May 2025 - Ramblin' with Roger

Juke Box Race Records #1s for 1945

I Wonder

The designation of black/soul/R&B music has changed over time—the Juke Box Race Records #1s for 1945 cover most of that year.

The Honeydripper, parts 1 and 2 – Joe Liggins and His Honeydrippers: “Little” Willie Jackson – Alto and Baritone, James Jackson – Tenor, Joe Liggins -Piano, Eddie Davis (Exclusive), written by Liggins – Bass (Exclusive records), 18 weeks at #1, starting on 9/18 through the end of the year. The tune was based around the traditional song “Shortnin’ Bread.” Hit cover versions were also made by Jimmie Lunceford (#2 R&B, 1945), Roosevelt Sykes (#3 R&B, 1945), and Cab Calloway (#3 R&B, 1946).

Who Through The Whiskey In The Well (DeLange-Brooks) Lucky Millinder & his Orchestra, vocal by Wynonie “Mr. Blues” Harris and Congregation (Decca), eight weeks at #1. I LOVE this song!

I Wonder – Roosevelt Sykes and his piano with electric guitar and traps (Bluebird/Victor), seven weeks at #1

Caldonia (F. Moore) Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five (Decca), seven weeks at #1

Tippin’ In (Bobby Smith) – Erskine Hawkins & his Orchestra (RCA Victor), six weeks at #1. Instrumental.

I Wonder– Pvt. Cecil Gant (Gilt-Edge Records), written by Gilt, two weeks at #1. “This was the influential 1940s blues singer/pianist’s second recorded version of what became his signature ballad (the first was done for the Bronze label earlier in ’44). Label-billed as “The G.I. Sing-Sation,” he was serving in the army at the time.” This version charted first, followed immediately by the Sykes take.

Mop! Mop! – Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five (Claude DeMetruis-J. Mayo Williams) (Decca) -one week at #1

Somebody’s Got To Go – (Haggart) – Cootie Williams & his Orchestra, vocal by Eddie Vinson, one week at #1. This was Billboard’s final Harlem Hit Parade title on February 10, 1945.

May rambling: To Secure These Rights

Charles Strouse

To Secure These Rights: The Report of the President’s Committee on Civil Rights. HARRY S. TRUMAN, The White House, December 5, 1946.

How Civil Rights Were Made—and Remade—By Black Communities In the Jim Crow South

In HR 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed by the House of Representatives, Sec. 70302: “This section limits the ability of U.S. courts to enforce a citation for contempt for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order. Specifically, if no security was given when the injection or order was issued, the citation of contempt may not be enforced using appropriated funds. This limitation applies to injunctions or orders issued before, on, or after the date of enactment.”

The AKG Museum exhibit honoring the people killed in the shootings at Tops Market in Buffalo, 5-14-2022, including the poem Mourning Until Morning by Jillian Hanesworth

The ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Uncensored Oral History of a Revolution

My Father Prosecuted History’s Crimes. Then He Died in One. He was a Nazi hunter — and was killed in the Lockerbie bombing. What does it mean to seek justice for his death?

Wendy McMahon Resigns as Head of CBS News: “Company and I Do Not Agree on the Path Forward”

This Channel Is Biased

A business owner tested whether customers would pay more for American-made products. The results were ‘sobering.’

Revisiting Biden’s Decline

The Long, Strange Trip of the Titanic Victims Whose Remains Surfaced Hundreds of Miles Away, Weeks After the Ship Sank

And…

Baby Is Healed With the World’s First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment. The technique used on a 9½-month-old boy with a rare condition has the potential to help people with thousands of other uncommon genetic diseases.

John shares some extremely good news six years into Nerdfighteria’s effort to improve maternal and child health in Sierra Leone.

No One Knows When They Don’t Die

Legendary comic book writer Peter David dies at age 68

James McEachin, Star of ‘Tenafly’ and Perry Mason Telefilms, Dies at 94

George Wendt, the Beer-Loving Norm on ‘Cheers,’ Dies at 77

Discover® is now part of Capital One as of May 18, 2025

June Squibb on Her Nonagenarian Career High

Why Teacher Jamal Roberts is the New American Idol

Autocephality is a fancy word for self-governance. It’s mainly used in the context of Eastern Orthodox Churches that independently govern their spiritual affairs without a higher ecclesiastical authority.

