HBD Physical Graffiti

Led Zeppelin's double studio album Physical Graffiti was released 49 years ago today — Feb. 24, 1975. 

Some details via Village Preservation: 

Led Zeppelin immortalized the twin tenements at 96 and 98 St. Mark’s Place between First Avenue and Avenue A on the Physical Graffiti album cover. The award-winning design featured the two buildings (with the fourth floors removed to make them fit the square shape of the album cover) with the windows cut out to reveal the letters of the album title printed on the inner sleeve, or, if the sleeve was reversed, a series of images of different characters seeming to occupy the building, including lead-singer Robert Plant in drag. 

The building's rock history also includes the stoop at No. 96 ... where Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met up at the start of the 1981 video by the Rolling Stones for "Waiting on a Friend." 

The building is also home to the basement tea shop Physical GraffiTea ... owner Ilana Malka previously ran the vintage clothing boutique Physical Graffiti here until January 2011.

Today in (random) NYC music history

[EVG photo from December]

Led Zeppelin released Physical Graffiti on this date in 1975 (Happy No. 44!) ... with the double album cover shot at 96-98 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue (Yes — the Stones used the stoop a few years later).

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44 years ago today, @ledzeppelin released “Physical Graffiti.” Make ours a double. #ledzeppelin #physicalgraffiti

A post shared by MAGNET Magazine (@magnetmagazine) on Feb 24, 2019 at 5:02am PST

Find some album-cover history at this Gothamist post from 2014... ditto for this Off the Grid post.

Getting 'Physical' again on St. Mark's Place

EVG reader Allen Semanco came across this scene this morning at 96-98 St. Mark's Place, the buildings between Avenue A and First Avenue that served as a backdrop for Led Zeppelin's 1975 studio album "Physical Graffiti."

A photographer said she was setting up this shot as part of next week's release of a 40th anniversary remastered/expanded super-duper-deluxe version of the album.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tenements of the holy: 'Physical Graffiti' 40 years later

Houses of the Holy: Checking out 'Physical Graffiti' 39 years later on St. Mark's Place

Led Zeppelin's double studio album "Physical Graffiti" was released 39 years ago — Feb. 24, 1975.



Off the Grid and Gothamist both had posts to commemorate the occasion ... and offer up some history.

And you probably know the connection to the album here. We'll let Off the Grid sum it up:

Led Zeppelin immortalized the twin tenements at 96 and 98 St. Mark’s Place between First Avenue and Avenue A on the Physical Graffiti album cover. The award-winning design featured the two buildings (with the fourth floors removed to make them fit the square shape of the album cover) with the windows cut out to reveal the letters of the album title printed on the inner sleeve, or, if the sleeve was reversed, a series of images of different characters seeming to occupy the building, including lead-singer Robert Plant in drag.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Fire scare on St. Mark's Place at iconic Physical Graffiti building

I'm not waiting on a lady...say, what the hell is Mick wearing anyway?

[Photos via Off the Grid]

Houses of the Holy

From this morning... tourists appreciating 96-98 St. Mark's Place ... home to the "Physical Graffiti" cover, as you know...

Photo by Shawn Chittle.

Physical GraffiTea is open

... and blue...

On St. Mark's Place.

Previously.

Stairway to Tea Heaven?

As The Local East Village reported in February, the owners of Physical Graffiti decided to shutter their 16-year-old vintage thrift shop on St. Mark's Place...

It looks as if their new venture, Physical GraffiTea, a loose-leaf tea shop, is nearing an opening date...

Previously.

The song remains the same: Physical Graffiti latest thrift store to shutter

We've heard the rumors that Physical Graffiti was calling it quits on St. Mark's Place... We saw the owners packing up the vintage clothing store on Monday... The Local East Village has the scoop:

The clothing store is closing its doors after 16 years because of the bad economy, but will re-open in March as a loose leaf tea shop under a slightly different name – Physical Graffi-tea – and the same management.

“It’s so sad but there is just no market for the clothes,” said Ilana Malka, 45, the store’s owner.

I've head this from many people: The new generation moving into the East Village — in general! — isn't interested in unique, vintage clothing...

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village vintage stores doomed?

More vintage doom: Beauty Crisis is closing

Other closings:

Atomic Passion has closed

Monk Thrift Shop on Avenue B

Atomic Passion on Ninth Street

O Mistress Mine on 11th Street

Andy's Chee-Pees on St. Mark's Place

Fab 208 is moving into a smaller space on Seventh Street

Outside the Physical Graffiti building this morning

Given the dramatic photos of firefighters last night at 98 St. Mark's Place... I wasn't sure what to expect outside this morning...




While there isn't much evidence of damage from the sidewalk... a reader says one apartment was ruined.... and several others were flooded... No report of injuries.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Fire scare on St. Mark's Place at iconic Physical Graffiti building

Posts that I never got around to posting in 2009: Keep an eye out for graffiti vandals

On Second Avenue near Fourth Street. At the HAUNTED HOUSE.

Physical Graffiti 33 years later

From the WOW Report (via BoingBoing):

Artist Lou Cannizzaro went back to 96 St Marks Place in Manhattan 33 years after that location starred on the cover of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album. Robert Plant should have aged so well.

Wikipedia has this about the cover art:

The album's sleeve design features a photograph of a New York City tenement block, with interchanging window illustrations. The album designer, Peter Corriston, was looking for a building that was symmetrical with interesting details, that was not obstructed by other objects and would fit the square album cover. He said:

We walked around the city for a few weeks looking for the right building. I had come up a concept for the band based on the tenement, people living there and moving in and out. The original album featured the building with the windows cut out on the cover and various sleeves that could be placed under the cover, filling the windows with the album title, track information or liner notes.

The two buildings photographed for the album cover are located at 96 and 98 St. Mark's Place in New York City. But to enable it to fit, the building (which is actually a five-story building) had to be cropped out. So for the album cover it became a four-story building instead. The buildings used on the cover were the same that Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were filmed in front of in the Rolling Stones music video "Waiting on a Friend."