Comments on: CBGB is closing.

CBGB is closing.

languagehat — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:48:50 -0800

CBGB is closing at the end of the month. Yeah, newsfilter, NYCfilter, say what you will, and the club hasn't "mattered" in decades, but anyone who cares about punk rock will feel the pang. This should probably have been posted by jonmc, but I wanted to do it so I could highlight this excellent piece by Paul Collins; besides the inevitable "I played CBs" anecdote, there's some wonderful history of the site. [Quote inside.]

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:49:30 -0800

In the best tradition of old-timey songs, the history of 315 Bowery is mostly about fixin' to die: "Melancholy Suicide In the Bowery" reads one typical headline from 1881. (Mr. David Bell, age 34, with a bottle of poison.) In 1887, a carpet worker named Alexander Dolle left his home there and threw himself in front of an El train: He got hit so hard that his heart popped out and fell onto the sidewalk below, where it was surrounded by "a morbidly curious crowd." One of the Triangle Shirtwaist victims, 16-year-old Jennie Stellino, slept her last night in 315; so did Bill Rogers, who expired in the front doorway in 1926, only to have his pockets posthumously picked. In 1946 a stranger strode into the building's ground-floor bar, fatally shot a Massachusetts tourist with a single bullet, and without a word melted back into the Bowery. For a while in the 1890s, the building housed the Old Methusalem Whiskey company, so the address's eventual evolution into an boozy SRO hotel was just as fitting as its drumbeat of melancholia was unsurprising. Just about the only happy news to ever emerge from the address is a Bird Fancier's Annual Exhibition held there in 1862: "First prize, yellow cock, Wm. Mason." It was all downhill for the next 113 years, until David Byrne, Patti Smith, Tom Verlaine, and the rest started turning up.

"He got hit so hard that his heart popped out and fell onto the sidewalk below"—now, that's punk rock!

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:54:56 -0800

MetaFilter: First prize, yellow cock

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:56:05 -0800

I know almost nothing about CBGB or punk rock, but the Paul Collins piece is wonderful, nevertheless. It works beautifully as a piece of writing. You gots good tastes, languagehat!

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:56:45 -0800

I don't see how crying over a dead club is in the slightest bit punk rock.

By: thebigdeadwaltz

thebigdeadwaltz — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:58:51 -0800

Punk rockers get to be nostalgic too!

By: blucevalo

blucevalo — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:03:29 -0800

What would be the proper "punk rock" response? Screeching with insane laughter while the locks are put on the doors?

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:05:20 -0800

Locking the doors yourself and doing something interesting instead.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:06:31 -0800

The proper "punk rock" response would be: "All my tears are vomit."

By: kaseijin

kaseijin — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:06:44 -0800

By: hortense

hortense — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:09:05 -0800

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,

By: hal9k

hal9k — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:12:03 -0800

I don't have time for that now.

By: freebird

freebird — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:12:13 -0800

Rarely do I indulge myself thus, but .

By: InfidelZombie

InfidelZombie — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:12:53 -0800

I was only there once, tagging along on tour with some friends who played a Sunday matinee in 84. I knew it was a crappy little club, but it was even more of a dive than I expected. I loved it.

By: InfidelZombie

InfidelZombie — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:14:14 -0800

I tried crying vomit once, but the chunks got caught in my lashes. It was very distracting.

By: StarForce5

StarForce5 — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:15:22 -0800

A true punk rock club would have self destructed instead of declining into a homogenized comformist shadow of one's self ... or something like that.

By: COBRA!

COBRA! — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:15:47 -0800

I don't see how crying over a dead club is in the slightest bit punk rock. I like punk music. I hate doctrinaire statements about what is or isn't punk fuck that. For people who've actually played in New York: how large is the secene, there, really? Was CBGB a place that the average going-nowhere-but-still-fun band could realistically aspire to play? I mean, I look at it through the lens of Minneapolis, where our warhorse institution has sort of a double significance as the place where you've seen everybody AND the place where you've played (even if it was only the 7th St Entry). I've always heard of CBGB as the place where legends played, but are there also people mourning because they did a great show there at midnight on a tuesday night for twenty people?

By: dhartung

dhartung — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:18:27 -0800

C D N F CBGB. G!

By: matteo

matteo — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:19:08 -0800

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:20:31 -0800

Why is it closing? Did it ge hit by a plane?

