Speakin' The Queens... Pt. 6

As the release date for my new album, "Queens English", approaches (5/18), I thought it might be a fun idea (if only for me) to try and maybe dissect the record here at the old Blog space. A bit of a behind the scenes look under the hood so to speak. Since I've always dug reading about some of my favorite albums track-by-track, I thought that might be an interesting way to approach. Eleven tracks in eleven installments? Can I pull it off without boring even myself? Got me. Stay tuned and find out. Tonight a Bleecker Street queen meets her Bensonhurst dream.

Track 6: "Angeline & the Bensonhurst Boy" -

As the album's moniker and a number of the song titles infer, this record turned out to be a pretty New York-centric affair. In writing about the city, I chose to shift the spotlight away from the sky-scraping, well-heeled of Manhattan isle toward the more earthly-based, hard working folks of the outer-boroughs. The people I grew up with, the people I live alongside today. Their stories maybe not as glamorous but certainly no less important and in many ways more genuine.

Faithfully based on the lives of my parents, "Angeline & the Bensonhurst Boy" weaves one such tale - My Dad, a street-wise kid from Brooklyn (see above). My Mom, a Kelly Girl from Ridgewood, Queens. Together they worked hard and made a life for themselves as they started a family, struggled for their little piece of the American pie and rode the wave of life's ups and downs - love, serving as anchor, holding all against the drift.

A simple story... But their story... And really everyone's, no?

Angeline & the Bensonhurst Boy

Angeline, Bleecker St. queen
Bensonhurst, every girl’s dream

Theirs is a simple story,
No tale of epic glory from above
Just of love…

Angeline played hard to get,
Bensonhurst never gave up yet

Love bloomed and soon they’d marry,
Danced to a big band as the rain it fell,
St. George Hotel…

Settled in a dreary basement scene
Saving for a home they’d call their own
Three long years, of counting all their dreams
They laid their money down and bought a
Tiny place in Queens…

Time passed with something missing ‘till
Summer of Love kissed everyone
Angeline had a son…

Years brought tears and joy into the home
They always seem to travel hand in hand
Marveled at how much their boy had grown
Hoping that he’d find a love, a love to call his own…

Bensonhurst, now he is gone
Angeline, tries to carry on…

Next time on "Speakin' The Queens...", we take a ride to the other side with Track 7, "Bridge & Tunnel".

Alex Chilton

One of my favorite Big Star tracks can be found here ...Moody yet ultra-melodic and somehow still strangely uplifting.


Not so sure Alex Chilton got what he deserved in this life (& certainly not in his untimely death). His talent far exceeding his commercial success.


I, for one, am grateful for the brilliant mix of musical joy and sorrow Alex left behind for us all.

Thank you, friend. We probably don't deserve it.

Speakin' The Queens... Pt. 5

As the release date for my new album, "Queens English", approaches, I thought it might be a fun idea (if only for me) to try and maybe dissect the record here at the old Blog space. A bit of a behind the scenes look under the hood so to speak. Since I've always dug reading about some of my favorite albums track-by-track, I thought that might be an interesting way to approach. Eleven tracks in eleven installments? Can I pull it off without boring even myself? Got me. Stay tuned, find out and get yer furry, red boots on...

Track 5: "Camp Elmo" -

Becoming a parent for the first time is a pretty awesome experience. That said, I'm not gonna lie, as some of you undoubtedly know it's also a pretty terrifying exercise and probably one of the hardest things to wrap your head around. I mean the enormity of the event is fairly staggering. At least it was/is for me. From the beautiful nothing comes a beautiful something, and suddenly you're someones Mom or Dad with all the accompanying joy, privilege and heartache those titles carry. Pretty heavy weather indeed, but in addition to the existential connotations, the gig also brings with it some of the most intensive physical and mental punishment you'll ever experience short of a stint on a chain gang. As you stagger those seemingly thousands of miles of late-night floorboard, babe in cramping arms, your sleep-deprived mind also inevitably finds itself with far too many sadistic opportunities of the self-interrogating variety - What happened to me? How did I get here? Why is there poop on my sock?..

Safe to say "Camp Elmo" was born from the monotony and exhaustion of many a pre-dawn, soul searching moment.

Camp Elmo

Living here in Camp Elmo
And how we got here I don’t know
We’re building jungle gyms
And cleaning diaper bins
Living here in Camp Elmo…

Living here in Camp Elmo
The melancholy red Day-Glo
We used to drink all night
Now we’re up at dawn’s first light
Living here in Camp Elmo…

Don’t get me wrong,
It’s not Guantanamo
No heavy metal, late night drills,
Just one song
That plays on and on
And breaks my will…

Living here in Camp Elmo
Where hanging on means letting go
So trade in all your dreams
And sign up for the team
It’s easier in Camp Elmo

Living here in Camp Elmo…

Next time on "Speakin' The Queens...", no sleep 'till Brooklyn, yo; Track 6, "Angeline & the Bensonhurst Boy".

