At first listen, you might classify the forward-moving, walking-pace energy of “Living for the City” within the same hustle-and-bustle, working-man category occupied by “Takin’ Care of Business,” and songs of the like. But take a deeper dive and you’ll find that the content of Stevie Wonder’s 1973 single paints a far deeper portrait of life in New York City—one that is still intensely relevant in conversations today regarding race, income, and opportunity.
“Living for the City” came as a single from 1973’s Innervisions, an album that’s considered one of Wonder’s best displays of virtuosity—composing and playing every main instrument on a majority of the tracks. Innervisions followed 1972’s Talking Book (which included the likes of “Superstition”) and featured diverse styles and themes, along with classics like “Higher Ground.” Though perhaps none of the songs on Innervisions are as surgically insightful or keep a finger closer on the pulse of society than “Living for the City.”
The song reflects “a snapshot of a certain part of the reality of life,” as Wonder explained to Barney Hoskyns in a 2005 interview for Uncut. Particularly—reality as a black American. The lyrics tell the story of siblings growing up in Mississippi with parents who supply plenty of affection, but can’t fully shield the children from the harsh realities of life. All the while, there’s a dream of an easier, more financially stable life in the big city.
His father works some days for fourteen hours And you can bet, he barely makes a dollar His mother goes to scrub the floors for many And you’d best believe, she hardly gets a penny Living just enough, just enough for the city
As a young child—a child of color in this case—one can only imagine the harrowing, and sobering, experience of watching your parents toil away day after day just to stay poor. Wonder paints this vignette detailing each sibling’s experience, from the girl having to walk far to school repeating the same outfit each day, and the boy growing up smart but with little prospects for a higher pay job, because “where he lives they don’t use colored people.”
Enter “The City.” Living in the city is the answer. The Big Apple is a place where anyone can take a bite and enjoy the opportunity available—or so they thought. “Living in the City” is an ambitious song, and sets the tone for the entire album—mostly due to a spoken word portion in the full record version that shows us what happens when the boy decides to follow his dream to the big city.
In this section, having just gotten to the city and being ready to put his smarts to good use, he’s preyed upon by a criminal who sets him up. He’s given 10 years in jail, with no sympathy from the justice system or the police. Re-reading the lyrics of this section is no easy task. It’s difficult to realize that, in many ways, we are having the same conversation as a society today as Wonder penned nearly 50 years ago.
Afterward, the once-hopeful country boy is seen as a product of the “big city” justice system, spending his days “walking the streets of New York City” and “almost dead from breathing in air pollution.” The question becomes: was he better off staying poor and not coming to the city at all? It’s not a question that’s answered in the content of the song, but it’s certainly one that is posed to the audience. Wonder makes an even bigger statement with the last verse:
I hope you hear inside my voice of sorrow And that it motivates you to make a better tomorrow This place is cruel, nowhere could be much colder If we don’t change, the world will soon be over Living just enough, stop giving just enough for the city
It’s a plea to change the circumstances that affected the characters of the song; the circumstances that make the song more fact than fiction. Here, Wonder addresses the systemic nature of discrimination as he addresses the world, not only the individuals. It’s a tale that’s, unfortunately, as old as time. But, if there’s any consolation, it’s that messages of motivation go further today and affect more people than they ever have. Perhaps, if revisited sometime in the near future, Stevie might be inspired to write a slightly different ending to the song.
“Living for the City” Lyrics
A boy is born in hard time Mississippi Surrounded by four walls that ain’t so pretty His parents give him love and affection To keep him strong moving in the right direction Living just enough, just enough for the city…ee ha!
His father works some days for fourteen hours And you can bet he barely makes a dollar His mother goes to scrub the floor for many And you’d best believe she hardly gets a penny Living just enough, just enough for the city
His sister’s black but she is sho ’nuff pretty Her skirt is short but Lord her legs are sturdy To walk to school she’s got to get up early Her clothes are old but never are they dirty Living just enough, just enough for the city
Her brother’s smart he’s got more sense than many His patience’s long but soon he won’t have any To find a job is like a haystack needle Cause where he lives they don’t use colored people Living just enough, just enough for the city. Living just enough… For the city…ooh,ooh
His hair is long, his feet are hard and gritty He spends his life walking the streets of New York City He’s almost dead from breathing in air pollution He tried to vote but to him there’s no solution Living just enough, just enough for the city…yeah, yeah, yeah!
I hope you hear inside my voice of sorrow And that it motivates you to make a better tomorrow This place is cruel no where could be much colder If we don’t change the world will soon be over Living just enough, just enough for the city!
The Fillmore East was called “The Church of Rock and Roll” for good reason; between 1968 and 1971, promoter Bill Graham made music history as he brought the cream of rock royalty to New York audiences in astounding triple-artist bills with ticket prices ranging from $3.50 – $5.50. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, Sly and the Family Stone, Santana and The Allman Brothers were just some of the stars that graced the stage, with several recording classic live albums at the Lower East Side venue.
Interestingly, Graham also served as a catalyst for expanding the tastes of impressionable young music lovers in New York and abroad. He accomplished this by using the popular rock headliners to introduce audiences to the more eclectic artists he loved and booked as show openers. These were the cutting-edge names in jazz, soul, R&B and folk music, from Miles Davis, Buddy Rich and Mongo Santamaria to B.B. and Albert King and The Staple Singers. It all ended when rock became a big business, when concerts and Graham himself moved onto larger stages.
New light is now being cast on this institution’s brief run and lasting impact in an in-depth and soulful new book by veteran journalist Frank Mastropolo, Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock History.
Like Legs McNeil’s punk history classic, Please Kill Me, Mastropolo’s new work is an oral history told by 90 of the musicians and crewmembers who lived through the fast times at this pioneering concert hall. Roger McGuinn, Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonen, Robert Lamm, Dave Davies, John Lodge, Nils Lofgren, Dave Mason and Steve Miller are among the 19 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees who contributed to the book, along with Fillmore crew like lightshow pioneer Joshua White and East Village scenesters like media prankster/artist Joey Skaggs. The book also boasts dozens of remarkable performance photos (many taken by the author himself), along with posters, letters, buttons, contracts and memorabilia, many never before published.
Mastropolo begins with backstory and history of the theater that would become The Fillmore East, The Commodore, and its place as a centerpiece of Yiddish Theater and vaudeville beginning in the 1920s. Rock enters the picture in 1967, when it becomes The Village Theater and hosts a handful of rock concerts by Cream, Procol Harum, The Yardbirds and The Grateful Dead. With the success of his San Francisco-based Fillmore West, Graham decides to buy and re-open it as The Fillmore East. The debut show comes on March 8, 1968, with a triple-bill featuring Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, blues great Albert King and folk rocker Tim Buckley.
The heart of Mastropolo’s book are the remarkable first-person reminiscences of the artists who played there and their contrasting memories of the mercurial empresario who ran it.
Janis Joplin: Photo by Frank Mastropolo
Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug Clifford recalls a night where the audience demanded a remarkable 17 encores. It was an unprecedented occasion, one that Graham commemorated by gifting each member of the band an inscribed gold watch. Sly and the Family Stone drummer Greg Errico recalls Graham’s initial reticence about booking his band, saying of the Fillmore audience: “My people don’t dance!” Then teenaged Television guitarist Richard Lloyd recalls how easy it was to get past the virtually non-existent security to visit Jimi Hendrix, in his dressing room. Chicago’s keyboardist Robert Lamm is one of many artists in the book who think the Fillmore East’s position as the first-choice venue of rockers was a product of its first-rate sound, lighting and staff.
Jorma Kaukonen credits the birth of his and bass player Jack Casady’s Jefferson Airplane offshoot, the acoustic Delta blues based Hot Tuna, to the Fillmore East. “I think the Hot Tuna as a band that the public saw was certainly born at the Fillmore East,” relates Kaukonen. “Jack and I had been messing around in hotels for years, with him playing his bass through a tiny amp and me playing acoustic guitar. My recollection about this is that Paul (Kanter) just out of the blue said – ‘Why don’t you guys go out and play an acoustic song?’ That’s how we were given the opportunity to play and display it in front of other people for the first time.”
John Lennon and Yoko Ono with Frank Zappa and the Mothers: Photo by Dr. Arlene Q. Allen and Ben Haller
Steve Miller recalls the tumult of one of his performances, when his band followed British novelty act Mungo Jerry of “In the Summertime” fame. The fun-loving show openers made the not-so-wise decision of giving 500 kazoos to the boisterous NYC audience, who then jammed along uninvited during Miller’s set. Also recalled is the May 1969 concert where The Who performed their rock opera Tommy in its entirety. The performance was briefly interrupted when a fire broke out at a neighboring supermarket and Pete Townsend attacked a police officer who was attempting to get on stage to command the audience to exit.
Jimi Hendrix: Photo by Frank Mastropolo
Many of the musicians featured remark on the epic lengths of the shows, ones that would often culminate in jams that would go on until 6 a.m. and beyond. Also remembered were the post-show meals at Ratner’s, the adjacent 24-hour restaurant manned by surly waiters made even more so by the paltry tips given by Fillmore staff and its cash-strapped young audience. Also are the first-person memories of the many live recordings made at the venue. This just begins with classic sets by The Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix and his Band of Gypsys, Johnny Winter, Taj Mahal, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds and New York’s own mighty Mountain.
The backstage crew who cut their teeth at the Fillmore East, including managing directors John Morris and Kip Cohen and stage manager Chip Monck, would go on to play important roles at various record labels, radio stations and, especially, with other huge concert tours and festivals including Woodstock.
Graham and the above were at Woodstock. There they witnessed how rock was turning into a very big business, where he couldn’t compete with a 2,700-seat theater.
Pete Townsend of The Who: Photo by Frank Mastropolo
In the book, Mastropolo relates the math. Where an artist could command $75,000 for a single show at Madison Square Garden, Graham could only provide $25,000, for four performances over two days. According to the book, Graham also didn’t care for the new generation of bands like Kiss and Alice Cooper and their cocaine-fueled attitudes and demands and their “stockbroker” greed. He and his staff were also tired of “cleaning up vomit,” something produced by the Fillmore audience’s switch from weed and psychedelics to red wine and downs. There was also sadness that Graham could not replicate the 1968 opening lineup for the June 1971 closing weekend, as both Janis Joplin and Tim Buckley were both gone.