By: clevershark

clevershark — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:25:46 -0800

I went a couple of times early this decade, and the acts weren't what I'd call punk rock...

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:25:58 -0800

I like punk music. I hate doctrinaire statements about what is or isn't punk fuck that. Boring.

By: drinkcoffee

drinkcoffee — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:26:43 -0800

Was CBGB a place that the average going-nowhere-but-still-fun band could realistically aspire to play? No. By the time I played there in 97, the place had been far outshadowed by the likes of the Knitting Factory, Kenny's Castaways and others of that ilk. I enjoyed far better the gigs next door at the cleaner, quieter CB's Gallery. However, despite the filth and the smell and the plywood "dressing rooms", the glow of nostalgia was still there...to be playing the same stage that Talking Heads, Blondie, etc. played was always a bit of a thrill. I have partial hearing loss in my right ear from CBGB. Those head-high monitors could get a bit loud. I consider it a fitting souvenir.

By: BeerFilter

BeerFilter — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:27:30 -0800

"...All good things must come to an end. That's the way things work. All bad things must come to an end also..." (search for CBGB)

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:27:32 -0800

Astro Zombie, you scamp!

By: blaneyphoto

blaneyphoto — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:32:22 -0800

"are there also people mourning because they did a great show there at midnight on a tuesday night for twenty people?" Yes, I think so. But this closing also highlights the fact that there are very few clubs left in the city (for this music scene anyway) Continental just renovated and removed thier stage, Coney Island High and Brownies are long gone - there's practically nothing left and its kind of depressing. All in all, I'll miss CBGB's. What I won't miss is getting injured almost everytime I shot a band there - I'm glad I didn't shoot any of the shows this week 'cause it must of been nuts.

By: bobobox

bobobox — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:39:20 -0800

They are taking the urinals! I hope the sentiment wasn't "OMG Joey Ramone pissed here, I'm never going to wash this urinal again!" *imagines the layers of piss stains* *vomits through eyelashes*

By: DenOfSizer

DenOfSizer — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:41:50 -0800

I love that Kristal thinks it'll succeed in Vegas, which is "crying out for a fresh music venue." Oh, for crying out loud. Take heart, sentimental punkers, you can take your grandkids there.

By: deadmessenger

deadmessenger — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:42:50 -0800

are there also people mourning because they did a great show there at midnight on a tuesday night for twenty people Yep, and I'm one of them, although for me it was a Sunday and there were more like 75 people there.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:58:49 -0800

I played at CBGB a couple of times back in the late 80's with two different bands. It was fun and the staff was 100% excellent to us. So, for me: .

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:59:41 -0800

I killed 24 people at CBGB.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:03:20 -0800

Oh hey, by the way, has anyone ever found out what "OMFUG" means? CBGB stands for Country, Blue Grass, Blues, which is I guess what was offered there when it opened, but I never figured out the other one, apart from my own rather off-color joke version.

By: liam

liam — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:04:27 -0800

I've been to CB's maybe twenty times over the past 18 years, but my first was especially memorable for iconic, if unpunk, reasons. It was the late '80s and I had just arrived in New York from England. My only friend in the city, who did some writing for punk zines, invited me to a secret show by the B52's, who were reuniting after breaking up following the death of their guitarist Ricky Wilson a few years earlier. (I think this may have been the first time they played 'Love Shack' live and the first time The Gang of Four's Sara Lee joined them on bass.) I squeezed up to the front corner of the stage. A little later I realised the guy standing next to me was David Byrne. It somehow made the city seem surprisingly accessible.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:05:32 -0800

"OTHER MUSIC FOR UPLIFTING GORMANDIZERS" From here.

By: freebird

freebird — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:06:02 -0800

*vomits through eyelashes* Now that shit is punk as all get out.

By: liam

liam — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:06:36 -0800

OMFUG: OTHER MUSIC FOR UPLIFTING GORMANDIZERS

By: DenOfSizer

DenOfSizer — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:15:02 -0800

By the way, the NY Real Estate powers that be have taken to calling it "BoHo." (Bowery Below Houston St.) Imaginative, hunh? I don't think it'll stick - there are already too many "Ho"s in NYC, and the Bowery is just too cool a word.

