[NB. This entry was originally published in 2009]
Last week Plain Jane Productions premiered their new film, Burning Down The House:The Story Of CBGB, at the Tribeca Film Festival. Unless you've been living in a cave on the border of Afghanistan for the past thirty years you already know that CBGB was the spiritual home of the New Wave of rock music in America. If Punk Rock was conceived in the Midwest by the Stooges and the MC5, then it was delivered in New York a few years later by the Ramones, Dead Boys and the Voidoids...at CBGB. The official name of the club was CBGB & OMFUG (for Country, Bluegrass, Blues & Other Music For Uplifting Gourmandizers) and owner Hilly Kristal's original intent was to feature C, BG, and B, but the de facto star of the place was the OM...Punk and New Wave rock. The Ramones and the Talking Heads played their first gigs there. The Police kicked off their first American tour there. The New York Dolls, Blondie, Devo, Elvis Costello, the Dictators, Patti Smith, The Jam, and tens of thousands more played there. I made the pilgrimage to CBGB in June of 1981, while I was in New York to see The Clash at Bond's. I was duly impressed by the club's ambiance, if not by the band that happened to be playing that night (all I remember is that the singer was wearing a tweed jacket). If you never made it there, you can get a taste of what it was like with this clip from the movie, Blank Generation (1980). It features a nice long dolly shot from the back of the club toward the stage while Richard Hell and the Voidoids play. Sadly, the infamous CBGB restrooms are not shown in this clip. However, I did pay tribute in the men's room while there and I can report that it's a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to touch anything. In 2006 the Bowery Residents Committee refused to renew Kristal's lease due to a dispute over rent increases. Many New Yorkers rallied to save the club, and filmmaker Mandy Stein documents the effort in Burning Down The House. But it was to no avail. After a 33-year run, CBGB's closed up for the last time October 15, 2006. Hilly Kristal died from cancer less than a year later. No word yet on film distribution, but as soon as I find out I'll post it here. Mandy Stein's other films include Too Tough To Die (a tribute to Johnny Ramone), and a documentary about the Bad Brains which is now in post-production. Check out the teaser, below. Oh, and if you happen to run into Osama Bin Laden, tell him CB's is gone.
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