1.
Maspeth, Queens
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Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers, the name Maspeth is derived from the name of Mespeatches Indians, one of the 13 main Indian tribes that inhabited Long Island. It is translated to mean at the bad waterplace relating to the many stagnant swamps that existed in the area, the area known today as Maspeth was chartered by New Netherlanders and English settlers in the early 17th century. The Dutch had purchased land in the area today as Queens in 1635. As part of the signature, the Newtown Patent granted 13,000 acres to settlers. Conflicts with the Maspat tribe forced many settlers to move to what is now Elmhurst in 1643, the settlement was leveled the following year in an attack by Native Indians, and the surviving settlers returned to Manhattan. In 1652, settlers ventured back to the area, settling an area inland from the previous Maspat location. This new area was called Middleburg, and eventually developed into what is now the town of Elmhurst, originally,28 English Quakers had founded the village of Maspeth, which had sizable water and milling industries along Newtown Creek and Maspeth Creek. Two storekeepers, Nathanial Hazard and Francis T. White, sold food and clothes at the Maspeth Town Docks, at what is now 56th Terrace and Rust Street, after the American Revolutionary War, villagers repaved roads with crushed oyster shells or wooden planks. Columbusville was the name applied to a section of Maspeth. It was a development of Edward Dunn that took place on 69th Place between Grand Avenue and Caldwell Avenue during 1854–55, and was absorbed into Maspeth. The name fell into disuse in the 1890s, following the immigration waves of the 19th century, Maspeth was home to a shanty town of Boyash Gypsies between 1925 and 1939, though this was eventually bulldozed. The area consisting of 43rd Street through 58th Street, including the former Furman Island, is industrial lowlands, in the 2000s, politicians started to make efforts to clean up the Newtown and Maspeth Creeks. A new West Maspeth rail freight station has been proposed in connection with a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel to diminish truck traffic across New York City and it is opposed by residents who do not want more trucks in Maspeth. The Elmhurst gas tanks were located in the area and were demolished in 2001. The Maspeth gas tanks were located in the area until they were demolished. Single and multi-family dwellings make up most of Maspeth as there are few apartment buildings, houses in Maspeth range from 400–600 thousand dollars. Much of the commerce is situated along Grand Avenue
2.
Doo-wop
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Built upon vocal harmony, doo-wop was one of the most mainstream, pop-oriented R&B styles of the time. Doo-wop features vocal harmony, nonsense syllables, a simple beat, sometimes little or no instrumentation. The first record to use the syllables doo-wop was the 1955 hit When You Dance by The Turbans, the term doo-wop first appeared in print in 1961. During the late 1950s many Italian-American groups contributed a significant part in the doo-wop scene, the peak of doo-wop was in 1961. Doo-wops influence continued in soul, pop, and rock groups of the 1960s, at various times in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, the genre has seen revivals. Doo-wop was a precursor to many of the African-American musical styles seen today, an evolution of jazz and blues, doo-wop also influenced many of the major rock and roll groups that defined the later decades of the 20th century. Doo-wop is iconic for its beats and using the off-beat to keep time. Doo-wop laid the foundation for musical innovations, for example. These were generally slow songs in swing time with simple instrumentation, the subject of the lyrics was generally love and relationships. This characteristic harmonic layout was combined with the AABA chorus form typical for Tin Pan Alley pop, a second stream of doo-wop oriented itself to the harmonic, formal and melodic means of jump blues. From the outset, singers gathered on street corners, and in subways, for instance, Count Every Star by The Ravens, includes vocalizations imitating the doomph, doomph plucking of a double bass. This art dates to The Mills Brothers, who first came to fame in the 1930s with their mimicking of instrumental music, radio, gramophone, and cinema inspired imitation in many U. S. cities. The late 1940s and early 1950s brought the bird groups, The Swallows. A number of names are also drawn from cars. The Orioles helped develop the sound with their hits Its Too Soon to Know. The term doo-wop first appeared in print in 1961 in the Chicago Defender, the phrase was attributed to radio disc jockey Gus Gossert but Gossert suggested doo-wop was already in use to categorize the music in California. The first record to use the syllables doo-wop in the refrain was the 1955 hit When You Dance by The Turbans, previously, the scat backing vocal doo-wop is heard in The Clovers 1953 release Good Lovin and in the chorus of Carlyle Dundee & The Dundees 1954 song Never. After some time, the term doo-wop finally caught on as both a description and category for R&B vocal group harmony, the definition expanded backward to include rhythm and blues groups from the mid-1950s, then cascaded even further back to include groups from the 1940s
3.
