are a lot of reasons for "Blogger's" filters to kick in, if that's what's happening. I hope the situation resolves itself. Thanks again. I'd much rather be talking about music than internet snafus. All the best,
ReplyDeleteVickie Rock
and don't mind the maggots
Two more Bests:
ReplyDeleteThe Drifters - On Broadway
Neil Young - His cover of On Broadway ("gimme that crack, gimme some of that crack")
One more Best: Bobby Darin, from his days on Capitol, and his swingin' version of a song called Sunday In New York. It's one of my favorite pop vocal tracks ever and I was really hoping that, at some point, it would be used in the TV series MAD MEN.
ReplyDeleteI am unaware of that Darin track and I will check it out toot sweet. Thank for the tip.
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/share/v/1SooUS47Gd/?mibextid=wwXIfr
ReplyDeleteSome from my collection:
ReplyDeleteInterpol - NYC
Lee Moses - Diana (From NYC)
Lords - I Love New York
Demics - New York City
Precisions - New York City
Randoms - Let's Get Rid Of New York
Raveonettes - New York Was Great
Ad Libs - Boy from NYC
Jim Carroll - People Who Died
Stones - Shattered
Strokes - NYC Cops
Yardbirds - NYC Blues
Lewis Reed - Walk On The Wild Side
George Benson - On Broadway
Danny & Dusty - New York City Lullaby
C in California
Living for the City - Stevie Wonder (genius at work)
ReplyDeleteFirst We Take Manhattan - Jennifer Warnes - first heard this about a week before Famous Blue Raincoat's official release. I was at Rockaway Records in the SIlver Lake area. The old location in the Osco Drugs anchored shopping center. I was selling their buyer at the time, Marty Levy, a bunch of live radio shows (various King Biscuit Flower Hours, BBC Rock Hours, Westwood One In Concerts, Supergroups In Concert, Captured Live!, etc.). He was busy doing something else. While I was flipping through records and waiting, he put on an advance copy of the album. "First We Take Manhattan" was the opening track and it sounded delicious. I had no clue who it was or who wrote it. But the production and backing ensemble were tits. It was as if the in-store sound system had become magical. What a great song! The Cohen covers that followed were equally as good. I was still flipping records when Side 1 ended. I yelled "Flip It Over. Who the fuck is this, Marty.?"
Alice - Mott the Hoople - underrated
Summer In the City - Lovin' Spoonful (not specifically referenced, but come on)
Nights On Broadway - Bee Gees
Wall Street Shuffle - 10cc
Chelsea Girls - Nico
VR
Steve - I forgot to compliment you on choosing New York's a Lonely Town. I can identify. When I was stuck in Michigan for 6 months a part of me died. Me and and a guy, who was another displaced Californian, were so hard up that we tried surfing Lake Michigan in October. The water was too cold and the waves just weren't the same. Btw, and you probably know this already, the Human Beinz version is pretty dyno.
ReplyDeleteI also forgot to mention above that the Bee Gees tune, though kinda creepy, to say the least, is a great R&B construct. And Blue Weaver gives it a Mott the Hoople connection (smile emoji). Remember, I like to dance. It's a rhythm romance.
Added to above
Harlem Nocturne - The Viscounts. (too bad David Lynch never got a hold of this one (if he didn't). I can vividly imagine the saturated visual deviance of it all.
Angel of Eighth Avenue - Mott the Hoople (wonderful song from the underappreciated Wildlife LP)
VR - I must say that getting these comments to publish was a Sisyphean task. If this one goes through.
I laid a divorcee in New York City .... She blew my nose and then she blew my mind
The police in New York City chased a boy right through the park, In a case of mistaken identity they put a bullet through his heart
WORST: Green Acres Theme - Eddie Albert & Eva Gabor
David Lynch meets Harlem Nocturne — wow, that would have been something.😎
DeleteOh, and I know I said post-Beatles, but it's my blog so -- Fred Steiner's "Park Avenue Beat," better known as the theme from Perry Mason. 😎
ReplyDelete