UPDATE–Check out the full list of clips for September 13, Sound and Vision at the Piazza!

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The Piazza at Schmidts 2nd and Germantown Aves, below Girard Temple University Libraries, Urban Archives presents a look at hidden stories of music and sound in Philadelphia. It features some of the more distinct characters, traditions and venues in the city’s recent history. The screening will feature: free…-jazz performer Sun Ra and his Arkestra, David Bowie visiting Veterans Stadium, synthesizer expert Gerson Rosenbloom, Philadelphia International soul legends McFadden & Whitehead, punk/new wave stalwart Kenn Kweeder at the Hot Club, the organist at the Spectrum sports and entertainment venue, jazz-vibraphonist Khan Jamal, Mummers new years string bands, the original Electric Factory concert venue and more! The program consists of unique footage from the Urban Archives’ collections including unaired news footage, television broadcasts, news magazines and documentaries from local networks WPVI 6 and KYW 3. This highlights recent preservation and digitization work done on our film and video holdings and is curated by John Pettit and Kathryn Gronsbell. Open to the general public and FREE! Facebook-Logo.png Register on facebook

 

Sun Ra, Visions, WPVI Public Affairs- 24:34 Performances by Sun Ra and his “Science-Myth Arkestra” are interspersed with his observations on music, life and the African-American experience.

Kenn Kweder, Evening Magazine, KYW – 6:40 Kenn Kweder, self-proclaimed “country singer from Southwest Philadelphia giving you pure rock and roll” is interviewed at the Hot Club where he gives us his personal background and defines the genre of music he plays.

Westinghouse Radio Giveaway, KYW Newsfilm, August 6, 1966- 1:07 A short promotional piece found amongst the news footage promoting Westinghouse portable radios and amplifiers.

Gerson Rosenbloom, Music Makers, WPVI Public Affairs 7:13 A segment from a show called “Music Makers” within our WPVI Public Affairs collection. Gerson Rosenboom, from Medley Music demonstrates ARP synthesizers and explores the implications for musicians. Gregg Hall, host

Spectrum Organist, Evening Magazine , 7:23 Alan Paller, takes host Teresa Brown up to his perch atop the Spectrum to experience his unique position. He plays a few tunes including the Flyers game classic “Oh Dem Golden Slippers” along with observations on how to play to a crowd.

Philadelphia Orchestra, KYW Newsfilm, 9:34 Through unedited 16mm news footage, we see construction of a news piece where Philadelphia Orchestra members are shown preparing for a concert at the Academy of Music. Meandering sounds from the players alternate with orders barked from by the producers of the footage. This footage was shot to provide B-Roll in a story about a conflict between the players union and the orchestra administration.

McFadden & Whitehead, Visions- 7:44 Evening Magazine A Vernon Odom produced segment featuring Philadelphia International Records staff writers Gene McFadden and John Whitehead. They talk about their Philadelphia roots and careers since leaving Philadelphia International.

David Bowie, Evening Magazine– 5:56 One of the many chapters in the David Bowie’s history with Philadelphia. A segment on David Bowie’s press conference and BBQ at Veteran’s Stadium to promote his “Glass Spiders” tour.

Electric Factory, KYW Newsfilm – 6:03 Silent footage from the original, 1968 Electric Factory concert venue. Originally located at 23rd and Arch Streets, the venue featured many of the times most prominent acts. Many of the unique features of the concert experience are shown.

Khan Jamal, Visions, WPVI – 7:38 Philadelphia based, jazz-vibraphonist Khan Jamal offers his observations on jazz music. The footage is cut with performances from Jamal and his band and him in both the Wissahickon Valley and home in the northwest section of the city.

Twist, KYW Newsfilm – 1:57 Little is known about the undated footage aside from the “Twist” found on the box and a sign indicating it as a “Twist-A-Thon”. A dance with strong local ties through its popularization through Chubby Checker and American Bandstand.

Check Out Our Full Fall Schedule!

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Welcome back to campus everyone! We’ve got a really exciting fall schedule to share. Check out all our programs, RSVP on facebook, and share with your friends:

