52nd Street (band)

52nd Street were a British jazz-funk and R&B band formed in Manchester in late 1980. Throughout the 1980s the group enjoyed success not only in the UK but also on the Billboard chart in the United States. Their biggest and best-known hit single was "Tell Me (How It Feels)", released in 1985 by the 10 Records subsidiary of Virgin Records in the UK, and then months later on in 1986 on MCA Records in the US.

The original line-up consisted of Tony Henry (guitar), Derrick Johnson (bass), Desmond Isaacs (keyboards), Tony Thompson (drums) and Jennifer McCloud (vocals). Within six months vocalist Rose Williams and saxophonist Eric Godden both came and departed before the line-up settled with John Dennison (keyboards) replacing Desmond Isaacs and Beverley McDonald (lead vocals) replacing Jennifer McCloud.

Early years

The band played gigs around the Manchester scene, whilst at the same time recording demo tapes in local studios. Local funk DJ Mike Shaft became their mentor and played 52nd Street demos on his Piccadilly Radio shows. In mid-1981 soul DJ Richard Searling and ex-Sad Café manager Derek Brandwood (both of RCA Records) put the band in Revolution Studios, Manchester, to record what was supposed to be their debut single.

52nd Street (Manhattan)

Coordinates: 40°45′25″N 73°58′11″W / 40.757076°N 73.969857°W / 40.757076; -73.969857

52nd Street is a 1.9-mile (3.1 km) long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Jazz center

Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, 52nd Street replaced 133rd street as "Swing Street" of the city. The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue became renowned for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life. The street was convenient to musicians playing on Broadway and the 'legitimate' nightclubs and was also the site of a CBS studio. Musicians who played for others in the early evening played for themselves on 52nd Street.

In its heyday from 1930 through the early 1950s, 52nd Street clubs hosted such jazz legends as Miles Davis, Harry Gibson, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Nat Jaffe, Marian McPartland, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Louis Prima, Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Trummy Young, and many more. Although musicians from all schools performed there, after Minton's Playhouse in uptown Harlem, 52nd Street was the second most important place for the dissemination of bebop;. In fact, a tune called "52nd Street Theme" by Thelonious Monk became a bebop anthem and jazz standard.

52nd Street (album)

52nd Street is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on October 13, 1978. It was the first of four Joel albums to top the Billboard charts and earned him two Grammys (for a total of four).

Three songs reached the Top 40 in the United States, contributing to the album's success: "My Life" (#3), "Big Shot" (#14), and "Honesty" (#24). It was similarly well received by critics, earning the 1979 Grammy for Album of the Year. This Grammy was presented to its producer, Phil Ramone. Upon Ramone's death, 52nd Street's Album of the Year Grammy was passed on to Joel.

Allmusic praises Joel for expanding stylistically on 1977's The Stranger, describing 52nd Street as "more sophisticated and somewhat jazzy." (Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard guests on "Zanzibar".) The title is a reference to 52nd Street, which was one of New York City's jazz centers in the middle of the century. Joel's label was headquartered on 52nd Street (in the CBS Building) at the time of the album's release. The studio in which 52nd Street was recorded was also on 52nd Street, a block away from the CBS Building.

52nd Street (IRT Flushing Line)

52nd Street (also known as 52nd Street – Lincoln Avenue) is a local station on the IRT Flushing Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 52nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Woodside, Queens, it is served by the 7 train at all times.

Station layout

This elevated station, opened on April 21, 1917, has two side platforms and three tracks. The center express track is used by the rush hour peak direction <7> express train. Both platforms have beige windscreens and brown canopies with green roofs along the entire length except for a small section at the south end, which has only a windscreen on the eastbound side and a waist-high steel fence on the westbound side.

This station has two entrances. The full-time one is a wooden elevated station house beneath the tracks at the south end. It has a single staircase to each platform, waiting area that allows free transfer between directions, turnstile bank, token booth, and two staircases to the street, one to either western corners of 52nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue.