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).

View this post on Instagram

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.

For the record

Oh, hello! So don't mind me or Alex here. We're just having a little fun picking out some album covers that feature NYC.

So I'm starting with an easy one...Blondie's "Autoamerican" from 1980.



And I can't say that I'm much of a Gloria Gaynor fan, though I dig the cover to her "Park Avenue Sound" record from 1978.

NYC on the record(s)

Yesterday, I had a post on revisiting the "Physical Graffiti" cover art 33 years later.

Somehow I've managed to missed the ongoing NYC album art posts at Gothamist. Here, Gothamist proves a little background on how NYC played a prominent role on an album cover...They've covered everyone from Dylan...the New York Dolls...to the Strokes and the Beastie Boys. Good stuff.

[Updated: Alex has video from an MSNBC report on "the death of album cover art.]

Nancy Spungen 30 years later

New York magazine has this feature this week:

The Day Punk Died
Thirty years ago this month, the death of Nancy (of Sid &) effectively ended New York’s early punk scene. It’s been easy to hate her since — maybe too easy

In the article, Karen Schoemer speaks with Legs McNeil, among others. She interviews him at the Yaffa Cafe. I love how the article ends:

Legs McNeil doesn’t live in New York City anymore. He bought a house in rural Pennsylvania and doesn’t relish his return visits. He’s now a recovered alcoholic wearing a black Hawaiian shirt decorated with pictures of exotic cocktails and pegged black jeans 30 years out of fashion. He wants his old New York. He glances at a girl in slutty Sex and the City clothes that aren’t slutty anymore, talking on her cell phone while her dining companion gazes patiently into space. The sight brings out a little of his old fire. “I don’t know who the fuck they’re talking to,” he sneers. “Are they talking to other people in restaurants eating breakfast?” Where’s Nancy when you need her? She would have hated it here. She wouldn’t have lasted a minute.

Here's the Sid and Nancy heroin interview from the punk documentary D.O.A.

On this date in 1982...

The Clash opened for the Who at Shea Stadium. (The "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" video, of course, has footage from that show and shots of NYC...)

Anyway, here's the first part of a Who documentary that chronicles the Shea show...

Going Nightclubbing

Speaking of CBGB...thanks to Stupefaction for telling us about the new Go Nightclubbing Web site.

NIGHTCLUBBING
THE ORIGINAL PUNK ROCK MUSIC VIDEO SERIES
by PAT IVERS and EMILY ARMSTRONG
Live videotaped performances from 1975-80
Described by the New York Times as, “The Lewis and Clark of rock video”, video artists Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong spent their nights from 1975-80 documenting the burgeoning punk scene in nightclubs around New York City. Ivers and Armstrong were acutely aware of the significance of that era and their material captures the sprit of the time. The edited results were shown on their weekly cable TV show NIGHTCLUBBING. These performances have been compiled and presented as the ultimate wish-I-was-there document of the groundbreaking punk, new wave, no wave and hardcore movement.

"First of all, their hair rules"

That's the MC introducing Nirvana at the Pyramid Club on July 18, 1989. Nirvana made their New York City debut that night as part of the New Music Senimar. They played a 14-song set. Other bands on the bill that night were Cows, God Bullies, Lonely Moans and Surgery. (This information came from the Nirvana Live Guide.)

Here's some grainy footage of their NYC debut:



During "Floyd the Barber," a drunk gets on stage. He's eventually shoved off by Kurt Cobain and second guitarist Jason Everman, who was later kicked out of the band. (This was his last show with Nirvava, who were so disappointed in how they played, they cancelled their remaining four gigs on this East Coast tour. )



Meanwhile, here's a video for "In Bloom," some of which was shot in and around East River Park, the Financial District and the South Street Seaport the day before their Pyramid Club gig. The peformance footage for the video was shot in April 1990.



This article by Joe D'Angelo and Jem Aswad published on MTV.com provides more background about the performance at the Pyramid Club and the "In Bloom" video:

According to Michael Azerrad's "Come As You Are," the definitive Nirvana tome, the show was far from the band's best: One of the few who refrained from heckling was Iggy Pop, who cheered encouragingly. After the show, bassist Krist Novoselic was so disappointed with the performance that he shaved his head bald in the Jersey City, New Jersey, motel where the band was staying. This explains why, in the video, he's seen with hair in some scenes and resembles Kojak in others.

Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon stitched in the story's silver lining by bringing A&R man Gary Gersh to the show. Not long after, Gersh signed the band to Geffen Records, the company that released Nirvana's breakthrough, Nevermind, in 1991, after Moore convinced Kurt Cobain that signing to a major label wasn't selling out. The video, however, offers no indication that the band was on the verge of a bad night.

For the weekend: Seven songs

Alex at Flaming Pablum passed along this music meme to, uh, me. Here's the deal:

"List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening to."

My list seemed fitting to include here. For starters, I just entertained my 21-year-old nephew for a few days here. He's really into Britpop now, and wanted to know more about great New York bands. Of course, I quickly got out the album that started it all here: Vampire Weekend!

[Ducking beer bottles being thrown my way...]

For real though, I went about trying to give him a variety of New York bands. Yes, some are obvious. But it's a good place to start with a 21-year-old whose mother's favorite band is the Monkees.

In any event, since we played these songs the other day, I've continued to listen to them -- making these my favorite songs right now. (Ask me tomorrow, and...)

Lou Reed, Coney Island Baby


New York Dolls, Trash


James Chance and the Contortions, I Can't Stand Myself


Sonic Youth, Teenage Riot


Unsane, Body Bomb


Pussy Galore, Dick Johnson


Sugar Hill Gang, Apache


[Cheating] Bonus, for the summer season:
The Ramones, Surfin' Bird


Now for my seven tags...I don't have that many friends...this may take some effort!

Believe Me

Hmm...

On this day in 1981

On June 2, 1981, the Clash were on show No. 5 of the 17 concerts they eventually played at Bond's International Casino in Times Square -- 1530 Broadway, between 44th and 45th. (A few nitpickers have mentioned that Bonds often went without the apostrophe. Noted!) Bad Brains and the Slits opened show No. 5.

Here's the set list from the June 2 show:

London Calling
Safe European Home
The Leader
Somebody Got Murdered
White Man In Ham Palais
The Guns Of Brixton
This Is Radio Clash
The Call Up
Complete Control
Junco Partner
Lightning Strikes
Ivan Meets GI Joe
Charlie Don't Surf
Bankrobber
The Magnificent Seven
Wrong 'Em Boyo
Train In Vain
Career Opportunities
Clampdown
One More Time
Brand New Cadillac
Washington Bullets
Janie Jones
Police and Thieves
Armagideon Time
New Yorks Burning

For pretty much everything you'd ever want to know about the show (and everything related to the Clash), go here.

A little background on all this for people who may to new to this, via Wikipedia:

The site of the concerts was formerly Bonds department store which had been converted into a large second-floor hall. Promoters kept the name because there was a large Bonds sign on the outside of the building. As The Clash had not yet broken out into mass popularity, eight shows were originally scheduled: May 28, 29, 30, 31 and June 1,2, 3, and 5, 1981. However, given the venue's legal capacity limit of 3,500, the series was blatantly oversold right from the first night, leading fire marshals for the New York Fire Department to cancel the Saturday, May 30 performance. In response, the band condemned the brazen greed of the promoters while demonstrating unprecedented integrity to each and every ticketholder by doubling the original booking with a total of 17 dates extending through June.

Meanwhile, here's how Channel 7 covered the event:



The next year, the band was back in town promoting Clash On Broadway...and look who Sue Simmons had on at "Live at 5":



For more info on the shows here and here.