Rome 56: News

THE MONSTER YEARS

Last night wasn’t just a victory for tolerance; it wasn’t just a mandate for progressive change; it was also, I hope, the end of the monster years.

What I mean by that is that for the past 14 years America’s political life has been largely dominated by, well, monsters. Monsters like Tom DeLay, who suggested that the shootings at Columbine happened because schools teach students the theory of evolution. Monsters like Karl Rove, who declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to terrorists. Monsters like Dick Cheney, who saw 9/11 as an opportunity to start torturing people.

And in our national discourse, we pretended that these monsters were reasonable, respectable people. To point out that the monsters were, in fact, monsters, was “shrill.”

Four years ago it seemed as if the monsters would dominate American politics for a long time to come. But for now, at least, they’ve been banished to the wilderness.

PAUL KRUGMAN

Brooklyn Daily Eagle
May 23rd 2008

Music Junkie
by Phoebe Neidl phoebe@brooklyneagle.net

Article by Sean Murphy

With summer fast approaching, what better time for a walking tour centered on Brooklyn’s musical past?

The Shirt House (435A 9th St.)

For every Patti Smith, David Byrne, and Tom Verlaine that emerged from New York’s halcyon punk rock scene of the mid-70s, there were at least four musicians who failed to sustain a career. Arguably the textbook case of this phenomenon, The Shirts were true nonconformists lost in a sea of stylized rebellion, uneasily bridging the last vestiges of the ‘60s counterculture with indie-prefiguring angular guitars.

While nearly all of the early punk acts sublimated the better elements of mid-to-late ‘60s rock into their sound, the Brooklyn-based sextet stood alone in proudly flaunting this recent history for the entire world to see. Thirty years on, the harmonies of frontwoman Annie Golden, guitarist/keyboardist Arthur Lamonica, and bassist Robert Racioppo seem to pick up where the Jefferson Airplane left off in 1969. News traveled slowly in the pre-Internet age. When the band decided to commit their attention to original material after seeing Patti Smith play during a then-rare Manhattan foray, the musicians and their associates had been living communally at a characteristically unostentatious Park Slope house for several years. Band cohabitation was not entirely anomalous — the Talking Heads and Blondie both shared downtown lofts in their early starving days to save expenses, after all — but The Shirts erred towards the anachronistic Haight-Ashbury extreme. In the process, their home became a de facto community center for many Slopeians and a number of other Brooklyn bands. These included Greenpoint’s own Rice Miller Band, a traditional blues outfit that regularly foiled The Shirts’ comparatively modern sound in concert.

The Shirts were one of CBGB’s owner Hilly Kristal’s favorite bands and were pegged as a breakout group by Billboard. They ascended to the top of the charts with hits like “Tell Me Your Plans” and “Laugh And Walk Away”… in the Netherlands.

Since the group broke up in 1984, Golden has eked out a moderately successful acting career, most recently appearing as an understudy in the Broadway adaptation of Xanadu. A reconstituted lineup released the LP Only the Dead Know Brooklyn to generally positive reviews in 2006.

Perhaps most emblematic of the changes fostered by the past 20 years, The Shirt House is now home to a mortgage brokerage and offices of New York Methodist Hospital.

for the complete article go to
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=4&id=20793

"All For The Love Of Rock n Roll"

"A Celebration Of His Life And Music"
Friday January 18 at 8 p.m
The Rainbow Cafe, Sunset Park.

The Rainbow Cafe
3904 5th Ave (39th St and 5th Ave)
Sunset Park, Brooklyn
phone 718-435-0400

By Subway: R, N, D train to 36 St station (36th St and 4th Ave)

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Musician, producer and sound engineer Ronald (Ronnie) Ardito, a Brooklyn native who moved to New Brighton 10 years ago, lost his battle with brain cancer Saturday in Richmond University Medical Center. He was 53.

Mr. Ardito played guitar and keyboards for the punk band the Shirts, a group he helped create in 1972. The band became part of the golden era for the now-shuttered, legendary venue CBGB. Mr. Ardito was also a sound engineer at the club for a decade and became close friends with its late owner Hilly Kristal, whom he regarded as a "father figure," his wife, Marsha Hodgson, said yesterday.


CBGB posted a memorial on its Web site, in which it called Mr. Ardito a "good friend, artist, musician, producer, and former employee."

Mr. Ardito had earlier been diagnosed with lung cancer, but in April learned the disease had spread to his brain. Still, he lived twice as long as doctors expected because "he had music yet to write," Ms. Hodgson said, which included a final song to his wife, Confession in C-Minor, completed shortly before his passing.

"It was his last piece; I will cherish it forever," Ms. Hodgson said. "I have never known anyone as tender, loving and caring as Ron. He was a gentle man who enjoyed truth and honesty."

Mr. Ardito and Ms. Hodgson grew up together in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where, as a teen-ager, Ardito was a member of the Street People Coalition, a group of activists who helped get the neighborhood officially named Sunset Park.

The lifelong friends reconnected after Ms. Hodgson was divorced 11 years ago; they married soon after and moved to Castleton Corners, finally settling in New Brighton.

Mr. Ardito became a cherished second father to Ms. Hodgson's two sons, Chris and Rob Cahill. Baseball season was always special fun in their household, with Mr. Ardito a Yankees fan and Chris a Mets fan, she said.

When they married, Mr. Ardito suggested she retain her own name, the one she had when they fell in love, Ms. Hodgson said.

"He didn't want me to be anyone but myself, and I didn't want him to be anyone but himself," she said.

Mr. Ardito is also survived by his brother, Joseph Ardito, and a granddaughter.

A celebration of his life and music, "The Ron Ardito Memorial Hootennanny," will be held Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. at the Rainbow Cafe, Sunset Park. Arrangements, including cremation, were handled by the Matthew Funeral Home, Willowbrook.

Two new songs
"GRAVITY" and
"BLUE SCREEN WORLD"
are up and running on the
Rome 56 MySpace site
www.myspace.com/rome56

ROME 56
SACRED AVENUE and TRIP GLASSES
available on iTunes
CLICK THIS LINK http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=125371657

New songs available on the Rome 56 MySpace website
CLICK THIS LINK
www.myspace.com/rome56

Ronnie posted a beautiful tribute
to Hilly Kristal on the CBGB website.
Hilly was like a father to him.
Ronnie along with his wife Marsha were our soul connection to CBGB'S through the years.

A LONG STORY

Where I came from, in 1972-73, there were two things. There was disco and there were cover bands. We were the latter. Oh, we were artists all right, writing our own stuff & we thought it pretty original, but, we had to settle for playing covers in topless bars & local booze joints just to get onstage and work on our chops. It was a dead scene.That is until a friend handed us a copy of “Piss Factory”. Overwhelmed, we found out when & where she was playing, got down there, got in and got a table. Everyone said it was a real seedy place. To me, it was a fucking palace. It was the first time in my life I experienced awe. After that show, I was trembling.

A friend had come along with us. We started screaming at him, Novick!, there’s the owner! Go over to him, say you’re our manager & get us a gig!. He did. What was totally mind blowing was you had to play your original stuff. No covers. Heaven. We had found the fucking promised land. I was 19 and we never played a cover tune again.

So we became regulars, gigging 4 night weekends every 6 to 8 weeks. That big burly guy with the gleam in his eye took a liking to us, took us under his wing and began booking us all over. Jersey, Boston, Hartford, Providence. By late '76 we were living the dream. In late '77, The Man With The Beard informs us we have a deal with a major label. Anyone who has been through that knows the feeling. Anyone who hasn’t, can’t.

We begin making records for this label. We have some decent success, nothing to brag about in terms of the big time, but life is/was fantastic for a while. In hindsight, I could list the million reasons of what went wrong. Pointless. I think he was more depressed than we were.
We toil on for a couple years to no avail & things fall apart. I take some freelance work to stay alive, but, things dry up and I can’t afford a f*cking pack of smokes. So I call him up and ask for a job. “Cmon down”, he says.

I don’t know how many tweeters I blew in those NS-10’s learning to mix the live shows recorded on that 2 inch 16 track machine, but, he didn’t seem to mind that much. I got it down very well thank you. 9 years I worked for him. The man with the most eclectic taste in music that ever lived provided a venue for each and every one of those acts that came in droves. With or without actual talent, the deluge was unreal, myself mixing 50 or so bands a week & there were 4 of us working 7 nights a week & Sunday afternoon matinees. The weekday afternoons were reserved for recording sessions for acts that he, or any of the staff for that matter, thought were exceptional. He even started his own label to get them exposure. What can you say about him? He made dreams come true for thousands, and let millions know it. Selflessly.

In ’95 I was gone for being a hopeless alchy, & went away to lick my wounds.
I get picked up from the gutter by a very old friend, fall in love & get married. Start writing & playing again. She facilitates the old gang getting back together, &, take a guess where we wind up playing. Our old producer hears about it and says lets make another record. Unreal! Our bearded friend enthusiastically lets us use his club to record the basic tracks, plus giving us gigs throughout the insane 3 years it takes to make it.

In ‘05 we get the news that he’s ill, but is doing all right and is preceding with business as usual. I see him a bunch of times. A little worse for the wear, but that gleam is the same as ever. New plans, new ideas in the works. Same as it ever was.
The new bullshit with the landlord didn’t faze me much at first. I’d been around this place for over 30 years and there was always bullshit with the landlord. This time, though, it was different. Money, greed and power were taking over. The worst neighborhood in the City, the place where you stepped over a passed-out wino with your guitar, almost not noticing, had suddenly become expensive & chic real estate. Despite the publicity, outcries and rallies, the writing on the wall was clear. Money always wins.
We hear the date. October 15, 2006. A public execution. Then I hear who’s playing. I freeze & start to sob. The last--same as the first--33 years ago. It just didn’t seem real to me. I see him before that show. I see the sadness & despair in his eyes. He has lost his home. The Pricks threw him out on the street and left him for dead.
In the twilight, there’s a vigil. Silence while they pull down the canapé that seemingly hung there forever. Go home now.

Didn’t take too long, did it, after they threw him out. So that’s that--and the era is finished. None can carry the torch. They can use the symbol, but they can’t remotely make it what it was.
So, this is my goodbye to my mentor, my boss, and above all, friend. You changed my life. I carry your spirit with me forever.

Ron Ardito – The Shirts

_________________________________________________________________________

Saturday, September 8th, 2007
CLUB MIDWAY

BENEFIT FOR RONNIE ARDITO - 8:00pm

25 Avenue B, New York, NY 10009
New York City NY
212-253-2595
Price: $10
Benefit for Ron Ardito featuring The Brought Low, The Shirts, Brunch of the Living Dead, Future Ex

Where are The Starry Messengers
I don't know,I sit and wait for them
years ago they use to ride the plains,they left no remains,
God only knows.
On a cold and grey day I seem to work my way to an empty subway train,that rolls by the cemetary,I see half stripped cars and old man bars, it all seems the same except for the loose change, Where are The Starry Messengers I don't know
God only knows

for Hilly Kristal

THIS SATURDAY AUGUST 11th at
HANKS SALOON located at the corners of ATLANTIC and THIRD Aves in BROOKLYN NY
www.hankssaloon.com

HERE'S THE LINEUP

7:45 AL DUVALL
8:30 SYD STRAW
9:15 THE SHIRTS
10:00 BRUNCH OF THE LIVING DEAD
10:45 CHEAP PERFUME
11:30 THE REID PALEY TRIO
12:15 TUFF DARTS

Rome 56 MP3's now available for download on playpay.fm
here's the link

ROME 56: Trip Glasses
http://payplay.fm/rome562

ROME 56: Sacred Avenue
http://payplay.fm/rome56

radio broadcast of The Shirts live
at the Paradiso in Amsterdam,Holland Dec 8th 1979
here's the link

http://legendarischlive.kro.nl/shirts_art.aspx

Free Download "Merry Go Round"
from the Music Section

Benefit for ALS-NY.

Date: Saturday, November 18th
Place: The Hook -- 18 Commerce Street -- Red Hook, Brooklyn
website: www.thehookmusic.com
Doors open at 7:00pm -- Music starts at 8:00pm
Admission: $10 adults -- $5 under 18

This show includes Brooklyn legends The Shirts! We've been after them
for quite awhile and the schedules finally synced up. We (Secret Steps
that is) were lucky to do more than a few shows with The Shirts and
can't wait to hear them play again. They will have copies of their new
CD for sale "Only The Dead Know Brooklyn".
Returning friends include
John Pinamonti,
The HIt List, Idle Chatter, Brass Tracks,
Liza & the Wonder Wheels,
John Sharples w/ Plastic Beef,
The Rayvens, The Kitchen, Joey Figgiani,
The Zeke Carey Band, Out of Order while newcomers include
iXnay
and The Nobodys.

For a lineup with appoximate showtimes, go to :
www.myspace.com/secretunes

Hope to see you all there. It's for a great cause.