In the Pocket: Essential Songs of Philadelphia by David Uosikkinen
(Songsinthepocket.org)
Hooters drummer David Uosikkinen has some old tunes he’d like you to hear—all of them either recorded in Philadelphia or written and performed by Philadelphians. The first, Youth Camp’s 1983 shoulda-been hit, “All My Mondays,” is available for download for 99 cents. The revamped version of the lost classic features Uosikkinen and fellow Hooters Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman, Richard Bush (The A’s, Peace Creeps), Greg Davis (Beru Revue), and William Wittman (Cyndi Lauper). A portion of the proceeds from In the Pocket benefits Philadelphia’s Settlement Music School.
Wildwood’s Neon Nights & Motel Memories
Robert O. and Melinda M. Williams (Schiffer, 127 pages)
As visually stimulating and fun as its subject matter, Neon Nights & Motel Memories pays homage to South Jersey’s iconic blue-collar summer retreat through the words and pictures of Robert and Melinda Williams, former Philadelphia Inquirer staffers and Chester County residents who were lucky enough to rediscover Wildwood’s gaudy charms later in life. Aside from celebrating the past, the book makes a Technicolor case for preserving Wildwood’s rightful place as a hub for Commercial Modernist architecture. Here’s to an endless summer.
Fred Wagner: An American Painter 1860-1940
Cyndy Drue and Susan Brendlinger Smith (Xlibris, 89 pages)
Philadelphia impressionist Fred Wagner finally gets his just due thanks to his great-grandnieces, Susan Brendlinger Smith and local radio/TV personality Cyndy Drue. They’ve assembled a long-overdue tribute to one of Pennsylvania’s most influential—and underappreciated—painters. Their personal stake in the project is evident in every aspect of the finished product: Part pictorial essay, part family history, part biography sprinkled with critique, An American Painter is a well-deserved labor of love.
