3rd Avenue El - early 1950's

What is a 3rd Avenue El?

It's the elevated train that used to run up and down Manhattan until the mid-1950's, when it was decommissioned and turned into scrap metal.

Despite this, you can still experience the trip through New York City that vanished over half-a-century ago, not only from the overhead view of the train window, but through the actual neighborhoods and with the authentic people who road it daily.

A beatnik photographer with a tripod, a stumbling drunk from the old Bowery, a giddy little girl traveling with her father, and a couple on a romantic excursion help create a loose narrative.

For the soundtrack, a sprightly rendition of Haydn's Concerto in D for Harpsichord is accompanied by all of the real sounds of a metropolitan elevated subway trip. Along with it's superb photography and creative editing, a of viewing '3rd Avenue El' is like taking ten minute vacation to a place that is no more.

Amazon - Take a trip back to Coney Island here
Get your Freak on & Run away with the circus ...
Amazon - The lost American drive-in ... Found!
And now for some drive-in classic B-Movies.
How about Russ Meyer's world of Ultra Vixens?

Bill Powers - Caroline

In this re-discovered clip, the classically trained Bill Powers sings an operatic rendition of the song Caroline. A performer with with few if any informative references online, he is accompanied by the similarly under-appreciated member of the Brown Sisters on piano.

A nice complement to the Brown Sisters.

Classic jazz - Expand your Mind - what's old is new
100 years of Jazz for inspiration for the next 100.
Amazon - Get swingy listening to them hittin' on all six

Vaudeville / Music: A Few Moments with Eddie Cantor

Stage, radio and film star Eddie Cantor puts on a classic vaudeville routine, including a few jokes sandwiched between breaking into song.

One of the biggest entertainers of the early 20th century, the type self-deprecating humor he helped define can still has influence today with comedians such as Letterman, Conan and Jon Stewart.

Musical numbers include the daffy "Oh, Gee, Georgie" and the irreverent "The Dumber They Come, The Better I Like 'Em," arguably a classic even by today's standards.

Now Available - Weirdo Video's Vamps & Vixens - High Quality DVD only 14.99 + S&H

Amazon - Who says humor doesn't belong in music?
DVD's - Music you can laugh at, Comedy you can sing with
Classic jazz - Expand your Mind - what's old is new

Americana: Coney Island of the 1940's

Coney Island, "the place where merriment is king!"

Take a trip back in time 50 years before the Mermaid Parade.

See masses of old school New Yorkers beat the heat by hitting the beach.

See Side Shows! Carnies! Freaks! Thrill rides! Includes the original Coney Island Hot Dog, the Bathing Girl Review, and people getting sick on rides.

Not to mention the Tiger Rag, if 1940's Coney Island existed today an insurance agent would have a field day.

Still, 1940's Coney Island kicks Disneyland's ass any day.

Amazon - Take a trip back to Coney Island here
Get your Freak on & Run away with the circus ...