Monthly Archives: December 2024

The Sham and the Shimmy!

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The Shim Sham Shimmy at the Salt Box in Kingston is the newest addition to the Pete Pop DJ hustle. It is supposed to take place on the first Saturday of the month—but for two months it has been on the second, due to conflicting DJ schedules. Mr. Pop is a very busy man. In December it was the Benny Trokan show at Tubby’s. So for this month the event was held on the 14th, the day after Do The 45 in Beacon—another wild weekend!

Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and DJ Pete Pop swing at the Shim Sham Shimmy!

For the Shimmy, Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus bring out their rockin’ stuff: early R&B, rockabilly, rock’n’roll, doo wop, rockin’ blues and all sorts of reet music. They trade off playing sets of three records the whole time. Sometimes the three records played are related in some way. Often they are not. However, the music was boisterous and folks were jumping all night long. Somehow the old building didn’t crumble to the ground!

Pete and Phast were pleased that several of their friends came by to swing; plus there were plenty of other locals who ventured up the stairs to the famous Salt Box Rumpus Room and they all joined in on the fun and excitement, which went into the wee hours of the next morning.

Here is a list of records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the December Shim Sham Shimmy:

None of these records are for sale.

Do The 45 Lucks Out!

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It may have been Friday the thirteenth, but Do The 45 held on that date was anything but unlucky. In fact, it may have been one of the best ones yet! All night folks were boppin’ to the boss sounds laid down by host DJ Pete Pop, his co-host Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and their guests Marty Shane and James Pogo. Go-Go dancer Bella Bombora performed so enthusiastically that dozens of folks got up on the raised dance floor to boogie with her throughout the night. In all, it was quite a success.

Marty Shane, again, played some pretty great records—even some seasonal ones. Much as he did last month, James Pogo delighted everybody again with his excellent selection of dance tracks. Pete Pop, of course played his fantastic records. Miss Nancy made her yummy chex mix and pumpkin cookies.

Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the December Do The 45:

None of these records are for sale.

Benny Trokan Band and The Ar-Kaics Rock!

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The Benny Trokan Band rocks Tubby’s!

A Shim Sham Shimmy was scheduled for Saturday December 7—the first Saturday of the month. However, host Pete Pop got the call from our pal Benny Trokan: his band was to play that night at Tubby’s in Kingston, can he and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus be DJs for the event? What to do! Pete and Phast moved The Shim Sham Shimmy from the first Saturday to the second Saturday in November—now they need to move it in December!

So it was moved. We’ll see you at The Shim Sham Shimmy on December 14—the day after Do The 45 in Beacon, again!

The Ar-Kaics rockin’ at Tubby’s!

Anyway, not only did Benny Trokan’s great band play, but so did The Ar-Kaics, a cool band from somewhere down in Virginia. Both bands have made some excellent records for Wick Records, a subsidiary of our favorite record company, Daptone. Also, between the bands there was an appearance by the writer Lucy (nee Luc) Sante who read from her new book Six Sermons for Bob Dylan. Another added bonus to this show was that our buddy Mikey Post, a significant DJ himself, plays drums in Benny’s band.

The whole event went fantastically well. What even made it better was the presence of our friend Bruce Bennett. He was the guitarist for The A-Bones and a side-kick to The Hound when he had his radio show. We haven’t seen Bruce in a mighty long time and we were very happy to see his smiling face. He now lives somewhere up in the Hudson Valley and dropped by the joint to dig the heavy rock scene at Tubby’s.

Miss Nancy, a guy with tattoos on his face, Bruce Bennett and Phast Phreddie swing at Tubby’s!
DJ Pete Pop swings at Tubby’s rock show!

Due to the type of music of this big rock show, DJs Pete Pop and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus mostly played some super rockin’ stuff—spiced with a few exotic beats. The took turns playing three-song sets. All the records played by The Phast One are listed here:

None of these records are for sale!

The Funky Chef & Nogood Nick!

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The November Funky Kingston affair was the most fabulous one yet! Funky Kingston is held on the fifth Saturday of the month—when there is one—at the Salt Box in downtown Kingston, NY and hosted by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus. He encourages his guest DJs to play funk, soul, reggae, ska, boogaloo and assorted rhythmic beats as the Bat Signal is displayed on the ceiling. This particular Funky Kingston featured two incredible guest DJs that most definitely delivered the goods: Jeff the Chef and Nogood Nick.

Nogood Nick and Jeff the Chef swing at the Funky Kingston!

Jeff the Chef is a legend. He was one of the movers and shakers behind the Empire State Soul Club—the grandpappy of sixties soul music DJ nights in New York City during the late eighties and through the nineties and even a bit into the new millennium. The others involved with the ESSC were the late, great Warren Lee, Brother Weems (who is now the official MC of the Keystone State Soul Weekender) and Connie T Empress—who continues her fantastic DJ activities in New York City. This was a coming out party of sorts. Jeff the Chef hasn’t spun his great records for anybody in about eight years, and before that, probably five years. The Funky Kingston hosts were proud of themselves for being able to coax this fellow out of DJ retirement! What a spectacular job he did, too, playing all sorts of extremely funky tracks for the Funky Kingston faithful. Among those in attendance were his ESSC co-hostess Connie T Empress—the Empress of Soul. Glad to see her smiling face in the Box!

Although happy to be out and about and spinning his records again—Jeff the Chef succumbed to geezerdom and insisted on going home early. He was gone before midnight when the original version of our theme song is played. That’s okay, though, because warming up in the bull pen was Nogood Nick.

Nogood Nick has been one of our favorite DJs for a long, long time. He was a regular guest DJ at the Subway Soul Club (in fact, he guested at the last one a month ago) and nearly every DJ night that was hosted by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus, including The Dynagroove, The Wham-O-Watusi and other assorted events. Nick hosted his own Rip! Rig! Panic! mod jazz night and recently has a show that runs occasionally on the WFMU Give the Drummer Radio web stream called Electric Lazy Susan. He knows his stuff, that’s for sure, and he played some wonderfully funky records for the crowd at the Funky Kingston.

The entire night went very well: Miss Nancy made some yummy snacks, dancing people didn’t knock over turntables, the sound system never cut out and some glasses were smashed! All-in-all, a very successful event.

Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the Funky Kingston, including a series of ‘hot pants’ and ‘thing’ records:

None of these records are for sale.