Joe McGinty’s “Year In Review:2020”

Here’s a look back at 2020. It actually started out pretty great! An actual vacation to Palm Springs, hobnobbing with friends at NAMM, and catching up with my LA friends. In February, (which seems like a lifetime ago) we did the Loser’s Lounge Rat Pack show at Joe’s Pub with an encore at the Iridium. Shortly after, it was Gilbert Gottfried’s live podcast taping at the Cutting Room, where Seth Saltzman, Julian Maile and I backed up Marilu Henner, Richard Kind and Mario Cantone. The Loser’s Lounge band rocked Montclair Film Festival’s annual dance party. On March 6 we performed “Soulful Sinatra” with Carlton Smith at the Iridium, and on March 7, I played piano at a private party at a posh Brooklyn apartment. People were already getting concerned: there were bottles of Purell everywhere (and Purell was already getting hard to find). At Sid Gold’s, precautions were already in place in accordance with the NYC restrictions. My last night at Sid Gold’s was on March 12. On Friday March 13 Amy and I came down to our place in Ventnor, NJ “for the weekend”. Her office wasn’t closed yet and bars hadn’t been shut down. On Sunday March 15, bars and restaurants were ordered closed, so we just stayed in Ventnor. And here we still are.

My last night at Sid’s was strange, but memorable. New Yorkers were already (wisely) staying home. It was very slow. There were only a few patrons, but they were great singers and super nice. One of our regulars stopped in and couldn’t believe that Jeff Taylor was there. She is a huge fan of his original music. I had no idea! It was also the last time I saw Adam Schlesinger, who popped in by himself for a little while. He would be dead less than three weeks later.

I can’t express enough how heartbreaking it was to lose Adam. He was 52 years old and in good health. It really drove home how random and fatal COVID could be. I met him in the mid 90s, when he was playing bass with Ivy. He appeared with Ivy at the Loser’s Lounge “duets” show in February of 1995. I still have the demo cassette from Fountains Of Wayne before they were signed. Every so often, our paths would cross. When I was bandleader for the short lived “My Kind Of Town” TV show, he wrote the theme song. When I was bandleader for Jon Stewart’s “Night Of Too Many Stars”, he wrote the opening number (“It’s Autism’s Night”) for Jack Black. When Paul Devitt and I were looking for investors for our piano bar, I thought of Adam. He totally got the concept and enthusiastically came on board. He was very involved in creative decisions for the bar, and it was always a party when he came to the bar, often bringing his “a-list” celebrity friends.

The year was bookended by losing two dear friends in December, though not from COVID: Rita Houston of WFUV and Mike McPadden. I shared some memories of Mike here. Julian Velard and I recorded a cover of Barry Manilow’s “Can’t Smile Without You” in honor of Rita and Mike.

Sid Gold’s closed on March 14, and except for a few weeks in October, has been closed all year. Normally, I’d be playing there 2–3 nights a week. The last Loser’s Lounge show was a tribute to the Rat Pack back in February. Six Loser’s Lounge shows were canceled (and counting). And there are several other gigs and private events that fell by the wayside. Needless to say, without the steady routine of live gigs, I had a lot of free, unstructured time (and alas, not much income). There’s always been “back burner” projects that I never seem to have time for. Now there was time, but self-motivation was often challenging. I’m thankful for those that reached out for remote collaborations. Here’s a look back at some of the positive accomplishments that happened during my ongoing forced retirement from live performance.

• Finished the “Global Goals” PSA series for the UN, featuring original music written by Robert Edwards and I. Filmed before lockdown at Sid Gold’s: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9Xlh2Jq9l7UEC61U8jXgqvI4r8qEEZqi
• After years without one, I finally have a website, thanks to Nicole Bonelli.
• Released Unicornicopia’s “Grace, You’re A Dear”, a collaboration with Natalie Elizabeth Weiss from 2010.
• Put together a video tribute to Adam Schlesinger featuring friends from Sid Gold’s.
• Created an experimental soundscape soundtrack to a video of David Černý’s “K.” (Franz Kafka) sculpture in Prague.
• Arranged and produced Steve Young and Hank Bebe’s “Wear A Mask” featuring Paige Siegwardt on vocals. Video here: https://youtu.be/pjMvlELCLfg
• Released “Kiss Me, Stupid (Sydney)” featuring Gotye and Jaclyn Slimm: Video here; Download here.
• Released two tracks with Chilean singer Paul Barouh: “Dry Love” and “NYC Junkie”. Video; Downloads.
• Released “Lighthouse”, a track that I recorded with Richard Barone many years ago, and added keyboards to his cover of “Revolution/Power To The People”.
• I found an experimental synth track on an old cassette and released it on Bedroom Cassette Masters.
• Continued work on the Duchess and the Fox EP.
• Added keyboard overdubs remotely for Violet, Lenny Zenith, Jesse Krakow (for Dot Wiggin of the Shaggs), Jeff Slate, Erin Moran (“A Girl Called Eddy) and others.
• While living in Ventnor, it’s been great reconnecting with my friend Rich Kurtz, and working at his studio.
• Filmed a “One Hit Wonder” show at Joe’s Pub, for their streaming series. The next one is January 21.
• I appreciate staying “virtually” connected to my friends from Sid Gold’s at the nightly “Virtual Piano Bar” on Sid Gold’s Facebook Page. Friday nights at 7:30!

Thanks if you’ve made it this far, and checked out any of the links. It’s mainly for me, to feel like I was able to be somewhat productive during this difficult year. Not bad, in retrospect. Here’s to a better 2021! Stay safe and healthy.