Popp Hits The 60’s A Party Marks a Milestone Veteran New York Rocker Bill Popp Held 60th Birthday Bash The ever-present, steadfast popster Bill Popp, of Bill Popp and The Tapes, celebrated 60 years on earth with New York on his birthday Wednesday, June 5th, 2013 at The R-Bar (218 Bowery NYC), which was open to the public. Food and drinks were provided, along with the a four song CD, titled “Popp Hits The 60’s,” recorded by his band Bill Popp and The Tapes. (Note!! if you missed the party you missed the free CD) At the peak of the event, the band performed live to a cheering, festive crowd. “To me, the best birthday gift I could ever get was seeing all those people rocking out to the band and having a great time,“ Popp asserts. Long before Popp was hailed in publications such as Billboard, New York Daily News and New York Press (where George Tabb duly noted “this guy rules”), he was like any other kid from Queens bitten by the rock and roll bug. Born June 5, 1953, he attended Saint Fidelis where, in the second grade, Popp joined the choir and discovered he could sing. In 1964, Popp discovered The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and his life (and school) was never the same. He went from the somewhat behaved choirboy to driving the nuns crazy with his antics. In June of ’66, Popp got a drumset for his 13th birthday and shortly thereafter, defiantly grew his hair and wore Beatles boots to school, to the dismay of the principal. In lieu of expulsion, he was instead transferred to the PS194 Annex that November. In his ninth year at the Annex, Popp convinced his English teacher to accept a poem for his homework. This was Popp’s first brush with writing, and it worked. In 1966, Popp’s mother Cecilia, who played piano by ear in her youth, attempted to rekindle her passion for the instrument, after receiving a piano for Christmas from Bill’s father George and sister Judy. Unfortunately, whenever she attempted to play, her arms and hands swelled with pain, which she attributed to a reaction from the drugs she was taking to battle her cancer. It had plagued her since 1963 and eventually took her life in August 1978. Cecilia’s unplayed and somewhat out-of-tune piano laid silent, collecting dust until the spring of 1969. When a friend taught Bill to play The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” his interest was sparked in playing the piano. He took a crack at writing a song for a rejected love, naively thinking this would woo her back. It didn’t, but it did inspire Popp to continue writing songs. While music was his newfound passion, when it came time to attend high school, a friend convinced him to go to a trade school rather than an academic one, so in the fall of 1969 he enrolled in Thomas A. Edison Vocational High School in Queens, where he graduated in 1972, majoring in plumbing. While in 10th grade, Popp was talked into joining a Led Zeppelin cover band. Not knowing anything but Beatles beats, he lasted just two rehearsals, and was asked to leave. Feeling limited as a drummer, Popp turned his focus back to songwriting and piano, and a year later the same two musicians who had dumped him as a drummer were now backing him on his songs. After graduating in 1972, Popp was forced to take a minimum wage job as a plumber’s helper. Today he still makes his living as a plumber for New York City Parks and Recreation, but his passion for music has never flinched. Through the 1970’s, Popp showcased as a solo act, played in cover bands, had a short-lived original band, called The Poppsickle, but by1981 he had formed the band he still performs with today, called The Tapes, now better known as Bill Popp and the Tapes. Thirty-two years and counting, Bill Popp and the Tapes have been a fixture on the New York music scene, and Popp is recognized as one of the area’s most prolific and melodic songwriters, having won critical acclaim in numerous tri-state and national publications. Today, with two singles and five albums under his belt (with a sixth on the way), all released on his own label, 121st Street Records, Popp performs regularly in the New York area with the Tapes, and has played solo in Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. For more information go to www.billpopp.com email billpopp@verizon.net or call 718-359-4110