Daily photographs by HANS VON RITTERN, with humorous, artistic and social commentary on life in the big city.

Archive for May, 2014

Photo of the day: ‘EMPTY’ BY HANS VON RITTERN, 9 days left to see 5 Pointz’s “Whitewash”

EMPTY©

Photo of the day: ‘EMPTY’ BY HANS VON RITTERN – Don’t let June pass you by with that “Empty” feeling. Only 9 more days to see our ‘Whitewash” exhibit!

This photo is one of my 16 photos on display and has already been sold to one of the men in the photo. The photo was taken the day of the whitewash, I noticed these two guys where just standing there for at least a half an hour, silent, motionless – just dumbstruck by the vandalistic act. The title ‘Empty’ says it all, how we felt, they felt and we all still feel to this day.

If you would like to see more expressions by great graffiti and street art artists on canvas and in photographs (mine included) this weekend – come to the Jeffrey Leder Gallery this weekend and view the brilliant art by artists: Auks, Cortes, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Just One, Meres One, Poem, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad, all brilliantly curated by

Marie Cecile Flageul!
The Jeffrey Leder Gallery: 2137 45th Road, L.I.C.
#G subway stop to Court Square. #7 train is not running this weekend but shuttle service is available from #N/Q trains at Queensboro Plaza. One block away from 5 Pointz and PS1 Moma. Admission is free, open 12-6.
Leder Gallery:
http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php


Photo of the day: LET’S GO RANGERS ! ! ! !

LET'S GO RANGERS! ! !

Photo of the day: LET’S GO RANGERS ! ! ! !

Photo of the day: DEBBIE HARRY, CHRIS STEIN, BLONDIE, EARTHA KITT AND HANS – 35 YEARS LATER – or “How a Russian, an old concert ticket and Eartha Kitt got me to meet Blondie”

