2020 – A RARE TWO-FER (Dance while you read)
(Ignore May 1, 2017 publish date – this was published on October 15, 2020)
I have two things – one I created and one I found – that I’d like to present.
The first is a mistake that I’m trying to make the most of. I made an 18-song iTunes playlist that’s gotten me through the last couple of months when I needed to let loose.
But when I tried to put it in some form where I could post it without posting 18 individual mp3s (and without having to join Apple Music), it came out as one big 77-minute mp3 with no way to tell what the songs were or how to find where each one was. At least the way it is here, you can jump around (and now I wonder why I didn’t add House of Pain and Kris Kross to this monstrosity…………..oh, yeah – no guitars).
I’m sure there are lots of easier and more elegant ways to post this mp3, but I decided to leave it as is and see how adventurous (and trusting) you guys are (and show you how lazy I am).
Willing to take a chance on my tastes? I can tell you this much: there’s at least one song from each of the last 5 decades and no ballads. The first song is one I had forgotten all about and was glad to be reacquainted with. It’s the longest of the bunch and is NOT an instrumental (though it sounds like it will be).
So if you have 77 minutes to spare……………..the mp3:
You may not have ever heard the second song. It’s called “Motion” and IS an instrumental. It was written and composed by the late Richard Elinoff and it’s on an album called “Looking Over Emmanuel’s Shoulder” by my very good friend, Eric Leefe (no relation……….except for music).
Here’s the front cover:
During the recording of this album, I did a quick session with the guys and here’s Eric with his band – Emmanuel’s Light:
That photo appeared in the middle of the back cover of the CD booklet and the band members are identified on top:
The back cover of the CD contains the information about Richard Elinoff:
I’ve written about Eric a few times on this blog. His father’s name was Bob Leefe (must have been a handsome fellow) and he’s a Rock Hall of Fame engineer, who recorded Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock” and a whole slew of other great songs. He also worked with Tommy James, who’s a long-time friend of Eric’s and is managed by Carol Ross – a long-time friend of mine.
Richard Elinoff and Eric – by the way – were cousins.
You probably know all the other songs. Here’s what they all look like (some are louder than others):
Oh………..I used the one option available to me when I put this together: crossfade (works better on some transitions than on others).
So, get yourself a glass or twelve of your favorite adult beverage, dust off that air guitar, crank up the volume (and maybe invite some friends over and dance the night away):
OR
………..take a gander at the contents of the latest mystery envelope find, which may only be of interest if you attended a lot of concerts in the NYC area in the 70s and 80s.
Madison Square Garden Seating Chart
I found my old stash of seating charts that I used for many of the concert venues where I saw (and shot) the most shows in my pre-photo-pass days. There was a lot of yellow age on them that I needed to remove.
Tickets for the biggest bands sometimes went on sale at Madison Square Garden when their box office suddenly threw open their windows at 3:46am and the dozens of crazies who had an inkling/got a secret hint/used ESP/whatever and who were on line at that hour, also had to know where every seat was because you had a split-second to buy the right ones.
You’d better know your section numbers…………..or letters (orchestra sections were letters, everything else was numbers). If you didn’t at least have the letters O-R-A-C running through your brain (in that order) at all times, you weren’t going to cut it.
If you didn’t have (and memorize) your own MSG seating plan – plus the plans of a dozen other venues – you were some kind of uneducated rookie.
A lot of these venues have different names now. Some have been refurbished with different seating and some don’t exist anymore. As I write this, none of that matters because none are open or doing any business during the current Coronavirus pandemic.
But back when shows existed, these were important pages in my concert Bible.
In addition to Madison Square Garden, there was:
The Academy of Music (NYC), which became the Palladium in 1976 (it appears that I circled many of the seats I got……………looks like I did OK):
Brendan Byrne Arena (E. Rutherford, NJ), which has had a few name changes since:
Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ (long-gone, but my favorite venue):
Felt Forum, NYC (part of Madison Square Garden):
Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY (Long Island):
The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA:
Avery Fisher Hall, NYC (didn’t shoot a lot of shows there, so I made my own simple rear-end-placement cartography on the back of the Felt Forum page):
This one’s special. It’s not a seating chart and I was quite surprised to find it with all the others (I barely recall that it existed)……………and I recognize the handwriting.
It’s my father’s.
Dad was an executive at a Chevrolet dealership in Bayonne, NJ. I was a concert fanatic who wasn’t sure how to get to concert-rich Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, which is just north of Bayonne.
Turns out that Dad’s route to work took him right past the Stadium every day, so he drew and wrote in great detail exactly what I needed to know.
It was perfect!
I think it’s also the only writing I have from my father to me, so this is a keeper. I also didn’t shrink this image down, so click it twice to fully enlarge (Note: this will stop the mp3 music, if you’re reading to the beat):
(extra points if you know what “The Barrels” refers to)
If you have any questions or comments about anything, hit me up below.
I can take it.
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