Allman Brothers Band: Photo by Ben Haller
The book concludes with a tour of the afterlife of the Fillmore East site. This included a brief attempt to resurrect the name as NFE (The New Fillmore East) and The Village East. There was also its eight-year stint as the site of the gay disco, The Saint, followed by its life as an Emigrant Bank and, finally, the condo of today.
Frank Mastropolo in Greenwich Village, 1968: Photo by Tony Gulisano
Mastropolo’s book will provide a boatload of memories for those lucky enough to have been there and a motherload of info for those too young to enjoy rock’s most classic temple of sound.
There was a time in history where hip hop gave insight into the issues facing the Black race. But as the infantile genre continued its ascendency into the mainstream during the mid-to-late 1990’s, popular acts and record labels began shifting away from the raw, gutter and street sound of rap. Rather than focus on tales of the inner-city, lyrics began to reflect a more glamorous lifestyle, that was backed by a wardrobe to match.
Onyx never suffered from that conundrum. The Southside, Jamaica outfit always seemed to know where their niche lied. They excelled in their raw, energetic, raucous, and lyrically inclined style of rap. Coming off a platinum-selling album and high-charting single, it would’ve been easy for them to continuously chase commercial success. Rather, the “Slam” emcees stuck with what originally garnered them critical acclaim.
Their sophomore effort, All We Got Iz Us, has been certified gold with over half-a-million sales yet, never reached the success of its predecessor. Nonetheless, the Jam Master Jay signees delivered several more classic hip hop records. The singles, “Live Niguz” and “Last Dayz,” have gotten their just due, but the anthemic “Walk in New York” best resonates with the parts of New York City many can’t fathom.
According to New York City’s crime database, in 1993 (the year Onyx’s debut album dropped) the city faced nearly 2000 murders, and over 85 thousand robberies. For better context, New York City is estimated to face only 468 murders in 2021, a substantial difference. In light, it is easy to see why Onyx’s style, sound and lyrics reflected such lawlessness and aggression, those were the times!
Their description of their hometown is more resemblant of a violence laden wasteland where ruthless aggression rules above all. Yet it’s clear as day the pride each emcee exudes when characterizing their beloved New York City, for better or worse.
The title “Walk in New York” refers to the strut and swagger one from New York maintains as they walk, particularly when part of a larger ensemble. And as the proprietors of hip hop, New Yorkers held a certain panache when it came to the culture, taking pride in setting all the latest trends.
Fredro Starr begins the record, emphasizing that New York was not a part of the gang culture that had become so prominent in hip hop as a result of the West Coast influence (possibly a jab, as this was during the height of the east coast-west coast hip hop beef), before reminding listeners of the intense animosity between NYPD and young minorities.
We don’t throw gang signs in New York We just be on some shit in New York New York City, shiftee low down gritty You punk niggas yell pity and smell shitty NYPD can suck my dick
One of Hip Hop’s greatest attributes is that it allowed inhabitants of inner cities to express their first-hand experiences. Unpolished thoughts that are not ready-made for the mainstream were encouraged during the 1990’s. On the song’s second verse, Sonsee furthers fortifies the real New York experience.
Them damn streets are eager to claim all lives But fuck it, it’s my home hate it or appreciate it It’s the torrid 8 million story orientated Designated and made for the real renegades So I never been afraid to stomp, comp, then get paid
As the song continues, Sonsee’s temperament changes, he goes from accepting the cards he was dealt, to taking pride in the lawless nature in which many from the inner-city were conducting themselves. Which I maintain should go in the case study for nature vs nurture.
New York hold shit down on keep locked we rock all night And if Zoo York niggas wasn’t part of your shit, your shit wasn’t right We known to start shit up from trends, to riots, to fracas And big enough to fuck up anybody that wanna attack us And that’s cause the five boroughs are deep Most of us are peeps, true Zoo York niggas we play for keep
The unmistakable Sticky Fingaz concludes the record with a fitting encapsulation of mid-1990’s New York City. From the violence, the distinctive swagger that New Yorkers carry themselves with, the “by any means” mentality of its hustlers, and the tourists who visit the outskirts and the city’s landmarks, but would never step foot in the jungle.
Representin’ New York City and for what it’s worth Yo we the triflest mother fuckers on the face of this Earth So if you don’t like your life fuck with a nigga from New York The instincts we got is to shoot first then talk But what seems to always gives us away is our “niggery” walk And I speak from experience, so pleader take heed to advice We sellin guns and drugs and sex or anything for the right price The crime rate’s so goddamn high, we had to name the shit twice Cause tourists be scared to death to visit the criminal’s paradise Home of bloodshed and tears and for souvenirs there’s fears It appears nobody cares so say your prayers
While not a major hit record, the song resonates mainly with New Yorkers, specifically those who lived through those dangerous times as well as those who feel Onyx represent the values hip hop were founded on. Real street tales from people who actually experienced them.
So fuck the mayor, fuck Rudy, Ray, and the governor Ya’ll niggas couldn’t walk my walk, my talk’s ruggeder
Few bands have a relationship with the state of New York like the Grateful Dead. Outside of California, the Grateful Dead have performed more shows in New York than any other state.
With 309 unique shows performed across the Empire State in a 28 year span, beginning at Tompkins Square Park on June 1, 1967, the Grateful Dead made New York a home away from home, with venues of all sizes welcoming them during their career.
Over the past few years, NYS Music has looked back on some of these shows, whether they be archival releases, or an iconic show worthy of a closer look. In 2020, we began to look intently at the history of the Grateful Dead in the Empire State, and in doing so, discovered some overlooked diamonds in the rough.
While performances at Madison Square Garden, The Knickerbocker Arena and Barton Hall garner the glory, there are shows that are equally compelling which we took a second look at. Whether the performance was in The Bronx, Alfred State, Oswego, Glens Falls, Lake Placid or Watkins Glen, each show gets a thorough analysis, with first-hand accounts and memorabilia, as well as audio and/or video of each performance.
We’ve taken all these articles that examine the long history of the Grateful Dead in New York State, as well as Jerry Garcia’s solo and JGB performances, and created an interactive Google Map that allows you to observe the history of the Grateful Dead in New York – So MaNY Roads. You can find info on each of these shows (were you there?), and dive into shows you may or may not have known about.
With more than 300 shows to include in this series, we so far have looked at more than 50 of these shows, all searchable in the map below. More will be added each month as we continue looking at the Grateful Dead and their history in NY.
We welcome Section 119 as a sponsor for So MaNY Roads, our Grateful Dead in New York series. Section 119 takes you from beachfront to stage front with the highest quality merchandise celebrating the Grateful Dead. Shop for a variety of officially licensed clothing and accessories including board shorts, polos, button-down shirts and more at Section119.com.
This is the third article in the series “Made in New York,” a historical examination of the music history of each of New York’s 62 counties, this time looking at Queens County.
New York City has a fascinating history and an immense amount of diversity within its borders, but there’s a reason why Queens is called “The World’s Borough.” That’s because its residents hail from over 120 countries and speak more than 135 different languages. As impressive as that is, the borough is also the largest of the five by area and also has the second-largest population of any county within New York State.
One of the most-asked questions about this county is: “Which particular Queen is this area named after?” While the specific member of royalty that the area was named after has been disputed for generations as no official declaration was ever made, most assume the “Queen” in question was Catherine of Braganza, who was Queen of England in 1683 when Queens County was first established.
Queens County has had the eyes of the world on it many times, especially since it had the honor of hosting not one, but two World’s Fairs in the last century. The 1939 and 1964 World’s Fair were each held at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens and over 95 million people visited the two fairs. The first of these two events focused on “The World of Tomorrow” while the second’s theme was “Peace Through Understanding.” One of the most recognizable pieces from these Fairs is the Unisphere that was constructed for the second of these events. At 120 feet in diameter, it is the largest globe in the world. The other remaining recognizable structure from these Fairs is the New York State Pavilion, which many will remember from the movie Men in Black.
Next to the site of the Unisphere sits the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Since 1978, it’s been the home of the US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament and boasts one of the largest tennis stadiums in the world. With a capacity of 23,771, Arthur Ashe Stadium opened in 1997 and is the main stadium for the US Open tournament.
Across the street from the tennis complex is Citi Field and the former site of the famous Shea Stadium, which opened in 1964. While most notably the home of the New York Mets and the former home of the New York Jets, it was also the site of one of the most famous concerts ever performed. When the Beatles performed at Shea Stadium on August 15, 1965, it was the largest crowd the band had played to at that time. Over 55,000 fans packed themselves into the stadium and the ensuing crowd noise famously resulted in the band not being able to hear much of anything they were playing.
Four years later, Shea Stadium would have the world’s eyes on it once again as the New York Mets would defeat the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series. The team would win one more World Series in 1986 when they defeated the Boston Red Sox in seven games. Shea was demolished in 2009 and is now the site of additional parking for the Mets current home, Citi Field. You can still find the locations of the former plates and pitchers mound memorialized in Parking Lot D of Citi Field.
Another world-famous music venue in Queens is the Forest Hills Stadium, which is located inside the West Side Tennis Club. The stadium started hosting concerts in the 1960s and boasts a capacity of over 13,000. Over the years, the venue has hosted bands such as The Beatles, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Sinatra. A decade ago, the venue had fallen into disrepair and thankfully avoided being razed to build housing. Since it re-opened in 2013, it has hosted annual concerts each summer from bands such as Mumford and Sons, My Morning Jacket, Jamiroquai and Dolly Parton.
Queens is also the home to New York City’s two main airports, LaGuardia and JFK International. LGA opened in 1939 and is the twentieth busiest airport in the US. JFK opened in 1948 and was originally named New York International Airport. Renamed in 1963 after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, it is now the sixth busiest airport in the US.
This county has a tremendous amount of history over its 338 years of growth and expansion, but more impressive is the sheer number of musicians and musical genres that have been born within its borders. Likewise, tons of small businesses have started throughout the borough, one of them being SingleCut Beersmiths in Astoria.
SingleCut Beersmiths was founded by Queens-born, music-obsessed, brewer Rich Buceta, whose life-long passions led to a place where hops and vinyl could shine side by side. After years of homebrewing and professional stints around NYC, Rich was true to his dream, diving headfirst into the brewing world. “My obsession is creating original hop-driven beer, distinguished by a firm respect and admiration for West Coast pioneers, and bending that to our East Coast / NYC interpretation.”
