I've mentioned in past posts that I spent a good chunk of my teenage years going to C.B.G.B's along with many other "hardcore kids" in the early to mid 1980's. The past 15 years the bookings were pretty bad at the club and it became more about the T-shirt empire than anything else but it remained an icon for the time when NYC was gritty and tough and spawned The Ramones. The club closed it's doors for good last October.Contributions in Hilly's honor may be made in his name to the American Cancer Society or to the Hilly Kristal Foundation for
Musicians and Artists (168 Second Avenue, PMB 207, New York, NY 10003)
*I would like to thank Drew Caralon for sending me this picture of Hilly from 1985 when the Sunday matinees were all the rage.
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3 comments:
yeah, it's tough to say about Hilly, not knowing him personally but for all those who bemoaned CBs closing... i'd place it as the early '90s when Hilly or somebody made the decision to take themselves off the cultural map by not paying-- & thus, not booking-- bigger bands... that would NOT have hurt the local scene bc in most cases they could still fill the bill w/ locals but intead you got a jillion gigs where nobody but friends & tourists went. CB's at its peak frod mid-'70s to late '80s peak was a great place & the Canteen had a good run for a while too. after that... it was pretty hard to give a shit, even if some decent things did occasionally happen there.
so... good memories but except for CHAIN GANG a cpl years ago... they are pretty old memories.
Chain who?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbV26_9Fz2M
wwib
Personally when CB's was closing and all of a sudden it got the whole worlds attention I was like"go ahead close, that place has had nothing to do with music OR anything in NY in more than 10 years!" maybe it was age & apathy (or greed-you could buy those tshirts at Macy's!) BUT before all that set in for a long time Hilly gave bands a shot when no one would...i thought i wouldn't care when CB's closed but it was the ONE thing on the Bowery that remained..now of course it's nothing but souless metal & glass hi-rise, what???...luxury condos...depressing to be around that area now...1rst st. between Bowery & 1st Ave...is a grim little corridor that ends with a shack called the Mars Bar...which is what CBGB's was but without live music...
Everybody who is reading these comments CUT AND PASTE that link up top cause cause cause you just should...it's MONDO MANHATTAN and the son of sam cult and Chain Gang...thanks for that!
Yeah old memories...for the record and this is the first time i've pondered this...the first time I ever was at CB's was to see the Gun Club, (Jeffrey Lee Peirce was stoned out of his mind, could barely stand up , another R.I.P) with my then boyfriend Louie, who had an awesome beat up blue Chevy Malibu (& my then future now ex- husband was at that show too!)....the last time I think was The Phantom Surfers & the Kaisers sometime in the mid 90's...and yeah the canteen did some good stuff during that blah period that CB's fell into...
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