Now I Know: It’s Not Easy Being Clean and Why Purple is the Royal Color and The Secret Code of Central Park’s Lamp Post and It’s Not Easy Driving Green

On and on…

Yes, this is Project 2025 (ft. Liz Dye)

The Greatness Paradox: His notion of national greatness is stuck in the Napoleonic Era, which is causing him to destroy everything that makes America great today.

Harvard Derangement Syndrome

Him & The Press: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

His CFPB kills the data broker rule

When He Was the One Taking Land From Farmers and How His Embrace of Afrikaner “Refugees” Became a Joke in South Africa

She Devoted Her Life to Serving the U.S. Then DOGE Targeted Her. A veteran who returned from Iraq injured and transformed, Joy Marver is now facing a crisis at home.

We’re Experts in Fascism. We’re Leaving the U.S.

Why Eliminating the NEA Would Be a Disaster For Our Country

The New DEI — Discrimination, Exclusion, and Inequity

All Hail Our Rococo President!

Strange Bedfellows and Long Knives, about the secret engine of sweeping political upheavals (like Trumpism) and their inherent fragility

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” -Harry S. Truman, 33rd US president (8 May 1884-26 December 1972)

Heather Cox Richardson, May 23 (in part)

After S.V. Date of HuffPost noted last week that the White House had published fewer than 20% of [his] speeches, the White House has stopped publishing a database of official transcripts of [his] announcements, appearances, and speeches altogether and has taken down those it had published. Instead, it will just post videos. And yet it is publishing just a few of the videos of the president’s term: so far, fewer than 50 videos of the first 120 days of his term, according to Brian Stelter of CNN.

A presidential administration traditionally publishes the president’s words promptly to establish a record. The White House, in contrast, says removing the transcripts will enable people to get a better sense of him by watching his videos. But it’s likely closer to the truth that his appearances since he took office have been erratic, and removing the transcripts will make it harder for people to read his nonsensical rambles.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The [FOTUS] White House is the most transparent in history,” but of course, it’s objectively not. White House officials have made it impossible to tell who is making decisions at the Department of Government Efficiency, for example, or who gave the order to render migrants to El Salvador. Now the president’s words, too, will be hidden.

MUSIC

Charles Strouse, Tony-winning composer of Annie, Applause, and Bye Bye Birdie, dies at 96. He’s known for such songs as “Tomorrow,” “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “Put on a Happy Face,” and the ‘All in the Family’ theme song, “Those Were the Days.” He also wrote scores for motion pictures, including The Night They Raided Minsky’s

That’s Trump Derangement! – A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

Pamela Bondi – Marsh Family parody of The One and Only sung by Chesney Hawkes (by Nik Kershaw)

Wasted Love – JJ

New Day Will Rise – Yuval Raphael

Rick Derringer, a Zelig-like rocker, the guitarist, singer, and songwriter, dies at 77. Hang On Sloopy – The McCoys. Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo – Rick Derringer. Eat It – Weird Al Yankovic (Rick plays lead guitar; he produced six of Al’s albums)

Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)-The New Edition, featuring Kenny Rogers

Somewhere Over Laredo – Lainey Wilson

On an American Spiritual by David R. Holsinger

Leucadia Uncompromised – Peter Sprague

The Firebird suite by Igor Stravinsky

Coverville 1534: Brothers in Arms Album Cover and Devo Cover Story

Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)‎ ‎- Taylor Swift ‎ ‎

Don’t You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds

Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck covering Curtis Mayfield’s People Get Ready

Crazy For You – Madonna

Harry Truman – Chicago

Newspaper delivery and a bank call

$1 bills in the ATM

Oddly, my newspaper delivery and a bank call made me feel nostalgic.

Our newspaper deliverer called us Sunday night, leaving us a message on the answering machine that the Times Union had altered the delivery route and that they wouldn’t be delivering for us starting Monday morning. They asked us to call them back, but I didn’t initially have a chance.

