Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    Banner
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • Shows by Decade
        • 1950s Television
        • 1960s Television
        • 1970s Television
        • 1980s Television
        • 1990s Television
      • Shows by Genre
        • Comedy
        • Drama
        • Kids TV
        • Variety
        • News & Sport
        • Advertisements
      • Shows by Country
        • UK TV
        • USA TV
        • Australia & NZ TV
        • Canada TV
        • Europe TV
        • Japan TV
      • Shows A to K
        • Shows A
        • Shows B
        • Shows C
        • Shows D
        • Shows E
        • Shows F
        • Shows G
        • Shows H
        • Shows I
        • Shows J
        • Shows K
      • Shows L to Z
        • Shows L
        • Shows M
        • Shows N
        • Shows O
        • Shows P
        • Shows Q
        • Shows R
        • Shows S
        • Shows T
        • Shows U
        • Shows V
        • Shows W
        • Shows X
        • Shows Y
        • Shows Z
      • Shows 0 to 9
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • 1950s Music
        • 1960s Music
        • 1970s Music
        • 1980s Music
        • 1990s Music
      • Music A to K
        • Music A
        • Music B
        • Music C
        • Music D
        • Music E
        • Music F
        • Music G
        • Music H
        • Music I
        • Music J
        • Music K
      • Music L to Z
        • Music L
        • Music M
        • Music N
        • Music O
        • Music P
        • Music Q
        • Music R
        • Music S
        • Music T
        • Music U
        • Music V
        • Music W
        • Music X
        • Music Y
        • Music Z
      • Music 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • 1950s Movies
          • Movies 1950
          • Movies 1951
          • Movies 1952
          • Movies 1953
          • Movies 1954
          • Movies 1955
          • Movies 1956
          • Movies 1957
          • Movies 1958
          • Movies 1959
        • 1960s Movies
          • Movies 1960
          • Movies 1961
          • Movies 1962
          • Movies 1963
          • Movies 1964
          • Movies 1965
          • Movies 1966
          • Movies 1967
          • Movies 1968
          • Movies 1969
        • 1970s Movies
          • Movies 1970
          • Movies 1971
          • Movies 1972
          • Movies 1973
          • Movies 1974
          • Movies 1975
          • Movies 1976
          • Movies 1977
          • Movies 1978
          • Movies 1979
        • 1980s Movies
          • Movies 1980
          • Movies 1981
          • Movies 1982
          • Movies 1983
          • Movies 1984
          • Movies 1985
          • Movies 1986
          • Movies 1987
          • Movies 1988
          • Movies 1989
        • 1990s Movies
          • Movies 1990
          • Movies 1991
          • Movies 1992
          • Movies 1993
          • Movies 1994
          • Movies 1995
          • Movies 1996
          • Movies 1997
          • Movies 1998
          • Movies 1999
      • Movies A to K
        • Movies A
        • Movies B
        • Movies C
        • Movies D
        • Movies E
        • Movies F
        • Movies G
        • Movies H
        • Movies I
        • Movies J
        • Movies K
      • Movies L to Z
        • Movies L
        • Movies M
        • Movies N
        • Movies O
        • Movies P
        • Movies Q
        • Movies R
        • Movies S
        • Movies T
        • Movies U
        • Movies V
        • Movies W
        • Movies X
        • Movies Y
        • Movies Z
      • Movies 0 to 9
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Radio
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Music by Decade»1970s Music
    1970s Music 3 Mins Read

    CBGBs

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    The New York club that propelled American rock into the 1970s by launching unsigned and untried bands such as Television, Talking Heads and The Ramones, was started by a classically trained pop singer, called Hilly Kristal, as an outlet for country, bluegrass and blues performers – hence the name – CBGB (Country, Blue Grass, Blues).

    Having managed Greenwich Village’s Village Vanguard club during its innovative 60s jazz/folk heyday, Kristal finally started booking rock bands too, insisting that they should play nothing but their own music.

    cbgb_004

    The resulting explosion of talent spawned two musical hierarchies – Punk and New Wave – and transformed the decade.

    CBGB opened on 10 December 1973 at 315 Bowery, in the East Village area of Manhattan. It had previously been the largest flophouse on the Bowery and, until Kristal had it fumigated, it stank of dirty old men, vomit and urine.

    Fast-forward to 31 March 1974 and Television are making their CBGB debut. By all reports, they were pretty dreadful.

    Hilly Kristal said “No more” but their manager Terry Ork assured Kristal that they were “going to practice really hard”, and in the meantime, he had another band from Queens – called The Ramones.

    cbgb_003Hilly said The Ramones (pictured at left) were even worse than Television – but it cost him nothing to let them play on Sunday’s because he was usually closed on the Sabbath anyway.

