41 Dance Till Dawn in OC, MD Song: “Lady of the Island”. Photo: Ocean City

“I played music in Ocean City Maryland in places from 1st Street, up to 131 St. Ocean Highway, first performed without any accompaniment besides my rhythm unit for drums (playing guitar and harmonicas at the same time, and/or piano with harmonica). I played at The Commander Hotel restaurant on their grand piano in the evenings, then guitar from the time that all of the town bars closed, until dawn (2AM until 6AM) at the only”after-hours” club in Ocean City called the Upstairs Downstairs, for two seasons. (see photo of the side, and only entrance to go upstairs).

Soon, I added another keyboard (Akai 7000 sound module), then had saxes, horns, organs, strings, etc. all at at my fingertips, as ell as added Korg kick bass pedals. My friend Richard Rheil, who played downstairs, kindly let me stay in his little Tag-A-Long

trailer on the same property where his trailer also was. He played bass pedals with his B3 organ while he blew horn.

Then, I established a seasonal gig in Vermont at the Sugarbush Inn, and used my earnings to purchase a Akai GX-630DSS four track reel to reel tape recorder, using 2, two hour tapes for my accompaniment playing along with on banjo, piano, and/or guitar.

At winter season’s ending, while driving down the mountain roads from ski country, I had to stop to sleep, so stopped in the only place that I could find on the mountain highway, and tried to arrange to play for a free audition for the restaurant across the street from the lot I slept in. I had talked to the only person in that restaurant who happened to be there to clean, and managed to get him to call someone to let me put enough of my equipment inside (they were long closed, and locked up), so that I would have enough room to be able to stretch out enough to lie down, and sleep in my Chevy van. I got permission, but unfortunately, I couldn’t see, from where I slept in my freezing van, back across the street to the restaurant, or even to the restaurant’s empty lot where there were signs that clearly stated “strictly enforced no parking, or you will be towed immediately”. All I could see from the only possible place to park on the mountain, was in a lot with 20 ft high snow piles which appeared packed by county or state snowplow equipment. The lot which was down a ways from the lone restaurant on the mountain’s cliff, was actually on the other side of the steep mountain highway.

I was awakened in just two hours at dawn’s first light by a helicopter that was really loud, and obviously landing very close by. Less than ten minutes later, I heard it again, and it was obvious that it had landed just across the highway in that restaurant parking lot. I immediately tried to get back over there to get my music stuff which was just inside the restaurant door, but by the time that I had negotiated my van from out of that lot (which I determined were probably all TOWED cars), and back across the highway to the restaurant lot, that helicopter had taken off and disappeared down off the mountainside. There was no one left inside, so I had no choice but to stay parked in that lot for hours keeping my eyes on my music equipment just inside the front door windows. Over four long hours later, someone completely different than the man I had spoken with on the night before, arrived. He said that he knew nothing about my equipment, me, nor anything about that helicopter, or who was in it. I explained that I was just trying to survive the several hour long trip down the mountainside, and being able to lay down in order for an emergency sleep break in my van. Unfortunately, my brand new Akai 4 track recorder (my first one had no handle to attach my chain in order to be able to lock it together with the rest of my P.A. stuff, which WAS locked). So, since my $1,100.00 Akai GX-630DSS reel to reel recorder wasn’t locked, it had vanished.

I eventually started using a high speed (15ips) Tascam 234 four track rack mountable cassette recorder to record my own accompanying tracks , and still advertised myself as a one man band, eventually using my laptop computer. And, today I use my I-pad to accompany me, while playing a real instrument (guitar or piano, which should be easily heard in order to distinguish singers only, taking struggling musician’s jobs away).

Finally, I purchased three very expensive six foot mannequins (photos below) that had wireless mikes for each of them, so while their mouths move, because they each have powered speakers which are hidden under their clothes in their wooden chests, people can hear the four seperate vocal parts coming out from each mannequin, with their mouths moving in perfect sync with the singing. I accomplished this by wiring each mannequins with the four separate vocal outputs of my four track recorder. A lot of cost, and a lot of preparation, but great fun to do the few barbershop shows I did with them. I dressed them all in Tuxedos, and wore a Santa Claus outfit when I sang Christmas carols in four part harmony for a Naples Publix, and for the 5th Ave association when they lit up the Christmas lights. FYI, with or without the mannequins, I can do barbershop show tunes for every occasion. (See Willy Nelson, Kenny Rogers, and Waylon Jennings, below.)

When I played piano at an Ocean City Hotel on the beach, the piano was in the dining room right off of the boardwalk, and people walking on the boardwalk could hear it, so would hopefully come in to eat dinner in the classy dining room. At the end of those nights, I didn’t have to go over the bridge in order to stay in my little trailer, because I just made my way downstairs to find my room in the near pitch blackness. It was a bit frightening, until I got used to it. The rooms down there were employee rooms which had no electricity. In fact, they were all once actual slave quarters(!) and had electric. They stayed that same way from when slavery was the common practice. And, the rooms had the lock only on the OUTSIDE of the door, and there were BARS on all of the windows. The staff referred to downstairs as the “dungeon”! At night it was very scary because there were no lights, but it was sure nice living practically right on the beach, and I could even hear the ocean, sometimes. (See photo of marquis, and Commander Hotel sign out front)

Very close-by, was the original was the Ocean City MD skateboard bowl (photo above top right) where I often rollerbladed. It flowed right, and then dropped into the bowl.