80's Flashback

Interboro Rhythm Team, Watch The Closing Doors, 1983. IRT's novelty rap/dance hit today provides an amusing look at the state of Manhattan in the early 80's as the vocalist counts off every stop on the 1 train from South Ferry to 137th Street. When Christopher Street/Sheridan Square comes up, he affects a fey accent: "Where all the boys go." Moments later his dismisses all three stops in the then-ungentrified Chelsea with "Not much happenin' here, no one gettin' on, no one gettin' off, no one got nothing to fear." 42nd Street (the "Deuce") is "the place to score" and the Upper West Side is "artists, actors, working class bores, watch the closing doors." Things get a little wild when the train reaches Harlem. True story: I used to run through Watch The Closing Doors in my head before I knew all 1 train stations.