    By April 1974 another new band was appearing at CBGB – The Stilettos.

    The group had three girls up front, one of whom was Debbie Harry. She left the group and formed a band called Angel with her boyfriend Chris Stein – A band that would shortly turn into Blondie.

    The landmark venue finally closed its doors forever on 15 October 2006 after Kristal lost a long battle over back rent with his landlord, the Bowery Residents’ Committee, a nonprofit organisation. The city offered Kristal another location on the Lower East Side, but he declined it, saying renovation costs were prohibitive.

    Patti Smith and her group were the last act to play there as part of a last-weekend wake that included shows by The Dictators and an unplugged set from Blondie. Smith played for three-and-a-half hours.

    Hilly Kristal died on 28 August 2007, from complications of lung cancer. He was 75.

    Key Gigs

    cbgbad31 March 1974 – Television (debut)

    28 April 1974 – Television/The Ramones

    5 May 1974 – The Stilettos/Television

    17 January 1975 – Blondie/Television

    14/15 February 1975 – Patti Smith (debut)

    20 March 1975 – Television/Patti Smith

    20 June 1975 – Talking Heads (debut)

    4 July 1975 – Blondie/The Ramones

    16 July – 2 August 1975 – The CBGB Festival of The Top 40 Unrecorded New York Bands, featuring:

    • The Ramones
    • Blondie
    • Television
    • Talking Heads
    • Mink De Ville
    • The Shirts
    • The Heartbreakers

    March 1976 – Wayne County & The Electric Chairs

    4 June 1976 – The album Live at CBGB is recorded over a weekend, featuring:

    • Mink De Ville
    • The Shirts
    • Laughing Dogs
    • Manster
    • Tuff Darts

    25 July 1976 – The Dead Boys (debut)

    30 December 1977 – Bruce Springsteen/Patti Smith

    Related Posts

    • Mink DeVille
      Mink DeVille
      Mink DeVille often seemed to be the odd men out at New York's punk mecca, CBGB's, in the mid-1970s. They headlined…
    • Bette Midler
      Bette Midler
      Bette Midler grew up in Hawaii, where her parents Fred and Ruth had moved in the early 1940s from Paterson,…
    • Mi-Sex
      Mi-Sex
      Mi-Sex were formed in New Zealand as a long-haired hippie pub band known as The Fragments Of Time. They moved to Australia…
    • Punk Rock: Its Day Will Come
      Punk Rock: Its Day Will Come
      If you thought Jefferson Airplane was a weird name, let some of these drop off your tongue. Talking Heads. Tuff…
    • Dictators, The
      Dictators, The
      Like The New York Dolls, The Dictators were punk forerunners. Mixing dumb metal riffs with junk culture lyrics, their influence would…
    • New Wave
      New Wave
      New Wave is often remembered more for skinny ties and silly haircuts than for musical merits. The Police, Elvis Costello, The Cars and Blondie all lent…
    • Patti Smith
      Patti Smith
      Patti Smith, a rock critic and aspiring Bob Dylan-fixated poet from South Jersey (born in Chicago in 1946) only truly found…
    • Scientists, The
      Scientists, The
      In May 1978, following the split of The Victims, James Baker formed The Scientists with singer-guitarist Kim Salmon, who had…

    New Wave Punk
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleButlin’s
    Next Article Chain Letters

    Comments are closed.

    NC Radio Player
    Search the site

    Nostalgia Central has been a labour of love since 1998. The site carries no advertising, and I rely on donations to help with running costs and to keep the site running for your entertainment and education.

    If you find the site informative or enjoyable, please consider a donation – no matter how small. 

    Thank you so much.
    Enjoy your trip in the time machine!

    You may also like

    • Punk Rock: Its Day Will Come
      Punk Rock: Its Day Will Come
      If you thought Jefferson Airplane was a weird name, let some of these drop off your tongue. Talking Heads. Tuff…
    • Diodes, The
      Diodes, The
      When punk first broke in 1976, Canadian band The Diodes (Paul Robinson, John Catto, Ian Mackay, John Hamilton and, later,…
    • New Wave
      New Wave
      New Wave is often remembered more for skinny ties and silly haircuts than for musical merits. The Police, Elvis Costello, The Cars and Blondie all lent…
    • Television
      Television
      The inaugural house band at CBGB's in New York, and contemporaries of Patti Smith and later Blondie, The Ramones and Talking Heads, Television figure large in American punk…


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Copyright © 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central. Run by volunteers. Funded by donations.
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.