ROSELAND BALLROOM DEMOLISHED FOR CONDOMINIUMS
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THE GLORIOUS CORNER
Story By: G. H. HARDING
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| Lady Gaga |
ROSELAND GUTTED --- NYC 's Gothamist ran a photo earlier this week of NY’s beloved Roseland Ballroom , which opened in 1919, in the process of being demolished to make way for a brand new shiny condominium, which the city needs as badly as a DeBlasio second term.
The venue shuttered last April with a series of shows by Lady Gaga, which brought its almost century-long run to an end.
Initially, Roseland was located at 51st Street and Broadway when it opened. During that period, the 3,200-capacity room was a hot spot for jazz and big-band music. The likes of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra headlined there multiple times, and ballroom dancing was also a big draw.
Roseland moved to its current 52nd Street location in 1956 and, at first, maintained its reputation for ballroom dancing — as well as being used for ice-skating and operating as a roller rink. But in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the venue caught up with the times and started to host disco club nights and shows by modern rock, pop, dance and hip-hop acts (everyone from Red Hot Chili Peppers to the Rolling Stones, Kid Creole & The Coconuts and Lorde).
Billboard magazine back in the day ran many of their Disco Forums there and my memories are just filled with terrific times there. The downstairs featured just an amazing labyrinth of endless hallways and everything seemed to be in red.
I must admit that when there was an event or party there, the club looked simply dazzling. I was sorry to see it go in April and looking at this photo just made me feel even worse. Terribly sad.
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| Meg Myers |
MYERS RETURNS --- Corner-favorite Meg Myers premiered the first single “Sorry” from her debut full-length album yesterday.
“Sorry” is the L. A.-based singer/songwriter’s first release since her Make A Shadow EP which featured the lead single “Desire.”
Her debut full-length Sorry will be released this summer on Atlantic Records.
Meg - whose music has been compared to Fiona Apple, NIN, PJ Harvey, Alanis Morissette - spent 2014 on tour with Broods and Royal Blood, and opening for The Pixies at their N. Y. and L. A. shows.
She gained attention with undeniable performances at SXSW, Lollapalooza and Governors Ball. The last single “Desire” spent months last fall in the top 20 at alternative radio and the hauntingly sexual video turned heads: See it here....
DYLAN AND DAVI --- Bob Dylan's album Shadows in the Night has been a surprise hit around the world. A collection of standards from the 30's through the 50's, the album has topped the charts in England and a number of Scandinavian countries.
On Monday, Dylan released a video for the 1941 song “The Night We Called It a Day,” featuring actor Robert Davi.
Written by Matt Dennis and Tony Adair, the song has been recorded by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, June Christy and Diana Krall.
CLOSING NOTES --- Have you seen this new Audi commercial featuring both Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto? It’s almost as good as that Volkswagen one with the Darth Vader kid. Two Spocks smack-talking each other… what could be better? Missing Nimoy even more. Watch it here:
From The Record Man: “Before there was a music business there was Henry Stone who shaped and catapulted the sound of 1970’s Miami into the mainstream with his unique hit-breaking label TK Records. Stone started out in the music distribution business which led him to establish his own independent music label which he ran from a warehouse in Hialeah. TK Record’s first big international hit was George McCrae’s ‘Rock Your Baby’ in 1974, one of the songs credited to starting the disco revolution. The hits kept coming and by the end of the 1970’s the label had several #1 songs in the Billboard Top 100 chart like ‘Get Down Tonight’ and ‘That’s The Way (I Like It)’ by KC and the Sunshine Band and Anita Ward’s ‘Ring My Bell.’ Not long after the disco era was over TK Records went bankrupt, but Stone still had one last piece to add to the Miami music sound puzzle when he helped release what would become the first million seller freestyle hit record Fascinated by Company B.” I knew Stone and he was an old-time gunslinger, who used his tried-and-true methods of record promotion and luck … and, succeeded. Directed by Mark Moormann who also did the Grammy-nominated Tom Dowd & the Language of Music, is a first-class operator. This should be a good one. Watch the trailer here.
Lance Henriksen, from TV’s brilliant Millennium, on Thursday’s Blacklist. Can’t wait!
Meg Myers Photo Courtesy Of: Darren Ankenman
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