On Monday, the paper was delivered to the sidewalk curb. Tuesday’s paper made it to the sidewalk, and Wednesday’s was on the edge of the grass near the sidewalk.

I called our previous deliverer, who was always gracious and promptly got the paper to us, barring a blizzard or TU production problem. They got shifted to a downtown route with a day’s notice.

I called the Times Union circulation number – a lovely one, BTW, 518 454-5454 – about the new less-than-useful delivery person. Surprisingly, I got to a Real Person after a few automated options.

I noted that the previous folks had always delivered the paper to the porch. Then, I stated that I had delivered papers as a young teen – Binghamton’s Evening and Sunday Press – and that I always threw them on the porch. (This is technically not true; sometimes, they wanted the paper between the front and the screen doors or in a milk carton, and I would accommodate that. BTW, I can still fold and toss a weekday newspaper.)

The TU representative agreed with my assessment and put the information in a portal where the new delivery person would see it. Sure enough, our papers landed on the porch subsequently.

Bank call

On the same Wednesday, my bank’s branch manager called me to see if I had any questions or issues. I had assumed he was calling about a problem or to get me to utilize a different bank product.

Nope, he just wanted to know how things were going. I was fascinated that he knew I was a bank customer three acquisitions ago, in February 1978!

I did have one question. Why can’t I get one-dollar bills from the ATM? The answer is that I can, but only through the drive-through ATM. It reminded me of the drive-throughs I’ve used in New Paltz and Schenectady, when I had to avoid the motor vehicles gingerly.

He did want to see my DMV card because the one they had on file had expired years ago. I didn’t recall I had given the bank that info. Later, I walked to the branch and showed the guy the info. I shared with him that I worked at that 1978 antecedent, but quit, because I took a job at the Schenectady Arts Council. I went from making $6,000 to $8,200 per year. Also, I wouldn’t have to spend an hour trying to find why I was a nickel off.

Some days, I wonder what happens with my days. Sure, I play Wordle, Quordle, and Connections, make breakfast, write a blog post, load or empty the dishwasher, work on getting speakers for the library, pay bills, and try to keep up with the news. But where does the REST of the time go? On that particular day, I was engaging in a bit of nostalgia.

Hello! My Name Is Blotto: The Movie!

Bowtie, Broadway, Cheese, Sergeant, Lee Harvey, Blanche, Chevrolet, et al.

I had a deep-seated NEED to see the documentary Hello! My Name Is Blotto: The Movie! Here’s the trailer.

At this point, I need to explain what Blotto was. Initially, several of the members were part of the Star Spangled Washboard Band in the 1970s, starting off in Lake George, NY. They achieved a modicum of fame, even appearing on The Mike Douglas Show, which was a big deal. (John and Yoko co-hosted the show in 1972.)

Then, the SSWB disbanded and, through some alchemy, became Blotto, with the members all having the same last name, a la the Ramones. They created a song, “I Wanna Be a Lifeguard.” The Albany-based group received airplay from WNEW in NYC and other stations in the Northeast and beyond. They had achieved a modicum of fame.

A new entity called Music Television was created in 1981. The folks at MTV wanted to know if Blotto had a video. A few months earlier, a couple of college kids working on their final project offered to make a short film of Lifeguard, which aired as the 36th video to play on MTV on August 1 of that year. And Lifeguard had a new life.

They toured incessantly, releasing some singles and the album Combo Akimbo, which had a great cover designed by the late, great John Caldwell. That album included I Quit.

FantaCo, the comic book store I worked at for much of the 1980s, carried their music partly because we were all part of the city’s arts scene. I got to know some of the guys. (We ended up at a restaurant in Troy after Raoul Vezina’s funeral in November 1983.)

But the music industry didn’t know how to categorize them. Blotto was not a comedy group, though there were comedic elements. Metal Head, for instance, annoyed some, er, metal heads, even though it featured Buck Dharma of Blue Öyster Cult. Incidentally, there’s a funny story about a biker’s helmet.

Now what?

