NYCity Culture Blog

Apollo Theater Exterior, 2008. Photo courtesy of the Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc. Photo by Shahar Azran

New York City’s Apollo Theater made the news in recent years mainly for holding such events as Michael Jackson’s and James Brown’s memorial services, or Obama’s fundraiser in 2007. There’s was a time though when The Apollo was a symbol for black American culture that changed for good popular-music in the 20th Century.

“Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment” is the title of an exhibition created by the National Museum of African American History and Culture to celebrate the theater’s 75th anniversary and its rich cultural heritage. After being showed in Washington and Chicago, it has finally hit “home” and it’s currently hosted by the Museum of the City of New York in Spanish Harlem.

The exhibit consists mainly of a series of chronological panels and photographs telling the story of the Apollo and linking it to Harlem’s evolution during the last century. It’s surprising to learn that The Apollo started as a segregated burlesque venue devoted to vaudeville style performances. It all changed though in 1934 when the theater was bought by Frank Schiffman, a white Jewish promoter and big fan of what was known back then as “race” music. Around that same time, a movement named the Harlem Renaissance began a cultural, artistic and musical boom in the area, which The Apollo took a huge advantage of introducing a performance contest called Amateur Night.

The most impressive panel in the exhibition is precisely the one that includes the list of winners of Amateur night: Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, the Isley Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, the Jackson 5 or Gladys Knight are among them. Other big names that owe much of their careers to The Apollo are Ray Charles, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin and Mariah Carey.

What would draw more visitors to the exhibit though probably are the items that belonged to some of those artists that are also in display: a Michael Jackson’s Fedora, one of James Brown’s colorful suits, Louis Armstrong’s trumpet, a dress that Celia Cruz used to wear…

“I remember being blown away in my childhood when my father played James Brown’s Live at The Apollo in the car,” said Lidia Ponce de León, a Spanish architect who is currently living in New York and visited the exhibit. “But I never understood what this theater was really about until now.”

The visit to the museum could be complemented with a visit to the actual Apollo, that will host again Amateur Night starting April 6. Things have not changed much in this mythical avenue’s main event, except that Ella Fitzgerald won $25 in its first edition and now the winners can take home $10,000.

James Brown at The Apollo in 1968

“Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment” is on view through May 1 at the Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue; $10 adults, $10 students, seniors; mcny.org.

Danny Stiles had 63-years on the radio and a quarter of a million records in his collection.  The 87-year-old radio deejay passed away from complications of heart problems on March 11, 2011. The “Vicar of Vintage Vinyl” left behind a legacy of oldies but goodies and a legion of fans. Stiles has not been forgotten–from the tribute posts on his facebook page to the call-ins on the tribute WNYC radio show his passing signals the departure of a bygone era of radio.

Stiles spun records at 27 different New York area radio stations in his lifetime. At his birthday party at John’s Pizzeria in December he perked up when asked about contemporary music: “I think it’s terrible. I don’t understand it–I can’t understand the music. I can’t decipher the lyrics and the melodies all sound the same.” He thought that things started to go down-hill after the Beatles.  Elvis, he said, was all right.

“He was a great guy, I’ve known him since the ‘70s,” said band leader Vince Giordano. Vince of Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks, had known Stiles from their early days together at the now defunct Red Jacket jazz club. Giordano recalled how they used to try to “stump the chump” on obscure tunes from the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s.  Giordano said that Stiles was hard to challenge when it came to obscure big-band knowledge.  He managed to stump him with a reference to “an obscure dance band from the Mid-west.”

Stiles counted “Body and Soul” by Coleman Hawkins as his favorite song, even though choosing was one difficult. When asked how long he’ll be on the radio Stiles said, “As long as I’m alive.”

Image Courtesy: www.tbd.com

Crowds headed to Washington D.C last weekend for the anniversary of one of the most controversial issues in art in the United States.

They were going to a conference at the Corcoran Museum to examine the state of censorship of art today and reflect on and the event of 20 years before. The Perfect Moment or imperfect moment in question, as perhaps it should be now known, was an exhibition in 1988, which became clouded in scandal, due to the graphic nature of Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographs and the federal funds that supported the show.

“The status quo is never going to be interesting for very long in the art world,” says Michael Iacovone, panelist, artist and founder of the Museum of Censored Art. “If you can find someone who is doing something provocative it’s a tool to get more people interested but any time the general public feel their money is being misspent issues of censorship arise.”

When the exhibition appeared at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, in 1989, the museum’s director Dennis Barrie was arrested and the prosecution attempted to charge him with pandering to obscenity.

