Theme Time Radio Hour: The Annotated “New York” Episode
Season 1, Episode 48: “New York”
The Lady in Red
It’s nighttime in the big city. The rain-soaked streets reflect the glare of passing headlights. The cab driver tosses a $0.50 tip out the window. A woman with a torch stands in the harbor. It’s Theme Time Radio Hour wit your host Bob Dylan.
Bob Dylan
Good evening, Mr. And Mrs. First-Nighter and all the ships at sea. Welcome to Theme Time Radio Hour. And tonight we’re going to be going from the Bowery to the Bronx, from the East Village to Harlem, from Hudson Heights to Lenox Hill from Koreatown to Little Italy. From Hell’s Kitchen to Greenwich Village from Manhattan Valley to Marble Hill from Midtown South to Midtown itself, from Murry Hill to NoHo. From Roosevelt Island to Soho. From Spanish Harlem to Sugar Hill, from Sutton Place to Tribeca. From Tudor City to Turtle Bay from the Upper East Side to the Upper West Side, from the West Village to Washington Heights, from West Harlem to Yorkville.
That’s right, we’re talking about the greatest piece of real estate on the planet, a little island known as Manhattan. So settle in and join us for the next hour as we talk about New York.
Commentary
“… Mr. And Mrs. First-Nighter and all the ships at sea.” A conflation of two uniquely New York themes. “First Nighter” was a long-running radio series broadcast from New York, with your host, Mr. First Nighter.
“All the ships at sea” is the tagline of the intro to journalist Walter Winchell’s radio show that originated from New York, “Good evening, Mr. And Mrs. (North and South) America from border to border and coast to coast and all the ships at sea. Let’s go to press.”
Bob Dylan
You do a lot of walking in New York City, but sometimes you gotta rest your feet. It can be expensive to hail a cab, so sometimes you hop on the subway. In the background, Duke Ellington takes the A train.
[Take the A-Train (excerpt}]
Bob Dylan
Even though this was Duke’s theme song. It wasn’t written by him. It was written by a young Pittsburgh soda jerk who was a big fan of Duke’s Band. His name was Billy Strayhorn and he approached him when Duke was playing in Pittsburgh, Duke was impressed and told him to get in touch if he was ever in New York. Billy wanted to impress Duke, so when he showed up, he had written the song using the traveling instructions that Duke’s Office had given him. The lyrics were, “you must take the A Train to go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem.”
Well, Billy Strayhorn was a soda jerk no more. He wrote more than 200 songs with Duke Ellington and for Duke’s orchestra. And he kept writing right up until he was on his death bed delivering his final composition called “Blood Count.” Ellington recorded it right after Strayhorn’s death on the emotionally charged album, “…And His Mother Called Him Bill.”
He was known as “Sweet Pea” and he was one of the few openly gay musicians in jazz. Billy Strayhorn, “Take the A Train.”
Bob Dylan
We’re gonna continue our little musical tour of New York and play a song by a man who was born in Dunlieth, Mississippi. Like a lot of people, he had dreams of the big city. He moved from Dunlieth to Chicago, but I guess he always had dreams of coming to New York. Here’s Jimmy Reed, “Going to New York.”
[Jimmy Reed — “Going to New York”]
Bob Dylan
Everybody’s got something on their mind when they go to New York and Jimmy Reed wanted to get on a New York quiz show. Some of the most popular quiz shows in New York at that time were “The $64,000 Question, ”Information Please,” “Winner Take All,” “Quiz Kids,” “What’s My Line?”, “It Could Be You,” “The Big Surprise,” and “Beat the Clock.”
Bob Dylan
I’d pay any amount of money to have seen Jimmy Reed on “Beat the Clock.”
Commentary
While Jimmy Reed never made it to “Beat the Clock,” Dr. Joyce Brothers, who Mr. D. mentioned on the lost “Kiss” episode, appeared on — and won — The $64,000 Question. Brothers was a well-known personality of the ’50s, `60s, and `70s, so well-known that she played herself in a variety of television shows ranging from “Happy Days” to “The Simpsons.” Doctor Joyce Brothers was sometimes known as the “mother of mass-media psychology,” a forerunner of Drs. Ruth and Phil.
According to her’ New York Times obituary, “The demure-looking, scholarly Dr. Brothers had first come to wide attention as a contestant on ‘The $64,000 Question,’ where she triumphed as an improbable authority on boxing. She made her first appearance on the show in late 1955, returning week after week until she had won the top prize, $64,000 — only the second person, and the first woman, to do so. She later won the same amount, also for boxing knowledge, on a spinoff show, ‘The $64,000 Challenge.”’
At the height of the quiz show scandals, Dr. Brothers would appear before a congressional committee to prove that she hadn’t been fed the answers. She passed the test easily, and would move on to her first television show, “Sports Showcase.”
And the rest is history. Dr. Joyce Brothers, academic psychologist, counselor to millions, game show panelist, and student of the sweet science.
Bob Dylan
Dyke and the Blazers got their start as the O’Jays backing band. They were stranded in Phoenix when the O’Jays couldn’t afford to bring them to Buffalo for a gig. The Blazers decided to stay in Phoenix and base themselves there, Dyke had written a song called “Funky Broadway,” and they released it in 19 and 66. Los Angeles DJ Art Laboe picked it up for his Original Sounds label and it became a sizable R&B hit, and it maybe the first record to use the word “funky” in the title.
It became more popular when Wilson Pickett recorded it for Atlantic Records. They went to #1 on the R&B charts and #8 on the pop charts. Let’s take a walk down “Funky Broadway,” Dyke and the Blazers.
[Dyke and the Blazers — “Funky Broadway (Part 1)”]
Bob Dylan
Dyke and the Blazers recorded a whole bunch of funky singles. They should have been big stars. Unfortunately, Dyke was shot to death on a street in Phoenix on March 13th, 1971.
Commentary
As Mr. D. mentions, the record appears to be the first to use the word “funky” in its title, and was banned by some radio stations as offensive since part of its usage was to describe the smell from some body regions. “Funky” in jazz slang variously meant “earthy, strong, deeply felt” or even “stylish” and “hip”.
The full recording of “Funky Broadway” was too long to fit on one side of a 45, as well as too long for AM deejays to want to play, the title’s funkiness aside. The song was split into two tracks, with “Part 2” on the B-side of the single.
Arlester “Dyke” Christian was another unfortunate member of the 27 Club, killed in Phoenix, Arizona at age 27. His murderer was variously labeled as an “unstable individual,” and as a dealer who killed Christian over a drug dispute. He reportedly was acquitted of the crime.
Bob Dylan
In 18 and 85, the French gave us a gift that right now stands in the mouth of the Hudson River. It’s a 101-foot-tall lady with a 35-foot waist and an 8-foot index finger. It’s not polite to discuss her weight, but I can tell you it’s 204 tons. It’s Lady Liberty, the Statue of Liberty. It’s made out of copper and covered in 24 carat gold leaf; She was sculpted by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. Gustav Eiffel, who designed the famous tower in France, “The Gustav Tower,” engineered the internal structure.
Commentary
The description of “The Gustav Tower” is an early example of Dylan and Eddie Gorodetsky’s taste for deadpan humor.
Bob Dylan
On a plaque mounted on the inner wall on a pedestal there’s a poem written by Emma Lazarus. Everybody knows the last couple of lines, but nobody seems to know the whole thing. Here’s “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus.
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame with conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch
whose flame is imprisoned lightning and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows worldwide welcome; her mild eyes
command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she with silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Bob Dylan
Moss Hart said, “New York is not a city to return to in defeat.” One man who doesn’t know the meaning of the word defeat is Lou Reed.
[Lou Reed — “Dirty Boulevard”]
Bob Dylan
That was the boy from New York City, Lou Reed.