The Earth Angels
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The Earth Angels are a Spanish doo-wop vocal group formed in Catalonia. They became a band in 2007, when Christian Carrasco a Bass-baritone, announced in a web page that he was looking for a singer of doo wop and he found Jordi Majó, the main vocalist. Since then, they carried out live performances based in the tradition as well as in radio and television stations in Barcelona, in 2008, they starred a television ad for the Vodafone telecommunications company. In 2010, with the release of their first commercial job, with this debut album, however, they’ve turned in one of the most satisfying and credible modern doo wop collections we’ve ever heard. At the hall of the hotel Hilton, they performed a live a cappella cover of the American hit A Thousand Stars with The Quotations and Kathy Young, the original singer of the song. Shortly thereafter, on June 25,2010, they participated in the edition of the voice festivals Phonica in the Catalonian town of Banyoles. They owe their success in the United States to having been discovered by Joe Conroy from the radio station Doo Wop Café, Conroy found a cover they had uploaded to the YouTube network of the song My Island in The Sun, primary performed by The Capris. On the other hand, Carmen Kaye, the presenter of the Australian radio station Doo Wop Corner, the twelfth of February 2011, they participated in the Rock, Rhythm & Doo-Wop. Jordi Majó, the main vocalist, met the American classic music through the liking of his mother by it, listening since he was a kid to jazz, doo-wop and rock and roll. Listening to the Spanish radio program Flor de Pasión, directed by Juan de Pablos, they discovered in more depth, at a very young age, Joan developed an ear for instruments and learned to play piano, guitar, drums, mouth organ and other air instruments. He is also a member of a band called Cram. In 2007, Christian reunited with a friend whom in the beginning of the 1990s,15 years before, together they formed a band called Street Candles, which ended forming two vocal groups, The Velvet Candles and The Earth Angels. Success after success, they became engaged to enliven the party of Iñaki Urdangarín, with the Spanish Royal Family. Despite not having been advertised, as Vodafones advert does not indicate who they are, in just over four months their commercial page received about 12.000 visits
4.
Benedum Center
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The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts is a theater and concert hall located at 237 7th Street in the Cultural District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm Hoffman-Henon, it was built in 1928 as the Stanley Theatre, the former movie palace was renovated and reopened as the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts in 1987. The Stanley Theatre, built at a cost of $3 million, opened as a movie palace February 27,1928. It was designed by the architectural firm Hoffman−Henon who were best known for their design of 35 theaters in the Philadelphia area, the Stanley Theatre was the largest movie theater in Western Pennsylvania. Operated by the Stanley Warner Theatres circuit division of Warner Bros. it was Pittsburghs main first run house for all Warner Bros. film releases, in 1974 War and King Crimson played at the Stanley. In 1976, the Stanley was purchased and renovated by the Cinemette Corporation to be operated as a movie theater, in 1977, DiCesare Engler Productions bought the theater. September 23,1978, Frank Zappa played 2 sets at the Stanley Theatre, ticket picture at, Frank Zappa - Full Concert - 10/13/78 - Capitol Theatre + ticket Live rock and roll concerts presented through 1984. The Grateful Dead performed four shows at the venue, and reggae musician Bob Marley performed his last live concert there in 1980, the only known photographs from the show were featured in Kevin Macdonalds documentary film Marley. Prince kicked off his Controversy Tour in 1981 at the Stanley, the rock band Kansas chose the Benedum Center to host its 40th Anniversary Fan Appreciation Concert on August 17,2013, which all the original members were to attend. The Stanley Theater was named Number One Auditorium in the U. S. by Billboard several times during the DiCesare-Engler years, on September 25,1987, after a $43 million restoration was completed, the Stanley reopened as the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts. In converting the former palace into a full performing arts center. The interior was preserved and restored to its original design. The centerpiece of the auditorium is the chandelier in the dome above the balcony. It weighs 4,700 lb, is 20 feet high by 12 feet wide and its restoration was dedicated to the late H. J. Heinz II. Today the center is the home of the Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, the 2, 800-seat Benedum Center is a centerpiece of the Pittsburgh Cultural District and is one of the most utilized theaters in the nation today. The center has hosted several PBS doo-wop television concert specials including Doo Wop 50, the TV game show Wheel of Fortune taped two weeks of shows at the theater in 1998. 2011s Live Forever, The Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA, hBOs Boardwalk Empire mentioned a tap dancing act as having played the Stanley in Pittsburgh for three weeks during its season 4 premier. The Benedum Center was featured prominently in the 2006 documentary film Pittsburgh directed by Jeff Goldblum, the film follows Goldblums appearances in the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera production of The Music Man staged at the theater
5.
Pittsburgh
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Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. The city proper has a population of 304,391. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U. S. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment, Americas 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. The area has served also as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University, the region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The current pronunciation, which is unusual in English speaking countries, is almost certainly a result of a printing error in some copies of the City Charter of March 18,1816. The error was repeated commonly enough throughout the rest of the 19th century that the pronunciation was lost. After a public campaign the original spelling was restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee, the first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century, Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers, during 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalles 1669 claims, the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne, the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddocks Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758, Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough
6.
Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania /ˌpɛnsᵻlˈveɪnjə/, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle, Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest, the 5th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The states five most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, the state capital, and its ninth-largest city, is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 140 miles of shoreline along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary. The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States, it came into being in 1681 as a result of a land grant to William Penn. Part of Pennsylvania, together with the present State of Delaware, had earlier been organized as the Colony of New Sweden and it was the second state to ratify the United States Constitution, on December 12,1787. Independence Hall, where the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were drafted, is located in the states largest city of Philadelphia, during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, was fought in the south central region of the state. Valley Forge near Philadelphia was General Washingtons headquarters during the winter of 1777–78. Pennsylvania is 170 miles north to south and 283 miles east to west, of a total 46,055 square miles,44,817 square miles are land,490 square miles are inland waters, and 749 square miles are waters in Lake Erie. It is the 33rd largest state in the United States, Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Cities include Philadelphia, Reading, Lebanon and Lancaster in the southeast, Pittsburgh in the southwest, the tri-cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, the northeast includes the former anthracite coal mining communities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston City, and Hazleton. Erie is located in the northwest, the state has 5 regions, namely the Allegheny Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Erie Plain. Straddling two major zones, the majority of the state, with the exception of the corner, has a humid continental climate. The largest city, Philadelphia, has characteristics of the humid subtropical climate that covers much of Delaware. Moving toward the interior of the state, the winter climate becomes colder, the number of cloudy days increase. Western areas of the state, particularly locations near Lake Erie, can receive over 100 inches of snowfall annually, the state may be subject to severe weather from spring through summer into fall. Tornadoes occur annually in the state, sometimes in large numbers, the Tuscarora Nation took up temporary residence in the central portion of Pennsylvania ca. Both the Dutch and the English claimed both sides of the Delaware River as part of their lands in America
7.
