'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.

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