Long before Popp was hailed in publications such as Billboard, the New York Daily News and New York Press (where George Tabb duly noted that "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 drum set 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 ninth grade, Popp convinced his English teacher to accept a poem for his homework. This was Popp's first brush with writing, and it worked.
Popp's mother Cecilia, who played piano by ear in her youth, attempted in 1966 to rekindle her passion for the instrument after receiving a piano for Christmas from Bill's dad 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 of 1978.
Cecilia's un-played and somewhat out-of-tune piano laid silent, collecting dust until the spring of 1969.
When a friend taught him to play The Beatles' "Hey Jude," Popp's 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 then an academic one, so in the fall of '69, 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, a year later, the same two musicians who dumped him as a drummer were playing his songs.
After graduation in 1972, Popp was forced to take a minimum wage job as a plumber's helper. Today he makes his living as a plumber for New York City Parks and Recreation but his passion for music has never flinched. Through the '70s, Popp showcased solo, played in cover bands, had a short-lived original band call The Poppsickle, but, in 1981 he formed the band he still performs with today called The Tapes, now better known as Bill Popp and the Tapes.
Twenty-two years and counting, Bill Popp and the Tapes are a fixture on the NY music scene, and Popp is recognized as one of the area's most prolific and melodic songwriters, having won critical acclaim in countless tri-state and national publications. Today, with two singles and three CDs under his belt (with a fourth on the way), all released on his own label, 121st Street Records, Popp performs regularly in the New York area and in Europe a few times a year.
Check out the artist's website:
http://billpopp.comTrack List:
1. Love Many Trust Few
2. Garden Wall
Suggested CDs:
Other Genres:
