I Am Thinking Of Your Voice

Tom's Diner remix
D.N.A. featuring Suzanne Vega (1990)
A remix track of one of the most fascinating songs of the 1980's was released 35 years ago today.

The diner in the song where Suzanne Vega has her morning coffee is Tom's Restaurant on the corner of Broadway and West 112th Street in New York City.  This is a location that will be instantly familiar to Seinfeld fans as it was the filming location for all of the exterior shots at Monk's Cafe in the series.

Years before Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer turned this establishment into their regular meeting place, a 22 year old Suzanne Vega found herself at the restaurant on the morning of November 18th, 1981 imagining life from the point of view of her friend Brian Rose.  He's a photographer who once told the singer that he saw his life through a pane of glass and that made him feel like he was able to witness many things without ever being involved in them.  She was inspired to put pen to paper and write how Brian would perceive the moment that she found herself in at the restaurant at that moment.

New York Post  (November 18, 1981)

The song's lyrics have led to fans being able to pinpoint the date when Suzanne wrote down her observations that would become Tom's Diner.  About two thirds of the way through the song, she sings 

I open up the paper

There's a story of an actor

Who had died while he was drinking

It was no one I had heard of

And I'm turning to the horoscope

And looking for the funnies

When I'm feeling someone watching me

And so I raise my head

In the years since, Suzanne has confirmed that the actor in question was William Holden.  The man who in 1953 won the Academy Award for Best Actor had been drinking in his apartment when he slipped on a throw rug and fell into the sharp corner of a nightstand that was next to his bed.  The corner reports state that he passed away on November 12th, but his body wasn't discovered until the 16'th, and the New York Post cover story wouldn't be published until November 18th.

New York Post  (November 18, 1981)

The line in the song where Suzanne mentions that she turned to the horoscope while looking for the funnies was the key in fans narrowing down the paper that she was reading.  At the time, there were only two newspapers in the city which had a weekday comics section, and the New York Post was the one out of those which had the story of William Holden's death on the cover.

Suzanne finished writing and recording the song as an a capella track the following year.  It was first released in the January 1984 edition of Fast Folk Musical Magazine, which was a combination of a print magazine with a vinyl record album that was published monthly.  It would receive a much wider release three years later when it was included on her second studio album, Solitude Standing, which was released on April 1st, 1987.

Tom's Diner

Suzanne Vega (1987)

I am sitting in the morning

At the diner on the corner

I am waiting at the counter

For the man to pour the coffee

And he fills it only halfway

And before I even argue

He is looking out the window

At somebody coming in

"It is always nice to see you"

Says the man behind the counter

To the woman who has come in

She is shaking her umbrella

And I look the other way

As they are kissing their hellos

And I'm pretending not to see them

And instead I pour the milk

I open up the paper

There's a story of an actor

Who had died while he was drinking

It was no one I had heard of

And I'm turning to the horoscope

And looking for the funnies

When I'm feeling someone watching me

And so I raise my head

There's a woman on the outside

Looking inside, does she see me?

No, she does not really see me

'Cause she sees her own reflection

And I'm trying not to notice

That she's hitching up her skirt

And while she's straightening her stockings

Her hair has gotten wet

Oh, this rain, it will continue

Through the morning as I'm listening

To the bells of the cathedral

I am thinking of your voice

And of the midnight picnic once upon a time

Before the rain began...

And I finish up my coffee

And it's time to catch the train

The original Tom's Diner wasn't released as a single in the United States and it didn't chart very high in Europe, but it received a second life in 1990 when Nick Batt and Neal Slateford remixed Suzanne's vocals with a dance beat taken from the 1989 song Keep On Movin' by Soul II Soul.  Under the name DNA, the duo released their remix without the permission of the artist, her record label, or the publisher of the song, but Suzanne liked the interpretation and a deal was struck for it to be released by A&M Records.  It would go on to become an unexpected hit, reaching #1 in Austria, Germany, Greece, and Switzerland and peaking at #2 on the UK Singles Chart and #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100.  The remix was also one of the few songs to reach the Top 10 in both Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and Hot R&B Singles charts.

Tom's Diner remix

D.N.A. featuring Suzanne Vega

I am sitting in the morning

At the diner on the corner

I am waiting at the counter

For the man to pour the coffee

And he fills it only halfway

And before I even argue

He is looking out the window

At somebody coming in

"It is always nice to see you"

Says the man behind the counter

To the woman who has come in

She is shaking her umbrella

And I look the other way

As they are kissing their hellos

And I'm pretending not to see them

And instead I pour the milk

I open up the paper

There's a story of an actor

Who had died while he was drinking

It was no one I had heard of

And I'm turning to the horoscope

And looking for the funnies

When I'm feeling someone watching me

And so I raise my head

There's a woman on the outside

Looking inside, does she see me?