Commentary
It’s a strange segue from Emma Lazarus to Lou Reed; especially since “Dirty Boulevard” contains the lyrics:
Give me your hungry, your tired, your poor — I’ll piss on ‘em
That’s what the Statue of Bigotry says
Your poor huddled masses, let’s club ’em to death
And get it over with and just dump ’em on the boulevard
But that may have been the exact juxtaposition that Dylan wanted.
“I’ve always believed that the first rule of being subversive is not to let anybody know you’re being subversive.” ~ Bob Dylan, Theme Time Radio Hour, “Trains (Part 1),” March 14, 2007
[“Manhattan” clip: Woody Allen — “He adored New York City. He idolized it, all out of proportion. No, make that, ‘he romanticized it all out of proportion,’ yeah. To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin.”]
Bob Dylan
You don’t have to live in New York to love New York, and even if you don’t live there, you can still consider it your home. Case in point. Ray Charles, who was born in Georgia, died in Beverly Hills, and lived most of his life on the road. That didn’t stop him from recording this song called, “New York’s My Home.” It might not be totally true, but who cares? It’s a good song.
[Ray Charles — “New York’s My Home”]
Bob Dylan
That was Ray Charles, “New York’s My Home.” Now Ray might not have been born in New York, but lots of people were. There’s a few: Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Paddy Chayefsky, Humphrey Bogart, Herman Melville, Ogden Nash, Barbara Stanwyck, Martin Van Buren and Tupac Shakur. New Yorkers all.
Commentary
During a three-night stand in NYC in 2021 Dylan sounded as if he was having fun in one of his favorite cities, giving shoutouts to New York natives Humphrey Bogart, Al Capone, Jackie Onassis (twice!), George Gershwin, and Sylvester Stallone as well as to Herman Melville. He also provided his audience with a Cook’s Tour of the city’s landmarks, noting that he was glad to see NYC spring back as the pandemic wound down.
“…I saw Broadway, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Times Square, all of it, Empire State Building, Fifth Avenue, glad to see it’s coming back alive.”
Bob Dylan
New York has always been a melting pot. You can walk from one side of the island to the other and hear music from around the world. New York has always been a crossroads of Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican and other Latin musicians. They played with jazz bands in the 40s, mambo bands in the 50s, and created music all their own called salsa. Here’s one of the kings of salsa, Johnny Colon and his song, “New York Mambo.” Play it, Johnny.
[Johnny Colon — “New York Mambo”]
Bob Dylan
That was “New York Mambo,” Johnny Colon.
New Yorkers are amazingly loyal. They love New York more than any other city. Here’s what Neil Simon had to say. And remember, this is Neil Simon, not me.
“When it’s 100 degrees in New York, it’s 72 in Los Angeles. When it’s 30 degrees in New York, in Los Angeles, it’s still 72. However, there are six million interesting people in New York and 72 in Los Angeles.”
Bob Dylan
You can find anything you want in New York. Any kind of food, any type of clothes, any type of entertainment.
[“Midnight Cowboy” clip — Ratso: “And I’ll tell you another thing. Frankly, you’re beginning to smell and for a stud in New York, that’s a handicap.” Joe Buck: “Well, don’t talk to me about clean. I ain’t never seen you change your underwear once the whole time I’ve been here in New York. And you’re going to tell me about these women.” Ratso: “I know enough to know that that great big cowboy crap of yours don’t appeal to nobody except every jockey on 42nd Street.”]
Bob Dylan
Some people find the Lord in New York City. Harry Nilsson sure did. He wrote this song to be the theme for the New York movie “Midnight Cowboy,” but he ended up losing out the slot to Fred Neil, who wrote “Everybody’s Talkin’.” Harry got to sing that one too. But he wrote this one, “I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City.”
[Harry Nilsson — “I Guess the Lord Must Be In New York City”]
Commentary
It’s gone into popular legend that Dylan was one of many songwriters asked to write a song for “Midnight Cowboy” but submitted “Lay, Lady, Lay,” far after the deadline, according to one account appearing unannounced at a producer’s apartment to premier the song. His bemused audience had to explain that they had not only selected another song but that it had already been recorded and synced into the film and couldn’t be replaced. Dylan left without another word.
