The Costly Side of Being a Car Guy

Sometimes, I'm never as dumb as when I'm trying to be smart. Love that saying, and it sure applies to some of the dopey stuff I've done in my life. One of the really silly things that hasn't worked out as I imagined it might, is the two plus years of fun and frolic I've had with the little piece of crap (the '69 Fiat 850).
When I decided to have my Barracuda 'restored', I knew, based on what needed to be done, and the extent to which I wanted it repaired, that it would be costly. Heck, the new interior alone was pricey, not to mention all the bodywork and full paint job that I wanted.
But the little 850, I figured, wasn't going to be as bad. First, I had no plans to bring it up to the same level of repair as I had done with the Barracuda. I figured a cheap Maaco paint job, new seat covers, maybe new floor mats, you know, simple stuff. It's a tiny car, how much could it be?
Well, I still haven't figured that out, because as I've found, just keeping the damn thing running has cost a lot more than I ever thought it would. For example:
Had an issue with the car stalling and refusing to restart after it'd been driven a while. Finally figured out it was 40+ years of gunk, rust, and corrosion in the little 6 gallon gas tank. Mechanic said the tank was beyond flushing and re-coating, so I had to look for a 'new' one. Now, back in the day, when I had my first 850, a gas tank would probably have been around $100 brand new from the local Fiat dealer. So, imagine my shock when I found out that decent used gas tanks were going for well over $600!
The muffler on the car is not the correct one. It's way too small, the pipe coming out of it is tiny, and I'm convinced that this too small muffler is restricting the exhaust, therefore causing the engine to be 'choked', which is resulting in a loss of power. And since the engine was only rated at 52 hp when it was new, this is an issue. Back in 1973, I bought a brand new set of headers with a dual chrome tip exhaust for about $50 from J.C. Whitney. Again, shock set in when the same set up today was priced at $750 (imported from Italy).
Even simple things, like the balky, cheesy, unreliable window cranks, which used to be about $4.50, are now $50.
Everything has increased in price by a ridiculous amount, it's way worse than parts and repairs on the Barracuda - and at first I couldn't understand why.
And then it hit me. Chrysler must have made, and sold, several million Valiants, Darts, Barracudas, etc., with those old 225 cu. in. slant six engines between 1960 and 1976, when they were finally discontinued. And there are probably a couple hundred thousand still being pushed around the roads; so parts, some at least, are still being made, and are still readily available. Yes, they're a bit more costly than they used to be, but nothing like the Fiat parts.
On the other hand, Fiat sold only about 125,000 850 Spiders in the USA from 1967 to 1973. Not a huge amount, and since most of those cars arrived here pre-rusted from their long journey on ships from Italy, there aren't many left. Resulting in very low demand for parts - most of which haven't been manufactured since 1973. So what you have, is the 'perfect storm' to make keeping these little pieces of crap on the road a very expensive proposition! Now, of course, I've doped this out, but only after making the purchase of the car - which was, obviously, a bit of an impulse purchase. If I'd have given any real logical thought to the potential costs of this fiasco before I bought it.....well, you all can figure out the rest.
But, I didn't, and while the car is currently actually running pretty well (!), my mechanic has already informed me that the rust issue has reared it's ugly head, and the bottom of the car is in pretty bad shape. Which means there's decisions ahead in terms of fixing or dumping. Which would have been a simple call had I not put those expensive parts into the damn thing.
So, I suppose, live and learn is the lesson here; but I live, and never quite seem to learn. At least not where these dopey cars are concerned. The little piece of crap is under the cover for the winter, the new muffler safely inside the car, awaiting installation in the spring. The rust will have to wait, and hopefully nothing will fall off the car before I can get that repaired. And meanwhile, please, don't anyone send me any Ebay auto listings again!

Short Shot to Florida

My cousin in Florida tragically lost her husband last week, cancer, and so on Sunday I took to the skies on JetBlue to visit with the family and celebrate his life. A short, barely two day trip, but I managed to hit a good road food spot while I was there, and even got in a visit to a classic car museum!
First, the food. While driving in Sarasota, looking for the car museum, I passed a "Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers" restaurant. I was a bit surprised to see this, as Freddy's is pretty much a midwest chain; but a little further up the road I spotted a "Culver's", so I guess some of the regional chains are expanding into Florida (I know there are also some "Whattaburger" places here).
After visiting the car museum, it was lunch time, so in I went.