Eventually, they played less often and got “grown-up” jobs, such as Paul Rapp (drummer F. Lee Harvey) attending law school and becoming an intellectual property attorney.

Sarge (Greg Haymes) became a writer covering the music scene, primarily for the Albany Times Union and the Nippertown website. I would see him all over the area until his untimely death from cancer. I attended his funeral at the Egg, the first time I’d seen Broadway (Bill Polchinski, a social worker) in years.

Oh, the movie! I forgot. It was great! Lee Harvey, Broadway, and Bowtie (Paul Jossman, who got into computers) were the core conversants, along with Blanche (actor/director Helena Binder). There were old interviews with Sarge and Cheese (Keith Stephenson, who died in 1999).

The film featured familiar faces such as Jim Furlong (Last Vestige Records, and member of the music group the A.D.’s –Livin’ Downtown), Vinnie Birbiglia of the club J.B. Scott’s, and MTV VJ Martha Quinn.

I wish I could have gone to the world premiere at the Cohoes Music Hall, but I was out of town for a wedding. So when it was announced that it would be shown at the Spectrum Theatre in Albany, I was there for the Monday 3 p.m. show, the second of a two-week run. There will be others.

Blotto put Albany on the national music map and supported other local bands in the 1980s.

Roger: another book review and giving blood

solar lantern

Sometimes, it IS all about me.

ITEM: At 2 p.m. on June 3, Roger will conduct another book review in the large meeting room at the Washington Avenue branch of the Albany Public Library.

June 3 | Book Review | 60 Songs That Explain the 90’s by Rob Harvilla. Reviewer: Roger Green, business librarian, retired from the NY Small Business Development Center.

You’ll find the other reviews for June below.

ITEM: The APL library budget passed! And the candidates I supported won! Also, the City School budget was approved.

ITEM: Speaking of the Albany schools, Albany High School sponsored another American Red Cross Blood Drive. Last Monday, I noted that I had not donated blood in 2025, so I checked the Red Cross calendar. Sure enough, there was a drive at AHS, only 0.7 mile away, on Wednesday, May 21.

In recent years, they have been giving away T-shirts. I now have a lot of tees. But I could “get an exclusive American Red Cross solar lantern when you come to give blood May 19-31, while supplies last.” So I opted for that gift, though I would have donated without an incentive. They told me it’s time #183; my donation time was six minutes, ten seconds. It probably took that long because the scar makes it more challenging to get to the vein.

My buddy Alicia, the school librarian, coordinated the drive and got the photographer to take the picture above. A friend saw it on the school district’s Facebook page and forwarded it to me, which I have purloined.

ITEM: I got to sing at two funerals on successive Saturdays this month, for Christy on May 3 and Don on May 10. Both were great events but exhausting. Going to the Greek Festival the following weekend was a pleasant diversion.

ITEM: It happens a lot: two First Friday events, one at my church (see above) and a new Art at APL Exhibit opening at the Pine Hills branch, both on June 6. Cloning is not an option.

APL Book reviews, Tuesday at 2pm

At the blood drive, I talked to school librarian Kristen, who works at several districts, about getting speakers for the FFAPL Tuesday talks. If you’re interested in doing a book review or an author talk, please let me know. They are all on Tuesdays at 2 p.m. at the Washington Avenue branch of the Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue.

May 27 | Book Review | Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Reviewer: Elaine Garrett, BFA, MA, STEM Outreach and Workforce Development, SUNY Research Foundation at NY Creates and the NYS Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology, UAlbany.

June 10 | Book Review | Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me about Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter. By William Deresiewicz. Reviewer: Gene Damm, former president, Friends of APL.

June 17 | Book Review | He, Leo: The Life and Poetry of Lew Welch by Ewan Clark. Reviewer: Dan Wilcox, noted local poet & peace activist.

June 24 | Book Review | Germinal by Émile Zola. Reviewer: Carl Strock, author & award-winning journalist.

ITEM: I’m having some dental pain. My dentist referred me to an oral surgeon, whom I won’t see until late June. Meanwhile, I need to set up an appointment for my foot ailment.