  • Philadelphia Sound and Vision, Sept. 13, 7:30 PM, the Piazza at Schmidts Temple University Libraries, Urban Archives presents a look at hidden stories of music and sound in Philadelphia, featuring Sun Ra, David Bowie, Kenn Kweder and other musicians in the City of Brotherly Love. All footage is from the Urban Archives KYW and WPVI collections.
  • WRTI’S Legendary Bob Perkins: A Conversation on Jazz, Sept. 29, 2:00 PM, Paley Library Lecture Hall This is BP with the GM! That’s legendary jazz broadcaster Bob Perkins (BP), bringing you the Great Music (GM) that is called jazz straight from Paley Library Lecture Hall this September. Talk with legendary radio broadcaster Bob Perkins and jazz musicians on the status of jazz music today. Is it alive and well? What affects the way jazz is produced, distributed and listened to today? That goes for both new music and classic jazz.
  • Sara Marcus on Girl’s to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution, Oct. 6, 3:30 PM, Paley Library Lecture Hall Author Sara Marcus discusses researching and writing her extraordinary Girls to the Front, the first-ever published history of the seminal 1990s Riot Grrrl movement. She will address the culture, the music, and the art that have made an indelible impact on music and feminism today, the personalities that brought this movement to the forefront, and how the Riot Grrrl story lives on. The past few years have seen a resurgence of interest in Riot Grrrl, and a renewed appreciation for the music, art, and politics of this vibrant feminist subculture.
  • My Soul’s Been Psychedelicized–Larry Magid of the Electric Factory in Conversation with WRTI’s Jim Cotter, Oct. 12, 5:30 PM, Paley Library Lecture Hall Join WRTI’s Jim Cotter in Conversation with Larry Magid, one of the founders of Philly music-scene fixture, the Electric Factory and Electric Factory Concerts. A pioneer in the concert industry and a fixture on the Philadelphia concert scene for more than forty years, Larry Magid opened the Electric Factory in February 1968 with a show featuring the Chamber Brothers, who declared, “My soul’s been psychedelicized!” He has produced more than 15,000 concerts, orchestrated such Philadelphia milestones as Live Aid in 1985 and Live 8 in 2005, won two Tony Awards, and produced Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays—the largest grossing non-musical in Broadway history. At Paley Library, Magid will share the most memorable moments from his over four decades in the music business in conversation with WRTI’s Jim Cotter. After the program, he will sign copies My Soul’s Been Psychedelicized, a spectacular photographic history of the acts that have performed at the Factory and in Factory-produced concerts. The book includes concert posters, photographs, and promotional items featuring both rising stars and established performers, such as Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Bette Midler, Elvis Presley, Tina Turner, Pearl Jam and many, many more.
  • Music for the People, By the People, Oct. 28, 2:00 PM, Paley Library Lecture Hall The music of the mummers, jazz, and gospel have this in common: all three are original, American musical forms created, celebrated, and listened to in Philadelphia. Join Patricia Anne Masters of George Mason University, Carol Muller of the University of Pennsylvania and Diane Turner of Temple’s Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection in a program that celebrates the diversity of Philadelphia music and the creation of unique musical cultures around Mummers Day, jazz, and West Philadelphia gospel.
  • Rock and Roll with Barrelhouse Literary Magazine, November 3, 3:30 PM, Paley Library Lecture Hall Philly-area authors read rock and rolling stories, essays, and poems about growing Bob Dylan’s beard, the unromantic side of sex, touring with Nick Cave, and the middle-aged tepid glory of Night Ranger. Barrelhouse Literary Magazine presents short readings on Rock & Roll, engaging the audience while embracing the attitude. Barrelhouse is a biannual print journal that bridges the gap between serious art and pop culture and features fiction, poetry, interviews, and essays about music, art, and the detritus of popular culture. Stories originally published in Barrelhouse have been featured in the Best American Nonrequired Reading, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, and the Million Writer’s Award.
  • On Music Journalism: The Founding Editors of JUMP: The Philly Music Project; Decibel, the Nation’s only Monthly Metal Magazine; Cowbell and Grid Magazines Tell All Followed by JUMP Release Party Featuring Local Bands, including Violet Turning Violet November 16, 3:30-5:00 PM—Panel 5:00-7:00 PM—JUMP Release Party Paley Library Lecture Hall What does it take to publish successful music writing today? How do you follow the music scene in the age of basement shows, myspace and internet memes? Where do you begin to gain access to bands, and what is the value of publishing print magazines in an information universe of blogs, tumblrs and youtube? The founders and editors of some of today’s most influential and interesting music journalism projects will answer these questions, and more, at Paley Library. George Miller founded JUMP: The Philly Music Project, a magazine dedicated to music makers of all genres who hail from and create music exclusively in the City of Brotherly Love. Alex Mulcahy has launched Grid, Decibel and Cowbell magazines. Grid has a Philly cult following, and reports on culture, sustainability and the environment. Mulchay’s Decibel is the nation’s only monthly metal magazine. Cowbell is his latest venture in music publishing. After the panel stay for the launch of JUMP’s November issue, a reception featuring local musicians including Violet Turning Violet. (www.myspace.com/turningvioletviolet) More musical entertainment will be booked.

