Fandom worlds collide, IN THE MEDIA

Irene Trudel had a Left Banke special on her WFMU program this past Monday--an interview with Tom Finn and producer/Banke associate Ralph Affoumado, along with a mini-set of live tracks that were recorded in-studio by the band over the weekend.  [They're playing at Littlefield in Brooklyn tonight.]  Crucial listening under any circumstances, but pay special attention around the 90 minute mark.  Yes, Mr. Finn not only exposes my dual obsessions with the Left Banke and Tony Hicks for all the world to hear, he also makes an incredibly flattering plug for this blog!  And there's a great Steve Paul's The Scene/Hendrix anecdote in there as well, as if the moment weren't streetsyoucrossed-relevant enough.

Besides online interviews, also check out the current issue of The Big Takeover for a nice LB feature, and look for the next issue of Shindig in late August for a cover story penned by the freakishly multitalented LB vocalist (and frequent Shindig contributor...and my longtime Bomp-buddy) Mike Fornatale.

Recent Reads Round-up

I can't believe I missed this one--the Village Voice blog did a wonderful Q and A with Allan Arkush in May, during their week-long salute to what would have been Joey Ramone's 60th birthday.  Thanks to my Bomp buddy Ted L. for the link.  Here's my fave quote, in a piece with a million of 'em:


"Riff Randell was based on three women I knew at the Fillmore East, when I was an usher and backstage hand there, while I went to New York Film School. Diane, Gayle, and, uh, I can't remember the third one. Just three girls from Brooklyn and Queens who used to hang out, and we'd talk about music. And they had different taste than I did. They were much more into the flash English bands than I was, like Bowie and T. Rex. And whenever there was an open seat, I'd get them good ones. And they were such avid rock fans--they were Riff Randell. And in 1969, they got on line for tickets for a Rolling Stones show in town, and got their picture in the paper. And that's where I got that stuff in the movie, with Riff sleeping on line for the tickets to the Ramones show."


I knew he must have worked there--you can see him sporting a Fillmore jersey during the ticket-taking scene.  Here's my DVD booklet cover, with Mary Woronov's autograph:

The latest issue of Shindig has a cool piece by Domenic Priore on John Sebastian's Village days. Here's a moody shot of him most likely taken at the Night Owl--I think it was scanned from an ancient teen mag by my pal Allison.

Lastly, I just finished Steven Tyler's memoir.  As I'd been forewarned, it's mainly full of anecdotes about sex, drugs, rock and roll, and still more drugs (severe later-in-life painkiller dependencies from over-medicating his numerous aging rocker stage injuries).  But I read it mostly for his account of his early years on the NYC scene, and while he doesn't linger in that part of his past for very long, I did enjoy his recollections.  However, I've been advised that his Left Banke story leaves much to be desired in terms of validity...and later I was stunned to see him take a writing credit for "Big Ten Inch Record."  So while the book is an entertaining read on the whole, it's probably best to take much of what he says with a surfeit of sodium.  I'm told another book on Aerosmith called Walk This Way goes into greater detail about the Chain Reaction, so I may check that out at some point.











I'd also be discussing the new 33 1/3 volume on Television's Marquee Moon here, were it not for the Canada Post strike of the last couple of weeks.  Thanks Bryan!

Go For Baroque!

The official word, hot off my FB news feed to you.  Finally, a reason to head home after a 2 1/2 year dry spell of Really Special NYC Events. 

The Return of THE LEFT BANKE -- one show only



Sunday, March 6 · 7:30pm - 9:00pm


Location: Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street at Cooper Square, New York, NY

More Info: The Left Banke stormed onto the charts in the summer of 1966, with a new sound that came to be called "Baroque Pop." Their first album, "Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina," set the standard for the fusion of classical music and pop music styles. Their second LP, "Left Banke Too" -- recorded after the departure of pianist/songwriter Michael Brown -- went even deeper, and showed that the remaining band members were still a force to be reckoned with. Founding members Tom Finn and George Cameron have not performed together since the early 1970s, and Joe's Pub is proud to welcome them at their first show!


The Band:
Tom Finn, vocals and guitar
George Cameron, vocals and percussion
Mike Fornatale, lead vocal and guitar
Mike "Mickey" Finn, keyboards
Paul Alves, guitars
Charly Cazalet, bass
Rick Reil, drums
Joe McGinty, keyboards
...and a "string section to be named later."


The show will feature over twenty songs spanning the band's entire career.


Don't wait! This is certain to sell out. Get tickets here.

A blessed find for Bankeheads

Click on over to Bedazzled and marvel at a rare clip from a Live from the Bitter End TV show featuring the Left Banke doing "Shadows Breaking Over My Head" with LIVE vocals!!! You might have to download it first to watch it, that's the only way I could get it to work.

UPDATE 9/15/2010: It's also been uploaded to Youtube.

The lot we used to pass by every day

I seem to recall that Forgotten NY once did a feature on the Manhattan Beach street corner that inspired a lyric in "Walk Away Renee," but it must have been deleted at some point because I was never able to find it again after the initial stumble-upon. No matter...a blog called Ink Lake recently did a post on that very subject, with pics and everything. Bankeheads rejoice! (Via Jeremiah'sVNY.)

RIP Tuli Kupferberg.