BLONDIE

Photo of the day: DEBBIE HARRY, CHRIS STEIN, BLONDIE, EARTHA KITT AND HANS – 35 YEARS LATER – or “How a Russian, an old concert ticket and Eartha Kitt got me to meet Blondie” – Last night one of music’s most influential and iconic duo, Chris Stein & Debbie Harry of “Blondie” gave a very rare 90 minute audience participation interview about their lives and the formation of “Blondie” the new wave group that we all know. All you need to hear is Debbie’s “oooohh oh oh-oh” from “Heart of Glass” and you recognize it instantly. The venue – The 92nd Street ‘Y’.
I brought with me my 1979 Blondie concert tickets from Asbury Park’s Convention Hall for the then expensive price of $8.50. ‘The Laughing Dogs’ opened for them. On the day of the concert my friend Susan and I begged the promoters not to tear our tickets so as to preserve them and they obliged! In today’s times that would never happen. So, I showed up at the ‘Y’ stage door last night at 5:30 for the 8:00 show. The Ebayers all started showing up. “She doesn’t like to pose with people.” OK, I thought, a photo is out, autograph is the main goal then.
One of the security guards saw that I had a very rare French 12″LP of ‘Sunday Girl’ with me and was eager to see it. He winds up showing me his record collection on his iPhone, proudly exclaiming he knew all the songs on his records and that they are in mint condition. “Do you have this one?!” “Remember that one?” The last one he showed me was Eartha Kitt’s first lp “That Bad Eartha”, I told him that I had been friends with her and the stories she had told me of making that first album, well…that sealed the deal. “Come back after the show,” he said.
At 7:20 a black town car pulled up and she emerged. Hair in curlers, radiant as can be. Rushed right in. Her driver told me she was exhausted, fighting a cold and was unnerved that she did not know who the interviewer was.
A few moments later Chris Stein pulled up willing to sign a few autographs. The Ebayers pressed forward. The ‘record collector’ security guard made room for me. I showed Chris my 1979 concert tickets and he laughed and said ‘you deserve an autograph after all this time!’. In he went.
Debbie’s driver and I wound up being all alone at the stage door and he started to tell me about his life. He is a Russian scientist who immigrated here in 1989, became a Wall Street trader but lost it all in the stock market crash. He decided to take his knowledge and educate his daughter on the principles of science and economics. She is now graduating with a Masters Degree in physics. We spoke of politics, America’s influence on music, only to discover he sold his piano and bought and electric guitar and knows the riffs to all the hard core rock bands of the 60’s and 70’s and starting playing air guitar for me – Blondie’s chauffeur is playing air guitar for me – surreal !
The interview was conducted by Anthony DeCurtis, co-author of Clive Davis’ autobiography. Chris in his white hair, all black suit and boots, wearing blackout shades he evoked the 1980’s all over again. Debbie looked stunningly radiant. Her now coifed hair had transformed her into a luminescent modern day Marilyn Monroe, same color, same tossed soft curls. She was dressed in a white cotton blouse with parachute style yellow shawl, tuxedo pants and combat boots. Total Blondie.
Speaking of clothes, they explained their original look came from the thrift shops of New York in the early 70’s. “Disco was big lapels, bright colors and we wanted to be the antithesis – the early Beatles black suits with the narrow lapels, secondly also because that shit was the cheapest in the stores and nobody wanted it, now it’s all gone. No one looked like us, we would get stared at in the street in those days.” Debbie laughed.
Debbie’s voice actually has a Marilyn quality, soft spoken, she takes a moment to think before she speaks, and just answers the question, short and to the point yet often reflective. When asked about being the first breakthrough rap recording artist (who happens to be a white female) with the song “Rapture” (the man from Mars is eating cars!) and how did it come about she explained, “I didn’t know the word ‘reggae’ but Chris heard there was this festival going on up in Harlem and we went. I loved that the music and that it had a message, told a story and so connected with the people, I loved the rhythm. We basically stole/copied their style…the rest is history.”
But their influences came from the opposite direction as well, “Dreaming”/(Eat to the Beat) is blatantly lifted from Abba “not enough so I could get sued” chuckled Chris. Debbie said, “yeah I listened to them, but I could never get past that polka-like sound that crept into their music.” She grinned and laughed.
When Debbie laughs or reflects she leans back and pulls her hand through that platinum ‘Marilyn’ hair and as the evening progressed and as the hair became more tossed – she morphed more and more into a 68 year old radiant Blondie/Marilyn.
When asked what rock group from the CBGB era to you feel should have been more recognized, Chris instantly and angrily said “The Ramones, I mean come on, their were fucking brilliant, they should be up there today with the Beatles and The Stones!” What was so great about CBGB’S? Debbie answered: “No one watched you, we just did shit, if we fucked up it didn’t matter and that’s how we evolved, we were not under a microscope.”
How does she feel about being such a music icon? Was she harassed? “It felt great. We weren’t thinking of the future, we were just in the moment. I mean I did wind up becoming a feminist mainly because of Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin. I wanted to get even for those ladies, I felt so sorry for them. ‘Here world take this!’ and here’s to you Billie and Janis. I was never harassed because I was with Chris, the band didn’t lay their hands on me because I was ‘Chris’s girl’. At one point though it did become us versus them, but we got past that.” On meeting Warhol: “We met in passing at Studio 54 and became friends. He was determined to photograph me in 1979, he did my hair for the shoot! He used to shoot with these crappy Polaroid cameras, I mean like the oldest archaic models, so we used to look for them in thrift stores as we toured and would give them to him,” said Debbie. That happened to be the 1979 poster advertising the Warhol Blondie issue that I had brought with me to be signed.
They have just released a new double VINYL lp with re-recorded classic hits as well as 12 new songs. The double albums has two titles “Blondie 4(0) Ever/Ghosts of Download.” Sadly they did not have a signing afterwards. They plan to tour “with festivals” in Europe later this year and tour in the USA in 2015! Chris Stein’s book of awesome photography will go on sale in August. Many of the photos were shown in a slide presentation and they both humorously reminisced about the ‘old times’. Audience questions were taken during the last 20 minutes and were very insightful.
At the show’s end I ran to the stage door already besieged with Ebayers and fans. Luckily the her driver and the security guard placed me near her car door. As Debbie noticed the Ebayers had pressed forward she didn’t want to sign anymore but her driver and the guard steered her towards me and both the guard and I said simultaneously “He’s/I’m not an Ebayer!”. Debbie looked, warmly smiled at me, squeezed my hand and signed her full name unlike the initials she had dome for the others. I floated on an ‘Atomic’ cloud all the way home. Here is my incredibly awesome rare signed treasure above – 35 years later!!
BLONDIE 1979 Village Voice ad

BLONDIE 1979 Village Voice ad

           Warhol’s Interview, June 1979 -Illustration by Richard Bernstein. Bernstein created more than 120 portraits for Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine in the 1970s, including this one of Blondie’s Debbie Harry.