No, she does not really see me

'Cause she sees her own reflection

And I'm trying not to notice

That she's hitching up her skirt

And while she's straightening her stockings

Her hair has gotten wet

Oh, this rain, it will continue

Through the morning as I'm listening

To the bells of the cathedral

I am thinking of your voice

 

photo credit: Richard Perry (New York Times)

In 2008, Suzanne Vega wrote an incredible essay about Tom's Diner that was published in The New York Times that I highly recommend.  Click here to read it.

Happy Thanksgiving

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Elliott Erwitt (1988)
There's an angle of the Snoopy balloon that not many folks get to see.

The Birth Of A Nightmare

A Nightmare On Elm Street
New York Daily News (November 9, 1984)
The movie that kicked off one of the most iconic franchise in horror film history premiered in theaters forty years ago today.  It was initially given a limited release to theaters mostly in New York, New Jersey, and California before rolling out nationwide one week later.

I was four years old when A Nightmare On Elm Street was released, so I didn't have a chance to see this at the cinema during its initial run, however I was able to see it projected from 35mm on the big screen in 2021 and 2022 thanks to the Mahoning Drive-In Theater.

The Reporter Dispatch - White Plains, NY  (November 9, 1984)

The Star Ledger - Newark, NJ  (November 9, 1984)

Here are a couple of newspaper reviews from the day that it was released.  William Wolf's review is about as predictable and cliched as they come from a time when critics didn't have the faintest understanding of the horror genre and whose opinions are about as far from the audience as you can get without deliberately trying to be contrary.  Richard Freedman is far more fair to the film, but you have to chuckle at his closing line that the collective nightmare subgenre has "breathed its last".  Keep dreaming bud.

They're Gonna Make Him Do This Till He's 90

Deadpool & Wolverine
Marvel Studios (2024)
The biggest movie that Marvel Studios has released in years premiered in theaters across the country just under six weeks ago.

There has been a massive marketing campaign in the months leading up to the release of Deadpool & Wolverine.  We saw quite a few Heinz ketchup and mustard billboards when we were in New York to see Back To The Future: The Musical this summer, including this massive advertisement on Times Square.

DiGiorno Pizza has also jumped onto the Deadpool & Wolverine bandwagon with their release of four different cross-branded frozen pizzas.  I had the Spicy Wolvie Pie, which is a traditional cheese pizza topped with pepperoni, chorizo, and bacon.  I didn't find it to be even slightly spicy, but it was very tasty.

Deadpool & Wolverine premiered in theaters on July 25th.  I wanted to see it, but there really wasn't any sense of urgency for me.  My local Regal theater tends to keep comic book and animated features on their screens for a ridiculous length of time.  This is pretty irritating because in doing so, they have blocked a lot of great movies from appearing at my local theater even for a single day, but it also means that when they do release an animated or comic book movie, there is absolutely no rush.  I finally got around to seeing it on September 2nd.

I'm not a big enough fan of comic books to have gotten every reference and inside joke, but it was still the funniest comic book movie that I've ever seen.  I think that pretty much anyone would enjoy it.

Something's Fishy

The Fantastic World Of The Portuguese Sardine
1592 Broadway - New York, NY

The last thing I expected to see on Broadway was a store dedicated to the sale of canned fish.

There was a short time when I was a kid that I loved sardines, but I haven't been able to bring myself to try them ever since.  At a cost of between $30 - $80 a can, this place didn't change my mind.

This Is Stardust

Ellen's Stardust Diner
1650 Broadway - New York, NY
We stopped here for a bite to eat before going to see Back To The Future: The Musical at the Winter Garden Theater next door.  Neither of us had heard of the place before, but the outside of the building made it look like it could be an old school diner; maybe even one that hadn't changed too much over the years.  It ended up being much cooler than that.

Ellen's Stardust Diner was opened on 51st and Broadway in 1987 by Ellen Hart.   She grew up in Queens and was selected to be one of the Miss Subway girls in the spring of 1959, which the restaurant pays tribute to with vintage Miss Subway train placards on its walls.  However, what the diner is really known for is its singing staff, many of whom have gone on to long and successful careers on Broadway.

The latest entry in the Reasonably Priced Reubens Within Driving Distance subgenre is the Ruby Reuben from Ellen's Stardust Diner, which is what I had for lunch.  It was delicious and a pretty decent price considering the location and the fact that it came with a free show.