On the other hand, Dylan claimed in an unpublished interview with his friend Tony Glover that he wrote “Lay, Lady, Lay” as a vehicle for Barbra Streisand. On the third hand, both stories could be true.
Bob Dylan
I guess the Lord must be in New York City. 110th Street was the informal boundary line to Harlem. “Across 110th Street” is the title of a 1972 movie starring Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Quinn and Tony Franciosa.
[“Across 110th Street” clip]
Bob Dylan
It’s a type of movie known as Blaxploitation. These are movies made by, for, and about black people. Some of the most famous ones are “Foxy Brown,” “Shaft,” “Superfly,” “Coffy,” and Cleopatra Jones.” One of the best is “Across 110th Street,” Bobby Womack, who we’ve talked about on other shows, did the scene to that movie. You probably heard that in a couple of places. Quentin Tarantino used it on one of his soundtracks. I’ve always been partial to the demo of that record. Shows how funky you can be with a couple of acoustic guitars. Here’s Bobby Womack, “Across 110th Street.”
[Bobby Womack — “Across 110th Street”]
Bob Dylan
That was Bobby Womack in his demo for “Across 110th Street” on Theme Time Radio Hour.
Commentary
“Across 110th Street” can be heard on the soundtrack to Tarantino's homage to blaxploitation, “Jackie Brown,” starring the great Pam Greer. The acoustic version can be found on “Soul of Bobby Womack: Stop on By” and is well worth the purchase.
Bob Dylan
F. Scott Fitzgerald said New York had all the iridescence of the beginning of the world. And you could see that all the way uptown traveling through Midtown and all the way downtown to the Village.
By the turn of the 20th century Greenwich Village became known as the Bohemian Enclave. Perhaps the low rent, the amalgamation of cultures, the presence of New York University helped turn Greenwich Village into a haven for artists, singers, songwriters, painters, poets, dancers and photographers.
[Documentary clip: “It don’t mean a thing if it don’t mean a thing.” “That is a voice and sound of our times, a member of the so-called Beat Generation, dramatically expressing a negative attitude toward the 20th century. His haven away from the rest of the world, is a coffee house in downtown New York, in an area known as Greenwich Village, perhaps the most unusual and colorful village in the world.”]
Bob Dylan
One thing you see a lot of in New York is industrious people. People find a lot of different ways to make livings. Not all of them on the up and up. Vincent “The Chin” Gigante became boss of the Genovese crime family. He had avoided earlier charges as far back as the early ‘80s by feigning insanity. You could see him walking around Greenwich Village and Little Italy in bathrobe and slippers. When agents from the FBI busted in to serve him a subpoena, they had to follow him into the bathroom where he stood under a running shower with an umbrella over his head.
His family and lawyers said he was mentally and physically ill incapable of standing trial. He held off trial for seven years. Psychiatrists appointed by the courts testified that he was a schizophrenic. His 1997 trial was a public spectacle. He came in a wheelchair talking to himself, his lawyers said they could not communicate with him. He might have permanently succeeded, except for the events that happened on 9/11. The feds secretly taped him making a call to his children to make sure they were safe. He was lucid and totally connected to reality. It was the only time he had broken his act. 9/11 was a terrible time and it also brought down the reign of The Chin.
[News clip: “This is Manhattan, business center of New York City and part of the city’s life. Millions pour into the area every day to work and shop, to buy and sell, to manufacture clothes, to run banks and brokerage firms. To handle imports and wholesale goods. To load and unload ships. But where do all these people come from and how do they get here?”]
[Clip: “Autumn in New York”]
Bob Dylan
In the background. “Autumn in New York,” written by Vernon Duke. Saul Bellow had this to say about New York in “Seize the Day.”
“On Broadway. It was still bright afternoon, and the gassy air was almost motionless under the leaden spokes of sunlight and sawdust footprints lay about the doorways of butcher shops and fruit stores, and the great, great crowd, the inexhaustible current of millions of every race and kind pouring out. Pressing around of every age, every genius possessors of every human secret, antique and future.”
Bob Dylan
Saul Bellow, a prose writer.
Next up on Theme time Radio Hour, a song about the boys in the city. It’s written by Joey Spampinato, who for a while was married to Skeeter Davis, and did a great album with her and his band, NRBQ. Here they are singing about things they love in New York.
[NRBQ — “Boys in the City”]
Bob Dylan
There’s a lot to love about New York City.
[“Shaft” clip: “How come a couple of cats from Harlem come downtown this morning looking for John Shaft?” “Well, they’re soul brothers. They came down so I could teach them to handshake.”
Bob Dylan
Sugar Hill was the northern part of Harlem and looks out into the valley of Harlem, and it gives views beyond the Harlem River. It’s the epicenter of cultural development in the African American community of New York. During the Harlem Renaissance this area was revered as the spot [to enjoy] the sweet life and that’s why they called it Sugar Hill.
Anita O’Day and Roy Eldridge talk about going Uptown and talking about going up to Harlem, where everything was swinging, and eventually going up to Sugar Hill, Here’s Anita O’Day and Roy Eldridge, along with Gene Krupa and his Band, and a big hit, “Let Me Off Uptown.”
[Anita O’Day and Roy Eldridge — “Let Me Off Uptown”
Bob Dylan
That was “Let Me Off Uptown,” Anita O’Day and Roy Eldridge, in one of the first interracial bands. It was very difficult for them to travel around the country. Quite often, Roy Eldridge was not allowed to have a room in the same hotel. He finally figured out a solution. He would walk in carrying his own luggage, pretending to be his own valet. He would then ask for the key for Mr. Eldridge’s room, go up to his room and refuse to come out. Gene Krupa said that he was targeted because people were upset that he led an interracial band. In 1943 he was falsely arrested on a trumped-up narcotics charge. He blamed bigots who didn’t like the way he did business. Hats off to Gene Krupa for standing up for his fellow man.
Commentary
“New York” was the third TTRH episode to feature Anita O’Day, who would also appear in “Dance” (“Ten Cents a Dance”); “Tears” (“And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine”); “Number One” (“Johnny One Note”); “More Birds” (“Skylark”) and “Beginnings, Middles, and Ends” (“I Can’t Get Started”). Dylan, an obvious O’Day fan, recommended her autobiography in several of those episodes, as do I. In fact, O’Day’s “High Times and Hard Times” may be the most-frequently-mentioned book on Theme Time Radio Hour, making it a must-read for the show’s fans.
Bob Dylan
Make no mistake, New York is a wonderful city, but it’s a bitch to be booked there. No one knows better than soul brother #1, James Brown, who wrote this song, “Down and out in New York City” for Larry Collins’ movie, “Black Caesar.” Here’s James Brown talking about tough times in the Big Apple on “Down and Out in New York City.”
[ James Brown — “Down and Out In New York City”]
Bob Dylan
That was James Brown’s “Down and Out In New York City” on Theme Time Radio Hour.
If you’re down and out in New York City you might find yourself on the Bowery. The Bowery was the most elegant street in New York in the 18th century. But it fell on hard times, and for at least 100 years it became synonymous with economic depression.
[Clip: Moondog instrumental]
In the background, that unusual music you’re hearing is by an unusual man. He was born with the name Louis Hardin. Long time New Yorkers know him as Moondog. He dressed up like a Viking and played music on the streets. Some people thought he was just a street person. They didn’t realize that people such as Leonard. Bernstein and Toscanini considered him a fine musician. He recorded for the Prestige label in the 50s and a number of European labels. One of the interesting characters you’ll find on the streets of New York.
Bob Dylan
When Mike D, MCA, and Ad-Rock released “Cooky Puss” a song about their favorite Carvel ice cream cake in 1983, everyone thought the Beastie Boys were just a flash in the pan.