“Rapture” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHCdS7O248g

“Dreaming” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOnv8lXDzhg


Photo of the day: PHOTOGRAPHING THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

PHOTOGRAPHING

Photo of the day: PHOTOGRAPHING THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING – Someone always has a different view.
(My 14 German Memorial Day guests.)

Photo of the day: BEACH SEASON IS OFFICIALLY OPEN!

LIFEGUARD

Photo of the day: BEACH SEASON IS OFFICIALLY OPEN! – Coney Island, your life is “guarded.”

Photo of the day: THE WORLD WAR II VET

WORLD WAR II VETERAN

Photo of the day: THE WORLD WAR II VET – In 2012 I spotted this old veteran outside Penn Station. He had the most determined walk and I loved his unique flair, so I followed him with my camera till he eventually got lost inside the cavernous train station. I approached him to ask if he needed help, he kept telling me he wanted to go to Central Ave in South Orange, New Jersey. So we looked for the train together. Everything about him touched my heart. His tattered clothes, the scraps of cloth he had tied as kerchiefs, he hadn’t shaved very evenly, his inside-out t-shirt and his perfectly tilted beret which was absolutely covered in (his favorite) cat hair, but his medals were perfectly polished and cared for. I just fell in love with him. He told me he is a lecturer on wars, esp. WWII in which he served. He was very spry, I believe he was at least 85 years old yet still filled with such gentille determination. We reached the Jersey bound train platform but no personnel in Penn Station knew of the address he wanted to go to, but I luckily found a kindly conductor who promised me he would look after our vet. I finally helped him get on the train and off we went, each our separate ways. . .

Photo of the day: NEVER FORGET – Happy Memorial Day.

FADED GLORY

Photo of the day: NEVER FORGET – Never let this glory fade. Happy Memorial Day.

Photo of the day: FROZEN by SHIRO, 5 POINTZ WHITEWASH EXHIBIT THIS WEEKEND

SHIRO

Photo of the day: FROZEN by SHIRO, 5 POINTZ WHITEWASH EXHIBIT THIS WEEKEND – One of the most beloved 5 Pointz artists is Shiro of Japan. I am delighted to also call her a friend. Two of the most iconic figures that represent 5 Pointz to this day are Meres One’s iconic light bulbs and Shiro’s Japan girls. For our current Whitewash exhibit, artists decided to represent their feelings in one of two ways – either to express their feeling through expressive paintings or to simply recreate one of their 5 Pointz murals. Shiro aka Shoko Mikami has decided to do both in recreating some of her iconic Japan-anime figures. The only thing now different is they are frozen and violated, the mermaid has been caught and chained, the geisha girl has been raped and the nurse has been poisoned. This is how most of us feel about the destruction of this iconic place.

If you would like to see more expressions by great artists on canvas and in photographs (mine included) this weekend – come to the Jeffrey Leder Gallery this weekend and view the brilliant art by artists: Auks, Cortes, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Just One, Meres One, Poem, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad, all brilliantly curated by Marie Cecile Flageul!
The Jeffrey Leder Gallery: 2137 45th Road, L.I.C. #7/G subway stop. One block away from 5 Pointz and PS1 Moma. Admission is free, open 12-6.
Leder Gallery:
http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php

SHIRO has been expressing her own vision of the world and for life through her original characters. Her colorful artwork is a reflection of her love for true graffiti and hip-hop. Over the years she has been touched by the essence & soul of hip-hop culture and old school graffiti styles. Her devotion to graffiti art afforded her the opportunity to work with many great graffiti artists. She decided to stay in NY and develop her talent as an artist. From 2002 to 2004, she lived in Brooklyn and Queens, and could be found painting in the city on a regular basis. Today she lives part time in Brooklyn and hopes to stay in NYC permanently one day. She has performed in various live painting events, participated in international gallery art shows and been a part of graffiti crew gatherings in the world. She also participated in community awareness murals and other large-scale graffiti projects all over New York City and Japan. In Japan, Shiro has worked with people in the hip-hop industry, organizing graffiti shows and live painting events in her hometown of Shizuoka and participating in painting events in surrounding areas. In addition to her murals, she has worked on canvases, illustrations, and has designed and produced original theater stage decorations. She happens to work as a nurse in a hospital, caring for people who need assistance in critical parts of their lives. Through her work within the medical field, she witnessed many dramas which motivate and stimulate her. With these experiences which strengthen and broaden her perspectives on life, she continues to express this message through her artwork: “We exist RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE!”

 

 


Postcard story from New York – “MEMORIAL DAY 1931, THIS IN MEMORY OF OUR FOLKS WHO HAVE GONE AHEAD”

MEMORIAL DAY 1931 collage

Postcard story from New York – “MEMORIAL DAY 1931 ~ THIS IN MEMORY OF OUR FOLKS WHO HAVE GONE AHEAD”

Endwell, New York, June 1, 1:00pm, 1931

Woolworth and Municipal Bldgs. from Brooklyn Bridge, New York.

To: Mrs. H. A. Knapp

Waverly

Pa.

“Memorial Day 1931 This in Memory of our Folks who have gone ahead. How sweet to think of them! The day’s Celebration here has been a trail of planes from the Endicott landing place. Sure “Love can never lose it’s own.” H.K.__”

The card is addressed to Mrs. Henry Alonzo Knapp, actual name Anna Dutilleul (b.1870, d.1954.)

Her husband Henry A. Knapp (b.1851, d. 1931 the year this card was written) started as a filing clerk in Pennsylvania and rose to become a prominent lawyer who, in 1899, established the borough of Vandling in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, Vandling has a population of 751.

The ‘Endicott landing-place’ refers to a landing strip that was to become the Tri-Cities Endicott Airport, established in 1936.

The poetic quote: “Love can never lose it’s own” is from a poem entitled “Snowbound/Firelight” by influential American Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier.

“…Yet Love will dream, and Faith will trust,

(Since He who knows our need is just,)

That somehow, somewhere, meet we must.

Alas for him who never sees

The stars shine through his cypress-trees!

Who, hopeless, lays his dead away,

Nor looks to see the breaking day

Across the mournful marbles play!

Who hath not learned, in hours of faith,

The truth to flesh and sense unknown,

That Life is ever lord of Death,

And Love can never lose its own!”

To read the full fitting Memorial day poem “Snowbound” click: http://www.bartleby.com/248/222.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow-Bound

 


Photo of the day: SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE COLORED

1968 Celestial Arts, Robert Lewis

1968 Celestial Arts, Robert Lewis

Photo of the day: SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE COLORED – I just scored this brilliant vintage 1968 blacklight poster by artist Robert Lewis on Ebay! The poster was produced by Celestial Arts, P.O. Box 1594, San Francisco, CA 94101. Poster #CA27, printed in the USA by Orbit. As a poster collector, this is now one of my favorites.
(It reminds me somewhat of the logo from the musical “Follies” and that wonderful pop art of the Beatles ‘Yellow Submarine’ psychedelic era.)
FOLLIES

"Yellow Submarine"

“Yellow Submarine”

"Yellow Submarine"

“Yellow Submarine”


Photo of the day: OLD TIMER’S NAVY SALUTE

SALUTE

Photo of the day: OLD TIMER’S NAVY SALUTE – Yesterday in Bryant Park, the navy serenaded lunch time picnickers with a rousing concert. At the end of the concert, the conductor asked audience members from each branch of the military to stand up and be recognized. This old timer still gave the perfect proud navy salute.
The Navy Band Northeast Pops Ensemble and the U.S. Fleet Forces Band featured a wide variety of musical styles including traditional concert band literature, pop, Jazz and patriotic favorites.