By: trishthedish

trishthedish — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:28:18 -0800

good thing thousands of dollars were raised and donated to keep the venue open. ill believe it when i see the doors actually closed for good.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:32:13 -0800

CBGB is closing at the end of the month.....This should probably have been posted by jonmc I'm actually going to CBGB tonight to see my beloved Dictators, along with the Sic F*cks and The Bullys. *cries single tear* I'm gonna miss that place. there are already too many "Ho"s in NYC Really? I thought Guliani's clean-up of Times Square got rid of most of them. (Back to CB's: me and a friend were talking about this earlier, about how people are probably grabbing pieces of the place as mementos, maybe peeling stickers off the walls. I told him that there were probably sedimentary layers of them like shale. By the time you got to Blondie, Dictators and Patti Smith, you were about to hit wood.)

By: davy

davy — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:33:01 -0800

Personally I still think Punk sucks every bit as much as Disco.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:35:24 -0800

(davy, 'punk' covers a lot of territory, and judging from what I know of you here, there's several punk acts that you'd dig the shit out of: the Dictators, DOA, the Ramones, and Television would be up your alley, methinks, but that's just a guess)

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:37:06 -0800

the Dickies and Tuff Darts, too.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:37:58 -0800

You're so punk, you prob'ly think this song about you is boring. Don't you? Don't you?

By: Floydd

Floydd — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:41:17 -0800

I heard davy digs disco. (overheard in 20 years at CBGB in Vegas: "Help! I lost my walker in the mosh pit!")

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:43:32 -0800

Floydd: The average age of the members of the Dictators is over 50. I imagine a lot of their fans are in the same age range. Hell, I'm 35, with lower back pain and scars from kidney stone surgery. I wonder if we'll be slamming in slo-mo.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:56:03 -0800

I wouldn't call Television "punk," but yeah, I suspect davy would like them. I don't know about those others, though. If you say "punk sucks," you're probably not going to like the Ramones, since they pretty much define (U.S.) punk.

By: ernie

ernie — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:58:36 -0800

This was a punk rock club, now its all covered with daisies?

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 10:59:17 -0800

If you say "punk sucks," A lot of people confuse 'punk' with the 'new wave' synth-pop tripe that was marketed as such in the early 80's. And I'd call Television punk, in attitude at least.

By: Brainy

Brainy — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:22:57 -0800

My old band had their record release there. It was a pretty good show but someone broke the kickdrum mic (detached diaphram)and the promoter got it taken out of their pay. The sound guys were talking amongst themselves (as were the band) and I overheard them saying how many big acts wanted to be recorded at CBs and how important it was that they have good mics. Anyway, it was a good show.

By: Wylie Kyoto

Wylie Kyoto — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:26:17 -0800

I went there lots of times growing up (always liked Max's much much better) and played there a number of times as well. I have to say I kind of hated the place. The snotty staff; the mysterious bumps in the floor one would always trip over, the weak overpriced drinks and the grotesque bathrooms really held no charm for me. We played there one time during an ice storm when the drinking age had just changed, (hence a dismal crowd) and the staff put up a stink about letting two of my band members in as they had become underage overnight. (Finally they did, though.) They always had a great sound board, so it was a cool place to do a live recording. But once I asked for another gig, and they said that their "reviewer" had not liked us. Who was the reviewer? One of the cocktail waitresses. On the other hand, I was glad to have been there, to have seen and known some of the local luminaries, and I did like seeing graffiti I'd put up remaining there 20 years later. I don't remember the last time I was there - it's been a long time since I rocked and rolled, but yeah, in a punk kinda way, I'll miss it.

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:29:30 -0800

A pal's band plays there sometimes and the last time I went, a stream of fresh faced tourists was coming in off the street. They ignored the music, walked past the bar and went straight to the T shirt girl, bought shirts and left. It was amazingly depressing.

By: krix

krix — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:30:11 -0800

(overheard in 20 years at CBGB in Vegas: "Help! I lost my walker in the mosh pit!") 20 years? That happens here now. I know it will be a strange simulacra of the original, but I'm kind of excited the place is coming to Vegas and I can only say that my band will be happy to play CBGB 2.0.

