Hey, Ho.........

I just finished reading a great book called- ALL HOPPED UP AND READY TO GO by Tony Fletcher. The book is a look at popular music in New York City from 1927 to 1977.

Mr Fletcher is certainly a man of some ambition- but lo and behold he succeeds at making all these different scenes (jazz, latin, folk, rock, punk and rap) come alive. Dizzy Gillespie, Machito, Pete Seeger, Lou Reed, Joey Ramone- the list of performers and songwriters and producers and hangers on is staggering but he tells everyones story with interest and enthusiasm.

I particularly love the fact that he shines the light on some folks who are often overlooked ,like Neil Sedaka and the Rascals and Allen Vega of Suicide.

A terrific read, it makes you want to run out and buy (or at least listen) to all the bands and songs he is writing about. Tony Fletcher has to "curate" an ALL HOPPED UP..... box set. (it would probably be impossible to get the rights for 99% of the songs and on top of that does anyone buy box sets anymore?)

One of the people he writes about is David Peel- a new york street singer/character from the late sixties early seventies. He and his "band" the Lower East Side (or as I remember them -The Lower East Side Orchestra) recorded an album I have very fond memories of.

During Art class in junior high the teacher ,being a groovy artist, would play records during class. We kids were encouraged to bring in stuff we liked- the boys mostly wanted to play Grand Funk or the Allman Brothers, the girls tended towards sensitive singer songwriter selections. Every once in a while the teacher would play something of his choosing- one Day it was "Have a Marijuana" by David Peel and the Lower East Side. An Album recorded in Washington Square Park- An Album that had a decidely unpolished sound- an album that contained the song "Up Against the Wall Motherfuc-er" the lyrics of which are basically the the title repeated for about two minutes.

Needless to say, we junior high boys had a new hero and a new favorite song and a new appreciation for art.