Under the direction of Lt. Cmdr. Carl Gerhard, Navy Band Northeast is one of 13 official bands of the United States Navy worldwide, and is comprised of 45 professional Navy musicians, many of whom are from the New York metropolitan area and welcomed a chance to perform in front of the hometown crowd.


Photo of the day: HAPPY 68th BIRTHDAY CHER!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHER

Photo of the day: HAPPY (yes) 68th BIRTHDAY CHER ! – If ever an icon has kept the love of six generations of fans, she has, with a hit record in every decade. No recording artist has done that. I have had the sheer delight to have met her several times and she is as beautiful inside as she is outside. Happy Birthday Cher – you DID turn back time !


Photo of the day: CAN YOU SPOT THE TOURIST?

On the #7 train, Grand Central Station stop.

On the #7 train, Grand Central Station stop.

Photo of the day: CAN YOU SPOT THE TOURIST?

Photo of the day: RED WHITE AND BLUE, REMEMBERING TYRONE MAY

red white blue world trade center
Photo of the day: RED WHITE AND BLUE, REMEMBERING TYRONE MAY – The World Trade Center 9/11 memorial’s security walls came down today and as a native New Yorker tour guide who visited the site several times a week, it is very odd and it takes some getting used to that there are no longer any long snaking lines, advance $2 tickets and airport type security screening. As of now – you can walk right up to the waterfalls. Tyrone May’s family came to remember him as they privately visited the newly opened museum, they left this red, white and blue remembrance for him. On this rainy day, the raindrops looked like tears.

Photo of the day: MAY 14, 2014 THE WORLD TRADE CENTER MUSEUM FINALLY OPENS

First look

First look

Photo of the day: MAY 14, 2014 THE WORLD TRADE CENTER MUSEUM FINALLY OPENS


Photo of the day: DISCUSSION TODAY 6pm ‘THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC ART’ at JEFFREY LEDER GALLERY (5 Pointz)

5 POINTZ DISCUSSION

Photo of the day: DISCUSSION TODAY 6pm ‘THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC ART’ at JEFFREY LEDER GALLERY – Come join me and the artists of 5 Pointz to discuss the ever growing importance of public art in our cities and culture. ‘Street art’ gives our communities their identity, brightens blighted areas, gives pride and keeps the flavor of the neighborhood. Come join us! 6pm.
If you would like to hear more expressions by great artists tonight – come to the Jeffrey Leder Gallery tonight and view and hear the awesome artists: Auks, Cortes, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Just One, Meres One, Poem, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad, all brilliantly curated by Marie Cecile Flageul!
The Jeffrey Leder Gallery: 2137 45th Road, L.I.C.
#7/G subway stop. One block away from 5 Pointz and PS1 Moma. Admission is free, open 6 to 9pm.
Leder Gallery: http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php
See More

 


Photo of the day: “LET US DIRTY”

B train, 1:00am, New York City

B train, 1:00am, New York City

Photo of the day: “LET US DIRTY” – 1:10am, Anthony Alonzi fixing his eyeliner after the Cher concert. On the B train,  Brooklyn.

Photo of the day: URSULA VON RITTERN, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY !

MOM CONFIRMATION 1942

Photo of the day: URSULA VON RITTERN, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! ~ Coming from a long line of fiercely independent women, mom learnt from them and did it all on her own. From my great grandmother Johanna on – three generations of women divorced their husbands, each woman reaching success without her husband. Beauty, talent and strength – a remarkable combination.

