Book Review

Without CBGB’s, there would’ve never been any punk rock: no Mudd Clubb, no Talking Heads, Television, Patti Smith, and therefore no hardcore scene, no grunge- just disco, hair metal, Madonna, and MTV. CBGB’s was where we spent every night hanging out, exchanging ideas, and having fun. It’s got to be the most important club in rock ‘n’ roll history.”

It can be argued that CBGB’s is the most important club in rock ‘n’ roll history. As one of the last places in Manhattan in the mid 1970s that allowed you to play original rock, owner Hilly Kristal encouraged spontaneity and creativity in his club that stood for country, bluegrass and blues. CBGB's gave bands like Television, Dead Boys, Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith and Blondie a place to hang out, rehearse and form a musical identity, which in turn was a launching pad for a new era of music – punk rock and new-wave. Standing dank, dark and dirty as the polar opposite to the swank Studio 54 in the late 70’s NYC, CBGB’s came alive when the lights went down.

The club is in danger of closing permanently on August 31, 2005 when CBGB’s lease is up and eviction is possible, due to payment defaults and a rent increase by the Bowery Resident’s committee. CBGB &OMFUG: Thirty Years from the Home of Underground Rock is a two-hundred photograph retrospective of the past thirty years, featuring the famous and freaky faces and sounds of the club’s history. As the punk scene faded, CBGB’s served as a home for other then “underground” bands to play like Living Colour, White Zombie, Bad Religion, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, and even the Dave Matthews Band.

Included are personal memories from the legends that played at the club including quotes from: Johnny Ramone, Henry Rollins, Elvis Costello, Debbie Harry and Billy Corgan. Also featured is an insightful afterword by David Byrne and an introduction by club owner Hilly Kristal.

However, it’s the images, a variety of black and white pictures, taken by Roberta Bayley, Bob Gruen, Godlis, Kate Simon, Ebet Roberts and others that arrive in both posed and live stage shots that makes the book such a treasure chest of rock and roll past. Before the band’s were playing arenas, you see them cooking up in their larvae stages, sweating for an audience and putting raw noice and energy as a forethought to later studio materpieces.

The classic shots are endless - from a mohawked Wendy O. Williams, and a Bon Scott led AC/DC, to a shirtless Sting and the Police and a young thick haired Dave Matthews, the book covers all the genres and periods that helped cement CBGB in rock and roll lore. Images of the Ramones, Patti Smith, Television, Blondie and the Talking Heads prove that New York City and CBGBs was the true home of the punk underground.

CBGB &OMFUG: Thirty Years from the Home of Underground Rock will have you thinking Johnny Thunders or Richard Hell instead of just Joey Ramone the next time you see one of those CBGB shirts. Let’s just the club can continue past August to cement a new vault of memories.

Photo courtesy of Lisa J Kristal