Bottom Line
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For articles with similar names, see Bottom line (disambiguation).
The Bottom Line was an intimate music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village, at West Fourth Street between Broadway and Washington Square Park. During 1970s, it played a major role in maintaining Greenwich Village's status as a cultural mecca. It opened in 1974 and enjoyed a multi-year string of success at pulling in major musical acts and at premiering new talent. Bruce Springsteen played legendary show-case gigs, and Lou Reed recorded the album Live: Take No Prisoners there. In later years, it was the site of In Their Own Words: A Bunch Of Songwriters Sittin' Around Singing, a series of performances with commentary organized by and initially hosted by radio personality Vin Scelsa. Its cachet faded with time, and by 2003 it was deeply in debt ($190,000 in back rent, plus several hundred thousand dollars in other expenses) and garnering very little attendance. Even with its landlord, New York University, artificially keeping its rent at half of prevailing values, it was unable to stay open, and closed its doors at the end of 2003 rather than accept a takeover bid by Sirius Satellite Radio. Its former owners claim to be seeking another venue that will carry the same name.