Gotta love a place that has a giant ice cream cone on the building! The place was very clean, with a sort of throwback look to it inside. Checked out the menu, and decided on a #10, chili cheese dog with fries and a drink. What can I say, I'm a sucker for a good chili dog! And this one was pretty good:

The dog, the drink, and the fries were $6.20, not a bad price, considering the dog was on the large side, and there were enough fries in the basket for two people. picked up the dog, and found a pleasant surprise, it's served in a "New England" style top split roll - something you do not see every day. We get these here on Long Island at the places that serve Lobster Rolls, and of course, this type of roll was served at the legendary "Nedick's" hot dog joints many years ago. I plopped it on top of the fries so you could see it better.

The dog is served with a decent amount of chili, and chopped onions. You can ask for ketchup (!) or mustard as well. I went with mustard, and was a bit disappointed that they only had the yellow type; a little Gulden's would have helped the whole endeavor. Surprise #2, the dog was pretty good; grilled to order on the flat top, not sitting in a pot of slimy water (Burger King), or shoved in a microwave (Dairy Queen), it was cooked perfectly. And, even better, it was a Vienna Beef dog. Known mostly in the Chicago area, Vienna Beef is probably the closest thing you'd find to a brand name dog like Nathan's is in NY. While it was not a natural casing dog, it did have a good texture, and a nice smoky flavor. Of course, if they'd put a little garlic in the thing, they'd really have something! Overall, a good dog, properly cooked, and nicely dressed.
The french fries were the mini shoestring variety that you find in a lot of these places, like Culver's or Steak and Shake. They are probably 2/3 as thick as a McDonald's fry, and they came out hot and crispy. I held one up to give you a little perspective on the size of the things:

They were fine, but came out completely unsalted, so that needed attention. Hot, crispy, and with good potato flavor, they were fine both naked and dipped in ketchup. Overall, dog and fries were well worth the trip.
And then, there was the star of the show; Freddy's Frozen Custard. I've had custard in a couple of places through the years, but somehow managed to miss it at Freddy's. Well, I won't make that mistake again! This was some of the best, creamiest, deeply chocolate custard I've ever had.

They offer all kinds of sundaes, and a 'concrete', which is like a DQ Blizzard, and  had loads of toppings available. But I wanted to really taste the custard, so I had it bare, just a single dish of chocolate. The custard is extremely dense, thick, and creamy. Think of the consistency of creamy peanut butter, and you're in the ballpark. The chocolate was very strong, sweet, but not overly so, with a nice finish and aftertaste. It's a rich dish, and honestly, as good as it was, I think I'd stick to just a single serving, as more than that would probably have been too much.
Overall, a good spot to stop. While I didn't have one, the hamburgers here look good to me. They're the same type that you get at Smashburger and some of the other places, a really hot grill, the meat smashed down to develop a slight crispy crust, and nicely topped with fresh lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle. Plenty of other options as well, including the ever popular chicken tenders, and a couple of salads. If you pass a Freddy's while you're on the road, stop in, I'd call it 'highly recommended'.

 

Middle American Mexican

Back on the road early today, riding I-94 eastbound. Haven't driven this route before, I'm usually further south on 80, or 70, but since I went through North Dakota, this was the closest and most efficient way home.
As you might imagine, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin are pretty much flat and the road runs mostly straight, which makes for an easy, fuel efficient ride. 'Course, you do get to see a lot of scenery, loads of cattle farms, miles and miles of corn (remember Iowa? Corn...more corn....corn....even more corn....corn!), and many acres of deep green grass. Really a pretty ride, highlighted by a sunrise in N. Dakota that would be right at home out at Montauk point! 
With the easy ride, good weather, and the car that is comfy and easy to drive, I did about 700 miles today before calling it a night. I had planned to stop in Madison WI, but went a little further on to Janesville. Looks to be a fairly typical Interstate Stop/Suburban area. You get off and you're immediately on a long stretch of retail, food, and professional buildings. Most of the usual suspects here, along with one or two that you don't always see, like Fuddrucker's, Famous Dave's, and not one, but two buffets - Hometown and Old Country. Checked in to a nice clean Microtel Inn, and out to dinner I went. Decided to take a chance and get some Mexican, so I took the short ride over to Cozumel.