Queens
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Queens is the easternmost and largest in area of the five boroughs of New York City. Coterminous with Queens County since 1899, the borough of Queens is the second-largest in population, with a census-estimated 2,339,150 residents in 2015, approximately 48% of them foreign-born. Queens County also is the second-most populous county in the U. S. state of New York, behind the borough of Brooklyn. Queens is the fourth-most densely populated county among New York Citys boroughs, if each of New York Citys boroughs were an independent city, Queens also would be the nations fourth most populous city, after Los Angeles, Chicago, and Brooklyn. Queens is the most ethnically diverse area in the world. Queens was established in 1683 as one of the original 12 counties of New York and it was named after the Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. It became a borough of New York City in 1898, and from 1683 until 1899, Queens has the most diversified economy of the five boroughs of New York City It is home to JFK International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. These airports are among the busiest in the world, causing the airspace above Queens to be the most congested in the country, attractions in Queens include Flushing Meadows Park, Citi Field, the US Open tennis tournament, Kaufman Astoria Studios, Silvercup Studios, and Aqueduct Racetrack. European colonization brought Dutch and English settlers, as a part of the New Netherland colony, First settlements occurred in 1635 followed by early colonizations at Maspeth in 1642, and Vlissingen in 1643. Other early settlements included Newtown and Jamaica, however, these towns were mostly inhabited by English settlers from New England via eastern Long Island subject to Dutch law. After the capture of the colony by the English and its renaming as New York in 1664, the Flushing Remonstrance signed by colonists in 1657 is considered a precursor to the United States Constitutions provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights. The signers protested the Dutch colonial authorities persecution of Quakers in what is today the borough of Queens, originally, Queens County included the adjacent area now comprising Nassau County. It was a county of New York State, one of twelve created on November 1,1683. The county was named after Catherine of Braganza, since she was queen of England at the time, the county was founded alongside Kings County, and Richmond County. On October 7,1691, all counties in the Colony of New York were redefined, Queens gained North Brother Island, South Brother Island, and Huletts Island. On December 3,1768, Queens gained other islands in Long Island Sound that were not already assigned to a county, Queens played a minor role in the American Revolution, as compared to Brooklyn, where the Battle of Long Island was largely fought. Queens, like the rest of Long Island, remained under British occupation after the Battle of Long Island in 1776 and was occupied throughout most of the rest of the Revolutionary War. Under the Quartering Act, British soldiers used, as barracks, even though many local people were against unannounced quartering, sentiment throughout the county remained in favor of the British crown
8.
Sibling
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A sibling is one of two or more individuals having one or both parents in common. A male sibling is a brother, and a sibling is a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings often grow up together, the emotional bond between siblings is often complicated and is influenced by factors such as parental treatment, birth order, personality, and personal experiences outside the family. However, there are cases where siblings grow up in separate homes and it is known that both nature and nurture figure in development, researchers are attempting to ascertain just which one plays the larger role. Identical twins share 100% of their DNA, full siblings are first-degree relatives and, on average, share 50% of their genes out of those that vary among humans. Half-siblings are second-degree relatives and have, on average, a 25% overlap in their genetic variation. Full siblings have the same parents and are 50% related. Identical twins by definition are 100% related, there are two types of twins, identical and fraternal. Identical twins have exactly the same genes, fraternal twins are no more similar than regular siblings, often, twins with a close relationship will develop a twin language from infanthood, a language only shared and understood between the two. Studies suggest that identical twins appear to display more twin talk than fraternal twins, at about 3 years of age, twin talk usually ends. Researchers were interested in subjects who were in the years of life. They knew that past studies suggested that genetics played a role in ones personality in the earlier years of their life. However, they were curious about whether or not this was later on in life. They gathered subjects with an age of 59, who included 99 pairs of identical twins. They also gathered twins who were reared together,160 pairs of identical twins and they studied the most heritable traits in regard to personality, which are emotionality, activity level and sociability, also known as EAS. This study found that identical twins resembled each other twice as much as fraternal twins, furthermore, environment influences personality substantially, however, it has little to do with whether they are reared together or apart. This study also suggests that heritability is substantial, but not as substantial as for younger subjects, half-siblings are people who share one parent but not both. They may share the same mother but different fathers, or they may have the same father and they share only one parent instead of two as full siblings do and are on average 25% related
9.
