So like most people I was a changed person after the first time I went to New York City. I have been infatuated with it ever since my first trip there in 1997. I've been there several times since, but I must confess, I've spent many a smog-filled So. Cal. afternoon dreaming of the long shadows of Manhattan and the parks & street corners of Brooklyn. Especially considering the music I've been ODing on is all from there, I just had to get back! My band, Vicky and the Vengents, was lucky enough to go back in 2012 and we just had a ball! One of our discoveries that trip was we were able to play live on a radio station in Jersey City, NJ called WFMU and boy, WAS OUR MIND BLOWN! Folks let me tell you this station is everything right with Rock & Roll! They have the most fantastic programming! It was October when we went and we spent an entire afternoon driving around Brooklyn listening to Halloween Doo Wop! I didn't even know that there was enough doo wop inspired by scary sounds to constitute a whole radio show let alone think I'd ever hear one! Amazing! ...Well after reading all these stories in fanzines about cool record buying excursions and discoveries I could no longer live vicariously through Bim Bam Boom. We needed a trip of our own. Ad we found one! The WFMU Record Fair was happening in NYC and we were going!
Monday, May 29, my best friend Vicky Tafoya and our good buddy Dave Gnerre packed up the van and and headed East. After spending a few days in Connecticut with friends (Thanks Geoff, Melinda and Bones!) and seein' some sights we were primed and ready. Entering the Armory on Lexington we were beside ourselves! At least 50 vendors, DJs spinning tunes, food, beer, not to mention all the little vinyl nuggets we had yet to find. ....And find we did! When I left I had told myself I wanted anything on Onyx, Teenage, Rama, Fury...some how I just knew they'd be there waiting for me. My first big find was this......
The Kac-Ties on Kape purchased from the one and only Billy Miller! What a great tune. Billy told me that the group was from Brooklyn and the lead singer's name was Jackie Robinson! Go figure. How's that for luck. If you've never heard this tune I highly recommend it. This is THE sound. Norton Records has reissued it. It can be found on the Wolf Call album and also on Billy and Miriam's new Golden Group series. They cleverly picked up where Donn Fileti and Eddie Gries left off and started with Vol. 56 and 57 and continued one of the finest vocal group traditions on wax. Once again, Thanks Billy and Miriam! Some of my other finds included The Kodaks on Fury, Dean Barlow on Onyx, Ronnie Spector solo as Veronica doing So Young! Now to someone who's been collecting for eons these might not sound like crazy finds but take it from me you don't see these records laying around Southern California! One thing we were very amazed at was the abundance of everything. Between Vicky and myself we came home with sacks full of doo wop and the amount of fantastic garage that Dave got was amazing! Plus being able to buy records from folks like Billy and Miriam and folks who helped start this stuff was a truly unique experience. Night One ended with us cruisin' over to New Jersey to hang out and spin reckids with our friend Ken "Rockin' Daddyo" Abruzi. Ken is a fantastic DJ and spins frequently around NY and at Rebel Night. If you get an opportunity cruise by and see Ken. He always packs the dance floor! Day Two: Reckids, Reckids, Reckids, all day long and then a quick trip to Brooklyn to see the A-Bones tear it up at Union Pool!
What a trip! I'm tired just writin' about it! All I can say is WFMU knows how to throw a party. A big thank you to all the DJs, crew, and vendors who helped make this event a real blast! Thanks for making this stuff even more fun than it already is!!
A quick P.S. One of the records I desperately wanted to find in NY was The Heartbeats on Hull and I found it when I got back at Amoeba in LA! Ain't it how it goes!
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