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If London mirrored New York in its punk
scene then its no surprise that they both also had key clubs which the scene
revolved around. In the UK it was the Roxy and Vortex. In The US there was
Max's Kansas City and CBGB's. While its easy game to knock the yanks over
their lack of history you have to give it to them here because these are two clubs who
have history, atmosphere, excitement and rock'n'roll in spades and one that even still exists today.
The closest thing we had was the Marquee but we fucked that right up
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Max's Kansas City |
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Max's Kansas City was located at Park
Avenue on 17th Street and a key club in Manhattan in terms of the acts who
either directly influenced the nascent US punk scene or became part of it.
The downstairs restaurant was the melting point of cutting edge culture
including rock, painting, poetry, fashion and photography. The upstairs disco
was converted to performance space where Iggy, New York Dolls, Patti
Smith Wayne County and Television all played. The backroom downstairs was
immortalised in Lou Reeds
Walk On The Wild Side.
Blondie's Deborah Harry was once a waitress there. Now a deli. |
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Max's connections went right back to The
Velvet
Underground who had played there in the late 60's and who had even
recorded and released a live album from Max's.
A Max's Kansas City album was recorded though not
live but featuring artists who played there including Suicide, Wayne
County, Pere Ubu and Cherry Vanilla.
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CBGB's |
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Hilly Krystals CBGB's could
once be found at 315 Bowery New
York. Originally a run down bar frequented by Hells Angels it became in the
mid seventies the home of US punk and alternative acts...ironic as CBGB's stands for country blues and bluegrass.
How it cam to feature punk is all down to the band
Television finding the bar and playing it weekly from April 1974. From then
on Patti Smith played followed by Blondie followed by The Ramones and Talking
Heads debuted in June 1975. Since then nearly anybody who was anybody has
played there.
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Long and dark CBGB's was renowned for its tiny ten
foot square stage. The audience was a mixture of arty types, hookers, band
members and scenesters. As punk grew in popularity and infamy so its
clientele
began to change to a more hardcore base.
A compilation album
was recorded in June 1976 which
could have been a landmark historical record that featured the above
artists. Instead Hilly went for a host of unsigned bands who mostly stayed
unsigned.
CBGB's like the other
clubs mentioned here has become the stuff of legend. Sadly in 2006 it
finished, a victim of rising rents.
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Back
To Top
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Links
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Max's Kansa City - History, archive and
photos
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CBGB's - Up to the minute news and history
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