The Tokens
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The Tokens are an American male doo-wop-style vocal group and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York. They are known best for their chart-topping 1961 single, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, the group was formed in 1955 at Brooklyns Abraham Lincoln High School, and was known first as the Linc-Tones. In 1957 Sedaka and Zolotin left the band, leaving only Siegel and Medress and it reached No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it remained for three weeks. The same track peaked at No.11 in the UK Singles Chart, both Tonight I Fell in Love and The Lion Sleeps Tonight sold more than 1 million copies, and were awarded gold discs. From 1962 to 1970, the group released nine more songs that scored the Top 100, Jay Siegel was the lead vocalist on all The Tokens hits including I Hear Trumpets Blow and Portrait of My Love. Beginning in 1963, The Tokens also began serving as producers for other artists, such as the Chiffons, Randy & the Rainbows. Their production company was called Bright Tunes and they created their own record company. In 1972, Jay Siegel did background vocals for a re-recording of Lion Sleeps Tonight with Robert John as the lead vocalist, brothers Mitch and Philip Margo continue to perform with new members Jay Leslie, Mike Johnson and Noah Margo playing drums. Mitch Margos sons, Damien Margo and Ari Margo, also occasional guest performances with the band. Siegels son is also part of the group as keyboardist and occasional vocalist, Jay Siegels Tokens and the Margo brothers reunited in 2000 to perform on the PBS special, Doo Wop 51. At the time, Siegels Tokens were Siegel, Reid and Eddy Rezzonico, Rezzonico had replaced Richie Grasso during the 1990s, the case was dismissed due to the statute of limitations. To this day, The Tokens claim that some of the musical composition of the 1961 song was created by them. On October 19,2009, Phil and Mitch Margo filed suit in Manhattan for the rights to the The Tokens name and they claim in their filing that Henry Medress suggested the name. In a competing suit filed in California by Siegel, he claims Siegel, Medress and Sedaka released an album named Neil Sedaka and The Tokens previously. In 1998, The Tokens were mentioned by the Guinness World Records, for performing The Star-Spangled Banner at all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums in the United States and Canada
10.
Denise (song)
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Denise is a song written by Neil Levenson. The song was inspired by his friend, Denise Lefrak. In 1963, the became a popular top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. A cover version by the American new wave group Blondie, re-titled Denis, Dutch actress and singer Georgina Verbaan covered Denis in 2002 and reached number 30 on the Dutch Singles Chart. The American doo-wop group Randy & the Rainbows recorded Denise with the producers of The Tokens, the groups version of the song spent seventeen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, charting at no. 10, peaking at no.18 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, Denise –1,57 Come Back 2,17 Denis is a 1977 cover of the song by the American new wave band Blondie. The cover of the song helped the band break into the international market and it featured on the bands second studio album, Plastic Letters, and was the second UK single release by Blondie on Chrysalis records. The initial Blondie version contained a verse with partly improvised lyrics in French by the groups vocalist Debbie Harry, although Chrysalis insisted that the band re-record the song with a grammatically correct French translation, both the band and producer Richard Gottehrer preferred the first take. Harry stood her ground on the matter, and the containing the pidgin French lyrics was released. The second, re-recorded version had its debut as a track on EMI UKs 1994 re-issue of Plastic Letters. Denis was released in February 1978 and reached number 2 in the UK, in the UK, the song was kept at number 2 for four weeks, first by Kate Bushs Wuthering Heights and then by Brian and Michaels Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs. Just like Rip Her to Shreds, the single was issued on both 7 and 12 formats in the UK, and both feature two B-sides, Contact in Red Square from Plastic Letters and Kung-Fu Girls from Blondie. Denis was the single released in the US from Plastic Letters though it never charted. In 1988, a version of the track was issued as a single from the Blondie/Debbie Harry remix compilation Once More into the Bleach. This time the single reached number 50 in the UK, in 2014, the Blondie track was included in the opening credits to the movie The Skeleton Twins. UK CD Denis 88 –5,26 Rapture –7,02 Heart Of Glass –4,00 Atomic –3,32 In 2002, Dutch actress and singer Georgina Verbaan recorded a cover version of Denis for her debut studio album Sugar Spider. Her version of the song was issued on the Jive Records label as a single, Denis No More Lies List of number-one hits List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1978 List of European number-one hits of 1978 Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