Since opening in 2012, and with the help of an equally talented and devoted team, SingleCut has gained a loyal following throughout the East-Coast’s most respected markets. With his steadfast determination for the perfect pint, Rich penned “Mastery Knows No Shortcut” as the SingleCut mission statement. “It boils down to always demanding greatness, never compromising, and always play it at maximum volume.” Visit the Astoria location of SingleCut at 19-33 37th Street or schedule in house pick up or delivery, as well as apparal and mail order throughout New York. Visit them on Facebook and Instagram.
And now, a look at the greatest musicians to rise from Queens County.
A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
Queens is in the house, represent represent. A Tribe Called Quest represent represent
Hailing from the St. Albans neighborhood in Queens, A Tribe Called Quest found its roots within Kamaal Fareed and Malik Taylor, childhood friends who went by the names ‘Q-Tip’ and ‘Phife Dawg’. It was through Q-Tip’s days as a battle rapper in high school that he would team up with his friend Ali Shaheed Muhammad as his DJ. Once they later added their neighborhood friend Jarobi White to the mix, the foursome started calling themselves “Crush Connection” before landing on the name “Quest”. The group’s current name came to be thanks to another hip hop trio from their high school named Jungle Brothers.
Tribe’s debut album, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, was released in 1990 and was met with immediate acclaim. The Source gave the release it’s first ever “5-mic’s” rating and the album went Gold in 1996. This record was followed by 1991’s Low End Theory which went Platinum five years later. In 1993, the group released Midnight Marauders, one of their most popular albums which contained their highest charting single, “Award Tour.”
These three albums would solidify Tribe’s status as hip hop greats and they would continue their classic jazz-hip hop fusion sound with their fourth release. Beats, Rhymes and Life would debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 and less than a year later, the group would contribute a track to the the soundtrack to Men In Black. Leading up to the release of their fifth album, A Tribe Called Quest announced that The Love Movement would be their final record.
Over the next seven years, the members of Tribe would each work on solo projects until the group reunited in 2006 to help Phife pay for his increasing medical bills. In 2015, after performing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the group decided to start recording a new album in secret. Phife Dawg sadly passed away on March 22, 2016 as a result of complications with his diabetes. Their latest album hadn’t been completed when he passed away, so the remaining members continued work on it until it was released on November 11, 2016. Tribe appeared on SNL the day after it was released and performed tracks from We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service in front of a mural of Phife Dawg. The album went gold within a year of its release.
THE RAMONES
The Ramones all originate from Forest Hills and kids who grew up there either became musicians, degenerates or dentists. The Ramones are a little of each.
Tommy Ramone
1-2-3-4! There is no band that represents Queens more than The Ramones. Known throughout the world as the first true punk rock band, The Ramones pummeled the music industry with their pseudonyms, short songs and thousands of concerts over their 22 year career.
All of the original members met in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens and while it took a bit for the roles to be properly assigned, it was Douglas Colvin who first adopted the “Ramones” name when he began to call himself Dee Dee Ramone. Jeffrey Hyman became Joey Ramone and John Cummings became Johnny Ramone. Johnny’s former bandmate Thomas Erdelyi was planning to become the Ramones manager but soon took on the role of the band’s drummer, taking on the name Tommy Ramone.
Their first gig occurred at Performance Studios in March of 1974 and more famously, the band made their debut at the fabled CBGB in August of the same year, playing 74 times at CBGB before the end of the year. Ramones, their debut album, was released in February 1976 and was met with glowing reviews despite not being a commercial success. The Ramones went on to release six albums in the next half-decade and 14 albums throughout their career.
Throughout their tenure, the band had a number of different drummers, with each adding a member to the Ramones family. Marky, Richie and Elvis Ramone each had a place in the history of Ramones drummers and throughout the 90s, Dee Dee was replaced with C. J. Ramone on bass. In 1996, following their appearance in the sixth Lollapalooza festival. The Ramones played their final show at The Palace in Hollywood. The last time all four original members would be seen together was an autograph signing in New York City on July 20,1999.
The legacy of The Ramones can be seen in their many accolades, recognizable songs and influence on countless bands over the last few decades. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in their first eligible year in 2002 and in 2016, the intersection in front of Forest Hills High School was officially named The Ramones Way. To this day, when hits like “Blitzkrieg Bop,” “I Wanna Be Sedated,” “Rock ’n’ Roll High School” or “Rockaway Beach” come on, you will no doubt see folks banging their head and stomping their feet to the frenetic and iconic beat that The Ramones made their own.
PAUL SIMON
No artist has embodied the diversity of Queens quite like Paul Simon has. He was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1941 but his family moved to Flushing, Queens when he was four years old. His musical career would begin at age 11 when he met a student named Art Garfunkel during a production of Alice in Wonderland. At the age of 16, their song “Hey, Schoolgirl” reached number 49 on the pop charts under the name ‘Tom & Jerry.’
After finishing college and recording songs under a number of pseudonyms, Paul reunited with Art and they were signed by Columbia Records, who changed the duo’s name to Simon and Garfunkel. Their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3AM, was initially unsuccessful and it wasn’t until radio stations in the US started receiving request for ‘The Sound of Silence’ that it began to garner attention. That track eventually went on to become a number-1 hit on the charts and allowed the duo to record four more albums together. Sounds of Silence, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, Bookends and Bridge Over Troubled Water were all successful and the band also contributed to the soundtrack to the 1967 film The Graduate.
Despite the commercial success of Bridge Over Troubled Water, the duo broke up in 1970 and Paul released his self-titled solo album in 1972, receiving acclaim and generating two popular singles: “Mother and Child Reunion” and “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”. This album was followed by the pop-folk release of There Goes Rhymin’ Simon which features “Kodachrome” and “Loves Me Like A Rock.”
Three years later, Simon would be awarded two Grammy awards for his release of Still Crazy After All These Year, which gave us the hit “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” In the first half of the 1980s, he released One-Trick Pony and Hearts and Bones, which did not receive as much acclaim as his previous solo releases, and made me him feel like he had lost his inspiration as an artist. While driving his car in 1984, he threw on the cassette tape of Gumboots: Accordion Jive Volume IIand the unusual sound interested him in a way he hadn’t felt before. He traveled to South Africa to record the album that would become his most popular and most successful solo album, Graceland.
Graceland propelled Simon back into the spotlight and he received Grammy awards for Album of the Year and Record of the Year for his work. The album also contained numerous hits, including “You Can Call Me Al,” “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” and “The Boy in the Bubble.” After the success of this release, he followed it up with 1990’s The Rhythm of the Saints and, as a result of these two records, he was primed to play again to another crowd in Central Park. On August 15, 1991, a reported 750,000 people gathered to witness his solo performance in front of one of the largest concert audiences of all time.
Paul Simon has embarked on a number of notable tours since then, playing with Bob Dylan in 1999 and Sting in 2014. In 2018, Simon announced he’d be retiring from touring and appropriately capped off his final tour with a concert in Flushing Meadows’ Corona Park. Simon has received a total of 12 Grammy awards throughout his career, but more famously he has appeared on Saturday Night Live as a either a guest or host 14 times. Most recently, he performed on the show in 2018 on his 77th birthday.
TONY BENNETT
Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born in Long Island City, Queens in 1926 and began performing after the Great Depression ended at age 13 as a singing waiter throughout Queens. He attended the New York School of Industrial Art to study music and painting, but dropped out to support his family and then was drafted into the Army at 18 towards the end of World War II. After fighting on the front lines in Germany and France, he was discharged from the Army and returned back to the States in 1946 where he studied at the American Theater Wing and learned the bel canto singing style.
In 1949, Bob Hope took Anthony on the road with him and simplified his name to Tony Bennett. Tony was signed by Columbia Records and his first hit, “Because of You,” sold over a million copies and before long he was playing seven shows a day at the Paramount Theater in New York. He released his first album, Cloud 7, in 1955 and built up his nightclub act over the next many years. In 1962, he performed a heavily-promoted concert at Carnegie Hall and also sang on the initial broadcast of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
That same year, Bennett would release his most popular track to this day, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” which earned him two Grammy awards and would become his signature song. Over the next two decades, Tony would see less success with his new record company and his lackluster releases, and it would take a near-fatal overdose and the help of his sons to get him back on track and shake his “Vegas image.”
Throughout the 90s, he introduced a new generation to his original style, appearance and song catalog and was regularly booked on Late Night with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and other popular shows. In 1994, he appeared on MTV Unplugged and the resulting album from this performance went Platinum and gained two additional Grammy awards for Bennett.
In 2006, Tony’s highest charting album, Duets: An American Classic was released. The album featured duets with Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel and more and gained him another two Grammy awards. This was followed up by the 2011 release of Duets II which featured one of the last recording of Amy Winehouse before her untimely death. With this release, Tony became the oldest artist to have an album debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart when it was released.
Tony also has the honor of having two World Records according to Guinness. The first was in 2014 for the album Cheek to Cheek which he recorded with Lady Gaga, for which he was awarded the record for “oldest person to reach No.1 on the US Album Chart with a newly recorded album.” In 2018, Tony re-recorded the song “Fascinating Rhythm” which he first sang in 1949. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this became the “longest time between the release of an original recording and a re-recording of the same single by the same artist”
MOBB DEEP
East Coast hip hop had its renaissance in the 1990s and one of the duos that helped establish its historical dominance was Mobb Deep. This duo formed when Kejuan Muchita and Albert Johnson met at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan. Each hailing from neighborhoods in Queens, Kejuan adopted the name Havoc and Albert took Prodigy and the two originally made a demo tape under the name “Poetical Prophets.” Their tactic was to bring a cassette player to the address of record labels they’d find and play their tape to any artists passing by.
Famously, the only artist who stopped to listen to their music was Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest, who introduced the duo to people in the Def Jam office. Prodigy got a solo deal and had an uncredited appearance on the Boyz n the Hood soundtrack, but when The Source wrote a feature about their demo tape, the two changed their name to Mobb Deep and got signed by 4th & B’way Records. Their debut, Juvenile Hell, was released in 1993 and due to its failure to achieve success, they were dropped by the label.
That same summer, Loud Records was looking for another hip-hop group to sign after their success from releasing Wu-Tang’s “Protect Ya Neck.” They signed Mobb Deep who worked on developing a new sound over the next two years as they worked on their second album, The Infamous. This album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold two months after its release.
In the eighteen months between album releases, the East Coast vs West Coast hip hop feud was at its height and a number of tracks on their next release, Hell on Earth, were seen as dis tracks towards 2Pac and others. Despite the rivalry, Havoc publicly said that he was “happy… they were saying our names.” Their three releases over the next nine years did not find as much success as their previous albums and the group briefly signed with G-Unit Records. During these G-Unit years, Mobb Deep became the first American hip hop duo to perform in India.
The 2010’s would see the duo break-up due to a falling out on Twitter, but they would reunite the following year. In 2014, the group would release The Infamous Mobb Deep, containing new music and unreleased tracks from The Infamous sessions. This would sadly be the final album they would release together as Prodigy passed away on June 20, 2017. The band’s legacy lives in through the countless acts these two inspired with their novel sampling, hardcore delivery and production style which summarized their lives in Queens.
ACTION BRONSON
Action Bronson is known for the two loves in his life, music and food. Born Ariyan Arslani in Flushing, Queens, Bronson first was a gourmet chef in New York City and had an online cooking show titled Action in the Kitchen. At the time, rapping was just a hobby of his, but he began to fully concentrate on his music career after breaking his leg while working.
Action’s debut album, Dr. Lecter, was released in 2011 only on his website and he released a number of mixtapes over the next few years while collaborating with countless other artists. His big break came in 2014 when he released his second album and starred in his own monthly web series. The album, Mr. Wonderful, and the show, Fuck… That’s Delicious garnered him popularity around the world.
Bronson has released two additional albums since then and has starred in The Irishman and The King of Staten Island. His show has since left the Vice network and gone independent and Action now focuses the episodes on his fitness lifestyle and cooking at home, rather than exploring restaurants around the world.
NIKKI MINAJ
This borough is famously named after royalty so it’s only appropriate that it’s the home of Nikki Minaj. Known the world over as the Queen of Hip Hop, she has sold over 137 million records and has had over 100 entries on the Hot 100 Chart.
Onika Tanya Maraj-Perry was born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1982 but moved to South Jamaica, Queens when she was five years old. In 2004, she recorded music with the Brooklyn group Full Force and began to upload songs to her MySpace profile after leaving the group. She released three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009 before being discovered by Lil Wayne, who signed her to Young Money Entertainment. Her debut album, Pink Friday, was released in 2010, has since gone triple-platinum and featured the hit-song “Super Bass.”
Over the next few years, Nikki would continue to release music and appear in other media as well. She voiced a character in 2012’s Ice Age: Continental Drift and also released her second album as well. Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was comprised half of hip hop tracks and half of dance-pop tracks. For her third album, Minaj wanted to take things back to her hip hop roots and released The Pinkprint in 2013. It’s hit track, “Anaconda” became the first music video for a female rap song to hit 1 billion views.
The second half of the decade had Minaj continuing her success. She was featured in the third Barbershop movie, Barbershop: The Next Cut, and released her fourth album, Queen, in 2018. She performed the lead single “Chun-Li” on Saturday Night Live and also started her own Beats 1 radio show. Since this 2018 release, she has performed on countless other projects including BTS, Karol G and Doja Cat.
Well my name is DMC, the all time great I bust the most rhymes in New York State
Few groups in history can claim to have influenced more than an entire generation of musicians. Run DMC did all that and had a slew of firsts throughout their career. They were the first hip hop ground to achieve a Gold record, achieve a Platinum record and have an album go multi-platinum. They also were the first hip hop group to appear on MTV or American Bandstand, perform at Live Aid, be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine or be nominated for a Grammy. Simply put, this was always Run’s House.
Joseph Simmons and Darryl McDaniels each grew up in Hollis, Queens and had dipped their toes into the burgeoning hip hop scene in NY by the time they were teenagers. Simmons older brother Russell had managed Kurtis Blow and was finally convinced to let them record as a duo. They brought their friend Jason Mizell, who went by the name Jam Master Jay, on as their DJ and the trio was born. Simmons was already rapping under the name DJ Run, but his brother made Darryl change his name to DMC, after his favorite car company. And with this, Run DMC was born.
The group’s debut album, Run-DMC, was released to the world in 1984 and the hit track, “Rock Box,” was the first video of its genre to appear on MTV. The video showed the group wearing black Kangol hats, black jeans and t-shirts, gold chains and Adidas sneakers. This look would define the band and influence fashion within the music industry for decades. Their following album, King of Rock, was released the following year.
In 1986, the trio teamed up with producer Rick Rubin to produce their third album, Raising Hell, which would go on to become one of the top-selling hip hop albums of all time. Just before the completion of the record, Rubin suggested that a rock cover would appeal to another audience. This led to the infamous cover of “Walk This Way” which featured both Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith on the track and would become one of the most famous songs from the 80s. This same album featured the hit track “My Adidas” which led to a monumental endorsement deal with the brand.
The 1988 release of Tougher Than Leather introduced the world to “Run’s House.” This was followed up over the next few years with Back From Hell and Down with the King. In 2002, they released their last album before the untimely passing of Jam Master Jay. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.
KOOL G RAP
When hip hop was on its initial rise, it had its share of artists whose legacy and fame would last to this day. Notorious BIG, Jay-Z, Eminem and more still cite Kool G Rap as one of their biggest influences and his skills as an MC stands the test of time. He was one of the first rappers to incorporate mob content into his lyrics and his storytelling rivals that of Slick Rick.
Born in 1968 in Corona, Queens, Nathaniel Thomas Wilson grew up with legendary DJ Erik B who introduced him to DJ Polo. They got the opportunity record their first demo “It’s a Demo” thanks to Queen’s DJ Marley Marl who immediately added the two as Juice Crew members after the recording. Kool G Rap appeared on Juice Crew’s “The Symphony” in 1988 before releasing he and DJ Polo’s debut album in 1989. Road to the Riches is on The Source’s ‘100 Best Rap Albums’ list and the song “Men At Work” is the song that initially brought the member of The Roots together.
1990 and 1992 saw the release of both Wanted: Dead or Alive and Live and Let Die, which are each considered classic hip hop albums. In 1993, Kool G Rap chose a solo career and released his first solo album, 4,5,6 in 1995. Over the next two decades, Kool G Rap would release five additional solo albums and three other collaboration albums. He may be considered one of the most influential rappers from hip hop’s Golden Age, but he certainly never overstayed his welcome.
ERIK B
Eric Barrier is one of half of the hip hop duo Erik B & Rakim, one of the greatest DJ/MC combos in history. The beats and samples that he used during his mixing resulted in Paid in Full still being recognized as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.
Eric was born in East Elhurst, Queens in 1963 and he started DJ’ing with his brother and friends at a local roller rink. He originally was paving the way for a basketball career until he decided that music was going to be the priority in his life. While DJ’ing for a local radio station, a promoter in Queens introduced him to a rapper that would shape the course of his life forever, William Griffin, who went by the moniker Rakim.
The two’s first release was the 1986 single “Eric B is President,” which would catch the ear of Def Jam’s Russel Simmons. Simmons would sign the two to Island Records and in 1987, they would start work on their debut album, Paid in Full. The record was completed in one week and was certified Platinum eight years after its release. Two of the singles, “Paid in Full” and “I Ain’t No Joke,” became instant classics within the genre. On two separate occasions, Rolling Stone magazine has named the album number 51 on the list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
One year later, the two released their follow-up record, Follow The Leader. This album went Gold as did their 1990 release of Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em. As the 90s began, they had a track on the soundtrack for House Party 2 and they also wrote the theme for the 1992 film, Juice. Both of these tracks were featured on the groups final album, Don’t Sweat The Technique. After this final release, the duo split-up due to contract-related disputes. However, in 2017, Erik B & Rakim reunited at the Apollo Theater in NYC before going on an American tour the following year.
CYNDI LAUPER
Although she was born in Brooklyn, Cyndi Lauper’s time in Ozone Park, Queens from age 4 to 17 made her who she is today. When she graduated from sixth grade, she was given her older sister’s acoustic guitar, which kicked off her love of music. It was also around this time that she started wearing colorful hair and clothing, which would become her image for the following decades.
Throughout the 1970s, Cyndi would begin her musical career as a singer in a number of cover bands. She found that she loved singing on stage, but was becoming increasingly unhappy singing only cover songs. She met a saxophone player named John Turi and in 1978, the two of them formed a band named Blue Angel. The manager for The Allman Brothers Band heard their demo and bought out their contract, all because he loved Lauper’s voice.
Blue Angel only had one release but it was unfortunately not well received. The band broke up after this and Lauper started waitressing and singing in small clubs around New York. She met David Wolff at one of these club performances and in 1981, he took over as her manager. Before long, she had recorded her first album as a solo artist and in 1983, her debut record was released to the world. She’s So Unusual had a total of six singles off of it, with “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “Time After Time” becoming instant classics. She received the award for Best New Artist at the 1985 Grammy Awards and she also won the first ever Best Female Video award at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards.
1985 was just as busy for Lauper as she was part of the USA for Africa song “We Are the World” and was also featured on the soundtrack for The Goonies. The following year she appeared on the Billy Joel album The Bridge and also sang the theme song for the Pee-Wee’s Playhouse tv show. Her second album, True Colors, came out the same year and was followed up in 1989 by A Night to Remember.
Over the next 23 years, Cyndi would release eight additional albums and appear on dozens of television shows. She won an Emmy for her appearance on Mad About You and won both a Grammy and a Tony Award for her work on the hit musical Kinky Boots.
LL COOL J
I represent Queens, she was raised out of Brooklyn
Would James Todd Smith be as popular as he is if he went with his original pick for a name? J-Ski rolls off the tongue, but James wanted to avoid a name that could be associated with the rampant cocaine epidemic spreading across the country. For that reason, we all know that everyone may like Cool James, but the Ladies Love Cool James.
Smith grew up in Queens and his love for the group The Treacherous Three got him to start rapping at the age of 10. At the age of 16, his family saw his love for music and bought him the equipment he needed to further his passion. With turntables, a mixer, drum machine and amplifier in hand, he was recording demo tapes in his grandparents basement and sending them to record companies around NYC.
One of these record companies was Def Jam, who signed LL Cool J in 1984. That same year, he released the single “I Need A Beat” and sold over 100,000 copies of the 12-inch record. The following year, Def Jam released his debut full-length album and Radio sold a half million copies in its first five months. He would open for Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys on their Raising Hell tour and would go on to be the first hip hop artist to perform on American Bandstand.
One of LL Cool J’s most popular albums would follow in 1987 when Bigger and Deffer was released. This success led to 1989’s Walking with a Panther, which sold well but was criticized for straying from his original sound. Fans would only have wait another year for LL’s fifth album to return to its roots. Mama Said Knock You Out earned him a Grammy for the title track and would go on to become the best selling album of his career.
The beginning of the ’90s would allow LL to star in big screen roles and saw the release of 14 Shots to the Dome in 1993 and Mr. Smith in 1995. The latter featured “Doin It” and “Hey Lover” as singles and are still two of his more popular tracks to this day. Over the next 26 years, LL would go on to release seven more albums, star in many movies as well as the hit show NCIS: Los Angeles and would host the show Lip Sync Battle. This year, LL Cool J will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the Musical Excellence Award.
Louis Armstrong
If anybody was a master, it was Louis Armstrong. He was and will continue to be the embodiment of jazz.
Duke Ellington, 1971
With his gravelly voice and impressive trumpeting, Louis Armstrong is still considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. Born in New Orleans in 1901, Louis was surrounded by the early sounds of jazz throughout his childhood. He was taught how to play the cornet at the age of 11 by Peter Davis who later chose the 13 year old Louis as his bandleader. He learned to sight read while playing on riverboats in the area until 1922 when he moved to Chicago to play in King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band.
This is the second article in the series “Made in New York,” a historical examination of the music history of each of New York’s 62 counties, this time looking at Cortland County.
Welcome to Cortland County! This area is located in Central New York, southeast of the Finger Lakes region, and has a rich history since the end of the Revolutionary War. The land that makes up this county was originally set aside by the Province of New York to compensate local soldiers for their participation in the War. Consisting of two million acres, the Military Tract of Central New York was approved by Congress in 1789 and made final in 1799. 600 acres were given to each solider and, by 1908, the boundaries of current-day Cortland County were finalized.
This particular county got its name from the president of the Kingston Convention that drew up the first state constitution of New York back in 1777. Pierre Van Cortlandt was a General in the Revolutionary War, was considered by George Washington to be his most trusted friend, and was also the first lieutenant governor of this fine state. His name lives on in this county, the city of Cortland, and also the similarly named Cortlandt, which is located in Westchester County.
While the county is known commercially as a hub for the production of milling machines, electronic parts, and components for NASA, the Cortland name, most well-known for for the variety of apples, is named after the county. This cross between the Macintosh apple and the Ben Davis apple was first produced at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, but was named after the county that this article is about. This particular variety is very slow to brown, making it perfect for recipes that call for fresh apples. Since it was first bred in 1898 by S.A. Beach, it has become one of the most commonly produced varieties in New York State and is one of the fifteen most popular apples in North America.
Apples aren’t the only food from this county that have nationwide recognition. Scott, NY is the birthplace of James Henry Salisbury, who famously invented a dish which took on his name. During the Civil War, he was a doctor and noticed that certain foods would get soldiers sick. After incorrectly assuming the culprit was baked beans, his experiments gave him the belief that ground beef was healthier on the intestines. In 1888, he debuted the first recipe for Salisbury Steak and its popularity increased as the years went by. Much of this is attributed to the years around World War 1, when German-sounding recipe names like “hamburger” fell out of favor.
The city of Cortland is the county seat of this area and is also known as the Crown City, a name it earned due to its location on a plain formed by the convergence of seven surrounding valleys. Cortland also has the honor of being the city closest to New York’s geographic center and has a prestigious university whose famous alumni include actor Kevin James and wrestler Mick Foley.
Cortland County boasts some unique buildings and architecture that have remained through its history, but the Center for the Arts of Homer is one of the most unique in the area. In 1801, early settlers of the area made their dream a reality and created a Baptist Church for the up-and-coming community. The building opened up in 1827 and quickly outgrew its space. The community came together to fund, design, and build the new facility and, by 1894, the new church was opened to the public.
Fast forward to 2001, and a number of people in the community came together to determine what would become of the centuries-old church. After renovations, fundraising, and non-profit status being secured, the inaugural season of entertainment began in 2014. Since then, countless artists have graced the 400-seobinson Brotherhood and Hot Tuna. In addition to the fantastic acts that the venue brings in, they also feature artwork from local and regional artists and host film screenings and a community theater program. Next time you’re passing through Homer, NY, be sure to check out this awe-inspiring venue. Even if there isn’t a show that night, the building itself is a thing of beauty and absolutely worth the visit.
Now that we’ve explored a tiny bit of Cortland’s rich history, let’s take a look at the residents of this county who have had an impact on the music industry
Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Padavona moved back to Cortland before the age of five, after spending his first few years in New Hampshire. Both of his parents were from Cortland and while they gave birth to their son in Portsmouth, they moved him back to NY, where he spent the rest of his formative years. Dio’s love for music started at an early age, as he learned to play the trumpet at age five and spent most of his childhood listening to opera, specifically the music of Mario Lanza.
High School is when Ronnie’s musical talent began to develop and take off. He played in the Cortland High School band program and, during that time, he formed his first rock and roll group, The Vegas Kings. With Ronnie on bass guitar, the band would play dances every weekend and soon changed their name to Ronnie and the Rumblers. Despite being named after the Duane Eddy song, a promoter who wanted to book the band felt that their name encouraged violence and soon the band became Ronnie and the Red Caps. Check out one of their songs below
It was around this time that our hero changed his named from Ronnie James Padavona to the name we all know him by now. While there is no concrete explanation on how he landed on Dio, there are two common stories. The first is that he chose it as a reference to Mafia member Johnny Dio and the other is that his grandmother said he had a gift from God and should be called the Italian word for God, which is Dio. After taking the name, the band changed their name once more to Ronnie Dio and the Prophets and they were able to put out a single and an album under Atlantic Records.
In 1967, the band took on a keyboard player and changed their name once again to The Electric Elves. The following year, the band was involved in a terrible car crash which took the life of one of their guitarists. The band shorted their name to The Elves after recovering from the accident and used that name until 1972 when it released their debut album. This album solidified their final name change and the band Elf released the album Elf in August of 1972. Throughout this album, Dio used his family name on songwriting credits because he wanted his parents to see their family name on an album at least once.
Elf’s first two albums were produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover who took note of Dio’s voice and asked Dio to perform on Glover’s solo album titled The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast. His work on this album gained the attention of Ritchie Blackmore, the lead guitarist for Deep Purple. Blackmore had been looking to start a new band and used the members of Elf to form his new project, Rainbow.
The combination of Blackmore and Dio was a perfect match. Blackmore was very much into incorporating classical music into the sound and Dio was excellent at writing lyrics about medieval times. Blackmore, however, wasn’t impressed with the other member of Elf and fired them shortly after releasing their first album, leaving Dio to sing. With additional musicians, the two released Rising in 1976 and Long Live Rock n Roll in 1978. The group went on a massive world tour throughout 1977 and 1978, but afterwards Blackmore felt that the band should have shed their sword-and-sorcery theme, which Dio did not agree with.
Ronnie left Rainbow in 1979, but did not have to wait long to join another significant group. That same year, Ozzy Osbourne’s behavior and drug issues got him fired from Black Sabbath and it was suggested by the manager’s daughter Sharon, (future wife of Ozzy), that Dio replace him on lead vocals. For the next three years, Dio would front the band, changing the sound and attitude of the group while releasing Heaven and Hell in 1980 and Mob Rules in 1981. It was during the engineering phase of their 1982 live album, Live Evil, that trouble bubbled over for the band members.
Miscommunication and incorrect allegations of Dio mixing his own vocals higher during the middle of the night led to band mates falling into conflict, with Dio and drummer Vinny Appice quitting the band in late 1982. Dio would rejoin members of Black Sabbath in 2006 and they would tour under the name Heaven and Hell, which was the name of the first Sabbath album recorded with Dio singing.
When he left Black Sabbath, Ronnie wanted to form a new band with Appice on drums once again. In October 1982, they formed the band Dio with guitarist Jackie E. Lee and bassist Jimmy Bain. By May of 1983, they had released their debut album, Holy Diver, featuring such hits as “Rainbow in the Dark” and “Holy Diver.” The album was received with great praise, went Platinum in the U.S., and has been ranked 16th in Rolling Stone’s list of ‘100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.’ Over the next 28 years, the band Dio would release ten studio albums and seven live albums. Throughout the band’s tenure, Ronnie himself would remain the only constant member.
On top of his vocal prowess and lyricism, Dio is known for making the ‘sign of the horns’ hand gesture a staple of heavy metal. When Dio joined Black Sabbath, he wanted to bring with him a hand gesture similar to the peace sign that Ozzy would frequently flash on stage. Growing up, Dio’s grandmother would always make the ‘now-famous’ devil horns hand gesture to ward off evil spirits. Dio took this gesture and incorporated it into his stage presence with Sabbath. He never claimed to have invented the sign, as artists before him had made it on stage, but he was certainly the one to popularize it in mainstream culture.
In Dio’s later years, he had no issue being praised and parodied by the current culture. 1997 saw him singing backup vocals on a big band version of “Holy Diver,” which can be heard on Pat Boone’s album In A Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy. Two years later, he was spoofed on the South Park episode Hooked on Monkey Fonics. Dio was originally hesitant to let Matt and Trey parody him, as he had seen what they previously did to Elton John and Ozzy Osbourne. After being assured that the show’s staff were actually fans of his, he allowed it and when asked what he thought of the end result, he said, “I thought it was wonderful.”
Ronnie James Dio’s legacy cannot be understated, but one of his biggest fans has been the band Tenacious D. On their debut album, they got the approval from Ronnie himself to include their song titled “Dio,” in which they ask the singer to pass the torch on to Tenacious D. He was so impressed with the song they wrote in his honor that he appeared in their film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny as himself. As the movie opens with the song “Kickapoo,” a poster of Dio comes alive and the artist himself sings to a young Jack Black, inspiring him to travel to Hollywood and form “the world’s most awesome band.”
