mack said:
Yes Joe, these do go back a few years. But so do we. In fact they go back even before the FDNYs War Years. Before bunker gear, MDTs, FAST Cos., Rac Units, air conditioned rigs, rear mount ladders, tower ladders, maybe even before fire ground portable radios and air packs. I really didn't want to get into it but I guess that makes a few of us on here pretty old.
As I remember, Dion and The Belmonts" got their name because they sang and grew up on Belmont Ave in the Bronx, not far from the quarters of Engine 88 and Ladder 38.
The Ronettes grew up in Manhattans Spanish Harlem. And I don't think I was alone when I say I had a "crush" on their lead singer, Ronnie Spector. My very first 33 1/3 record album was from a live show at the Brooklyn Fox Theater with "Murry the K" as the MC. Be My Baby was one of the songs on it. Also Gene Pitney-Town without Pity, The Tymes-So much in Love, The Drifters-Under the Boardwalk, The Angels-My boyfriends back, Randy and the Rainbows- Denise, Jan and the Americans-She cried, and a few others.
As I remember those years, there weren't too many window bars sold then. Or dead bolts, fox locks or car alarms. In school, we would Pledge Allegiance to the Flag every day. We would get in trouble for chewing gum, not for carrying a gun. We watched television for free, played stick ball on the street and touch football in an empty lot. Gas was 29 cents a gallon and a twelve cent McDonalds hamburger was still in the planning stages.
We didn't have cell phones or computers. But anybody who was around then will probably tell you that we had great music and a great time.