Speakin' The Queens - (Episode 1)

Welcome to Episode 1 of "Speakin' The Queens"; the video portion of my Blog and the world's only music Vlog to come to you direct from a Queens, NY living room.

In addition to the written Blog I have cooking here in this space, I thought I'd try my hand at a video version as well complete with cheesy theme song (Hey, you try and rhyme Blog with something).


www.markbacino.com

Speakin' The Queens... Pt. 4

As the release date for my new album, "Queens English", approaches, I thought it might be a fun idea (if only for me) to try and maybe dissect the record here at the old Blog space. A bit of a behind the scenes look under the hood so to speak. Since I've always dug reading about some of my favorite albums track-by-track, I thought that might be an interesting way to approach. Eleven tracks in eleven installments? Can I pull it off without boring even myself? Got me. Stay tuned and find out. And by the way, has anyone seen my apron?..

Track 4: "Muffin in the Oven" -

When I first began working on this album, I kicked off the sessions by recording a track called "Neighborhood Girl". The lyrics of the song weave the tale of a young girl living in the outer-boroughs of NYC, dreaming big dreams, longing for the day when she can finally shake off her working-class reality and pursue her ambitions amongst the shining lights of that so-close-yet-so-far Manhattan skyline.

"Big pillow windowsill daydreaming
Subway car rattles her floor
Sounds of the city they set her scheming
One day she'll make for the door..."

Ultimately, as the song comes to a melancholy close, we learn my heroine never reaches those bright lights. She meets a boy, falls in love and as with this life, sometimes things just sorta happen...

"Rocking her baby
She sits daydreaming
Subway car rattles the floor..."

Unfortunately, as is also the life of many tunes recorded for an album project, "Neighborhood Girl" never reached the bright lights of the final running order. In the end I felt the song, although lyrically in keeping with the theme of the record, just didn't fit well musically from a stylistic standpoint and as such, a tough decision was made.

Today's focus track, "Muffin in the Oven", was written as sort of a lighter-hearted companion piece to "Neighborhood Girl". The other side of the same coin so to speak; the ill-fitting neighborhood boy, he too with big plans detoured by the sometimes harsh realities of life and responsibility.

Not surprisingly, at the time I began to write "Muffin" my wife and I indeed had a real life bun in the oven replete with all the sides of fear, doubt and what-will-become-of-me selfishness customarily served up with first-time parenthood. What started as a silly phrase I absentmindedly sang to myself while nervously strumming my guitar, "Muffin in the Oven" somehow morphed its way out of my jittery head-space and into a song.

I suppose, as with this life, sometimes things just sorta happen...

Muffin in the Oven

He’s buskin’ around,
Waitin’ downtown
This sunny day
Birds are singing…

Her train is late,
But make no mistake
She’s on her way

Biting her lip, she is thinking of ways to say…

She’s got a muffin in the oven
Wasn’t supposed to happen this way
She’s got a muffin in the oven, yeah
Only thing she managed to say

Their seventeen years,
Showed in their fears
She starts to cry

Knew he should stay but he wanted to run and hide…

She’s got a muffin in the oven
Wasn’t supposed to happen this way
She’s got a muffin in the oven, yeah
Only thing she managed to say

He’s a scared little man, yeah
With a cheap guitar
All his plans of eye-lined bands, yeah
They won’t get too far
She’s got a muffin…

Oh, now what will they do, yeah?
What will they say?
Think her father’s unglued, yeah
His mother thinks he’s gay

She’s got a muffin in the oven
Wasn’t supposed to happen this way
She’s got a muffin in the oven, yeah
Only thing she managed to say
She’s got a muffin…

Next time on "Speakin' The Queens...", we visit a place more frightening than Guantanamo.

PS - Looks as if my "Neighborhood Girl" will get to see those big city lights after all; The track will be included on the CD-EP "Brooklynese" slated for release 5/18 as part of the "Queens English" Deluxe Edition.

Speakin' The Queens... Pt. 3

As the release date for my new album, "Queens English", approaches, I thought it might be a fun idea (if only for me) to try and maybe dissect the record here at the old Blog space. A bit of a behind the scenes look under the hood so to speak. Since I've always dug reading about some of my favorite albums track-by-track, I thought that might be an interesting way to approach. Eleven tracks in eleven installments? Can I pull it off without boring even myself? Got me. Stay tuned and find out. Now let's flip that frown around, we're number three bound...

Track 3: "Happy" -

Late one morning some years ago while working a non-musical day job, I suddenly heard the disembodied voice of one of my fellow cube farmers as he yawned in an obnoxiously loud manner and excitedly proclaimed for all to hear the catch phrase that will forever be ingrained in my memory as the very summit of all that is mundane: "Tummy, says time for lunch!".

