Punk venue CBGB's closing after 33 years

[icymist]

NEW YORK - Legs McNeil remembers the night back in 1975 when he walked into the dingy storefront club perched in the even dingier Bowery neighborhood. The band onstage, four guys in leather jackets and torn jeans, was the Ramones. McNeil sat at a nearby table, watching their set with Lou Reed.

<snip>

The club didn't exit without a fight. An assortment of high-profile backers, including E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt, battled to keep the legendary club open. But in the end, it was a simple landlord-tenant dispute — and owner Hilly Kristal saw the handwriting on the club's dank walls.

"I knew the closing was inevitable, because my lawyers said, `You can't win this case. The law is that your lease is up, and they don't even need a reason to put you out,'" said Kristal.

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[Rockstone]

1. This ain't no Mud Club

or CBGB, I ain't got time for that now

[NYCGirl]

2. I spent a good amount of time at CBs. I'll miss it. NT

[LSparkle]

3. Does anybody on here know what CBGB stands for (if anything)?

I have an idea about OMFUG but CBGB has always been a mystery to me....

[Bucky]

4. "Country, BlueGrass, and Blues", believe it or not

[LSparkle]

7. Wow -- all these years I thought it was something subversive but

it's just ... the musical menu. Thanks!!!

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Country, Bluegrass and Blues...

...kinda strayed from that though. ;)

long live CBGB's!

[mcscajun]

12. and the rest of the story...

OMFUG = Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. That's a goddamn shame

Plenty of time in that place, most of it getting and giving elbows.

Ah, memory!

[Shakespeare]

8. CBGB will always hold a very important place in rock history.

It helped make the punk movement possible, and nothing's been quite the same since then...

You'll be missed, you grimy, wonderful place.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[slaveplanet]

9. RIP CBGB

RIP Ramones...

"Psychotherapy" best damn Ramones song ever.

& an honorable mention for:

"Bonzo goes to Bitburg"

Youve got to pick up the pieces cmon, sort your trash
You better pull yourself back together maybe youve got too much cash
Better call, call the law when you gonna turn yourself in? yeah
Youre a politician dont become one of hitlers children

Bonzo goes to bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on tv somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

Shouldnt wish you happiness, wish her the very best fifty thousand dollar dress
Shaking hands with your highness see through you like cellophane
You watch the world complain, but you do it anyway who am i, am I to say

Bonzo goes to bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on tv somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

If theres one thing that makes me sick its when someone tries to hide behind politics
I wish that time could go by fast somehow they manage to make it last

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

[Leopolds Ghost]

10. Shit... I never even got to go there

And I been to Manhattan several times.

I've never seen the WTC "pit" either, although I've been by it, and I understrand they are now planning to desecrate it with a fascist monumental office tower cut off at the 50th floor.

Are they tearing down CBGB's? Why else would the landlord evict such a prominent tenant? Where exactly are they?

On edit: not that they are any more than an upscale tourist attraction now...

[mcscajun]

11. CBGBs is located on NYC's Lower East Side

at 315 Bowery between 1st and 2nd Street.

CBGB - OMFUG stands for "Country Bluegrass Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers"

Last I heard, the owner may try to reopen the club elsewhere in the city.

As to why the landlord would evict? Apart from the usual landlord-tenant disputes that rage anywhere in NYC, gentrification and associated rising land values give the landlord all the reason he needs.

Will it be torn down? More than likely.

[derby378]

13. Coming soon: TRUMP, THE NIGHTCLUB

"Guess what, everybody? We're gonna have world-class rockers performing on a stage made out of Italian marble and Yukon gold. You have my word on it. My people are in negotiations with Franz Ferdinand to play opening night. World-class, people. First shot of Hennessy is on me."