Satyrs Lounge

What if the once famous guitar player Bill Nelson played some Be Bop Deluxe songs as jazz standards with Mel Torme and David Bowie making a special guest appearance.  If fantasy serves me right, this may have taken place not that long ago, on a very special night at the old Satyrs Lounge.  The lounge is known for its jazz and is in the lobby of that once famous grand hotel Bhaghavda Gita A Go Go, right across the street from Gene Marlow's restaurant on 43rd Street.  I can't remember the exact details of the evening, how I happened to find the lounge or who I was with at the time... but I did manage to record some of the performances.  Here is a song from that evening, even though it never really happened.
 

Mel Torme was great but he had to leave early.  I was shocked when the announcer mentioned that Harry Lounge Jr. was present and he would be singing with David Bowie.  Harry Lounge Jr. is a wild card and I remember reading this description about Harry:

Shag master of countless Sheratons, the self-styled "holy harridan of the Holiday Inn," Harry Lounge Jr. interprets popular rock hits in the tempestuous tradition of the easy-listening masters you know and love.  "Mellower than Mel, even franker than Frank," said the rock digest, Alternative Currents (US) of Harry's ubiquitous take on rock standards.  Part venal, part vendetta and part "verados" Harry Lounge Jr. appears as a "funky fungal rash that will not go away" said Aftermath (Canada) in a recent review.  "A repugnant and rapacious successor to Bowie, Nelson, Sylvian, et al."   "I don't want to be noticed," Harry said recently, "but I do need to be smelled and tasted."  Buen provecho, Harry.

Here is another performance from that incomparable evening.

Rumour had it that Bill had just finished a world tour.   We were fortunate to have him make a brief stop over and play in New York.  The last performance of the evening was a rendition of his famous "Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape."

The moderator of the evening was able to get a brief interview with Bill after the show.  During some parts of "Adventures in a New York Landscape" Bill's guitar made a slight buzzing sound.  This was hardly noticeable to the enthusiastic crowd.  The moderator asked about the buzzing guitar and about Bill's friendship with Harry Lounge Jr.