Image Courtesy: Cincinnati Enquirer/www.cincinnati.com

The Corcoran, the host of the conference, never showed the exhibition as it was intended to, and as a result, many private funds were pulled from the museum.

“It wasn’t that people pulled their funding because they were offended that the show was up, they pulled the funding because the show was pulled down.  The Corcoran have felt repercussions of that even to this day.” says Iacovone.

And yet looking back at this event last weekend shows little has changed when it comes to art that challenges societies taboos.  Late last year David Wojnarowicz’s video work Fire In My Belly was removed from the Hide/Seek exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery due to congressional pressure from religious spokespersons. In response the Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe Foundations pulled their funding to the NPG and Smithsonian.

There is no easy solution to art and censorship issues.  In reflecting however, perhaps we stir up support for a future that understands and considers how to host difficult works of art.

Don Draper. Courtesy of tvfanatic.com.

“Mad Men” fans may have reason to worry this week. A rush of news has appeared  with certain aspects of the show’s future in doubt. (First, the bad news: It won’t be claiming to its traditional end of July/early August start date. But “Mad Men” will definitely return in 2012.)

There are a few sticking points that have yet to be ironed out between series creator Matthew Weiner and cable channel AMC, which runs the show. Among them: AMC has asked to cut six characters over the course of three more seasons, feature more product placement and take two minutes off the run time. In return, AMC will pay Weiner $30 million over those three years.

Since this decision involves creative control and business management, let’s take a look at the issue to see what each side could argue via a SWOT analysis.

Strengths:

Art:

Weiner can easily use the fact that he single-handedly brought AMC back on the broadcasting radar as leverage. “Hey, remember when my show won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series three years in a row? Good times.”

He can also argue on the cultural impact it’s made. From Barbie dolls to “Sterling’s Gold,” the show has generated revenue beyond DVD and Blu-Ray. It’s influenced fashion and interior design trends. In observing media trends, there’s been much ink (mostly positive) spilled over the show.

If each instance of influence was quantified into a monetary sum, the total would be, uh, pretty large.

Commerce:

AMC could pull the “we took you in when HBO didn’t” card, essentially saying they could make the show with or without Weiner.

Weaknesses:

Art:

Reports are that Weiner has been off hitting the slopes instead of continuing negotiations with AMC. The fact that he’s gone during such a crucial juncture makes it look like he’s a little overconfident in getting what he wants. This could spell trouble for him in later negotiations.

Commerce:

AMC has apparently overlooked the fact that “Mad Men” is an award-winning, highly-acclaimed show. So why is now the right time to step in and mess with a successful formula?

This is similar to a parent letting a child’s bad behavior slide for awhile, and then attempting to discipline. Except that “Mad Men” has been, by all accounts, an outstanding child of AMC: raising its profile and status, bringing in revenue and awards. There seems to be no good (or even) real reason to change that which makes the show so successful. It doesn’t look like AMC has a strong argument.

Opportunities:

Art:

AMC reportedly wants to add in more product placement. Since it’s a show about advertising, would that mean more blatantly doing so or just more of the same, featuring products at the centers of campaigns?

Some obvious products featured thus far include Utz chips, American Airlines and Lucky Strike cigarettes. And those were just a few of multi-arc candidates. But as the show moves forward in time (and presumably into the ’70s), Weiner could take the opportunity to show some not-so-traditional products. It’d be keeping right in line with Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce’s self-positioning as a “young and hip” agency.

Commerce:

Since it’ll be a few months before the new season begins airing, viewers may forget about the show or even lose interest when it airs again.

AMC could air the entire series to date in the months leading up to the new season. This would help refresh viewers who were previously familiar with the show, as well as lure in potential new viewers. It would also boost DVD and Blu-Ray sales of the four previous seasons. Then, when the fifth season begins, previous events (that will no doubt be referenced later) will still be relatively fresh in fans’ minds.

Threats:

Art:

Obviously, if AMC’s demands are implemented, “Mad Men” will become a much different show. Wiener has differentiated his show with strict attention to detail in all aspects of production. If Wiener agrees to any of the demands, it would end up as a very different show, and it might lose loyal viewers. Consequently, the show’s overall value would drop, and that would reflect poorly on AMC.

Commerce:

The show might lose the buzz it’s been steadily generating since the first season. Until now, fans had been able to nearly set their calendars by each season’s return date. But now, they’ll have to wait another five months or longer to see the gang back in action.

And those five months could prove detrimental to the show’s audience. Attention spans move quickly, and a show that isn’t airing might be “out of sight, out of mind” for some. So in the meantime, AMC would need to find a way to keep “Mad Men” prominently in their fans’ minds.