A few days ago, I received an e-mail from my friend Kenn Rowell, leader of the New York band the Baghdaddios, announcing a gig at CBGB (By the way, Kenn, thanks for the Elton John-John Lennon EP. You rock.). If things continue to go the way they have in recent months, Kenn’s band may be one of the last to play at that historic New York club.
CBGB opened on the Bowery in 1973. Hilly Kristal, who still runs the club at age 72, originally wanted to feature country, bluegrass and blues music (hence the club’s name). Instead, he wound up booking many of the seminal bands of the original “alternative” music scene that came along in New York and London in the mid-1970s.
Now, thirty-two years later, CBGB looks to be gone in about a year, unless Kristal can figure out a way around the potential rent hike that would increase his monthly nut to $40,000. Think about that for a minute. Even those of you in New York paying $1500 a month for a bathroom and a closet aren’t getting raped that way. (The rent increases are not being set by some big corporate development-hungry landlord, by the way).
As expected, the music community in New York is outraged at the idea that this temple of punk, new wave, thrash and other musical movements might potentially disappear. The drive to save the club has begun in earnest, and Kristal has posted information about the possible closure and what’s causing it on the club’s web site. Those postings include a number of links to articles published in recent months about the club, all lamenting the court battle that may lead to its distinction. (The CBGB site, by the way, has a terrific gallery of photos of artists who have appeared there over the years, and it’s an impressive line-up. Just ignore the flashing ads with the fashion models selling the CBGB gear on the home page and go right to the History pages).
One article they probably won’t reprint, however, is this one from a recent issue of the New York Press. (Hat tip to darkrose at Eschew for the link ). The non-bylined column provides a number of reasons why fighting to keep the place open might be a bad idea. For example, you learn that back in the ’70s, Kristal had to opportunity to make sure he never had to pay $40G per month in rent:
Which brings us to the larger point: Why didn’t Hilly buy the damn building years ago, back when he could’ve had the whole block for $100,000? …CBGB’s rent was $600 a month when the club was founded in 1975. Like the frog that boils to death in slowly heating water, did he not notice as the rent increased thirtyfold to its current $20,000?
More importantly, however, is the place in music history the club holds. Back in the days when the headline acts included the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, the Jam, Elvis Costello, the Police and other legends, the existence of the place was vital. CBGB was one of the few places, even in experimental New York, where many of these bands could get a decent gig and hone their sound. Thirty years later, and after all the changes in the music industry (including the total commercialism of “alternative” forms of rock music), the lineups at the club no longer seem so vital and ground-breaking:
There was a time when the CBGB name was synonymous with new, exciting and even revolutionary music, but that was 30 years ago…CBGB’s weekly schedule is padded with little scrubs playing dreadful, derivative songs to small clusters of friends. Sorry to say, none of these youngsters promise a glorious musical revitalization, at least not on any horizons we can see. What CBGB once represented is long gone, and it ain’t coming back. Not on that stage, anyway.
I remember the CBGB from the 70s and all the great things that went on there. My last visit there, however, had to be around 1983 or ’84 (the Replacements were the top of the bill that night), and to see them I recall we had to suffer through a couple of “scrub” bands.
But what is so different about CBGB’s closing from any of the other historical New York music meccas that vanished over the decades? The Bottom Line, Max’s Kansas City, the Mudd Club, Irving Plaza, Club 57 and others all contributed much of the same punk-alt history that CBGB did, and they’re all now faded memories. Think of the jazz hotspots in New York that were vital to the creation of the art form: Minton’s Playhouse, Small’s Paradise, Three Deuces, the original Birdland, and the Famous Door. These small places witnessed the origins of some of the most critical artistic creations in American music history, let alone in jazz. But economics and changing times after erode away the need for such places, and they must become part of what we remember.
I would hate to see CBGB close. I have great memories of the place from a long time ago, memories that will never be duplicated. But “saving” the place from what currently “threatens” it isn’t going to bring those times back. This might be hard for some to see, but I can live with the memories I have.
The king is dead. Long live the king.
