Lyle Ritz

Lyle Ritz (born January 10, 1930, Cleveland, Ohio) is an American jazz ukulele musician who was a key part of the Hawaii ukulele genre. As part of the The Wrecking Crew, Ritz contributed to many American pop hits from the mid 1960s to the early 1980s. He was inducted to the Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum in 2007 and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007.

Career

Southern California Music Company & US Army Band

Lyle Ritz began his music career as a college student working at the Southern California Music Company in Los Angeles, CA. Responsible for the small goods department, he demonstrated instruments including the ukulele, which was being popularized by Arthur Godfrey at the time. He purchased a Gibson tenor ukulele for his own use. Drafted into the US Army during the Korean War, Ritz played tuba in the United States Army Band. Stationed at Fort Ord, Ritz learned to play the acoustic bass. While on leave, Ritz visited the Music Company and played a few tunes on the ukulele at the urging of his colleagues. Unbeknownst to him, Guitarist Barney Kessel, a talent scout for Verve Records, was standing there.

Ritz

Ritz or The Ritz may refer to:

Hotels

Cinemas and theatres

People

Ritz (crater)

Ritz is a lunar impact crater that is located on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the eastern limb. This portion of the lunar surface is sometimes brought into view of the Earth under favorable conditions of libration and sunlight. The crater lies to the northwest of the prominent crater Sklodowska.

This is a heavily worn and eroded crater formation that has not retained much of its original structure. The outer rim is an irregular circular ridge that surrounds the interior floor. There are a pair of small craterlets in the western part of the interior. The satellite crater Ritz B is nearly attached to the northeastern outer rim.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Ritz.

References

The Ritz (rock club)

The Ritz was a New York City rock club in the 1980s and early 1990s.

History

The Ritz was founded in 1980 by Jerry Brandt in the historic Webster Hall ballroom and concert space on 11th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. The address was 119 East 11th Street. The Ritz focused primarily on live performances, often of newer acts, but also featured dancing. The Ritz was one of the first clubs to incorporate video screens into the club experience with a 30' screen and a projector which cost $120,000. MTV made its debut at The Ritz. In April 1989, The Ritz moved to the site of the former Studio 54 on 254 West 54th Street, where it was called "The New Ritz" and continued to host concerts for several years. From 1990 onward it reverted to the name "The Ritz." The original 11th Street space is now again known as Webster Hall.

Public Image Limited appearance

The club received national attention after an antagonistic performance by Public Image Limited on May 15, 1981. They were a late substitution for Bow Wow Wow, who were originally scheduled to perform. The band was more interested in creating performance art than giving a traditional concert. To this end, they appeared onstage deliberately obscured by a projection screen and played their records through the club's public address system while playing entirely different music onstage. Taunted by lead singer John Lydon (formerly of the Sex Pistols), the Ritz's unhappy patrons rioted, throwing bottles and garbage cans, and pulling on the video screen that covered the front of the stage.