Kenny Vance standing on the wreckage of his home. NY Times photo. Nov.29, 2012.
By Paul Goldfinger
In today’s NY Times, it was reported that Kenny Vance, the marvelous singer songwriter, lost his oceanfront home in Belle Harbor, Queens, during Sandy. The 68-year-old Vance has been a favorite during the Doo Wop concerts in the Great Auditorium. Along with his group the Planotones, he has brought his authentic sound to Ocean Grove on many occasions.
Kenny was entertaining on a cruise ship when his home in the Rockaways was demolished by that horrendous storm. It was in his house that he stored all the mementos going back to his origins singing harmonies on street corners in Brooklyn or looking for an echo in the showers of his high school. He lost original tapes, photographs, recordings and writings that would have provided the unique ingredients for a future book.
Here is the link to the Times article plus one of his songs below. We wish Kenny Vance all the best as he recovers from this devastating event. We know from the article that he is philosophic about the situation and that he will continue his scheduled appearances. In searching the wreckage, he found a photo of himself with the late Johnny Maestro, and this touching moment is what the Times reported:
“Performing is my medicine,” he said, adding that his most poignant find in the wreckage was a photograph of him performing with the singer Johnny Maestro, who died in 2010.
“I cried when I found that,” he said. “I realized that I’m lucky, because I’m still here.”
So sad so many lost so much. Have seen Kenny Vance perform many times.
“He lost original tapes, photographs, recordings and writings that would have provided the unique ingredients for a future book.”
How on earth, with today’s technology easily available, do you not scan these items to electronic files and convert recordings that are not replaceable, to digital format? And have multiple back ups, including the cloud drive? My entire lifetime of photos dating back to 1960 all fit on a handful of DVDs, with copies remotely located. I just do not get it. None of this needed to be lost.