Unfortunately, Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer in November of 2009. The illness spread very fast and he passed away on May 16, 2010. The following year, the city of Cortland celebrated Dio’s birthday on July 10 with a day-long benefit to raise money for cancer and to fund a memorial music scholarship at the high school he previously attended. Cortland has also memorialized their most famous musician by naming one of the city’s street Dio Way. To learn more about the life and career of Dio, his autobiography titled Rainbow in the Dark will be posthumously released on July 27. Those that pre-order the upcoming book here will have the opportunity to receive a copy autographed by Dio’s widow, Wendy Dio, who helped finish the book after her husband’s passing.
Arthur C. Sidman
The late 1800s and early 1900s were prime years for American Vaudevillian performers and some very notable acts had their origins in Cortland County. One of these noteworthy performers was Arthur C. Sidman from Homer, NY. Early in his life, he worked a number of jobs, including being a reporter for a small local newspaper. While working at the paper, he dabbled in amateur theater and found success in this endeavor, leading him to quit his reporting career and focus on theater. In his late 20s, Arthur began his Vaudeville career and earned fame with his portrayals of stereotypical Yankee farmers. He would write a number of plays and skits throughout his life, with his most famous being York State Folks. This play about pastoral life would go on to become a Broadway play and a film, but he had unfortunately passed away suddenly in 1901 before seeing the ultimate success of this piece.
The Dillon Family
Another famous Vaudevillian family from this county was the Dillon family. Harry and John Dillon were famously known as The Dillon Brothers and performed comedy songs as well as sketch comedy together for over 20 years. Their hits included “Put Me Off at Buffalo,” “Do, Do, My Huckleberry Do,” and “Why Do They Sell Killarney.” They each retired from Vaudeville in the 1910s, but their brother William started a separate but similar career in the industry that same decade.
William Dillon did perform with his brothers before their retirement and while William himself would retire from Vaudeville around the same time as them, he would continue his songwriter career for decades to come. In 1907, he released the song “Every Little Bit Added to What You’ve Got Makes Just a Little Bit More” with his brother Lawrence, but most famously he recorded a song in 1911 with American songwriter Harry Von Tilzer that wound up becoming one of the most popular songs of that year. “I Want A Girl (Just Like The Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)” has become a barbershop standard since its release and sold over five million recordings and score sheets by the year Williams passed away in 1966. Dillon billed his own act as “the man of a thousand songs”.
Joel Eric Suben
Joel Eric Suben was raised in Cortland, NY and would grow up to be prolific conductor and composer. At 8 years old, he would begin studying violin and trumpet and soon after that, would start transcribing music that he listened to on his record player. Throughout his teenage years, he would spend his summers learning percussion, string bass and clarinet. His innate musical talent allowed him to audition for Karl Kritz, the leader of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, who invited him to play violin in the symphony’s youth orchestra.
During his senior year of high school, he auditioned to be in the music school at Syracuse University and was offered a scholarship. He declined this to instead study trumpet at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. At the age of 21, he won first prize in a nationwide composers contest and graduated from the Eastman School two years later. He would continue his studies as a doctoral student at Brandeis University.
In 1973, Suben would move to New York City and begin an intensive private conducting study with renowned French musician, Jacques-Louis Monod. During this four year period, he would learn standard orchestral and opera repertoire. Towards the end of that decade, Suben would be invited to study in Poland and upon his arrival back to New York City in 1979, would resume teaching at Baruch College and Fordham University. Following these part-time teaching gigs, he took a professorship at the University of Richmond and famously honored the American hostages in Iran by organizing an orchestral concert that caught the eye of news outlets.
Suben finished the final nine years of his teaching career at William & Mary as Director of Orchestras before retiring from academics to live in New York again. Throughout his distinguished career, he has led over performances of over 500 pieces of orchestrated work by more than 150 composers from Europe and America. Since leaving the academic field, he founded the non-profit called Save The Music, Inc and is still on the board of directors for that organization.
Spiegle Willcox
Newell “Spiegle” Willcox was a renowned jazz trombonist who grew up in Cortland, NY. His father was a amateur musician and bandleader and taught him how to play valve trombone before Spiegle decided to switch to slide trombone as a teenager. After making the switch, he joined a group from Syracuse known as The Big Four, which soon caught the attention of bandleader Paul Whiteman. After Whiteman joined the group, he brought the members to New York City to play to a larger audience and renamed the band Paul Whiteman Collegians.
While playing with the Collegians, Willcox made his first recordings and built a reputable as a melody player, rather than an improvising soloist. He left that band and returned to Cortland in 1925, but soon continued him music career with a group called the California Ramblers. Soon after joining, he replaced Tommy Dorsey’s spot in the Jean Goldkette Orchestra and continued to play with them when Bix Beiderbecke joined in cornet and Frankie Trumbauer joined in saxophone. This band and lineup would be extremely popular at the time.
Two years after joining the group, Willcox left the industry as a whole and joined his fathers coal business as he now had a family to care after. He would still lead small groups around Syracuse, but by now his job in the coal industry was his main focus. This would be the case for 48 years, when a now-retired Willcox was asked to take party in a reunion show for the Goldkette band at Carnegie Hall. During these shows, he worked closely with a violinist named Joe Venuti. The two would play a number of clubs over the next three years until Venuti passed away in 1978.
Now firmly re-established in the music industry, Willcox would play around the country and even parts of Europe. At age 91, he traveled to Amsterdam to record with a number of Dutch musicians and that session would be released under the name Jazz Keeps You Young. Spiegle Willcox passed away in Cortland in 1999 but his legacy lives on through his music and through Ken Burns documentary, Jazz, where he can be heard discussing his life and the music he had the honor to play.
Patrick “Patsy” Conway
Patrick “Patsy” Conway moved to Homer, NY at a very young age after being born in Troy, NY. As a young man, he took a job at a local carriage factory and during his time there he learned to play the cornet, which is very similar to a trumpet. Years later he joined the Homer Cornet Band and eventually became the leader of the Cortland Band.
In 1894, Conway and his band were playing the Central New York Volunteer Fireman’s Association convention and the event was a total success. The judges of the event recruited Conway to move to Ithaca where he served as director of the Cornell University Cadet Band, the predecessor to the Cornell Big Red Marching Band. The following year, he formed the Ithaca Band and over the next decade and a half, the group would gain national acclaim. Around 1910, his group would become known as Patrick Conway and His Famous Band and he toured extensively around the country, including the Cincinnati Zoo, the Pan-American Exposition and the St Louis World’s Fair.
As time moved on, Conway began to sense that popular bands weren’t as popular as they once were and founded the Conway Military Band School in 1922, which was one of the first schools like it in the county. Five years later, his famous band played on the premiere of the General Motors Family Hour radio show. During this time, Conway led his newly-founded school in Ithaca until his untimely death in 1929. His name lives on through his work, but also in the famous movie and musical, The Music Man. During the introduction of the hit song, “Seventy-Six Trombones”, Conway is mentioned by the main character, Harold Hill.
Adelaide Hawley Cumming
Adelaide Hawley Cumming has a claim to fame that very few that others have experienced. She grew up in Willet, NY and studied under a scholarship at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. While there, she studied piano and voice and graduated with a music degree in 1926. Shortly after this, she formed a vaudevillian trio with two of her friends, taking their name from their colored hair which was part of the act. “Red, Black & Gold” helped pave the way for her future radio show, titled the Adelaide Hawley Program.
She hosted the radio show for 13 years, first appearing on NBC radio and then moving to CBS radio. The daily show was broadcast nationwide and had a following of 3 million listeners. In the last few years as a radio host, she also hosted the Fashions On Parade television program, first on the DuMont network and then on ABC. Although she was known across the country for her entertainment programs, her fame would grow exponentially with her next opportunity.
In 1921, the General Mills company debuted the name “Betty Crocker” and hired Adelaide to portray her from 1949 to 1963. During this time, she appeared in the “Betty Crocker Show”, “Betty Crocker Star Matinee”, “Bride and Groom” and also commercials during the Gracie Allen and George Burns comedy series. She has been billed as “America’s First Lady of Food” and during the time of her portrayal, she was the second most recognizable woman in America, behind Eleanor Roosevelt.
After being dropped by General Mills in 1964, she returned to school and earned her doctorate in speed education 3 years later. She spent the next three decades teaching and even gave her final class three days before she passed away in 1998 at age 93.
Cortland County’s history and residents have made an incredible impact on the shape of New York State and the entertainment industry as a whole. Next time you see a show at the Center for the Arts in Homer, eat a Cortland apple or throw the “sign of the horns” at a concert, be sure to remember this particular area of our home state and its residents who helped make our culture and our music what it is today.
Some songs are written with such great embodiment of the human spirit that they become far bigger than a simple, melodic hook you whistle in the shower. They are the songs that represent a period in time for a group of oppressed people and epitomize the challenges they faced on a daily basis. Unlike other songs that come and go as life drifts on, these anthems leave such an impact that they are still read about in history books years later. For the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, the protest song “We Shall Overcome” was sang far and wide in tribute to peaceful protest. While the song was influential to many groups in the 1960s, its significance in the LGBT movement came after the Stonewall riots of New York in 1969.
Most people know that Pride Month is in June, however, many don’t realize that’s because on June 28, 1969, the catalyst for the LGBT movement occurred in riot form at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. The Stonewall Inn was a well-known, mafia-run gay night club which hosted an array of illegal activities from an absent liquor license and prostitution to dealing drugs. While the bar owners were normally tipped off about police raids, on the night of the 1969 riot, they weren’t told anything would be happening. The police barricaded the 200+ patrons and employees in the bar and began to arrest all the transvestites they could find.
As the cops were arresting patrons, to their surprise, bystanders began to push back against the heavy police presence in the form of verbal taunts and thrown bottles. At that point, raids on gay bars were becoming routine and, for the LGBT community, the raid on the Stonewall Inn was the last straw. As police were dragging people into their paddy wagon, the crowd began to boil and violence soon erupted. Bricks and bottles were being thrown at the cops as more people from around the neighborhood began to join in on the protest, forcing the police into a rare retreat. While some of the crowd turned violent, many others committed to nonviolence in the form of jokes, kick-lines and songs.
As an unstable riot occurred all around, the protest hymn “We Shall Overcome” echoed through the streets long into the night. For days following the Stonewall riot, more protests, mostly nonviolent, began to pop up all around the city. A gay community began to form and within six months two gay activist organizations were established in New York. The movement was given legs, and by June 28 of the following year, the first gay pride marches took place in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco to commemorate the anniversary of the riots. “We Shall Overcome” was a vital tool used to demonstrate nonviolence throughout each protest.
