Tuesday, April 5, 2011

How DBGB is 'pissing on the grave' of punk rock

So when you visit the DBGB website...


...you might hear something awfully familiar — particularly if you're a Clash fan.

So let's have The Gurgling Cod tell the tale:

I clicked over to the website for Boulud's fancy sausage burger joint, DBGB, and literally could not believe my ears. I thought that I had a stray tab open, for I had no other explanation for why "The Magnificent Seven" was playing over my office computer speakers. But, no. Boulud has, in fact, taken that bete noire of restaurant websites, background music, and extended the whole pissing on the grave of punk rock brand by having the fucking Clash as his background music. For nineteen dollar hamburgers.

I am not an entertainment lawyer ... But, my hunch is that you need to pay to use music someone else recorded for your commercial website. At the very least, let's hope that Joe Strummer's kids get free nine dollar hotdogs when they are in town.



(H/T Patell and Waterman’s History of New York)

12 comments:

Melanie said...

There was a show on cable this weekend about Joe Strummer. It was really good to see him and hear him after seeing him on the "corner" of E. 7th Street for all these years.

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

Odd choice of songs, since the Clash were a London band. This one might have been more appropriate. Too bad the poster has the wrong lineup pictured.

Anonymous said...

Someone should notify the Clash's record label. Because to use someone's music without license for your own douche purposes is stealing not to mention karmically ill-judged. That restaurant might serve up some killer chow, but there's no need to stoop to this level.

Lisa said...

Maybe Laroc was channeling Daniel Bouloud when he desecrated the Joe Strummer mural.

esquared™ said...

i think dbgb should pick a ryan adam's song instead for its website, to keep within the theme of, and be consistent with, the douchefication of the bowery/east village

Marty Wombacher said...

DBGB = Disgraceful, Bollocks, Grrrr and Bullshit.

Joe Yoga said...

Well London Calling was on a Jaguar commercial a few years ago, so it's not necessarily without their consent.

Anonymous said...

@esquared: right on and I like how you manage to ridicule both DBGB and Ryan Adams in one concise sentence.

Anonymous said...

But isn't that act in itself a very punk thing to do?

Big Brother said...

Music auto playing on websites? Ha! How 1997 of them.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm, nice Clash clip but what was that business about the Outer Fringe of SEX at the end?

Anonymous said...

The Magnificent Seven-Dollar Hotdog by The Clash. What the fuck?