give up your film career (lenny’s theme), My new york

In 1948 twin brothers Ira and Hamilton “Hammy” Goldberg bestowed upon 20th Century musical theater an absolute treasure that would turn out to be their downfall: a show by the name of The Heights!. The tragic story of a man who loses his sweetheart when she relocates to the Big City to become a film star, The Heights! premiered at the Music Box Theater on the lower east side. The success of the play was the cause of much tribulation in the Goldberg brothers’ personal life. Hamilton had inadvertently married his cousin, a shallow, party-going nag named Brenda Holstein, back in the summer of 1916 in Philadelphia. Shortly after the successful run of The Heights!. He found out that Brenda was running a scam on him and plotting a lucrative divorce. What he didn't know was that his mistress, one Margaret Rett of New York City, was Brenda's partner in the scheme. Margaret overplayed her part and found herself in love with Hamilton. Eventually Brenda learned that Margaret really did have feelings for Hamilton and severed her relations with both of them. A Pennsylvania judge ruled that Brenda had no right to any of Hamilton's money and left the woman without a home or a dollar to her name. Both Brenda (out of shame) and Margaret (out of guilt) committed suicide shortly after. As if that weren’t enough controversy, Hamilton and his brother Ira entered into a bitter dispute over publishing rights for the show. When Ira revealed that he was the mastermind for Brenda’s plot and had been Margaret’s lover, it was all Hamilton could take. He found himself uninspired and did not write again. He committed suicide in New York in early 1951 saying it was The Heights! that had killed him. “The play,” wrote his embittered brother Ira, “Was a tremendous achievement.”

Vocals on “Give Up Your Film Career”: Adam Selzer
Vocals on “My New York”: Michael Johnson
Piano on “Give Up Your Film Career”: Michael Johnson
Guitar on “My New York”: Michael Johnson
Drums: Derrick Trost
Bass: Nate Halloran
Trumpet: Cory Gray

Recorded in 2002 at Type Foundry in Portland, OR. Engineered and mixed by Adam Selzer. Mastered by Michael Johnson and Chad Crouch.