[Carvel commercial clip: “Hello, I’m Cookie Puss…”]
Bob Dylan
But New Yorkers are much tougher than that and they made it through all sorts of changes in music. Here’s one of their early ones. From 1986, a shout out to one of the five boroughs, “No Sleep til Brooklyn,” the Beastie Boys.
[The Beastie Boys — “No Sleep til Brooklyn”]
Commentary
During a interview to publicize their upcoming album, “Hot Sauce Committee Part 1, Ad-Rock, Mike D and MCA claimed that they had collaborated Dylan on one or more of the tracks
Question: Nas and Santigold appear on [Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1] but there’s no sign of, as previously claimed, Bob Dylan. Was that, in best Beastie Boys tradition, a cheeky fib?
Ad-Rock: Bob Dylan is guesting on …Pt 2. He talks about us. More of a spoken word thing…
MCA: We sampled his ass.
Mike D: He has a radio show on satellite and he was speaking about Beastie Boys…
Ad-Rock: He played one of our songs and was talking about us; he’s a big fan.
Mike D: So we collaborated with that.
Q: Is he one of your big musical heroes?
Mike D: Oh, first off, he’s one of the first b-boys, if not the first. What more to say?
Ad-Rock: Billy Joel is the fifth b-boy. That’s just a side note. Bob Dylan is one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
Mike D: When you think ‘songwriter’ you think him, Gordon Lightfoot; there’s not many others.
Ad-Rock: Carl Carlton. Carl Douglas. There’s a lot of Carls.
As it turned out, “Hot Sauce Committee Part 1” which was planned for release in 2009 was shelved indefinitely, although Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 was released in 2011 with Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” sampled in.
I wouldn’t be a native New Englander if I didn’t mention my love for the Carvel ice cream commercials of the ‘80s. “Fudgie the Whale” was my favorite. Cookie Puss’ voice was a little too creepy.
Bob Dylan
That was the Beastie Boys, “No Sleep till Brooklyn,” from their Def Jam album “Licensed to Ill.” Brooklyn, By the way, is a Dutch name as is Flushing, Harlem, Staten Island, Gramercy and the Bowery. Next up on Theme Time Radio Hour, it’s the kind of song you call the flag waver, and I’m gonna let Hank Ballard introduce it to you.
[Hank Ballard and The Midnighters — “Broadway”]
Bob Dylan
That one just about made me drop my mustard squirter. “Broadway,” by old friend Hank Ballard on Theme Time Radio Hour.
[Clip — “An Affair to Remember”]
Bob Dylan
A little bit earlier, we talked about a lot of different neighborhoods in Manhattan. We did a good job, but I think this next lady does it a little better. If there was ever a love song to a city, I’d say it was this one Dinah Washington singing the Rodgers and Hart composition, “Manhattan.”
[Dinah Washington — “Manhattan”]
Bob Dylan
That was Dinah Washington singing about a bunch of points; North, East, West, and South on the island of Manhattan and doing a lovely job at it as well.
[Clip — “Naked City” — “There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.’]
Bob Dylan
Well, we could spend hours and hours talking about New York. We could play hundreds of songs, but they only give us an hour. We’ll have to come back again and play a few more of them. But right now I’m going to leave you with the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, who wrote this in “The Great Gatsby.”
“Over the great bridge with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time. And in its first wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world.”
Bob Dylan
New York has always been good to me. I hope I was nice to get for the last hour. I’ll see you on the streets of Manhattan.
[Credits]
[Clip — “The Sweet Smell of Success” — “I love this dirty town”]
Commentary
Not one of the standout episodes of Theme Time’s run, “New York” is a bit lackluster given Dylan’s rich history with the city. But the show does provide a solid list of Dylan movie recommendations about NYC, ranging from “Across 110th Street,” and “An Affair to Remember,” to “Midnight Cowboy.” You couldn’t go wrong renting all the movies he names and going on a week-end watching binge, preferably in a Manhattan hotel suite with room service and hot and cold running maids.