Pretty typical menu, lots of 'combination plates', the usual burritos, enchiladas, tacos, etc. While I was contemplating the choices, the salsa and chips arrived.

We're off to a good start, the chips are fresh, crispy and warm; they need salt, but when dipped in the salsa, they're fine. The salsa is also very fresh tasting, with a hint of lime juice, good tomato flavor, and a nice kick; several pieces of chopped jalapeno add to the heat level. Quite good. Washed the chips down with a cold Negra Modelo on draught, served ice cold in a frosted mug, and topped with a lime wedge.
For my dinner, I chose the Deluxe Chimichanga. I haven't had a good Chimi for a while, I think the last one I had was the disappointing one at South Of The Border last winter. A few minutes wait, and here it came.

As they sometimes say, the photo doesn't do it justice. This is one HUGE chimichanga, loaded with chicken, and sauteed onions, peppers, and tomatoes. It was topped with a dollop of guacamole, a load of pico de gallo, a huge amount of sour cream, a good pile of lettuce, refried beans, and a serving of Mexican rice. 
The rice was good, savory and moist, not dry and crumbly as it is at some places, while the refried beans were nothing special. The pico was fresh, had a mild Cilantro flavor (good, as I'm not a fan of Cilantro), while the guac was pretty much just a tasteless green paste; it could have used some jalapeno, salt and pepper. 
As for the Chimi itself, it had been fried to a nice crispness, but all the 'stuff' they loaded on the plate quickly turned it from a crispy, tasty wrapper into a soggy, mushy mess. The filling was okay, but, like most of these places, they don't understand that you have to season your ingredients while you're cooking them to get the flavor to come out. The peppers, tomatoes, and onions, while cooked nicely, needed some help. As did the chunks of chicken, which were nicely cooked, but bland. Overall, a very impressive looking dish that didn't quite live up to expectations. 
Best part of the meal was the chips and salsa, and the Negra Modela. For a total of $16 and change, a reasonably good meal at a decent price. Decent Mexican in Wisconsin - who'da thunk!


 

World's Best Hamburger (?)

Heading East after a great Instructor School in Denver, a good days drive landed me in Bismarck, North Dakota. That's state number 49 for me, with only Alaska remaining as the last of the fabulous 50! 
Nice ride today, sailing up I-25 coming out of Denver, crossing into Wyoming, on to US 85 through South Dakota, and the beautiful Black Hills - what a tremendous drive through the National Forest - and finally into North Dakota and I-94 eastbound to head for home.
Bismarck seems like a nice enough city, not what you'd call big by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems to have a pretty nice downtown area, some good recreation spaces, and lots of restaurants. 
Unfortunately, as hard as I searched, the "Raccoon National Cemetery" was nowhere to be found; sort of like the time I went to Kansas City and found that '12th street & Vine" don't intersect!
Checked into the "Kelly Inn", a nice, large, highly rated local motel, which has a restaurant and a bar on the premises. Usually a nice feature, not having to run around to eat, but tonight I was captured by a small restaurant across the street from the motel;

Not sure if you can see it, but they've got a big green and white banner that says "Home of The World's Best Hamburger". Hmmmmm. Now how could I possibly pass that up? You all would never forgive me! So, across the street, and in I went. I get the name now, as the entire interior is wood; wood paneling, wood trim, wood ceilings, wood gable roofs over the booths; wood.

"Seat yourself" the sign said, so I found a nice clean booth and sat down. Waitress brought over a glass of water, and indicated the menu posted on the wall, along with a telephone. Yeah, a telephone. Just the receiver, no dial or push buttons. Ahhhh, I get it, you pick up the phone and give your order to whomever answers; cool!

