CBGB

CBGB
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Location	Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates	40°43′31″N 73°59′31″W / 40.72528°N 73.99194°W / 40.72528; -73.99194Coordinates: 40°43′31″N 73°59′31″W / 40.72528°N 73.99194°W / 40.72528; -73.99194
NRHP Reference #	13000027
Added to NRHP	2011

CBGB was a music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal at 315 Bowery, intersecting Bleecker Street, in the East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a hangout for the local drunks. The letters CBGB were for country, bluegrass, and blues, Kristal's original vision, yet CBGB soon became a famed venue of punk rock and new wave bands like the Ramones, Television, Patti Smith Group, Blondie, and Talking Heads. From the early 1980s onward, CBGB was known for hardcore punk.^[1]

One storefront beside CBGB became the "CBGB Record Canteen", a record shop and café. In the late 1980s, "CBGB Record Canteen" was converted into an art gallery and second performance space, "CB's 313 Gallery". CB's Gallery was played by music artists of milder sounds, such as acoustic rock, folk, jazz, or experimental music, such as Dadadah and Toshi Reagon, while CBGB continued to showcase mainly hardcore punk, post punk, metal, and alternative rock. On the other side, CBGB was operating a small cafe & bar in the mid-1990s, which served excellent classic New York pizza, among other items.^[2][3]

At about year 2000, CBGB entered a protracted dispute over allegedly unpaid rent amounts until the landlord, Bowery Residents' Committee, sued in 2005 and lost the case, but a deal to renew CBGB's lease, expiring in 2006, failed. The club closed upon its final concert, played by Patti Smith, on October 15, 2006.^[4] CBGB Radio launched on the iheartradio platform in 2010, and CBGB music festivals began in 2012.^[5] In 2013, CBGB's onetime building, 315 Bowery, was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Bowery Historic District.^[6]

Founding

CBGB was founded in December 1973 on the site of Kristal's earlier bar, Hilly's on the Bowery, that he ran from 1969 to 1972. Initially, Kristal focused on his more profitable East Village nightspot, Hilly's, which Kristal closed amid complaints from the bar's neighbors, whereupon Kristal focused on the Bowery club. Its full name—CBGB & OMFUG—stands for "Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers". Although a gormandizer is usually a ravenous eater of food, what Kristal meant is "a voracious eater of ... music".^[7] The club was often called simply "CB's". Kristal's intended theme of country, bluegrass, and blues music along with poetry readings yielded to the American movement in punk rock. A pioneer in the genre, the Ramones had its first shows at CBGB.^[8]

Evolution

In 1973, while the future CBGB was still Hilly's, two locals—Bill Page and Rusty McKenna—convinced Kristal to let them book concerts. In February 1974, Hilly booked local band Squeeze to a residency, playing Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the club's change from country and bluegrass to original rock bands. Squeeze was led by guitarist Mark Suall, later with CBGB's virtual house band the Revelons, which included Fred Smith of Television and JD Daugherty of the Patti Smith Group. Although these bands did not play punk rock, they helped lay its foundation.^[9] The August 1973 collapse of the Mercer Arts Center left unsigned bands little option in New York City to play original music, whereupon Mercer refugees—including Suicide, The Fast,^[10] Wayne County, and the Magic Tramps—soon played at CBGB.

Marky Ramone of the Ramones and Debbie Harry of Blondie attend a screening of Burning Down the House, a documentary on CBGB's heyday, at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.

In 1974, on April 14, in the audience of Television's third gig were Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye, whose Patti Smith Group debuted at CBGB on February 14, 1975. Other early performers included the Dina Regine Band^[11] as well as the Stillettos—which included Deborah Harry on vocals^[12]—that on May 5, 1974, backed Television. The newly formed band Angel & the Snake, later renamed Blondie, as well as the Ramones arrived in August 1974. Mink DeVille, Talking Heads, the Shirts, the Heartbreakers, the Fleshtones and other bands soon followed. During 1975 and 1976, Metropolis Video recorded some shows on film.

CBGB's two rules were that a band must move its own equipment and play mostly original songs—that is, no cover bands—although regular bands often played one or two covers in set.^[13] CBGB's growing reputation drew more and more acts from outside New York City. In 1978 on October 20 and 21, The Police played at CBGB its first American gigs. Meanwhile, CBGB became famed for the Misfits, Television, Patti Smith Group, Mink DeVille, the Dead Boys, the Dictators, the Fleshtones, the Voidoids, the Cramps, the B-52's, Blondie, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, the Shirts, and Talking Heads. Yet in the 1980s, hardcore punk's New York underground was CBGB's mainstay. Named "thrash day" in a documentary on hardcore, Sunday at CBGB was matinée day, which became an institution, played from afternoon until evening by hardcore bands.^[14] In 1990, violence inside and outside of the venue prompted Kristal to suspend hardcore bookings. Yet CBGB brought hardcore back at times. CBGB's the last several years had no formal bans by genre.

Rent controversy

In 2005, atop its normally paid monthly rent of $19,000, CBGB was sued for some $90,000 in rent allegedly owed to its landlord, Bowery Residents' Committee (BRC).^[15] Refusing to pay until a judge ruled the debt legitimate, Kristal claimed that he had never been notified of scaled rent increases, accruing over a number of years, asserted by BRC's executive director Muzzy Rosenblatt.^[15] Ruling the debt false—that BRC had never properly billed the rent increases^[15]—the judge indicated that CBGB ought to be declared a landmark, but noted that Rosenblatt did not need to renew the lease, soon expiring.^[16] Rosenblatt vowed to appeal.^[16]

Expecting Rosenblatt's resistance to lease negotiation,^[15] Kristal agreed that the rent ought to rise, but not to the $55,000 monthly that Kristal believed the BRC to want.^[16] A nonprofit corporation housing homeless above CBGB mostly through donations and government funding,^[15] the BRC had only one commercial tenant and raised its monthly rent to $35,000.^[17] Kristal and the BRC reached an agreement whereby CBGB would leave by September 30, 2006.^[17] Planning to move CBGB to Las Vegas, Kristal explained, "We're going to take the urinals. I'll take whatever I can. The movers said, 'You ought to take everything, and auction off what you don't want on eBay.' Why not? Somebody will."^[18]

Closure

Forever closed

Day after

Rocks Off, a promoter in New York, organized CBGB's final weeks of shows to book "many of the artists who made CB's famous".^[17] Jobless Bob, Avail, the Bouncing Souls, and such newer acts opened during the last week, which included multi-night stands by Bad Brains and the Dictators and an acoustic set by Blondie. The final show, broadcast live on Sirius Satellite Radio on October 15, was played by Patti Smith, helped on some songs by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Television's Richard Lloyd, too, played in a few, including "Marquee Moon". Nearly finished, Smith and band playing "Gloria" alternated the chorus with echos of "Blitzkrieg Bop"—by the Ramones—Hey! Ho! Let's go!. During "Elegie", her final encore, Smith named musicians who had died since playing at CBGB.^[19] On October 15, 2006, upon Patti Smith's last show at CBGB, the storied bar and club closed.

Aftermath

While the entire subculture of live rock music and performance art in Manhattan came to an end through gentrification,^[20] the old CBGB venue remained open as CBGB Fashions—retail store, wholesale department, and an online store—until October 31, 2006. CBGB Fashions moved to 19–23 St. Mark's Place on November 1, and closed nearly two years later in summer 2008.^[21]

Hilly Kristal died from complications of lung cancer on August 28, 2007. In early October, Kristal's family and friends hosted a private memorial service in the nearby YMCA. Soon, there was a public memorial, contributed to by CBGB onetime staff and by others. Kristal's ex-wife Karen Kristal and his daughter, Lisa Kristal Burgman, battled legally over the purported $3 million CBGB estate, and settled in June 2009 with Burgman receiving most of the money left after payment of creditors and estate taxes.^[22] In 2011, Tim Hayes bought CBGB's estate and original interior.

Venue

New tenant

By late 2007, fashion designer John Varvatos planned to open a store in CBGB's former space, 315 Bowery,^[23] but to tastefully trail CBGB's legacy.^[24] Much of the graffiti at the toilets was preserved, as were some playbills, found behind a wall, from shows at the club's 10th anniversary in 1983.^[25] The store opened in April 2008.^[26] Also in 2008, in a new building at the Bowery and Houston Street—one block downtown from Bleecker Street—Daniel Boulud's restaurant opened while rehashing the fame music club's name into the restaurant name, DBGB.^[27]

In 2008, a SoHo art gallery dedicated to music photography, the Morrison Hotel opened a second location in the onetime CBGB Gallery at 313 Bowery,^[25] but the Morrison Hotel gallery closed in 2011.^[28] The building is currently occupied by Patagonia, a clothing store.^[29]

Called the "Extra Place", the alley behind the building would become a pedestrian mall. The Dead Boys' Cheetah Chrome rued, "All of Manhattan has lost its soul to money lords", yet reflected, "If that alley could talk, it's seen it all".^[30] CBGB's nomination as a landmark drew an explanation:

