The push is on to save fabled Bowery punk rock cradle CBGB, which opened in December of 1973 and is now in the last month of its lease. "Little" Steven Van Zandt (profile and interview here) has picked up the banner of the club, which is in conflict with its landlord, the Bowery Residents Committee, over back rent and an increase to the monthly rental cost of about $19,000.
Van Zandt said a proposal was submitted to BRC, which houses homeless people elsewhere in the building, offering to pay more rent and host events to raise money for the shelter - no response as yet to that proposal.
The club's "Save CBGB Benefit Shows" are running all month:
8/2 JOKER 5 SPEED
8/3 RANA / SOUND OF URCHIN (co-headline) with Big Machine
8/4 CHEVELLE
8/5 BUSH TETRAS
8/7 AWKWARD THOUGHT, URBAN RIOT, STEP2FAR, NUTS & BOLTS, THE TURNPIKE WRECKS and STATE of DISGRACE
8/9 APHASIA, SHORTIE
8/10 AGAINST ME, THE EXIT, WORLD INFERNO FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY
8/12 MISFITS
8/13 VANS WARPED TOUR AFTER PARTY
8/14 GORILLA BISCUITS, BLACK TRAIN JACK
8/15 RAW POWER
8/19 LIVING COLOUR
8/20 THE VANDALS
8/22 KID DYNAMITE, GREYAREA
8/26 DEAD BOYS, FLIPPER, PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES, ADRENALIN O.D. ,
FURIOUS GEORGE
8/27 DEAD BOYS, ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE, NIHILISTICS, SFA
8/28 SHAM 69, FLIPPER, CHEETAH CHROME & THE BLACK ANGELS
8/29 SMAM 69, YOUTH BRIGADE, THE RADICTS
More details on the Save CBGB's campaign here, and sign a petition that reads as follows:
We, the undersigned, urge support of a renewal of CBGBs lease and hope the BRC and the City of New York value CBGBs and everything CBGBs offers New York. We hope NYC and the BRC values the music, entertainment, art, history, culture, that CBGBs brings to the city. Please do not let this truly unique New York City venue disappear for no real reason.
I talked with visionary '70s New York A&R man and producer Craig Leon about the early punk/new wave scene in which CBGB's played a central role. Leon discovered and/or recorded punk/new wave icons the Ramones (Ramones), Suicide (Suicide), Blondie (“X Offender”), Richard Hell and the Voidoids (Blank Generation EP), among many others.
Leon also co-produced (with Kim King) one of the earliest documentations of New York’s new music scene, Live At CBGB’s, with classic performances from Mink DeVille, Tuff Darts (with Robert Gordon), and the Shirts.
Richard Gottehrer brought the Climax Blues Band into a very young Leon’s Miami, Florida, studio to do pre-production for their Sense of Direction (‘74) album. Gottehrer liked Leon’s studio and arranging skills so much that he persuaded Leon to sell his share of the studio and move to New York to work for Gottehrer’s (and co-owner Seymour Stein’s) Sire Records, where Leon quickly became an A&R man at age 22.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Jones Violet
Poor CBGB. It will be a sad day if it disappears.
There's also a blog dedicated to saving CBGB which can be found here if anyone is interested. it has photos from Hilly's book signings and other good things.
2 - Eric Berlin
Living Colour at CBGBs? Man, I'd sell my soul to get into that thing. Well... maybe my cat's soul. Also: Sham 69! I'd love to see how those fellas are holding up these days.
Good for Little Steven and good for New York -- it needs its cultural icons. A friend of mine, another ex-pat New Yorker in SoCal lament the fact that everytime we head back to New York its a changed place -- restaurants, clubs... and on a down note, the skyline often changing.
I think if LS can manage the Bada Bing he'll do fine with a little old country blue grass venue.
3 - todd
Is there free Metamucel at the bar?
4 - Dave Nalle
you don't want to be in a room full of 40 year old punks who can't get their metamucel.
Dave
5 - gonzo marx
hey, Mr Nalle...considering i've played the club..
i resemble that remark...
Excelsior!
6 - Dave Nalle
I resemble it too, since I was one of those audience members - 25 years younger, perhaps, but dreaming of metamucil sometime in the future.
Dave
7 - Eric Berlin
In my "era," CBGBs was a place for no name punk bands. I practically lived at The Continental, Lion's Den, and The Wetlands for a period of time.
8 - Eric Olsen
on the surface it appears some accomodation should be able to be reached, but maybe there is more going on than meets the eye
9 - Eric Olsen
oh, and a lot of these punks wish they were 40, as do I at this point
10 - Bryan McKay
If anything, this could be a great excuse for that Talking Heads reunion we've all been waiting for...
11 - Eric Berlin
I'd dole out some serious kis-ash to take a time machine back to CBGBs, circa 1977, to see The Ramones.
12 - lne
Y'all are correct if these folks think they are 40+. I used to hang out at CBGBs back in 1967-1969, when it was a terrible DIVE.....and I'm 56 *albeit looking 42* *G*
However, today's 50 is yesterday's 30!!! So they say.....*chuckles*
Enjoy!! Save CBGBs!!!
13 - Marty Thau
CB's has to be considered the greatest club in New York's rock history. I remember one show that consisted of Talking Heads, Blondie, Ramones, Suicide, Patti Smith, Cramps, and Mink DeVille and it cost $5 to get in. Was an amazing place. Hilly deserves kudos for his many years of excellence.
14 - Bryan McKay
I don't understand why the selection of bands trying to "save CBGBs" is so pathetic though. Where are the Talking Heads? Where is Patti Smith? Where is Television? Where are the New York Dolls? Do these people all just forget their roots?
15 - Dave Nalle
Very good point, Bryan. The Dolls just reunited. They need a good place to show their stuff.
Dave
16 - Eric Olsen
an excellent point, indeed: the whole crusade seems kind of muted, like the really big guns -- the classic bands, the mayor, city council (or whatever they call it in NYC), etc -- aren't bothering to get involved for some reason. Hmm
17 - Marty Thau
Bryan, the Dolls never played CBGB's. By mid - '73 they had released their first LP and went on the road and to Europe. CBs started to become popular in '75, '76. When the Dolls were playing clubs in '72 into '73 they played at Max's Kansas City. By '77, the Dolls had already imploded and CB's was then at its peak.
18 - Eric Olsen
live fast, die young, leave a pretty corpse, but then reunite
19 - Eric Berlin
Take the skinheads bowling in between...
20 - Bryan McKay
Sorry for the chronological mishap, Marty. I assumed they would have played there, but apparently I was wrong. They were still figureheads of that scene, though, and do have a certain connection to club, whether they played there or not. It surely wouldn't hurt them to support this cause...
21 - Eric Olsen
but the point holds that the big name scenesters associated with the club could be doing something
22 - Eric Berlin
Maybe someone like Patti Smith doesn't want to be seen as a nostalgia act?
Not saying that's an excuse, but maybe plausibe.
23 - Lisa McKay
She still performs, and played around here with Television last year, so it's not like they're exactly ignoring their past.
24 - Eric Olsen
as I said, there may be something else going on here
25 - Marty Thau
I agree Bryan.