 So I peruse the thing, and decide on just a cheeseburger and fries. Pick up the receiver, I can hear a 'beeping' back in the kitchen. A young girl answers and asks what I'd like, then would I like onions and pickles on the burger. Hang up the phone and wait. Couple of minutes later, out comes my burger and fries, each on a small dessert size plate. First, the fries;

Surprise, they're fresh, not frozen! Nice and crispy on the outside, fluffy and hot on the inside. Don't think they're twice cooked, but they must fry them at a pretty high temperature, as the exterior was on the brownish side, and they were not at all soft or soggy. Just needed a little salt, and with ketchup, they were really good. Next, the burger;

First thing I notice is the bun. The bottom is positively fat, very thick; the top, also thick, and with a nice deep brown color. Along with the nice bun, a small surprise, the American cheese, besides being yellow, is real deli style cheese, not the usual slimy processed cheese food. That alone makes the burger better than average. The toppings, onion and pickles, aren't on top at all - they're on the bottom!

Generous amount of chopped white onion, and three good dill chips. And you can see the patty has been seared nicely on the griddle, which is usually a good sign. And in we go!

Unlike most places that serve these thin burgers, they didn't overcook it until it was grey and tasteless, it still had a touch of pink inside. Well cooked, nicely topped, good cheese, excellent roll - not a bad burger at all. "World's Best"? Nah, not by a long shot. But compared to many of the other burgers you find out there, one of the better ones. Oh, and while not the World's Best, they were apparently voted Best Burger in Bismarck in the local newspaper multiple times.
Back to the motel, plan my route for tomorrow, looking for a stop in Madison WI, which, if I recall from past trips through, has some pretty interesting food choices. Check back Wednesday night to see what transpires!


 






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Riding West on I-80!

Well gang, here we go again! Headed out to Denver for a Certified Pool Operator Instructor School, which is being held this weekend. And, of course, why fly when you can drive? Loaded the Blue Cuda up and got on the road at 5 am on Wednesday, and managed to get off Long Island and over the bridges before traffic got too nasty, which resulted in a good days drive of about 650 miles. Landed just about 8 miles from South Bend IN, nice clean spot right off the Interstate. Settled in, took a little power nap (didn't want to miss the Yankee game!), and then it was time to get dinner and gas up the car. Much to my delight, there was a "Culver's" just a mile or so from the hotel. I've stopped in these places before, and reviewed them, so you may want to skip down to the Thursday report.
Culver's is a family owned chain, mainly in the mid-west that features fresh beef hamburgers served on rolls slathered with butter and toasted (thus, butterburger), pork tenderloin sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, salads, and killer custard. I chose a "Butterburger Deluxe", which had a double patty burger, a side, and a drink:

Ahh, I hear you now, what is that odd looking side item? Certainly not fries? Nope, those are 'curds', Wisconsin cheddar cheese curds that have been battered and deep fried.

The curds are served hot, crispy on the outside, and melty-stretchy on the inside. A little bit of chew, sort of like a stick of Mozzarella string cheese, and OH, so tasty! Good solid mild cheddar flavor, tasty, crispy coating, a nice combination. They didn't need ketchup, but they were crying for salt, which really improved the taste of the coating. And they're really into curds at this place; they're running a contest to name the biggest 'curd nerd'! You have to send them a pic of you pulling a curd apart, showing the stretchy goodness. Grand prize? Well, among other items, free curds for a year!

On to the burger, which in the past has always been very good. And this one didn't disappoint. Culver's cooks to order, you never get an item that's been sitting under a heat lamp for hours on end, so the food is very fresh and hot. And as I always say, the food actually looks like the photos on the menu, it's never served all squashed down. The folks who work here take pride in what they do, and it shows.