By: oneirodynia

oneirodynia — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:30:14 -0800

If you say "punk sucks," you're probably not going to like the Ramones, since they pretty much define (U.S.) punk. Inspired, yes, but I don't think I can agree with "define". The Germs or DK's may have a linear relationship to the Ramones, but I consider the Ramones more in the vein of '60's garage-y proto-punk. Hugely important to the birth of the scene here and in England, but, my Mom would happily listen to the Ramones. I think that quite a few people who can't stand punk listen to the Ramones. There's nothing overtly political or dissonant about their music, and those seem to be the characteristics of punk that make people despise it. CBGB's: sad to see the demise of independent music venues anywhere. That being said, you can't coast along on being the Birthplace of Punk Rock forever. Sid is dead.

By: hal9k

hal9k — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:45:00 -0800

By the time you got to Blondie, Dictators and Patti Smith, you were about to hit wood.) posted by jonmc Debra Harry? Soitainly. Patti Smith? Not so much.

By: quin

quin — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:46:18 -0800

The proper punk response to CBGBs closing would be to throw a three day non-stop drug fueled bender culminating in burning that fucking building right to the ground while everyone stands around outside and continues drinking copiously. Then Patti Smith would show up and things would get really weird.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:52:41 -0800

Patti Smith? Not so much. Pshaw. I bet Patti screws like a demon.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:55:36 -0800

She gives sulphurous philipshead.

By: Captaintripps

Captaintripps — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:01:39 -0800

Good riddance! And I'll also believe it when I see it. Now maybe I can see some bands I like that only play there without having to pay $12 to $15 to get into that shithole, simply because the bands think it's simply amazing to play on the same coordinates as Debbie Harry, et. al.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:03:29 -0800

ROFL

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:05:54 -0800

ROFL That's the comedy club CBGB, right?

By: hal9k

hal9k — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:09:04 -0800

Pshaw. I bet Patti screws like a demon. Oh she does! But then its like chain smoking and on and on with the poetry and I'm like shut the f*ck up and turn off the light and she's like Bukowski this and Bukowski that and I thought she said bukkake and thats when the trouble started. That's why I say Deborah Harry.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:10:00 -0800

That's why I say Deborah Harry. That's only because she didn't have the nerve to say no.

By: nowonmai

nowonmai — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:12:21 -0800

They are taking the urinals! I hope the sentiment wasn't "OMG Joey Ramone pissed here, I'm never going to wash this urinal again!" Are you implying that anything in CB's bathroom has ever been cleaned at any point in the club's history? Those were amongst the foulest bathrooms I've ever seen - notably horrible even by the low standards of this filthy city.

By: bobobox

bobobox — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:27:11 -0800

Are you implying that anything in CB's bathroom has ever been cleaned at any point in the club's history? Certainly not. I was only referring to celebrity worshippers who refuse to wash x because [insert idol] touched it.

By: Captaintripps

Captaintripps — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:30:33 -0800

I refuse to insert idol.

By: davy

davy — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:31:50 -0800

Dictators, DOA, Okay, I never heard those to my knowledge. the Ramones, Goofy lyrics, jangling and repetitive rhythms, and they're incompetent musicians. and Television Not punk. Sorta punkified New Wave, like Elvis Presley was "'N-word'-ized country" (except for a la Bing Crosby ballads like "In The Ghetto"). I mean PUNK: Sex Pistols, the aforementioned Ramones, etc. Forgive me if I can't rattle off a buttload of examples, but I already said I don't like that kind of music. It gets on my damn nerves. And by the way, I liked Patti Smith's "Kimberly" -- not punk, psychedelic. Neither is Debbi Harry and/or Blondie punk: that's disco. In my late 20s (ca. '88-'92), breaking out of the "AOR" (now "Classic Rock") groove I grew up in, I came to dig "Nuevo Funk" bands like All Mighty Senators (though now I wonder who in the original lineup is still alive, much less still a Senator). And now I lean toward, oh, late 1950s -early '60s soul jazz a la Art Blakey et al. [But before y'all think having both jonmc and languagehat out-fogeyed is all I'm about, I also like Porcupine Tree; and I think I'd've dug CBGBs for the what I've heard and read of its decor and atmosphere, which sounds very much like my own domestic tastes.]

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:37:03 -0800

Dictators... Okay, I never heard those to my knowledge. Imagine the goofball humor, sardonic worldview, and pop culture fetishism of the Ramones, but with much better instrumental chops and a bellower instead of a mumbler for vocals. Considered the missing link between 70's butt-rock and punk. (full diclosure: huge fan of both the Dictators and the Ramones)(and like I said, punk is an attitude more than a sound).