I remember going, "What?!" I don't even think I've ever heard a child utter such a thing, no less a grown man. And with such glee! Honestly, I didn't know whether to laugh or stab myself with a letter opener. Nevertheless from then on out I found myself morbidly fascinated with this uber-cheery, suburban dwelling, Docker-rocking co-worker. Who was he? What was he? What made him tick and what made him so... happy? In the end, I never came to find that out and I'm not so sure I really wanted to know. Truth be told, I was a little frightened. Sometimes you really shouldn't go swimming in the deep end of the pool... especially after such a heavy lunch.

To further compound my fears of drowning, around this time my wife and I had recently left Manhattan, bought a house out in Queens and were expecting our first child. Planting our stake firmly in the heart of the American dream, I started to feel a twinge of suburban dread. Would this new life truly make us happy? What if it didn't? What then? Grin and bear it? Or maybe more disturbingly, would I begin to coif my hair a la that, "business in front, party in back" style worn by my ecstatic (or denial ridden) co-worker? All valid questions and fears best exorcised by me, as always, in song.

Recorded, mixed and performed by yours truly, save for some track stealing, tuba-esque French horn work courtesy of the talented Mr. Rob Jost, this jam goes out to all you "cryin' on the inside" kind of clowns.

Happy

I’m so happy, everybody tells me so
Happy, luckier than average Joe
Got the house, the kid, the wife
Got a pretty darn beautiful life
I’m so, I’m so, happy…

Happy, see it written on my face
Happy, see it hangin’ ‘round my waist
Don’t need the drugs or a smokey bar
Got lots of cookies in my cookie jar
I’m so, I’m so, happy…

Sometimes I wake up crying, must be tears of joy I weep
‘Cause I sit right up and count my blessings like sheep
‘Cause I know, I know, I’m so happy…

I’m so happy, man you know it’s almost five
Happy, it’s crazy how the time just flies
Have the job, the shirt, the tie
Never ever bothered to wonderin’ why….
I’m so, I’m so, happy…

I’m so, I’m so, happy…

Next time on "Speakin' The Queens...", we get a little baking done with track 4, "Muffin in the Oven".

Queen Streets

So who said only movies can have trailers?..

A little tour of the streets Archie and Edith made famous meets promo piece for my upcoming album, "Queens English", featuring the album's lead-off track, "Who Are Yous?"

Oh, such silliness...

Now somebody get me a beer, ha?

Speakin' The Queens... Pt. 2

As the release date for my new album, "Queens English", approaches, I thought it might be a fun idea (if only for me) to try and maybe dissect the record here at the old Blog space. A bit of a behind the scenes look under the hood so to speak. Since I've always dug reading about some of my favorite albums track-by-track, I thought that might be an interesting way to approach. Eleven tracks in eleven installments? Can I pull it off without boring even myself? Got me. Stay tuned and find out. Here goes it with the title track...

Track 2: "Queens English"-

The origins of this tune really date back to the summer of 2001; Around that time my wife and I bid a bittersweet goodbye to our beloved, overpriced, Manhattan apartment and made the move to a newly purchased townhouse in Queens with an eye toward starting a family and owning a semi-affordable place we could call our own. Growing up in Queens with an ever present desire to escape and follow my musical dreams in “the city”, I never thought I’d return. Now back in the hood, more a result of economic circumstance and bizarre twists in realty listings rather than premeditated thought, I felt oddly at home yet at the same time very much like a fish out of water. Both the transplanted interloper and the hard-core townie somehow wrapped into one.

It was also around this time that the now widely recognized, outer-borough, hipster invasions really began to pick up full-steam in Brooklyn and in parts of Queens (sorry if this makes no sense, non-NY'ers). Suddenly straggly, trust-fund babies with guitar cases and beards started to appear in places heretofore inhabited solely by track suit-sporting Tony Sopranos and black hat Hasidim. Inspired, I suppose, by both my sudden displacement and the wide-eyed gazes of Nebraska natives as they 'discovered' this 'new world', a snarky pen was put to paper and "QE" hopped a 7 train into being.

Queens English

Speakin’ the Queens,
Speakin’ the Queens…
Left the big city, my girl and me
Headed for the new frontier
Not talking Brooklynese, that’s over, please
Man, I’m speakin’ the Queens
Speakin’ the Queens…
English, yeah, yeah

Found a real nice place, got some space
It’s cozy and the bills are low
It’s a new hip scene where the accent’s keen
And I’m speakin’ the Queens
Speakin’ the Queens…
English, yeah, yeah,
Speakin’ the Queens
Speakin’ the Queens…
English… whoa, yeah, yeah…

It’s not the Village, no or the new SoHo
Don’t have snobby models on my block
Just some heavy cats wearin’ baseball hats
And they’re speakin’ the Queens
Speakin’ the Queens…
English, yeah, yeah

Speakin’ the Queens
Speakin’ the Queens…
English, oh, yeah, yeah
Speakin’ the Queens
Speakin’ the Queens…

English…

Next time on "Speakin' The Queens...", we get "Happy" with track 3.