I took this photo of the bottom of the burger for a change to show you how good the beef patty is. Perfectly seared with a barely crispy outside, it's a very tasty burger - one of the better fast food burgers you can get. I think because Culver's is a family operation, they have very high standards, much like Chick-Fil-A. The restaurants are always extremely clean, the help friendly, and it's enjoyable going in there for a meal. They've recently expanded a little further into the South and Southeast, but no signs (yet) of them getting into the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast. Shame.
And then it was Thursday. Left South Bend at 6 am, for what was the long day of the trip. Aiming for a stop at North Platte NE for the night, I had about 850 miles ahead of me. Fortunately, the speed limit in most of Indiana and Illinois was 70, and entering Nebraska, it went up to 75! At those speeds, the Blue Cuda just eats up the miles, averaging a very nice 26-27 mpg on the cruise control, with the engine barely working at 1,800 rpm!
Crossed into the Central time zone, and landed at the hotel at 5 pm local time. On the way, I'd seen a lot of signs for "Runza's" Restaurants, and of course, that made me curious. How nice to find one just a couple of blocks from the hotel! Before I went, I checked out their website, and found that they serve a slightly different version of a 'Mid-west loose meat sandwich', which you find in Ilinois, Indiana, Michigan, and a few other locations. If you're curious, do a search for "Maid Rite", which seems to be the most popular of the loose meat joints. Basically, it's ground beef that's simmered with chopped onions and spices, served on a hamburger roll with yellow mustard. Runza's, puts a bit of a twist on this dish, by adding chopped cabbage to the meat, and serving it on a store baked club type roll.

Ooooh, the delicious mystery meal all wrapped in waxed paper! I chose the "Runza Cheeseburger", which is their simmered meat topped with cheese, pickles, ketchup and yellow mustard.

Looks innocent enough, doesn't it? Well, the photo doesn't tell the story; this thing was packed with meat, and was quite heavy for it's size. The roll had a nice crust to it, was dense without being heavy, and had a good flavor. Well worth trying this place just for the roll! As for the fillling....

Kinda hard to tell from the photo, but there was a LOT of meat on that thing! Plenty of toppings, too, they didn't skimp on anything here! As for the taste...not bad. The onions and cabbage weren't overcooked, and added a nice little crunch to the whole thing. The meat, tender, juicy, nicely seasoned with what seemed like a good amount of white pepper, salt, and maybe a touch of paprika. With the pickles and cheese, a pretty rich, heavy meal. While I liked it, I didn't finish it - just too much for one sitting!

As my side, I got 'frings', a combination of onion rings and fries. The fries, as in a lot of these mid-west places, were crinkle cut. Frozen, for sure, but nicely cooked, and with a little salt and ketchup, pretty good. The onion rings were pretty good, nice full onion rings, not those chopped things, with a crunchy corn meal coating. Good choice.
Overall, an interesting place. They also serve 'regular' hamburgers, and were voted 'best hamburger' here in North Platte over this past summer; not sure who voted, but what the hell. If I do stop again, I'll probably try a more traditional burger.
That's it for the first two days, tomorrow it's a 'short day' of about 240 miles to Denver, where I'll be until Monday or Tuesday of next week. I'll do my best to get out and about while I'm there and keep you up to date.
Oh, yeah, one more thing - GO YANKS!



 

It's Classic Car Time Again!

Just a quick, short post today, sort of a 'tease' for the upcoming nice weather. As the calendar turns from March to April, gearheads and car nuts all across the region begin to drool in anticipation of the best time of the year - Car Show Season!

Yes, it's time to get out the car wash soap, chrome polish, armor all, etc., and shine up the old rides. Here on Long Island, there's a really large car culture, and once we hit summer, there are multiple 'cruise nights' each night. On some evenings, we have 3 or 4 different places to choose from!
For me, the season always starts with the Garden City Easter Show and Parade. Sponsored by the GC Chamber of Commerce, this one is lots of fun. We take our rides and park them in one of the big lots on the East side of Franklin Avenue, usually around 10 am. A big crowd of spectators wanders around checking the cars out, there are bands, food vendors, folks in rabbit costumes - a lot of fun for all, especially the kids. 

At around 1 pm, we fire up our engines, and 'parade' down Franklin Avenue to Seventh Street. Up Seventh we go, to Hilton, where the parade ends. Now, the thing to understand is the size of the crowd. All along Franklin, and Seventh, the crowd lines the sidewalk 6 or 7 deep. There are literally thousands of people watching this parade! Lots of us who participate carry bags of candy in our cars and we toss it out the window to the kids who are watching. And you hear folks commenting along the way; 'Wow, a 'Cuda, I haven't seen one of those in years!' 'Hey, look, a Fiat 850!' and the like. It's really a fun time, and it's become a tradition for Tom and I to be there. Karen usually goes as well, and usually one of her children is there with their kids - a fun family event!
Last year, we showed both the Barracuda and the Fiat, and that was fun. The Fiat attracted quite a crowd around it, since back in the day these things were all over. But most of these cars rusted away, or just came apart, and you rarely, if ever, see one. Ours looks pretty good, and folks just like looking at it. Of course, the fact that it's tiny (Karen calls it a Matchbox car) is part of the attraction.
This year however, it's just the Barracuda. The Fiat, as is it's habit, has become maddeningly unreliable, and has been getting us stuck whenever we take it out. A gas tank full of gunk and dirt seems to be the culprit, and I just don't have the time to get it worked out before the parade. But I'm sure we'll drag the little piece of crap out to some show this summer, it'd be a shame to just leave it sitting on the driveway.
So if you're anywhere near the Garden City area on Sunday April 16, pop on over to GC Parking Field 9E. Wander through the cars and enjoy a look back to when cars were stylish and simple. Then line up on the streets and watch a parade that's so 'middle America' it could be mistaken for someplace out in Iowa. And bring the kids - classic cars are a great hobby that's fun, interesting, and a lifetime pursuit.
And now, back to cleaning the old buggy up!
 
 

Music, Music, Music!

Now there's a great song title (done by Theresa Brewer), and a good title for this edition of the blog. Today it's "Vintage Rock and Roll" time, as I review four artists that Karen and I had the pleasure of seeing recently.
On St. Patrick's Day, we scooted up the Wantagh Parkway to the NYCB Theater at Westbury (Westbury Music Fair), for a double header; The Lovin' Spoonful and Johnny Rivers.
You've all seen how fond Karen and I are of the Spoonful, they've become one of our favorites. We first saw them about 7 years ago, when they came through as part of "HippieFest". They were on the bill with about 10 other acts, and to be honest, I wasn't expecting a lot from them. My friend Neil Marrin had booked them into one of his parks for a summer concert, and I'd heard that they were 'okay'. Well, we were pleasantly surprised, as they came out and did their 3 or 4 songs, and really sounded good. Yes, they're without John Sebastian, but the guys who are left from the 'originals', Joe Butler, Steve Boone, and Jerry Yester sound just fine. Joe and Jerry do the vocals, they have a great guitar player and fabulous drummer, and the band sounds great.

 Now, when you get two acts on the same bill, usually the opening act will do 20-25 minutes, and then out comes the 'headliner'. But on this occasion, the Spoonful did pretty much their full show - about an hour and change. All the hits; "Didn't Have to Be So Nice", "Six O'Clock", "Jug Band Music", "Nashville Cats", "Darlin' Be Home Soon", "Daydream", "Summer In The City", and "Do You Believe In Magic". Absolutely wonderful songs, played to perfection by a really good set of musicians, they left the stage to a long standing ovation.
Intermission, a little long, as the stage crew was having some issues with the sound, and out came the second act, Johnny Rivers.
Johnny doesn't tour a lot, and it's been a good 4 or 5 years since he came through New York. Back then, we saw him at BB King's, and he was so good, I put him on the 'watch list' over on Pollstar and "Bandsintown". When we saw he was coming to Westbury, we knew we had to go. At 74 years of age, he shows no signs of slowing down. 

With a good three piece backing band, he played three different guitars, and sounded just as good, if not better, than he did on his records. Johnny never really had what you'd call a 'strong' voice, and he was fighting a little bit of a sore throat, but except for a slight volume problem on the first song or two, he hit all the notes, and sounded pretty good. The guitar work was, as we'd hoped, excellent. All of his hits sounded great, and he did a few songs that had been hits for others, and made them sound like he could have done them back in the day. The show closer, "Secret Agent Man" really screamed, his guitar work on that one alone was worth the price of admission. Again, he doesn't come through this area often, but should you spot him performing near you, go. You'll be glad you did.
Next up, a week later, another favorite, the lead voice on so many Monkees hits, Micky Dolenz. Back again at Feinstein's 54 Below, Micky was doing his "A Little Bit Broadway, A Little Bit Rock and Roll" show. We'd seen him at this venue once before, and were very happy to see him playing here again. Feinstein's is a terrific spot, very intimate, with seating for 124, and no seat further than 25 feet from the stage. You've got a great view wherever you sit, and the sound system is about as good as you'll hear. This club is a throwback to the old nightclubs, with a full dinner menu, and good drinks. Tickets are anywhere from about $50 to $95, which, for what is essentially premium seating in a small club, is reasonable.