Photo of the day: HEAVY CONSCIENCE by AUKS/5 POINTZ

HEAVY CONSCIENCE AUKS

Photo of the day: HEAVY CONSCIENCE by AUKS/5 POINTZ – One of the thought inducing powerful photos part of the current ‘Whitewash” exhibit in memory of the vandalistic destruction of the great murals at 5 Pointz Graffiti and Street Art Museum. I am proud to say I have one of Auk’s amazing paintings in my home.
“Auks One” (Thomas Lucero), an artist who draws much of his inspiration from Chicano tattoo art, cartoons, skateboard graphics, and later Hip Hop culture and high Renaissance drawings. He is a self-taught artist who has worked diligently over the years to refine his skills in every form of artistic expression. He is best known for his graffiti inspired illustrations and murals and his work has inevitably spread to the gallery circuit.
If you would like to see more expressions by great artists on canvas and in photographs (mine included) this weekend – come to the Jeffrey Leder Gallery this weekend and view the brilliant art by artists: Auks, Cortes, Hans Von Rittern, Jerms, Just One, Meres One, Poem, Shiro, See TF, Topaz, Zimad, all brilliantly curated by Marie Cecile Flageul!
The Jeffrey Leder Gallery: 2137 45th Road, L.I.C.
#7/G subway stop. One block away from 5 Pointz and PS1 Moma. Admission is free, open 12-6.
Leder Gallery: http://www.jeffreyledergallery.com/whitewash.php

Photo of the day: CHER COMES TO BROOKLYN’S BARCLAYS CENTER TONIGHT!

My personalized advertising on the Barclays Oculus

My personalized advertising on the Barclays Oculus

Photo of the day: CHER COMES TO BROOKLYN’S BARCLAYS CENTER TONIGHT! – Six decades of hits, six decades of fashion, six decades of fantastic shows all culminate tonight in Cher’s “Dressed To Kill” tour here in New York. Cher the eighth wonder of the world, will perform with loveable ‘fun girl’ Cyndi Lauper at Brooklyn’s new modern wonder the Oculus, at the Barclays Center. I’ll be there with Janet Novick and my international Cher fan friends and we’ll be ‘dressed to kill’!
(I’ve done my own advertising on the Barclays oculus here with my photos personally taken of Cher and Cyndi.)

Postcard story of New York: “STOMPING AT THE SAVOY IN HARLEM”

SAVOY collage

Postcard story from New York: “STOMPING AT THE SAVOY IN HARLEM”

New York, October 15, 2:00pm, 1954

The Savoy the showplace of Harlem, has acquired an international reputation for its unique styles of dancing. Such dances as the Lindy-Hop, Big Apple, and the latest of all sensations the Mutiny Swing, had their origin at The Savoy.

To: Mrs. M. A. Ryan

U.S. Army Air Corps

8505 W. Warren Ave

Detroit, Michigan

Personnel

“Hi Marg: We arrived in NY Monday at 9:30p.m. are having a swell time here. Say hello to the girls for me

Connie + Bob”

Sadly Connie & Bob’s adventures at the famed Savoy were never received by Mrs. M. A Ryan at the U.S. Army Air Corps since the postcard is stamped “FOUND IN PACKAGE BOX COLLECTION”.

It is guaranteed that Connie & Bob had a ‘swell time’ since The Savoy nightclub was dubbed the swingingest hot spot in Harlem and all of New York City. The first non segregated club allowing blacks and whites to swing together. The famed Cotton Club was for white patrons only with famed black musicians on stage. At The Savoy – real hep cats dug some cool jive on the be-bop side! They were jammed packed every night from March 12, 1926 to July 10, 1958. Often thousands had to be turned away. The Savoy is deeply rooted in our dance, music and culture. Music united all at the Savoy !

Read about it’s wonderful history here and see the link to the YouTube videos below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_Ballroom

See a brief video history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqsc0dhoED0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmnsWcxdhEQ

With swing’s rise to popularity and Harlem becoming a connected Black community, The Savoy opened at a perfect time, giving the rising talented and passionate Black dancers an equally beautiful venue. The Savoy’s ballroom, which was 10,000 square feet in size, was on the second floor and a block long. It could hold up to 4,000 people. The interior was painted pink and the walls were mirrored. Colored lights danced on the sprung layered wood floor. In 1926, the Savoy contained a spacious lobby framing a huge, cut-glass chandelier and marble staircase.

The Savoy was extremely popular right from the start. A headline from the New York Age March 20, 1926 reads “Savoy Turns 2,000 Away On Opening Night – Crowds Pack Ball Room All Week”. The ballroom didn’t go dark a single night of the week.

The Savoy even participated in the 1939 New York World’s Fair, presenting “The Evolution of Negro Dance”.

