New York City as a subject has fascinated generations of artists, writers, and musicians. However, the glamorous image of the city has changed over the years, and in the 1960s, popular music, in particular, began to reflect a utopia/dystopia dichotomy in relation to New York. During the past twenty years, six popular singer-songwriters who have produced record albums destined for mass market consumption and specifically dealing with the concept of the city are (1) Laura Nyro--"New York Tendaberry" (1969); (2) Bruce Springsteen--"The Wild, the Innocent, and the E-Street Shuffle" (1973); (3) Neil Diamond--"Beautiful Noise" (1976); (4) Billy Joel--"52nd Street" (1978); (5) Joe Jackson--"Night and Day" (1982) and "Body and Soul" (1984); and (6) Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music)--"Avalon" (1982). Although the six musicians all project different visions of New York City, such is the city's diversity that each succeeding portrayal seems as valid as the previous one. Each artist uses the city in his or her own way, either as background or as foreground for particular preoccupations; some of them present realistic pictures of the city, while others go out of their way to avoid realism. The essential kernel of truth about New York City seems to be that it reflects the wishes and desires of those who inhabit or visit it, and that is all. (NKA)