This is just a small clip of our time here.  The performances were constant, with just a couple of minutes in between each singer taking the microphone.  If you're looking for a quiet place to eat, this really isn't for you, but if you want a place with good food, a fun vibe, and a hell of a lot of talented singers who are all working towards their big break, Ellen's Stardust Diner is a place that you need to experience for yourself.

 

As we were leaving, the man who sang New York, New York with my wife gave her this cute magnet for singing with him.

Tell Me Doctor, Where Are We Going This Time?

Back To The Future: The Musical
Winter Garden Theater - New York, NY

We celebrated our anniversary last night with my first Broadway show which was based on my wife's favorite movie.

Back To The Future: The Musical premiered at Manchester Opera House during the earliest days of the pandemic before moving to London's West End in 2021.  It opened last summer on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theater and has been getting a lot of favorable reviews, both from frequent theatergoers and newbies such as myself who love the source material.

The musical stage adaptation of Back To The Future stars Casey Likes as Marty McFly and Roger Bart as Doc Brown.  Both have an impressive list of credits on the stage, but I'm more familiar with their work in films.  Likes starred in the 2023 horror film Dark Harvest, and Bart has an even longer filmography, but I remember him best as the villain Stuart from Hostel: Part II.

The show was incredible!  There were quite a few changes from the plot points in the movie, but they all made sense and none of them hurt the overall story from the source material.  There are a ton of easter eggs hiding in the sets, including a Clayton Ravine pennant hanging on the wall of Doc Brown's laboratory.  I don't want to say too much more because if you love the movie, you really should go into this with as little advanced knowledge as possible.  All of the changes and easter eggs were fun surprises that made the show that much more engaging.

Roger Bart plays Doc Brown with a frantic energy that reminded me of Sam Kinison, and it absolutely works!  He has a Devo-inspired song at the start of the second half after intermission that was one of my favorite parts of the show.  Our show featured Jonalyn Saxer in the role of Lorraine Baines McFly in place of regular cast member Liana Hunt.  I can't compare the two women's performance because I only saw the show this one time, but Saxer's performance was absolutely fantastic.  Hugh Coles was equally excellent in his role as George McFly, as was Joshua Kenneth Allen Johnson in a dual role as Mayor Goldie Wilson and bandleader Marvin Berry, and Hannah Kevitt as Jennifer Parker.

If you love the Back To The Future movies, you absolutely need to see this show.  I cannot recommend it strongly enough.  Even if you're not generally a fan of musicals, I'm confident that this will blow away anyone who enjoys the films.

Grab Your Wieners

Nathan's
New York, NY  (1985)
Hot dogs... I'm talking about the hot dogs... Pay no attention to the theater marquee.  (photo source: Matt Weber)

Flashpants and Ice Cream

Howard Johnson's
Broadway & 49th St - New York, NY  (January 1984)

This photo was taken 40 years ago this month by John Abbott... a time when you could stop for ice cream and take in a screening of the adult film parody Flashpants just a few feet away. [source: RetroNYC]

A Cold Winter's Night

Winter Evening Fifth Avenue
Ernest Fiene (1952)

The Cinema Is Truth Twenty-Four Times Per Second

New York Movie
Edward Hopper (1939)
The American Realist painter Edward Hopper began work on New York Movie 85 years ago this month.  It was completed in January 1939 and is now on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The Next Thing Will Be Amazing

The Letting It Go Show: Culture Club / Howard Jones / Berlin

Bethel Woods Center For The Arts - Bethel, NY
The cost of going to a concert has gone through the roof in recent years, so we've decided to scale back this summer to two big shows, and maybe a few smaller shows if our budget allows.  The first big show for us this year was The Cure, who I had never gotten to see perform live before.  The second was another band that I've always wanted to see and finally had the opportunity to do so last night when Culture Club headlined a show at my favorite concert venue.

The Bethel Woods Center For The Arts is the most beautiful place that I've ever seen a concert.  It's on the grounds where the original Woodstock festival was held in 1969.  There are a few different areas where live music performances are held, but the main stage is an amphitheater which has a massive general admission lawn that can accommodate over 10,000 fans.  There's also a very nice museum dedicated to Woodstock which we first visited ten years ago, and they have a lot of special events on the grounds throughout the spring, summer, and fall.

 

The experience of visiting this place has a special feel to it before you even get there.  The drive from Northeast PA to Bethel takes you through wooded areas and small towns with places to stop for a bite to eat.  There's a very large area between the front gates and the amphitheater.  There are plenty of spaces for food trucks and vendors, but there are also a lot of quiet spaces with rocks, fountains, streams, trees, and other plant life that would make a wonderful place to relax with a good book.