NEW YORK- Winner of the 2004 Timeout New York Eat Award for “Best Chocolate Store” and New York’s candy store for grown-ups, Chocolate Bar celebrates CBGBs: Home of Underground Rock with limited-edition products dedicated to saving Manhattan’s cultural institution. For more than 30 years, the eternal downtown nightclub has with ragged pride, served as the incubator for much of the punk and art-rock which came out of New York over the last thirty years including The Ramones, Patti Smith, Television, Blonde and The Talking Heads. Founded in 1973 by Hilly Kristal, the now grandfatherly 73-year-old converted a Hell’s Angels hangout into one of the most famous venues for live music and in doing so established a New York City landmark. Debuting this May, 2005, Chocolate Bar, in collaboration with Hilly Kristal unveils two edible lines of CBGB products including the CBGBs Punk Rock Box ($25.00); a 16 piece truffle collection embossed with the pioneering history and iconic imagery of CBGBs illustrious music scene. Served in a chocolate brown box, hot-stamped with the venues famed logo, it comes complete with a postage-paid petition to save CBGBs, a record-shaped biography, steel logo keychain and a collection of CBGB stickers. CBGB Retro Bars ($3.00 each); Inspired by those colossal flavors from late-night, post-show snack attacks, discover pure 1970 nostalgia with two new retro flavors. Each is wrapped in a limited-edition CBGBs keepsake, weighs an impressive 2.25 ounces and comes complete with a postage-paid petition to save the venerable venue. Chocolate Bar is located at 48 Eighth Avenue between Horatio and Jane Streets. Consumers can order product for delivery anywhere in the U.S. by calling 1.800.481.2462 or by visiting http://www.chocolatebarnyc.com.
SAVE CBGBS: Eat More Chocolate
CBGB’S by Chocolate Bar Collection Launch: May, 2005
You may have a desk job but you can still raise hell. Chocolate Bar invites you to Save CBGBs by celebrating two of our favorite things brought together for one good cause: CBGBs: New York’s landmark venue and luscious, gourmet chocolate. Five bucks gets you in the door to an all-chocolate, rock-and-roll experience. Come down to the club, sign a petition and be the first to partake of the CBGBs by Chocolate Bar Collection. All proceeds go to Save CBGBs. Press please contact Workhouse Publicity, CEO Adam Nelson by telephone 212. 645. 8006 or via email at nelson@workhousepr.com
CBGBs: Home of Underground Rock
In 1973, behind the paint-splattered metal shutters of a former Hell’s Angels’ hangout in the East Village, New York club owner Hilly Krystal opened a bar previously known only as a wino haunt. He christened it the Country Blue Grass Blues & Other Music for Urban Gourmets – CBGB & OMFUG for short. But it never did become the haven for down-home roots music he wanted it to be. Instead, bands like The Ramones, Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Blondie and Television discovered the place as somewhere they could play the sort of loud power-chord rock they wanted. From the word go, CBGBs, as it quickly became known, was the darling of the New York rock scene. The space resembled a tiny hallway, making the acoustics great and even the tiniest crowd seem a teeming mass. By 1975 the club was being raved about in London, after Malcolm McLaren – then managing the Sex Pistols – caught a gig and decided that, in America, this was the place to be heard. As CBGBs ‘discoveries’ like The Ramones and Patti Smith graduated to bigger (and cleaner) venues, an avant garde streak of experimental rockers emerged there in the early 1980s, almost as a challenge to the out-there crowd who’d gone before them. Among them were New York experimental artist Lydia Lunch and a bunch of Brian Eno ring-ins dubbed “No-Wave” (as opposed to New Wave, which had by now grabbed England’s imagination). But CBGB didn’t stop discovering new talent then; They Might Be Giants, Black Flag and Living Colour are three discoveries of the late 1980s whose first gigs were at CBGBs. These days, CBGBs is still helping alternative bands from all over the world find their way up the food chain. And though there are far more alternative bands now than there ever were in the 1970s and 1980s, CBGBs is still the center of New York’s dynamic cultural scene.
Chocolate Bar
Winner of the 2004 Timeout New York Eat Award for “Best Chocolate Store”, Chocolate Bar is a candy store for grown-ups offering cosmopolitan luxury through old-fashioned collections and unique inspirations. Incorporating style, comfort and classic New York treats, Chocolate Bar features sweets by New York’s Jacques Torres, Sweet Bliss and Garrison Confections along with a signature line of nostalgia-influenced chocolate bars. The boutique’s dazzling menu includes authentic New York Egg Creams, coffee by illy Caffe, fine teas by Serendipitea, four kinds of iced and hot chocolates and pastries by the City’s best bakers. Decadent confections are available for everything from Corporate gifts to personalized wedding and party favors. Online orders are available through Chocolate Bar’s dynamic web site which allows visitors to order a host of scrumptious items including truffles, chocolate bars, hot chocolate, tea and more visit http://www.chocolatebarnyc.com. Chocolate Bar is located at 48 Eighth Avenue between Jane and Horatio streets in New York’s West Village and since the store’s opening in May, 2002, the concept has become extremely popular with sweet lovers of all ages. Created, designed and operated by Alison Nelson. For more information please visit http://www.chocolatebarnyc.com