I've reviewed Micky, and the Monkees, lots of times, you all know that his voice is still great, and he always does full versions of his hit songs, which fans really appreciate. In this show, he does lots of Monkees songs, and he mixes in songs which he's done either in Broadway shows, or has used as auditions for shows, plus one or two that the just likes. Of course, "I'm a Believer", "Clarksville", and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" are great to hear, but he also does "As We Go Along", a beautiful Carol King song from the movie "Head". And he does a very nice, ballad like version of "Some Enchanted Evening", a song his father used to sing around the house. "Don't Be The Bunny", from the musical "Urinetown", which Micky has used as an audition piece in the past, is a great tune that he has a lot of fun with. 

Part of the way through the show, Micky is joined on stage by his sister Coco, and they perform a couple of songs together. Coco has been singing professionally most of her life, and in addition to being a featured singer on the last couple of Monkees tours, actually sang backup on some of their original recordings back in the 60's. Her voice blends well with Micky's, and they sounded great, especially on the old Everly Brothers tune, "I'll Do My Crying In the Rain".
The show ran about an hour and 20 minutes, and was fun from start to finish. In addition to still having that great voice, Micky comes across as a really good guy, his patter with the audience in this intimate setting is great. Rumor is he's coming back to Feinstein's some time this summer. Another performance that's highly recommended!
And finally, the night after we saw Micky, it was back to Manhattan for another legendary group, The Zombies. As with the Lovin' Spoonful, Karen and I first saw this group on that HippieFest tour, and they just blew us away. Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone still sound great, and the rest of the band is very talented as well - they sound just like they did on the records some 45-50 years ago!

This show was at Town Hall, where we'd seen Michael Nesmith on his solo tour, and Micky and Peter doing The Monkees shows. Great theater, it seats about 1,500, and was completely sold out, with a very high energy and enthusiastic crowd. The show was split into two halves. The first half featured the current 'touring band' doing the old hits, some new material from their 2015 album, and other favorites. That portion went about an hour, and was really well received. You can't go wrong with songs like "I Love You", "She's Not There", and "Tell Her No". A short intermission, and out came a slightly different band - all the surviving members of the original group, plus the touring band. The second half of the show was a note for note recreation of their "Odessey And Oracle" album. Original bass player Chris White, and drummer Hugh Grundy, current lead guitar Tom Tooney, Argent and Blunstone provided the bulk of the material, ably backed up by the others. This was billed as the "Finale" performance of the album, as Rod Argent told the crowd, there are some songs from the album that sound fine when the five piece touring band plays them, but there are others which had so much multi tracking, that they can't really be done by only five people. So for this tour, they found a way to recreate that sound using the extra players and singers. And it was marvelous! Odessey And Oracle is one of the truly great late 60's albums, the songs and the playing on it are wonderful. "A Rose For Emily", "This Will Be Our Year", and "Time of The Season" are just some of the tunes that brought the crowd to their feet. Overall, the show ran close to two hours, and left everyone feeling good. Standing ovation after standing ovation, you could see that the guys were really touched by the response to the performance. Another group which we highly recommend, especially if you are lucky enough to catch this "Finale" tour, which is going to be in the U.S. for a few more months.
So there you go, four terrific acts in a little over a week's time. Think we'll take a break for a bit; oh, wait, I see a great "Happy Together" show coming to Westbury...and The Spoonful is going to be at Suffolk Theater in July..and there will be plenty of other great shows for us to see. We truly are blessed to live where all the great acts show up and play, and so fortunate to be able to get to see them. I'll keep posting the reviews, and let you all know who's worth your money, and your time.