"CBGB was founded in 1973 at 315 Bowery, in a former nineteenth-century saloon on the first floor of the Palace Lodging House. The legendary music venue fostered new genres of American music, including punk and art rock, that defined the culture of downtown Manhattan in the 1970s, and that still resonate today. In this role as cultural incubator, CBGB served the same function as the theatres and concert halls of the Bowery's storied past. The former club, now occupied by a retail business, remains a pilgrimage site for legions of music fans".^[6]

Influence

CBGB's awning was moved into the lobby of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The CBGB Festival produced large free concerts in Times Square and Central Park on July 7, 2012. They also showcased hundreds of bands in venues across the city. The festival premiered dozens of rock-n-roll movies in theaters around Manhattan. Directed by Randall Miller and starring Alan Rickman as Hilly Kristal, the film CBGB, about Kristal and the origins of the club, was released in October 2013^[31][32] to harsh reviews.^[33][34] Iconic in American popular culture, CBGB's image remained storied:

• CBGB was in a promotional ad aired during New York City's bid to host the Olympic Games 2012.^[35]
• CBGB appears in the 2010 rhythm game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.^[36] It is the only non-fictional venue to appear in the Guitar Hero series.
• Talking Heads song "Life During Wartime" declares, "This ain't no Mudd Club or CBGB...".^[37]
• A scene in Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters involving Allen and Dianne Wiest watching 39 Steps was filmed at CBGB.
• In Bandslam, CBGB is a favorite place of central character William Burton.
• In Spike Lee's 1999 movie Summer of Sam, Richie becomes a punk rocker and thereupon a regular patron of CBGB.
• The Simpsons episode "Love, Springfieldian Style" shows a CBGB named "Comic Book Guy's Bar".
• Californication opened its sixth season with the first scene of the episode "The Unforgiven" set in CBGB, where Karen, working as a bartender, first meets Hank. CBGB had been mentioned in other episodes of Californication, too.
• In Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Nick and Norah break into the closed CBGB.
• In Gilmore Girls, Rory Gilmore's friend Lane Kim's band—Hep Alien—gets booked for a gig at CBGB.
• In Joan Jett & The Blackhearts clip of "Good Music", Joan Jett skips a fancy dinner party to play a gig at CBGB.
• In an episode of the sketch-comedy series The State, one sketch shows a kid breaking the record for most time spent standing in front of CBGB smoking cigarettes.
• Lana Del Rey tells of a job singing at CBGB's in her B-side song "Never Let Me Go".
• In Guns n Roses' music video for their 1987 hit "Sweet Child o' Mine", bass player Duff McKagan wears a T-shirt bearing the CBGB logo.
• In Green Day's music video for their 1994 hit "Welcome to Paradise", drummer Tre Cool wears a T-shirt bearing the CBGB logo.
• In "Losing My Edge" by LCD Soundsystem, James Murphy mentions CBGB as the rock club where he first played Daft Punk to "the rock kids".
• In 13 Going on 30, Matt Flamhaff (Mark Ruffalo) is seen wearing a CBGB shirt.
• The Bon Jovi track "What's Left of Me" on the album What About Now cries, "Why they sold off CBGB's I don't understand".
• In the Broadway musical Rent, Mark recalls the walls of his apartment, shared with Roger, bearing posters having "Roger's picture advertising gigs at CBGB".^[38]
• In the movie Sex and the City 2, Carrie Bradshaw's flashback finds her first meeting Samantha while Samantha was working as a bartender at CBGB.
• CBGB appears as a setting in the comic book Amazing Spider-Man Annual #14, from Marvel Comics, published in October 1980.
• CBGB is referenced in the ABC TV show Forever (U.S. TV series) episode 'Punk Is Dead'.
• In The Shapers song "Old School Punk Star", the venue is referenced in the bridge: "[...] And to rock on at the CBGB [...]"^[39]

Notes

Sources

• Beeber, Steven. The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punk. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1-55652-613-8.
• Brazis, Tamar (ed.). CBGB & OMFUG: Thirty Years from the Home of Underground Rock (1st ed.). New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 2005. ISBN 0-8109-5786-8.
• Heylin, Clinton. From the Velvets to the Voidoids (2nd ed.). Eastbourne, East Sussex: Gardners Books, 2005. ISBN 1-905139-04-7.
• Kozak, Roman. This Ain't No Disco: The Story of CBGB. Boston: Faber and Faber, 1988. ISBN 0-571-12956-0.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to CBGB.

• Official website
• Between Punk Rock and a Hard Place New York Magazine
• CBGB Takes Final Bow Before Eviction WCBS TV
• Virtual tour of CBGB interior

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