It was the dingiest of dive bars on one of the least safe streets in a dangerous city. But the CBGB club gave birth to a whole new genre of music – and a galaxy of stars
British singer-songwriter and guitarist Captain Sensible in 1982(Image: Gentle Look via Getty Images)
Fifty years after the explosion of punk and 20 years since it closed its doors in 2006, the legendary New York venue where it all began is being celebrated. A four CD box set has been released to mark the CBGB’s heyday as a cultural hotspot, where artists like The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads and The Damned took to its stage and changed the musical landscape.
Music writer Rob Tannenbaum (cor) who collated the box set, says: “If you were a weirdo, an outcast, a misfit, this was your home; a place where the oddballs gathered to encourage one another. Now, alternative culture is no longer the alternative. It’s been integrated into the mainstream, not just in music, but in all of the arts. It would be dumb to say all of that started at CBGB, but it certainly accelerated it.”
For somewhere holding such an iconic place in musical history, the surroundings were less than salubrious. Rat Scabies, of The Damned – the first British punk band to play there in 1977, says: “There was sawdust all over the floor and it smelt of dog s***.” There was a candle on a counter that had at least 25 years worth of wax built up around the bottle and the ceiling was wall to wall cobwebs. The dressing room was drenched in graffiti. We’d heard and read so much about this ultra cool club that I was expecting somewhere unique, which in its own punky grubby way it was.”
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Bandmate Captain Sensible remembers the ‘filthy bogs and grotty seats’. He says: “We were fairly rough and ready, though, and probably made our own contribution to the scuzz.” CBGB – the letters stand for Country, Bluegrass, Blues & Other Music For Uplifting Gourmandizers – was founded by former marine, Hillel ‘Hilly’ Kristal.
The Ramones rock out at the CBGB club(Image: Redferns)
A trained violinist, he had sung in folk clubs and been a booker for jazz venues, before opening a bar in Greenwich Village in the late 1960s – forced to close by complaints from neighbours about noise. By 1973 he had leased 315 Bowery and established a new venue, reasoning that in such a down-at-heel part of the city nobody would object. CBGB was born! Rob explains: “New York was at its ugliest and most desperate financially; an era when it was at its dirtiest, grimiest. If you were to look for the least safe street in this not safe city, it would probably be the Bowery.
“I wasn’t there in 1976 – I didn’t live through that era – but I do romanticise it. That’s part of why I wanted to do the box-set, even though I know that parts of it aren’t really romantic. People who were there talk about stepping over dead or passed out bodies in front of CBGB.”
Nevertheless, its reputation as a hot-house for new music exploded, with the mantra that bands would only be booked if their music was original. Rock band Television and singer songwriter Patti Smith – ‘Godmother of Punk’ – both played regularly, while The Ramones took to the stage in 1974.
The Damned. Rat Scabies, of The Damned – the first British punk band to play there in 1977, says: “There was sawdust all over the floor and it smelt of dog s***.”
Artists like Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and David Bowie started appearing in the audience, with ‘Hilly’ always on hand to advise bands and help them to expand their experience. Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren visited and took inspiration from both the sound and the torn clothing and spikey haired look of many CBGB artists.
Rat Scabies, who recalls ‘chaos’ at their gigs, says: “Did we feel like ambassadors? Kind of – but we were only interested in making an impact in the birthplace of punk – to show them that we had as much energy and attitude as they did.” Captain Sensible remembers it as ‘the time of our lives,’ saying: “We were young and snotty and the girls seemed to like our London accents. At a time when international travel was comparatively new, I guess we were ambassadors for our country – but probably not good ones.”
The club’s fame spread. On any given night you might find Divine and John Belushi rubbing shoulders with Andy Warhol. Reflecting on CBGB’s contribution to the punk, new wave and no wave scenes, Rat says: “None of the New York bands had records out so all of our info came via Punk Magazine and we had to try and guess what they sounded like by their photographs. Without CBGB putting those bands on none of that scene would have ever leaked out to the UK.”
Rock star and poet Patti Smith (C) comes outside to take pictures of CBGB, New York’s most famous punk bar on its closing night 15 October 2006 after 33 years. Smith was the final performer in the club(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
But Captain Sensible says The Damned were not nervous about the CBGB hype. He says: “Nervous? You’re kidding. Growing up being subjected to all that ‘everything is so much bigger and better in the USA nonsense’ had us giving back some good old Brit working class attitude to the Yanks.”
Rob says there were also great CBGB bands who didn’t find fame, adding: “I have a theory that the greatest band of all time isn’t the Beatles or the Stones – it’s someone unknown. That’s because maybe they only played four shows, or they never recorded it, or they recorded it and didn’t release it. I’m a little bit obsessive about bands who should have been better known but aren’t. That’s why I put three years into the box set project; to memorialise the music. Along the way I discovered all kinds of great music I’d never heard before,”
Rob, who is based in New York, himself played CBGB with a ‘useless’ punk outfit of his own in 1995. He says: “Nothing had altered for 20 years – the graffiti was just the same.” The club remained resolutely unchanged for years; the toilets famously filthy despite the place being bleached every night.
Iggy Pop with The Ramones and Seymour Stein or Sire Records at CBGB’s, New York, April 1976(Image: Redferns)
But gentrification of the Lower Manhattan area was on its way and CBGB closed its doors in 2006 after 33 years, with Patti Smith the last act to perform there. The following year Hilly, who had lung cancer, died. The site of his legendary club is now occupied by a designer fashion store.
Captain Sensible says: “I can’t believe the short sightedness of New York in not keeping the club open as a shrine for punk fans around the world to visit and see where it all started.” But its legacy lives on through the music and the bands it created, many of whom are still performing today including The Damned. They will take to the stage on April 11 for a special 50th anniversary show at the OVO Arena in London.
Rob says: “The Club’s place in history is huge. First, the music was incredible. It was also the home of The Ramones, who invented punk, but thirdly the diversity to be found there was incredible. The best known CBGB bands are white, mostly male, mostly heterosexual. But when I started learning about those that had been forgotten, a lot of them had women in them, Black people, Asian, Latino, gay or trans people. It was what we now might call a safe space.”
Meanwhile, Rat and the Captain will never forget the legendary CBGB club. Rat says: “If I could step back into CBGB for one night in its heyday, would I do anything differently? Yes – I wouldn’t have eaten the pizza!”
*CBGB & OMFUG: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986 is available on Cherry Red Records
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