Stumblin' Along 1/12 '25
Delicate
Delicate
- Radio City Music Hall
- YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune is T-Swift’s Delicate. Fellas, I don’t think she’s re-recorded her Reputation album just yet, so unfortunately, any plays of this song go to the scum of the earth Scooter Braun. C'est la vie.
There is absolutely no tomfoolery under the lyrics on this one. This comes in at #7 on the #TaylorTop25PowerRankings. Not for nothing it’s set in New York City, so that fits with Radio City Music Hall.
Last weekend, with the new year upon us, I forgot to close out my 2024 Eras Calendar, which my mother had gifted me for Christmas.
For Christmas this year, I was beyond blessed to receive not 1 but 2 calendars. My sister got me a Black Lab Calendar…
…and my mother gifted me a Guinness Calendar…
It’s a very Delicate situation regarding which one will get featured monthly. I don’t want to piss either of them off. Also, I think Decker looks better in the snow…
On to a bit of history about…
Radio City Music Hall
Located within the Rockefeller Center on 6th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, Radio City Music Hall has been nicknamed “The Showplace of the Nation.” Here’s it’s backstory…
In October of 1928, the US economy was booming. During the days of Prohibition, Midtown Manhattan’s neighborhood was known as the “speakeasy belt.” There were a bunch of hidden bars to pregame or postgame for the main attraction in the area, the original Metropolitan Opera House (pre-Lincoln Center). The only problem with the original Met Opera House was that it was outdated for the Roaring 20s as it was built in 1883. John D. Rockefeller, who had a ton of capital after selling off his monopolies, signed a lease to fund the reconstruction of the Metropolitan Opera House. When the Stock Market crashed in the fall of 1929, Rockefeller decided to scrap his plans and boldly build something new. His Rockefeller Center or “a city within a city.”
(Source: MSG)
The two men behind the design of Radio City Music Hall were Edward Durell Stone and Donald Deskey. Stone was the architect responsible for its Art Deco exterior, while Deskey was tasked with the Music Hall’s interior. Both were unheralded at the time. The American architect was just in his late 20s when working on Radio City but would go on to build other structures such as the John F. Kennedy Center, General Motors Building, The Museum of Modern Art, and Busch Memorial Stadium for the Cardinals. In the 1940s, the interior designer would go on to start the design firm Donald Deskey Associates, which designed logos for companies still around today, like Crest Toothpaste and JIF Peanut Butter. The Radio City Music Hall auditorium seats around 5,960 people and, to this day, remains the largest indoor theatre in the world.
(Source on Deskey: Beach Packaging Design)
John D. Rockefeller needed a commercial partner to pair with his brand-new theater. Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was established in 1919 by General Electric. RCA had a popular young radio program called the National Broadcast Channel (NBC). They also owned RKO Pictures, which produced and distributed motion pictures, sorta like Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., or Walt Disney Studios today. Between Rockefeller’s financial might and RCA’s media experience, they already had a strong foundation, but it was further helped by a fella named Samuel “Roxy: Rothafel.
As important as Stone and Deskey were to the design, Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel was also an influential adviser to Rockefeller’s project. Roxy Rothafel was an American Showman who starred in some popular silent films in the 1910s and 1920s. He had tons of experience in entertainment and was considered a theatrical genius. The prominent theater operator even had his own secret apartment inside of Radio City Music Hall. While he never lived there, he used his unit as a secret party spot for several Hollywood stars, including Walt Disney, Alfred Hitchcock, and Judy Garland. Together, Rockefeller, Roxy Rothafel, and RCA head David Sarnoff came up with the name Radio City.
On December 27, 1932, Radio City Music Hall opened its doors. The opening night event didn’t feature any notable entertainers but rather the building itself. Roxy Rothafel was so impressed with Radio City’s capabilities that the inaugural performance was all about just showing off what the theatre had to offer. He had the ushers march down the aisles and salute the crowd while a band of trumpeters followed. The audience wasn’t all that impressed with the performance but was in awe of the setting. A writer for the New York Tribune said, “The least important item in last evening’s event was the show itself...it has been said of the new Music Hall that it needs no performers; that its beauty and comforts alone are sufficient to gratify the greediest of playgoers.”
(Source: Architectural Digest)
By Christmas of 1933, Roxy Rothafel got his act together and decided Radio City Music Hall should host a Christmas Spectacular. He had the right idea going with a group of women dancers known as The Roxyettes. The dancers were originally formed as The Missouri Rockets at one of Rothafel’s St. Louis theaters. He decided to bring their show to New York, and a year later, in 1934, the group’s name was changed to The Rockettes. By 1940, these amazing American women were among the first performers to volunteer for the United Service Organization to entertain the troops during WWII. They’ve appeared in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade since 1957. This year, The Rockettes celebrate their 100th anniversary since the Missouri Rockets formed in 1925. Today, there are a total of 80 Rockettes, 40 who perform in the afternoon and 40 who perform at night during the Christmas Spectacular Season. Every performance, The Rockettes do over 160 high kicks, which I just tore my hamstring thinking about.
(Source: Rockettes)
While Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular may be most synonymous with Radio City Music Hall, the famous theater has held a wide range of events. Since 1933, it’s hosted over 700 movie premieres, including the likes of the original King Kong, Mary Poppins, 101 Dalmatians, and The Lion King. It also hosted some of the most popular artists of the 20th century, such as Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and BB King. I, however, associate Radio City Music Hall with being the site of the NFL Draft for much of the 2000s. The NFL Draft has been around since 1936, with the original location at Philadelphia’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The following year, the league brought it to New York City using Hotel Lincoln. From 1965 to 2005, the NFL Draft was held in various spots like The New Yorker, The Commodore, The Statler, The Warwick, Summit Hotel, Madison Square Garden, and The Javits Center before finally making it to Radio City Music Hall in 2006. From ‘06 to ‘14, it was held at Radio City; now it’s so popular the NFL has it jump from city to city every year to make a weekend out of it. They should return it to New York in 1932 for Radio City Music Hall’s 100th birthday.
(Source: NYC Tourism)
Another odd sporting event I didn’t know occurred at Radio City Music Hall was a WNBA exhibition game between the WNBA All-Stars and Team USA. It was back in the summer of 2004 in preparation for the Athens Olympics. Apparently, the players were understandably worried about jumping off stage. If they can figure out a way to get past that, it would be pretty cool if Caitlin Clark & Co. brought that back. This year, aside from The Rockettes, the venue is mostly used for concerts (Teddy Swims this May, Megan Moroney this March, Ringo Starr this June) and comedic specials (Dave Chappelle in 4 days, Kevin Hart in March, & Ricky Gervais in April).