The Savoy was unique in having the constant presence of a skilled elite of the best Lindy Hoppers, known as “Savoy Lindy Hoppers”. Occasionally, groups of dancers such Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers turned professional and performed in Broadway and Hollywood productions. Whitey turned out to be quite a successful agent, and in 1937, the Marx Brothers’ movie A Day at the Races featured the group. Herbert White was a bouncer at the Savoy who was made floor manager in the early 30s. He was sometimes known as Mac, but with his ambition to scout dancers at the ballroom to form his own group, he became widely known as Whitey for the white streak of hair down the center of his head. He looked for dancers who were “. . . young, stylized, and, most of all, they had to have a beat, they had to swing”. The Savoy held a yearly dancing festival called the Harvest Moon Ball featuring lindy dancers. The first Ball was held in 1935, and the contestants introduced the Lindy Hop to Europe the next year.

Unlike many ballrooms such as the Cotton Club, the Savoy always had a no-discrimination policy. Generally, the clientele was 85% black and 15% white, although sometimes there was an even 50/50 split. Lindy hop legend Frankie Manning noted that patrons were only judged on their dancing skills and not on the color of their skin: “One night somebody came over and said, ‘Hey man, Clark Gable just walked in the house.’ Somebody else said, ‘Oh, yeah, can he dance?’ All they wanted to know when you came into the Savoy was, do you dance?”. Virtuosic dancers, however, excluded others from the northeast corner of the dance floor, now referred to as the “Cat’s Corner,” although the term was not used at the time. This part of the floor where the professional Lindy dancers ruled was on the 141st street side of the room and was then referred to just as “the corner”. Only Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers could dance and work routines there. Competition was huge in “the corner” and every serious hopper awaited the nightly “showtime”. Other dancers would create a horseshoe around the band and “ . . . only the greatest Lindy-hoppers would stay on the floor, to try to eliminate each other”. On 140th street was the opposite, mellow corner which was popular with dancing couples. The skilled Tango dancer known as The Sheik frequented this corner.

Many dances such as Lindy Hop (which was named after Charles Lindbergh and originated in 1927) were developed and became famous there. It was known downtown as the “Home of Happy Feet” but uptown, in Harlem, as “the Track” because the floor was long and thin. The Savoy earned the nickname “Home of Happy Feet” from Lana Turner who remarked of the dancers, “What happy feet these people have”. The Lindy Hop is also known as The Jitterbug and was born out of “. . . mounting exhilaration and the ‘hot’ interaction of music and dance”. Other dances that were conceived at the Savoy are The Flying Charleston, Jive, Snakehips, Rhumboogie, and variations of the Shimmy, Mambo, and many more.

It is estimated that the ballroom generated $250,000 in annual profit in its peak years from the late 20s to the 40s. Each year, the ballroom was visited by near 700,000 people. The normal entrance fee was 30 to 85 cents per person, depending on what time a person came. 30 cents was the base price, but after 6pm the fee was 60cents, and then 85cents after 8pm. The Savoy had made enough money by its peak of business in 1936 that $50,000 was spent on remodeling it.[

The ballroom had a double bandstand that held one large and one medium sized band running against its east wall. Music was continuous as the alternative band was always in position and ready to pick up the beat when the previous one had completed its set. The bouncers, who had previously worked as boxers, basketball players, and the like, wore tuxedos and made $100/night. The floor was watched inconspicuously by a security force of four men at a time who were headed by Jack La Rue, and no man was allowed in who wasn’t dressed in a jacket with a tie. Besides the security staff, the Savoy was populated by “Harlem’s most beautiful women”: the Savoy Hostesses. They would be fired for consorting with patrons outside the ballroom, but inside the hostesses would teach people to dance and were dance partners for anyone who purchased a 25 cent dance ticket. Roseland Ballroom hostesses often visited the savoy on their night off; this inspired Buchanon to create Monday-Ladies-Free Nights. Other special events began during the week, including the giveaway of a new car every Saturday. The floor had to be replaced every 3 years due to its constant use.

Stompin’ at the Savoy“, a 1934 Big Band classic song and jazz standard recorded by Chick Webb, was named after the ballroom. The song was featured in an episode of I Love Lucy in which she performs the Jitterbug.

Chick Webb was the leader of the best known Savoy house band during the mid-1930s. A teenage Ella Fitzgerald, fresh from a talent show win at the Apollo Theater in 1934, became its vocalist. Floating World Pictures recently made a documentary called “The Savoy King” about Webb, Ella, and the ballroom. It was shown at the 50th New York Film Festival.

The Savoy was the site of many famous “Battles of the Bands” or “Cutting Contests“, which started when the Benny Goodman Orchestra challenged Chick Webb in 1937. Webb and his band were declared the winners of that contest. In 1938, Webb was once again challenged by Count Basie Band. While Webb was officially declared the winner again, there was a lack of consensus on who actually won that night. Earle Warren, the alto saxophonist for Basie reports that they had worked on a song called “Swingin’ the Blues” for the purpose of competing and says, “When we unloaded our cannons, that was the end”. Webb’s “unbeatable” band had been bested.

The Savoy participated in the 1939 New York World’s Fair, presenting “The Evolution of Negro Dance”.

Despite efforts by Borough President Hulan Jack and others to save it, the Savoy and the nearby Cotton Club were demolished for the construction of a housing complex, Bethune Towers/Delano Village. The Ballroom was shut down as a result of “charges of vice filed by the police department and Army”. The mayor was the target of protest by angered members of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The ballroom was auctioned off for $25,000 to a “middle-income housing project”. Count Basie was quoted in the paper saying “With the passing of the Savoy Ballroom, a part of show business is gone. I feel about the same way I did when someone told me the news that Bill (Bojangles) Robinson was dead”. On 26 May 2002, Frankie Manning and Norma Miller, surviving members of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, unveiled a commemorative plaque for the Savoy Ballroom on Lenox Avenue between 140th and 141st Streets. The tradition of swing has lived on today and many surviving dancers from the Savoy still dance when they can. As Norma Miller says in her memoir, “Although Harlem created it, the Lindy belongs to everyone”.

 


Photo of the day: OMG! YOU KNOW YOU ARE OFFICIALLY OLD WHEN…PINE LAWN CEMETERIES SENDS YOU AN INVITE!

CEMETERY PINE LAWN border

Photo of the day: OMG! YOU KNOW YOU ARE OFFICIALLY OLD WHEN…PINE LAWN CEMETERIES SENDS YOU AN INVITE!– What happened to the days of one night club invitation after another!? Yesterday I was horrified to see someone has put me on the old/near death mailing list and thought I am in need of a cemetery plot! I won’t go!!!
(Although…for “as little as $40 a month” I can be happy for the rest of my dead life…)

Photo of the day: HAPPINESS IS HOLDING HANDS WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND

HAPPINESS IS...

Photo of the day: HAPPINESS IS HOLDING HANDS WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND – In this case my 13 year old sheep dog/terrier mix dog Noel, who we found on Christmas day.

Photo of the day: FRESHLY GROOMED ‘NOEL’ WAITS FOR HER CAR SERVICE

Our dog Noel - happy at last :)

Our dog Noel – happy at last 🙂

Photo of the day: FRESHLY GROOMED ‘NOEL’ WAITS FOR HER CAR SERVICE – Our dog Noel (a sheep dog-terrier mix), my mom Ursula and I would like to extend a special thanks to our friends Jude Amsel and Marie Flageul for turning us on to a really wonderful local Long Island City groomer “LIC Doghouse”. Mom and I have been through hell with Le Pitou II/Forest Hills dog groomers that would forget appointments then screaming at my 88 year old mom, shaving sores/cuts on Noel, Noel being returned to us in a frightened state, getting her toenail ripped off by a local Sunnyside groomer (yes you read that right!) and requiring emergency surgery, finding a car service that will take a large dog to far away groomers, let alone finding a groomer that will even take a 60lb dog.
Finally we found loving and gentle groomers at LIC Doghouse, they were so gentle and kind to Noel and my mom that they now have a new loyal customer. It is rare that Noel’s tail wags through the entire grooming process. Thank you again Jude and Marie, and a great big thanks to LIC Doghouse – Noel sends you lots of wet licks !