CBGB
by Bryce
CBGB was a club synonymous with the downtown NYC club scene of the 70s. It was founded on the Bowery by Hilly Kristal in 1973 and originally was created to play the music featured in it’s name: country,bluegrass, and blues music. Quickly though, the club began to play other styles of music and became known as a venue for punk music. Bands such as the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Misfits, Television, Patti Smith Group, The Dead Boys, The Dictators, The Cramps, and Joan Jett all played here. Starting in the early 80s, the club really became a haven for hardcore punk and it would stay this way until it’s later years. The club closed in October 2006 with it’s final concert featuring Patti Smith on the 15th (CBGB & OMFUG).
This club was an important centerpiece of the downtown club scene, and music scene, of the 70s and 80s. It was a focal point of the intersecting network that was the artistic movement of the time. The city itself at this time was crime-ridden and full of drugs, but the arts, clubs and music of the time flourished. CBGB was at the center of this. Some of the different artifacts from our Downtown Archeologies directly relate to CBGB, like the flyer for Huge Killer Ship’s gig there, while others are indirectly linked. As CBGB was a central figure in the punk scene of the 70s and 80s, it is implicitly linked with many regulars of the punk downtown scene.
Works Cited
CBGB & OMFUG. “CBGB History.” CBGB & OMFUG, www.cbgb.com/about.