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:40:10 -0800

Neither is Debbi Harry and/or Blondie punk: that's disco. Listen to something other than 'Heart Of Glass,' or 'Rapture,' my man. 'Rip Her To Shreds,' and their version of 'Hanging On The Telephone,' are pure rock and roll.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:40:53 -0800

A lot of people confuse 'punk' with the 'new wave' synth-pop tripe that was marketed as such in the early 80's. New Wave was, and remains, excellent.

By: mzanatta

mzanatta — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:43:07 -0800

You can buy a CBGB t-shirt at Nordstrom. I think we can all agree that Nordstrom is not punk rock.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:43:42 -0800

Astro Zombie: if you're referring to stuff like Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, Elvis Costello, the Vibrators, then I agree. But in the early 80's it was used to market stuff like Duran Duran and Flock Of Seagulls, shit that drove me to metal fandom in those days, which led me to classic rock and punk. But that's why I put it in quotes.

By: item

item — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:51:18 -0800

I refuse to argue about punk. I'm only chiming in to say that I nearly got tossed out of CB's a while back for doing hard drugs in the bathroom. It just seemed so... proper at the time.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:52:04 -0800

Labels in those days were mostly useful for sorting the originals from the posers. If someone was labeled "punk" or "new wave" and didn't object, they were probably posers, because the real punks and new wavers preceded the term, and either died or outgrew the limits of the genre by the time it was cool. Or that's how I remember looking at it through the haze of the days.

By: nebulawindphone

nebulawindphone — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:59:55 -0800

"Butt-rock"?

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:02:21 -0800

"Butt-rock"? a affectionately teasing term often applied to mid-70's hard rock warhorses like Blue Oyster Cult, Grand Funk Railroad, Thin Lizzy, etc

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:06:09 -0800

"Blue Oyster Cult, Grand Funk Railroad, Thin Lizzy, etc" As in "Crank it, and give me a hit off that butt!"

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:10:42 -0800

A lot of my friends here in LA refer to 80's hair metal as "butt rock." I'd never heard it applied that way until recently.

By: hal9k

hal9k — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:18:36 -0800

I was only referring to celebrity worshippers who refuse to wash x because [insert idol] touched it. Hey, leave Xene out of this. And besides, she's west coast punk.

By: clevershark

clevershark — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:23:05 -0800

davy writes "I mean PUNK: Sex Pistols" I think too few people realize that the Sex Pistols were actually Malcolm McLaren's satire of punk. A handful of wigged-out junkies do not a punk band make, but then that was the message.

By: thecaddy

thecaddy — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:28:35 -0800

CBGB died when the first kid said, "CGBG's not dead." *ducks*

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:45:17 -0800

But then its like chain smoking and on and on with the poetry and I'm like shut the f*ck up and turn off the light and she's like Bukowski this and Bukowski that I knew a woman like this, except it was DH Lawrence this and DH Lawrence that. jonmc: I called it! (I'm assuming davy's saying Television isn't punk means he likes it.)

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 13:55:28 -0800

Well, yeah, Duran Duran was ass, but I remain fond of Yaz, the Eurythmics, Gary Numan, Aztec Camera, Japan, The Vapors, et al. And, yes, of course, Nick Lowe, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, and the Talking Heads, the B-52s, Blondie, and other bands and musicians that the word "New Wave" was originally attached to.

By: joseph_elmhurst

joseph_elmhurst — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:09:54 -0800

It's moments like this that remind me why I hate genre names. I know someone who's iTunes has genres micromanaged down to "alt country" and "twee pop." Problem is, once you categorize something narrowly you run into issues with artists who can't easily be categorized. Television is a good example of this. It's all pop/rock to me. And, to contradict the above, Nick Lowe, Graham Parker, The Vibrators, and (early) Elvis Costello were neither punk nor new wave, they were pub rock.

By: mephron

mephron — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:15:45 -0800

I haven't been there in years'n'years, but I remember my first time there. I was 14. I snuck in. The Ramones were playing. My first exposure to that entire scene. It took a week before my head recovered from it. It had a pretty good run, but yeah, that bathroom was a horror.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:16:17 -0800

What about Human League?

By: joseph_elmhurst

joseph_elmhurst — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:18:13 -0800

Synthpop.

By: joseph_elmhurst

joseph_elmhurst — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:19:02 -0800

God. I worked in a record store for far too long.

By: mono blanco

mono blanco — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:26:56 -0800

I was there once in the early '80's for Kinky Friedman when the Alman Brothers and the Blues Brothers made an unscheduled appearance, and the clientle included a rowdy group of NY Yankees. Belushi was damn good.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:33:49 -0800

I would say they were Angry Young Man rockers.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:35:45 -0800

Elvis and such, that is.

By: joseph_elmhurst

joseph_elmhurst — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:44:24 -0800

Elvis, Graham, and Joe - definitely. Nick Lowe never came across as being particularly angry to me.

By: bardic

bardic — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:13:25 -0800

"Only Musicians Fuck Ugly Girls"

By: bardic

bardic — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:15:07 -0800

And, previously (Richard Hell playing CBGB's, with crowd interviews).

By: wavespy

wavespy — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:23:58 -0800

C'mon! Insert the idol! I won't tell....

By: wavespy

wavespy — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:27:20 -0800

"Only Musicians Fuck Ugly Girls" Isn't it the other way around. I mean Rock & Roll was invented to get ugly guys laid.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:29:18 -0800

"C'mon! Insert the idol! I won't tell...." Here ya go.

By: lupus_yonderboy

lupus_yonderboy — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:32:48 -0800

Anyone could play there. I did on two occasions. They would treat you very very badly. For example, once we were scheduled to go on at 10. They didn't put us on till almost 2 AM: they put in not one but two other acts scheduled to go AFTER us on BEFORE us. No one was there by then (it was a Tuesday). They wouldn't have us back because "no one was there" -- but many people had in fact showed up at 10 and paid their $5 and left. As an audience member, I'd note that they'd deliberately hold the curtain in order to get people to order more drinks. As you can see, I don't have particularly good memories of it. There is a killer Butthole Surfers bootleg from there though...

By: wavespy

wavespy — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:42:34 -0800

Thanks Florence...I needed that.

By: zoogleplex

zoogleplex — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:16:08 -0800

"Only Musicians Fuck Ugly Girls" That is in fact my own off-color rendition of OMFUG, alternating "only musicians" with "old men." I'm glad to see I'm not the only warped mind, bardic. :)

By: bardic

bardic — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:25:02 -0800

A fellow musician told me that's what it stood for in high school. It was a while before I realized that he might have made it up himself.

By: Len

Len — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:39:45 -0800

Why stay in college? Why go to nightschool? It'll all be different this time. RIP CBGB, even if it was a dive by the time it closed ...

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 17:00:20 -0800

So what? It wasn't the Batcave! /High Horse

By: Liquidwolf

Liquidwolf — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 17:37:07 -0800

Good riddance. That intersection is desperately lacking a Starbucks anyway.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 20:19:43 -0800

So what? It wasn't the Batcave! Pffft! Erics, or STFU!

By: bardic

bardic — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 21:29:16 -0800

First they end Cats, now this. Blasphemy!

By: drstein

drstein — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 22:52:11 -0800

"I don't see how crying over a dead club is in the slightest bit punk rock." Crying over a soon to be defunct club is a hell of a lot more "punk" than seeing Avril Lavigne or Good Charlotte being catagorized as punk.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 05:46:10 -0800

I'm ignoring this thread because that's how completely fucking punk rock I am.

By: moonbird

moonbird — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 08:25:59 -0800

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 08:53:16 -0800

Well, yeah, Duran Duran was ass, but I remain fond of Yaz, the Eurythmics, Gary Numan, Aztec Camera, Japan, The Vapors, et al. The Vapors were more guitary so I liked them, the girl in Yaz had a great set of pipes but the rest weren't really my cup of tea. (oh, and the Dictators and the Bullys rocked the house last night. The Sic F*cks were fun, too. Call me corny, but hearing Manitoba sing "Who Will Save Rock and Roll?" under those circumstances gave me a moment's pang.)

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 08:54:28 -0800

(the Eurythmics had their moments as well, too. 'Would I Lie To You" and 'I Need A Man' showed they could rock out (or get funky) when the mood stuck them.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 16:02:57 -0800

Richard Hell had an op-ed in the NYT today.