The screens at the main stage had a slideshow with these "Did You Know" facts about Woodstock interspersed with various advertisements for upcoming shows at the venue.  I'm a nerd for fun facts, so here are four of them.

 

Berlin was the first band to take the stage.  We saw them once before in Philadelphia when they opened for The B-52's just a few months before the start of the pandemic.  They were incredible on that night, and they were every bit as amazing last night in Bethel.

Terri Nunn belted out an eight song setlist with many of my favorite Berlin songs, including Masquerade, No More Words, The Metro, Take My Breath Away, and Sex.  They also performed an amazing cover of one of my favorite songs by The Cult, the 1985 hit single She Sells Sanctuary.  She sounds exactly the same as she always has.

 

Howard Jones took the stage next.  We saw him for the first time six years ago in New Jersey on the Retro Futura tour.  Two years later, we got to see him in Jim Thorpe on the Transform tour, and again just last summer at the Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre where he performed as his own opening act when Midge Ure was unable to perform due to his contracting Covid.

With all due respect to Mr. Jones, who is one of my favorite performers, I enjoyed his set last night the least out of the four times that I've been in attendance for his shows.  He's always been big on audience participation for his shows.  It's a magical feeling when the crowd is so loud and enthusiastic that the entire venue sings out with one voice along with the band.  However, it really is the kind of thing that has to happen organically.  When artists try to force it, or when they overdo the schtick where they hold the microphone out to a crowd that isn't especially loud or enthusiastic, it can begin to feel like we're being cheated.  Unfortunately, that's what happened last night, at least for the beginning of his set.  I'm pretty sure that he didn't sing the entire chorus at any point during his performance of Like To Get To Know You Well, Everlasting Love, or New Song.

If it turns out that he had a sore throat or something and that he was just trying to pace himself, I apologize, but the first three songs were kind of a bummer.  New Song is one of my favorites and getting to hear him sing the word "don't" and then hold the mic out to a crowd whose voices didn't come close to carrying back to our section for the rest of the chorus was disappointing.  Thankfully, he dialed the forced audience participation back a bit by the middle of his set, and he gave an excellent performance of Too Shy with Kajagoogoo bassist Nick Beggs playing and singing background vocals on the hit single that he made famous in 1983.  Mr. Jones also gave a wonderful performance of one of my favorite songs of all time, No One Is To Blame before finishing strong with What Is Love and Things Can Only Get Better, which the crowd did enthusiastically sing along with.

Culture Club was the headliner, and if you're not familiar with their incredible body of work, I suggest that you change that as soon as possible.  Their fusion of pop, rock, reggae, funk, and rhythm & blues was decades ahead of its time.  I still don't think that music has caught up to the genius of Boy George, who has a stronger command of the stage and his audience than anyone who I've ever seen.

The band took the stage with a new song called The Next Thing Will Be Amazing, and it is, in fact, amazing.  Click above to listen to it (credit to @MichaelNJBeatlefest for recording and sharing it).  I don't think it's been included on an album or released as a single yet, but I hope that it's coming soon.

 

The rest of their set was equally amazing.  I'm far from an expert on Culture Club's catalog, but I recognized most of the songs, and I loved the ones that I heard last night for the first time every bit as much as the ones that I grew up with.  The main setlist included It's A Miracle, I'll Tumble 4 Ya, Everything I Own, Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, a seamless mashup of Church Of The Poison Mind with Wham's 1985 hit single I'm Your Man, Time, and Miss Me Blind.

They came out for a three song encore, and I've never been so thankful that I didn't look at the setlists for a tour ahead of time as I was last night, because the first song of the encore was one of the best surprises I've ever had at a concert.  It felt a little bit like that game show Name That Tune, because after the first few notes of music filled the air, I looked at Angie and said "are they going to do Sympathy For The Devil?!".  Sure enough, they did, and it was freaking PHENOMENAL!  They followed this up by blowing the roof off the venue with Karma Chameleon before closing the night out with a cover of Bang A Gong (Get It On) that sent everybody home happy.  From start to finish, this was one of the most fun sets that I've ever seen!

And that's a wrap.  This is a top ten show for me even with my grouchiness about the beginning of Howard Jones' set.  I kind of feel bad for even mentioning it, but I felt it would be disingenuous if I didn't, but nevermind that.  We had great weather, great seats, and a great show with a great crowd.  There's moments during nights like this where I try to take in everything around me and remind myself of just how damn lucky I am to be able to enjoy a night like this.

Here are the setlists for Berlin, Howard Jones, and Culture Club: