Upright & Stowed

Reeling in the Years

If you’d told me in 1978 that I would be attending a Steely Dan concert in 2009, I’d have looked at you funny.  Who can imagine being 48 years old when they’re 17?  Who wants to think about a favorite band – at its peak – playing well past its prime?  And who, at that time, would allow that Steely Dan would ever perform live again, given their move towards becoming the ultimate in-studio recording artists?

But there I was last night – in 2009 – with my college friend Rob (acclaimed music critic and Brown freshman year dorm mate from 1979) listening to Steely Dan play the entire Aja album (in order), plus 15 or so other classics.  This most fastidious of studio bands delivered a terrific live set, with all the complex jazz, rock, R&B and other influences sounding as smooth as I remembered.  Donald Fagan’s vocals were painfully strained, but his enthusiasm and commitment made up for it.

Memories of another time in music flowed:  Listening to an album as an entire composition … reading lyrics on the record sleeve … sitting in my bedroom with my Sennheiser headphones on… anticipating a band’s new release.  

What do ya know?  Thirty years later and there I sat, reeling in the years.  It felt good.

The Sound of Antwerp

I know nothing of Antwerp.  But if this video is any indication of how clever, campy and creative the city is, I'm on my way.  (Hat tip to Lee for sending this my way).

The Day The MUZAK Died

I can’t be sure of this but if karma and serendipity are real, I think I helped bring down MUZAK.  On Monday evening, I worked out at my glam-in-the-basement gym, Equinox, on 17th/Tenth.  The music on the dance floor ... I mean, gym floor was typical hi-energy Chelsea.  But the music in the locker room was another story. 

Equinox is a chain … but a gym chain of the highest, most urban caliber.  At any branch, you can expect sleek industrial design, urban zen, obsessive cleanliness, herbal hand-sanitizing dispensers, purified water, beautiful people.  Unfortunately, Equinox hasn’t quite landed on an appropriate solution for locker room music.  They clearly want the shower/grooming zone to be chill.  But it typically ends up sounding more like a dentist’s office.   On Monday night, the tunes coming out of the locker room speakers were SO bad that I filled out a comment card.  “MUZAK MUST GO!” is all I wrote. 

So … imagine my shock on the treadmill last night when I saw the MUZAK logo on CNN and heard the news that MUZAK has filed for bankruptcy.  Going out of business is always a bit sad.  But in this case you have to wonder, is anyone going to miss MUZAK?  Methinks not.  Equinox, however, better start searching the iTunes Store for something new.

Memory Lane, Part 1: The Dance Floor

I'm a big believer that romanticizing the past is not a good use of energy.  Hard to resist, yes.  But it gets you nowhere.  Celebrating the past, however, is another thing entirely.  Sometimes I find myself particularly flooded by memories past, and lately those memories have been especially sweet.  Herewith, a few posts on some memories that have been top of mind in recent days.

The mid 90s were my clubbing glory years.  Fortunately, they were NYC's big-club glory years too.  Junior Vasquez was my DJ God.  (I just felt half my friends roll their eyes, and the other half nod in agreement).

Skip ahead to 2009.  I was feeling the need for an iPod upgrade ... something "new" to rev up and propel my cardio workouts, and I thought a Junior dance classic might do the trick.  Did it ever.  I downloaded the JV classic remix of Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know?" 

Now you may think of "How Will I Know?" as a pop trifle from 1985.  But in Junior's hands, it was a dance phenomenon that  induced mass endorphin rush on a dance floor.  I've uploaded his mix of the song for your listening pleasure.  The three minute intro build is pure, classic Junior.  You get teased with bits and pieces of the song ... you start to realize what the song is ... your heart starts pumping faster and faster ... and at the peak of the build, he releases one short phrase – the first – with Whitney's voice itself.  The dance floor explodes, people catch their breath, the song proper begins, and joyfulness reigns. Here's the mix for you ...

 

Reco'd Record

I don't usually recommend music on Upright & Stowed.  But my friend Rob was visiting from San Francisco last week and he introduced me to Fleet Foxes, an indie band from Seattle.  When I listen, I hear part Crosby, Stills and Nash ...  part Neal Young ... a touch of Radiohead ... some Irish folk ... a wee bit of Pat Metheny ... a minor dose of Beach Boys.  Frankly, I don't have the musical vocabulary to adequately describe Fleet Foxes.  Suffice it to say their music is  sublimely gorgeous and I'd recommend it to anyone I know.  Check em out here.  Thank you Rob.

Of Pride, Poses and the Pier

This weekend is Gay Pride in NYC.  It's easy to fall into the "over it" camp when it comes to Gay Pride.  But really, can we ever be "over" taking pride in being our true selves?  Heck, can we ever really get over loving rainbows?   The annual Pier Dance  is the culmination of Gay Pride weekend in NYC.  My favorite Pier Dance year was 1990 – when Madonna's Vogue was the #1 hit in the country.  As the song blasted over the then-decrepit Hudson River pier, queens of every size, shape and color were voguing as big and bold as the city itself.  It was a fabulous sight, and pride truly overflowed that year. 

My friend tipped me off to a YouTube video this morning, created as part of an effort to make presidential candidate John McCain seem a little more exciting.  The soundtrack: Vogue.  While the video gives McCain a bit of flair, it does little to erase his association with the party that has repeatedly leveraged fear mongering of gays to achieve its highly questionable objectives.   So here we are at Gay Pride 2008, on the cusp of some long-needed change.  Stand tall, people, strike a pose and be proud of who you are.  

A Toast to Summer

Summer officially began this weekend, with the solstice on Friday.  It’s funny:  The summer solstice always fills me with a bittersweet joy: the happiness of the long, warm day lessened slightly by the knowledge that each day to follow is going to have a little less light than the day before.  Similarly, the winter solstice evokes the complete opposite. 

But as Eduardo would say, why focus on the negative?  And he’s right.   So here’s to the next few months of deliciously long days, walking around in shorts at night, entertaining friends in my garden, barbecues, flip flops, hanging out along the Hudson, exploring new neighborhoods, sweating, outdoor art, blueberries, heat waves and everything else that makes summer so special. 

Between the Moon and New York City

Last night I flew home from my visit to see Eduardo in Vancouver, on Air Canada.  Despite my complaint about the teensy aircraft used on the flight, Air Canada more than made up for it with a fantastic in-flight entertainment system called en Route.  I was ecstatic to see that Arthur – the 1981 breakout comedy with Dudley Moore, John Gielgud and Liza! – was among the choices.   Arthur is a hilarious love-story, and a total love letter to NYC.  I hadn't seen it since its original run.

The movie ended just as we began a big U-turn over the Atlantic.  We looped around Coney Island and headed up the Verrazano Narrows to cross Brooklyn and Queens into JFK.  From my window seat, Manhattan was glistening off to the left, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) was directly below and a beautiful full moon was shining above.  In one moment, my whole visit to Vancouver came together ... all captured perfectly in this song.  Go ahead, click on it.

I'm So Ruben

Each week when pop culture phenomenon American Idol announces which contestant has been voted off the show, they air a video montage of the loser's journey through the season.   These montages are accompanied by a background song, suitable for sending contestants back to their no-longer dreary lives.   This year's song choice is Kenny Loggins' Celebrate Me Home, as sung (not very well) by 2003 American Idol winner Ruben Studdard.

Each Thanksgiving I have created a blog video tribute to my wonderful family and friends.  My chosen backup track?  Kenny Loggins' Celebrate Me Home, as sung (very well) by Kenny Loggins. 

All this explains why my videos have been getting so many views on YouTube.  In fact, my two Celebrate Me Home videos have been viewed more than 21,000 times!   I'm touched.   In honor of Ruben, Kenny and all of the Season 7 American Idol contestants, here are the videos for your encore viewing pleasure.  (Click on the arrow to view small.  Click on the YouTube logo to view large.)

Song of the Month: My October Symphony

It's finally fall in New York.  The temperature dipped below 40 last night.  The leaves are starting to change.  Stores are finally selling sweaters and jackets.  And the evening air smells like burning firewood.

In 1990, the Pet Shop Boys released an album called Behaviour.   Among its many great songs, I especially love My October Symphony.   I filtered the lyrics through my New York brain (no surprise there) and imagined PSBs singing about my town, and about the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, which they threatened to cancel many different times.  In reality, the song is about the autumn uprisings in Eastern Europe or something like that.  But what did I know? 

I love that about music.  The way you can hear whatever you want to hear.  And I love October.  This song captures the melancholy part of it for me.  Enjoy.