Originally written as a hymn titled “I’ll Overcome Someday” by Charles Albert Tindley in 1900, the song was warped multiple times throughout history before it became the protest anthem we know today. It was sang by tobacco workers, vagabond travelers, and eventually political activists. It became associated with the Civil Rights Movement in 1959 when Guy Carawan sang his and Pete Seeger’s version of the song at a nonviolent civil rights protest. From there, other artists began using it as a protest tool, playing it at rallies, folk festivals and other demonstrations to make it clear to the world that oppression will not be tolerated.
‘We Shall Overcome’ Lyrics:
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS:
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day
We’ll walk hand in hand
We’ll walk hand in hand
We’ll walk hand in hand some day
CHORUS
We shall all be free
We shall all be free
We shall all be free some day
CHORUS
We are not afraid
We are not afraid
We are not afraid some day
CHORUS
We are not alone
We are not alone
We are not alone some day
CHORUS
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around
The whole wide world around some day
CHORUS
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
CHORUS
Central Park is not only the continent’s first public park, but arguably the most iconic. Artists have traveled from across the globe inspired to paint, play and write about the 843 acres of beauty.
The sacred space is surrounded by world-renowned music venues, museums, and galleries. Harlem’s home for R&B and soul, the Apollo Theater, sits just 15 blocks north of the park while Carnegie Hall attracts world-class orchestral talent just two blocks south of it (slightly northeast of Radio City Music Hall). Rock aficionados frequent the Beacon Theatre on West 72nd street to the west of the park while sophisticated symphony-enthusiasts admire the NY Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. Hugging Central Park on the east, art-lovers marvel at the rotating and static exhibits on Museum Mile and photographers snap photos of New York’s impressive architecture.
It would be hard to imagine one of the world’s most culturally blended cities without a gathering place for people to connect with nature and community. And some of the most memorable gatherings in the early to mid-twentieth century occurred at Sheep Meadow between West 66th and 69th streets. To bookmark the tumultuous 1970’s in the drug-infused, crime-filled, disco and punk era, James Taylor played the last big concert at Sheep Meadow in front of a quarter-million people. After Sheep Meadow closed its grass to tarps, blankets and bare feet, large concerts were given a new space on the Great Lawn located mid-park between 79th and 85th street.
They don’t call it the Great Lawn for nothing. Some of the largest crowds in recorded history packed the 55-acre plot of land to “be a part of it” as Frank Sinatra would say. Maybe it’s the park’s natural setting that makes it so appealing for concert goers or it could be the central hub, but many performances in the ‘80s created a sense of hope and peace during some of the roughest years. While the NY Times called 1980, “the worst year of crime in the city’s history,” music provided a momentary lapse of chaos. In June 1980, an estimated 200,000 spectators on the Great Lawn welcomed Pavarotti and then two months later, Elton John entertained 400,000 fans.
The following September, Simon & Garfunkel reunited for their first live performance in 11 years as a duo. The free benefit concert supporting the nonprofit Central Park Conservancy was expecting around 300,000 guests, but an estimated half a million people showed up for the legendary reunion. After opening with “Mrs. Robinson” and “Homeward Bound,” Simon commented, “Well, it’s great to do a neighborhood concert,” and thanked the police, the fire department, the park administration. The subsequent live album recorded that night went on to peak at number six on the Billboard 200 chart in 1982 and was positively received by music critics and worldwide fans of NYC-based folk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OegZZNPsKA
While the magic created that night in Central Park between the future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers sparked a world tour the following spring, the relationship between the two musicians was creatively impossible to maintain, so they decided to call it quits before ever releasing a reunion album. On the positive side, their benefit concert to support the park’s restoration and maintenance plans was reimagined by other artists on the Great Lawn for decades to come.
Another major Great Lawn milestone took place in June of 1982 as part of the “No Nukes” movement. Central Park’s Rally for Nuclear Disarmament was held on June 12, 1982, and invited chart-topping musical guests including Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and Jackson Browne to play in front of an estimated crowd of 750,000. Four years later, in July 1986, a record-breaking 800,000 people were reported at the New York Philharmonic and U.S. Marine Band joint concert to celebrate the restoration and reopening of the Statue of Liberty.
In April 1990, another massive crowd of three-quarters of a million packed Central Park for Earth Day. The musical guests were the B-52’s, Hall & Oates and Eddie Brickell. That same year, the Central Park Conservancy’s SummerStage concert series was moved to Rumsey Playfield, located just off the East 69th and 5th Avenue entrance to Central Park. While not as big as the massive Great Lawn and Sheep Meadow gatherings, the SummerStage has brought world-class acts to the area for over three decades, promoting everything from Central Park preservation, Greenpeace, voter awareness and social justice.
Paul Simon returned in 1991 to a giant crowd on the lawn, but every attendance record for a single artist was destroyed by Garth Brooks in 1997 for a show better known as “Garthstock” due to the giant turnout in a city not known for country music. Dave Matthews Band would bring the free benefit show back to the Great Lawn in 2003 to support music and art education in the NYC public school system, drawing an estimated 85,000. Matthews greeted the crowd saying, “So nice to run into you in the park here, the greatest park in the world, and the greatest city in the world.”
The Black Eye Peas filled the Great Lawn in 2011 for yet another benefit concert raising over $4 million for the Robin Hood Foundation. In 2019, nearly $1 billion was raised during the Global Citizens Festival supported by headliners: Queen + Adam Lambert, Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, OneRepublic, H.E.R., and Carole King. The city’s incredible fundraising ability is only as powerful as the people that support the events — artists, promoters, attendees. Concerts on the Great Lawn are not only legendary due to the phenomenal performances in the epic “green lung” of the country’s largest city, but many of the concerts have transcended music and focused on the greater impact of people helping people.
What’s so special about Central Park is that you don’t have to be one of the hundreds of thousands to enjoy a memorable live music experience in Central Park. The grounds are full of talented performers from all over the world, and the magic of New York’s most iconic park is that you never know who you’ll run into playing in the paths and park entrances.
If you happened to be in the park during 2013’s installment of Jazz and Colors (a Peter Shapiro sponsored event), you might have run into an impromptu jazzy set with a touch of psychedelia. Bassist Phil Lesh, guitarist Eric Krasno, and drummer Joe Russo dropped their equipment on a random path and started playing to a crowd of zero, then a few dozen, then a few hundred. It’s moments like these that accentuate the excitement of being in the park on a fall afternoon.
Just this past September, as the leaves began to turn during a global pandemic, you might have run into Phish’s Trey Anastasio playing solo acoustic in support of the Parks Foundation’s SummerStage Jubilee. When asked the energy of a quarantined city, Anastasio remarked, “Yes, it’s weird walking through Times Square right now, but Times Square was tourists. But if you go into residential neighborhoods, I mean listen, it’s the greatest city in the world…always has been.”
This is the first article in the series “Made in New York,” a historical examination of the music history of each of New York’s 62 counties. First up – Orange County.
Welcome to Orange County, New York! This stretch of land is the first county in the United States to be named Orange and it shares this name with seven others throughout the country. Located between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, this area which was first named in 1683 is full of natural and historical wonders.
The county’s highest elevation is located at Schunemunk Mountain and its lowest point is at the mighty Hudson River. The Wallkill River National Refuge is home to the smallest turtle in New York and this is just up the road from the Black Dirt Region in Southern Orange County, which accounts for half of the onions grown in New York State. Additionally, the black dirt here has an uncanny ability to preserve the past and more mastodon bones have been uncovered in this area than anywhere else on Earth.
Some of the history in this area is well-known by all, but this county has a surprising amount of it, some of which many people may not be aware. West Point Military Academy, which opened in 1802, is the oldest such school in the U.S. and the first section of the Appalachian Trail was created at Bear Mountain and opened in 1923. But interestingly, Orange County is home to the oldest tree and the oldest carbon-dated human settlement in America.
Orange County has its share of “firsts” as well. It has been home to the first cattle ranch and the first butter factory in America and also the world’s first homeopathic mental hospital. And who can forget America’s first liquid propelled airmail rocket flight which occurred at Greenwood Lake in 1936.
This county has a few more facts that just need to be shared. Stewart International Airport has a runway long enough to designate it as an emergency landing site for the now-defunct space shuttle. Brotherhood Winery is the oldest continuously operating winery in the country and Storm King Art Center is the largest sculpture park in the country. And finally, cream cheese was first mass-produced in Chester, NY and despite being made in New York, they named their product ‘Philadelphia Cream Cheese’ and through clever marketing, got its name because the Pennsylvania city was known for quality dairy farming.
But you didn’t come to NYS Music to learn about cheese and turtles; you’re here to learn about what Orange County has to offer to the music community.
The Ritz Theater in Newburgh is one of the most famous musical venues in the county and has been graced by performances from Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Prima and a then unknown singer named Frank Sinatra. It also, famously, is the venue where Lucille Ball made her on-stage debut and it was also the first time she performed with Desi Arnaz. On the other side of the county, Port Jarvis used to be the home of the State Theater. In its last year of operation, the venue featured both Anthrax and Metallica.
SONY DSC
In between these two cities, Middletown is home to the Paramount Theater which was added to the State & National Register of Historic Places in 2002. This venue has seen Johnny Cash, Joan Jett, Jefferson Starship and Blue Oyster Cult play for sold out audiences. And while we can’t touch on every venue in the county, one final notable haunt is the BSP Lounge in Kingston. This place was a featured location during King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s second U.S. Tour in 2014.
There are plenty of musicians who have called Orange County their home. Let’s take a look at the many bands and artists from the area.
Willie “The Lion” Smith
17th February 1939: American jazz musician Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith playing the piano and singing at a ‘Friday Club’ jam session, organized by Eddie Condon and ad-men P. Smith and E. Anderson, at the Park Lane Hotel, New York City. (Photo by Charles Peterson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Jazz music wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for one particular resident of Orange County. Willie “The Lion” Smith was born in Goshen, NY in 1893. In his younger years, he discovered his mothers broken down organ in the basement and she taught him all of the melodies she knew, despite the instrument missing most of its keys. He started playing music at local clubs as he got older and one day he discovered a newspaper advertisement for Marshall & Wendell’s piano store in Albany with a contest to guess how many dots were printed in their ad. After winning the contest, an upright piano was delivered to his house and he continued to play various rags that he learned in those clubs.
