![]() ![]() Sea Monster at 9 PM and The Bowery Boys at 10 PM. A live performance by the band “Bill Popp and The Tapes” is set for 8:00 PM, followed by two special guest bands. This event is open to the public and will kick off at 6:30 PM. Guests will receive, at the door, a free copy of Bill Popp and The Tapes' new CD, titled “Popp’s Last Flush,” and are invited to eat, drink and be merry, complements of the host Bill Popp. Now 62, he is able to receive a city pension and is finally, “Flushing His Plumbing Job Down The Drain." To commemorate the occasion, Popp is throwing a good riddance to plumbing party at The Park Side Lounge located at 317 East Houston NYC, on Thursday October 1st, 2015. In 1988 a friend coaxed Popp to take a job working as a plumber for the city of New York and for the last 24 years has worked as a plumber for New York City Parks and Recreation. ![]() Despite the favorable press, occasional airplay, TV spots and years of performing live, the break never came. “The last thing I ever wanted to be was a plumber,” Popp says “but taking a trade was the easiest way out of high school.” Like many artists, Popp was hoping for that record deal that would propel him into stardom. His guidance counselor got him enrolled in Thomas Edison Vocational and Technical High School, where he majored in plumbing. ![]() He would get home in the wee hours, set the alarm and wake up to a ringing phone and the foreman’s voice saying “Willy, are you coming to work? Move your ass!” Popp found his way to the plumbing trade because of his flunking attitude towards school. He’d work through lunch breaks to get out on time to make it for sound checks. In the early days, while showcasing his newly formed band, The Tapes, Popp worked for a non-union plumbing shop, where he often found himself close to being fired. One of them was put on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex.” Popp was shown in the final scenes of Mandy Stein's 2009 documentary "Burning Down the House: The Story of CBGB," kicking the flush valve, flooding the floor. As I opened the door, a rat jumped out of the garbage can and ran across my feet! The last thing I did for Hilly was removing the bathroom fixtures, including the famous urinals. “The first job I did for Hilly (the owner) was in 1981, replacing the toilet that was smashed off the wall in the men’s room. He even used his trade to earn brownie points at many New York night spots, including the “legendary” bathrooms at CBGB’s, right up until the closing days of the club. It’s no secret to anyone on the New York music scene that Popp survived financially through the years doing plumbing. Commemorating the occasion with a new single, “Flushing This Plumbing Job Down The Drain,” a party, and a live performance on Thursday, October 1st, 2015 at The Parkside Lounge (317 Houston Street New York City). Veteran New York rocker Bill Popp will plunge himself into the world of being a full-time musician. ![]()
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