'Gangs of New York' Turf Also Flares on Rocker's CD

Rocker Allen Shadow's new CD, "King Kong Serenade" tears up the same gritty Gotham turf as Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" which continues to open in theaters nationwide. The daringly historical album includes a graphic story of the legendary Five Points section of New York mid-19th century. Shadow steeped himself in much of the same research as Scorsese, including such classic works as late 19th-century muckraker Jacob Riis' "How the Other Half Lives." "Serenade" also covers such other Gotham locales as Times Square, Coney Island and the Bronx in gritty detail.

(PRWEB) January 7, 2003

NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2003 - As Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of

New York" opens in theaters nationwide over the coming weeks,

fans can mine even more of Gotham's gritty history embedded in

rock poet Allen Shadow's new CD, "King Kong Serenade."

The daringly historical album includes a graphic story of the

legendary Five Points section of New York mid-19th century in the

song "Sugar Street." Shadow sings: "Clacking blackened

factories/slow drown young men's dreams/they escape to perfumed

streets/where Death's breath smells so sweet/sailors they are lost at

sea/cheap as ants on Sugar Street."

While writing the album, Shadow steeped himself in much of the

same research as Scorsese, including such classic works as late

19th-century muckraker Jacob Riis' "How the Other Half Lives."

With the aid of photographs, the 1890 book chronicled the squalid

conditions of Five Points in stark detail.

A former New York City journalist and taxi driver, Shadow also

read first-hand accounts from letters of immigrants and recalled

stories his Russian-born father told.

"Riis' photographs were startling," said Shadow. "I was simply

transfixed by the period. I felt the story of the darker side of

immigration needed to be told."

The Berkshire Eagle calls Shadow "an original storyteller, painting

vivid portraits of the romance and terror of life in the world's

greatest city," while the Daily Freeman (Kingston, N.Y.) gives five

stars to the album it terms "a poignant missive to New York City."

Shadow's Gotham portrait on Blue City Records includes songs

about Coney Island, Times Square and the South Bronx. Such

colorful historical characters as Moondog, Topsy the Elephant, and

the Mule Faced Boy abound, as do Jack Kerouac, Charles Mingus,

Sigmund Freud, and Adolf Hitler.

As its title - and cast of characters - suggests, "King Kong

Serenade," applies a healthy dose of absurdist humor to its songs.

"Serio-comic" is what Shadow calls it.

"This is the kind of album you can listen to late at night with the

lights off," said Shadow, "and feel like you're seeing the images

and story on a screen. My imagery has been called cinematic, and

one fan called 'Serenade' a 'wild mind movie.'"

While Shadow, a.k.a. Allen Kovler, began his writing career as a

poet, he took a decade-long turn as a Nashville songwriter before

reinventing himself as a rock poet in the late 1990's. "Serenade,"

which was written during a four-year period prior to Sept. 11,

2001, was released nationally in late October 2002.

Shadow, who earned a bachelor's degree in English literature from

Lehman College, went on to work as a reporter and editor for the

Staten Island Advance and as a freelance journalist. He has also

spent much of the past 20 years working in public relations.

Information on Shadow can be found online at

http://www.allenshadow.com, including free downloads of "Sugar

Street" and other songs from "Serenade."

# # #

Contact Information:

Allen Kovler

Blue City Records

P.O. Box 268

Catskill, NY 12414

Telephone: (518) 943-9479

MAILTO:allenville@hotmail.com

Web: http://www.allenshadow.com