Check sites.library.temple.edu/libraryprograms

April 21–Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America

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April 21, 5:30 PM, Paley Library Lecture Hall, 1210 Polett Walk Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and The Battle for Quality in Civil War America: A Conversation with Authors Daniel R. Biddle and Murray Dubin Octavius Valentine Catto was a second baseman on Philadelphia’s best black baseball team, a teacher, an activist who fought in the state capital and on the streets for equal rights, and an orator who shared the stage with Frederick Douglass. With his murder during an election day race riot in 1871, the nation lost a civil rights pioneer. In Tasting Freedom, Daniel Biddle (winner of the Pulitzer Prize) and Murray Dubin painstakingly chronicle the life of this charismatic black leader. Tasting Freedom presents the little-known stories of Catto and the men and women who struggled to change America. Join the authors for a discussion on researching, reconstructing and writing this important American story. Q&A with the authors Watch the authors discuss their research. Hear Murray Dubin speak on Civil Rights leaders in the 19th century. This program is presented in conjunction with Temple University Press.

April 15–Mario Varges Llosa: The Peruvian Writer and Tradition a conversation with Braulio Muñoz

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April 15, 3:00 PM, Paley Library Lecture Hall, 1210 Polett Walk Spanish and Portuguese distinguished lecture series the writings of Mario Vargas Llosa.

Braulio Munoz is the Centennial Professor at Swarthmore College and a sociologist, critic and creative writer. He has written, among others, the following books: Songs of the Wind: The Search for Identity in Spanish American Indian Literature (Rutgers U P, 1982), Tensions in Social Theory: Groundwork for a Future Moral Sociology (Loyola U P, 1993), Huairapamushcas: La Búsqueda de la Identidad en la Novela Indigenista Hispanoamericana (Ediciones de la Universidad de la Frontera, 1996), A Storyteller: Vargas Llosa Between Civilization and Barbarism (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000), Alejandro y los Pescadores de Tancay (Andrea Lippolis Editore, 2004), The Peruvian Notebooks (U of Arizona P, 2006), Los Apuntes de Alejandro (Río Santa Editores, 2009), El Misha (Gorèe, 2010), Looking North: Latin American Images of the United States (U of Arizona P, forthcoming). He has published numerous scholarly articles with prominent outlets within and outside the U.S. In 2009, he was the recipient of the International Latino Book Award –First Prize— in New York. Today he will speak at Paley Library as part of the speaking series on the work of Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa. This program is sponsored by the Libraries, the Society of Spanish and Spanish American Studies, the Provost, the Senior Vice Provost for Research, Spanish and Portuguese/CLA, Society of Spanish and Spanish-American Studies, and CHAT.

April 14—Bury Me in My Jersey: A Conversation with Tom McAllister and Rey Didinger

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April 14, 5:30 PM, Paley Library Lecture Hall, 1210 Polett Walk Bury Me in My Jersey: A Conversation with Tom McAllister and Rey Didinger
Tom McAllister, a Temple faculty member, was born and raised in Philadelphia, where he spent Sundays in the infamous 700 level of Veterans Stadium, or sitting in front of the TV with his father in a nearby recliner, watching both the ugly and beautiful sides of Philadelphia football. As a rabid Eagles fan, McAllister experiences defeats and disappointments, but his biggest challenge is coping with the premature loss of his father to cancer. In Bury Me in My Jersey, McAllister explores the connection between his dedication to the Eagles and the death of his father. He will read from his book and join in conversation with one of Philadelphia’s most hallowed sports writers, Ray Didinger. They will discuss writing, writing about sports and, of course, the Eagles.

Tom McAllister is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and La Salle University in Philadelphia. His work has appeared in several publications, including Barrelhouse, Black Warrior Review, and Storyglossia. A Lecturer in the English Department at Temple University, he lives with his wife and two dogs in New Jersey, a ten minute drive from Lincoln Financial Field, where the Eagles play their home games.

Ray Didinger has won six Emmy Awards as a writer and producer at NFL Films. Before that, he was a reporter covering the National Football League for The Philadelphia Bulletin, and later The Philadelphia Daily News. In 1995 he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award for long and distinguished reporting of pro football. He is the author of One Last Read, and a weekly commentator and panelist on Comcast SportsNet’s Post Game Live show during the football season.

April 13, Special Collections Showcase: Words of the Enlisted

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April 13, 4PM, Special Collections Reading Room Tom Whitehead of the Libraries Special Collections Department and Iren Snavely the NEH Archivist at the American Philosophical Society, will show and discuss letters and diaries of Army and Navy men from the Civil War, Spanish American War, and World Wars I and II, including the personal papers of General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1960-1962 and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, 1963-1969.

April 6, 3PM, Paley Lecture Hall, The Legacy of Judge Abraham Freedman

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April 6, 3:00 PM, Paley Library Lecture Hall, 1210 Polett Walk

The Legacy of Judge Abraham Freedman: The Reform Movement of the 1950’s and Lessons Learned Abraham Freedman was a legal scholar, civic leader, judge and teacher. He fought for reformed public housing and against discrimination. He was a leader in the Jewish community of Philadelphia, and was a key figure in the city’s reform movement and one of the authors of the 1951 Home Rule Charter. This program and panel discussion will focus on the legacy and impact of Judge Freedman and the reform movement. It will also include an exploration of Judge Freedman’s archives, housed in the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Collection at Temple University Libraries.