In his late teens, he was finally playing in NYC and Atlantic City before serving in World War 1 where his reported bravery as a gunner earned him the nickname “The Lion.” He was back playing clubs in NYC by 1919 and not only made his first record a year later but helped develop a new piano style that is now known as “stride.” That record in 1920, called Crazy Blues, recorded with a singer named Mamie Smith, is generally regarded as the first recording of the blues.
During this time, Smith became a mentor for many up-and-coming musicians, most notably Duke Ellington. Duke was once quoted saying, “Willie The Lion was the greatest influence of all the great jazz piano players who have come along. He has a beat that stays in the mind.”
Orange County celebrates Willie “The Lion” Smith Day on September 18.
The Kalin Twins
Hal and Herbie Kalin were born in Port Jervis on February 16, 1934. Although they wouldn’t become stars until their late 20’s, their first “performance” together was at the town’s Christmas party when they were both five years old. At the age of 18, Hal was drafted into the U.S. Army and he and his brother kept in contact during his service, sharing songs they had written and writing about future plans to make it big in the music industry.
The twins were signed to the Decca Records label after Hal’s return and although their first songs failed to chart, they did appear on the Milt Grant Show and performed live. It wasn’t until searching through a bunch of demo tapes from writers that they discovered the song “When,” which they thought would be a hit. Released as a B-side on their single “Three O’Clock Thrill,” “When” eventually peaked at #5 on the Hot 100 charts and made it to #1 on the UK Singles chart and also #1 on the US R&B chart. They weren’t one-hit-wonders though as they had a number of other charting tracks including “Forget Me Not,” which reached #12 on the Hot 100.
Pardison Fontaine
Jorden Thorpe, better known as Pardison Fontaine, was born in Newburgh, NY in 1989. At an early age, he started rapping on his Talkboy and decided during his college years to drop out and commit fully to his hip-hop aspirations. He first gained acclaim with his 2013 song, “Oyyy” from his debut mixtape titled ‘Not Supposed to Be Here’ and filmed the music video for the track in his hometown. This song caught the attention of Cardi B and Pardison has since contributed as a songwriter to her for numerous songs, most famously her single “Bodak Yellow.”
Cardi was also featured on Pardison’s breakout hit “Backin It Up,” which hit #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has garnered over 166 million views on YouTube. Pardi has co-wrote with Kanye West on more than half of the songs on Kanye’s 2018 album, Ye, including “Violent Crimes” and “Ghost Town.” In addition to these, Pardison co-wrote the track “South of the Border” on Ed Sheeran’s No.6 Collaborations Project.
Pardison still represents his roots in Newburgh and loves giving back to the community. He has donated jerseys to the local Newburgh Steelers football team, participated in a turkey drive and also a bookbag giveaway to help local school children. His new album, Under8ed, was released in November of 2019 which he has described as “the story of my city.”
pErFect ThYroID
Throughout the 90s, one band in particular made waves throughout the Hudson Valley with its new brand of musical fusion, fun live shows and of course, it’s infamous Skunk logo. Hailing from Orange and Ulster County, Perfect Thyroid was formed in 1991 and while its lineup changed throughout the years, the band originally consisted of brothers Chris and Bill Hanson, Chris Snykus, Jaf Farkas, Shawn Rice and Jen Polcari. Combining the ska, funk and punk, reggae and jazz genres into their musical stylings, Thyroid became well known for calling this new sound “Skunk”.
PT toured full-time for over 20 years and put out 5 albums during that time, including “Musical Barnacles,” which Alternative Press selected as a “Ska-Punk Essential Album.” They were also featured on the soundtrack for the 1998 Disney movie, Meet The Deedles. Throughout the tenure over the last 2 decades, they’ve had a plethora of incredible musicians join them in studio and on stage, including Dean Jones, Joe Cuchelo, Jason Foster, Mike Bove, Jon Stern, Sam Lapidus, Sean McLaughlin, Ben Acrish and Goshen’s own Shane Kirsch.
While the band has still played occasional shows throughout the last decade, most of the current lineup can also been seen in another area band called The Big Shoe. The members of Perfect Thyroid continue to call the Hudson Valley their home and will always be a shining example of what bands from New York State bring to live music scene.
William Fullerton Jr
William was born in Newburgh in 1854 and was the only son of William Fullerton, a famous New York lawyer. At age 17, he published‘Silver Strains’ which is now located in the Library of Congress. He left for Europe to study music in Germany and ended up living in London where he published a number of popular compositions that were dedicated to members of the Royal family. During his time in London, he lived with a famous painter and stage designer named Percy Anderson and these two would go on to have success with the opera named ‘Lady of the Locket.’ Following this, he set to work with Anderson on another light opera titled ‘Waldemar: Robber of the Rhine’ before succumbing to tuberculosis in 1888. While many of his works have been lost to history, ‘Spanish Serenade’ still exists online and can be heard below.
Dubois Alsdorf
Newburgh has a rich history of music and dance over the last century and a half, and that is thanks to the Alsdorf Dance Academy. Dubois Alsdorf was born in Wallkill, NY in 1827 to parents George and Catherine. At an early age, he showed a talent for music which he received from his father George and his parents sent him to New York City to begin an apprenticeship. Studying under famed orchestra leader and composer William Alpo, Dubois learned from Alpo’s musical experiences playing with Francis Johnson. Johnson was the first American musician to tour Europe and introduced the U.S. to the idea of open-air concerts, which had a lasting impression on Dubois. After his apprenticeship, Dubois formed one of the first regional brass bands, the Alsdorf Band, which according to the Historical Society of Newburgh Bay and the Highlands, made their debut on the Courthouse steps of Newburgh in 1849.
Alsdorf also began his own orchestra which played in prominent vacation spots like Lake George and Saratoga Springs and locally for dance classes, which gave him the opportunity to learn dance instruction. This set the stage for him to open the Alsdorf Dance Academy, whose first location was in Newburgh’s own United States Hotel. The school was soon teaching dance to the people of Newburgh and Orange County alike and this history of dance education continued as his three sons followed in his footsteps. Charles, Simon and Ulysses Alsdorf taught at the Dance Academy at 93 Liberty Street in Newburgh, which featured a grand ballroom and rooftop garden for public performances. The first soiree at the Alsdorf Academy took place in 1849, but the Dubois family continued this tradition for nearly a century, teaching Newburghers dance and music for generations.
The Heavy Pets
The Heavy Pets are considered a Florida-based band through and through, but their roots run deep in Orange County. Guitarists Jeff Lloyd and Mike Garulli as well as Bassist Joe Dupell became friends while going to high school in Goshen, NY and formed a band named Anthem before starting the first iteration of The Heavy Pets. College sadly got in the way of music, but once that was done, Dupell invited Lloyd down to visit him in Florida. Shortly after his arrival, Garulli came down as well, setting the stage for The Heavy Pets to reform.
Their first show in South Florida occurred in 2005 and the next few years were nothing short of exceptional for the band. In a 2006 contest to select a local band to play the Langerado Music Festival in Florida, The Heavy Pets beat out 350 other bands and were on the same lineup as The Flaming Lips, The Disco Biscuits and Robert Randolph. Two months later they were selected as the “Unsigned Band of the Week” by High Times Magazine. The following year, they put out their first album, Whale, and have released seven additional albums since then.
While the band’s lineup has changed slightly over the years, their love for playing live shows and especially music festivals has not. The Heavy Pets have played more than a dozen different festivals and over 1,000 live shows since 2005 and have even held their own fest, Pet Zoo, three times in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Corey Glover
Corey Glover, best known for his work with Living Colour and also for touring with Galactic wasn’t born in Orange County, but he re-located there in the last decade. While you may recognize his face from the movie Platoon, Glover’s voice is known the world over from Living Colour’s hit 1988 song “Cult of Personality.” Glover has also been in such bands as SKAndalous All-Stars and Vice and has even toured as a vocalist with the “A Bowie Celebration” Alumni Tour.
During the beginning of the last decade, Glover started playing with a number of jam bands. He sang with Robert Randolph as well as Soulive for a number of shows and also toured as a vocalist with Galactic from 2011-2014 after seeing them at Irving Plaza in NYC and joining them on stage at that show. He is still touring with Living Colour and most recently started two new bands. He started Ultraphonix with Dokken guitarist George Lynch and a metal project called Disciples of Verity with former members from Negative Sky and God Forbid.
So there you have it. Orange County has, without a doubt, a rich heritage of musicians and venues and an impressive amount of history surrounding it. From rock to hip-hop, the Hudson River to the Delaware River and the Philadelphia Cream Cheese company to the country’s first rocket-propelled airmail test. The contributions from the residents in this county can’t be glossed over and it’ll be a standard that you’ll find throughout our series on the Counties within New York State. Next up, CortlandCounty!
The State of New York has the richest music history in the nation. Go anywhere across the state and you’ll find a rich music scene, one that spans all genres, and birthed a few as well.
History has been made in New York for nearly four centuries, starting with the establishment of the colony of New Amsterdam in 1625. The recorded music history found in towns and counties around the state dates back to the early 19th century. Go beyond the five boroughs and you’ll discover a Who’s Who of musicians that were born and raised in New York, or moved here and made New York their home.
Graphic by Kelly Garrett
There are 62 counties in New York, each with their own history, with some dating back to the 17th century. With NYS Music’s upcoming series “Made in NY,” we will be taking a look at the most notable musicians from each of these counties. The series will offer a look at the history, geography and music venues of each county, then take a thorough examination of the notable musicians that called that county home. The history runs deep in this state, and some of the music history we have uncovered will surprise you.
Working with County Historians, Historical Societies, college professors, promoters and fans across the state, we have been able to learn how deep the music roots truly run in the state. There are classical and opera performers nearly forgotten to history, folk singers who bridge earlier generations to present day, and those who led to the advent of the rap and punk rock genres.
This series will be one that continually evolves, with each county article updated over time as notable musicians from the past come to light, as well as bands in the future who will stake their claim and add to the music history of New York State.
If we miss a notable musician in our research, by all means, let us know! We aim to for this to be a comprehensive series, from Albany to Yates, Erie to Warren, Tompkins to Suffolk and all counties in between.
“Made in NY” has so far featured Orange, Cortland, and Queens Counties, with 59 more to come!
