I have always heard all good things must come to an end. But this one really hurts. I read today that famed New York club CBGB will officially be closing in October 2006. The club’s lease expired and unable or unwilling to pay the rent increase from $19,000 to $35,000 a month, owner Hilly Kristal was eventually presented with an eviction notice. The music industry rallied around finding a solution to keep CBGB open, but after much hubbub between Hilly and the property owner, it looks like the legendary club will close for good, at least at its original site. Hilly is looking elsewhere in New York to move the club and possibly even opening a CBGB in Las Vegas or a West Coast location.
What do CBGB and the OMFUG underneath the title stand for? CBGB simply stands for “Country Bluegrass Blues.” Yes, CBGB was originally intended to be a country bar. The OMFUG means “Other Music for Uplifting Gormandizers.”
I have never had the fortune of being able to go to CBGB. I have only been to New York once, when I was four, and CBGB is hardly the place for a four year old. But, anyone who is familiar with punk and new wave knows the significance it holds in music history. The lineup of acts that have appeared at CBGB’s reads like a virtual who’s who of punk, new wave, and rock. Names like Iggy Pop, The Ramones, The Misfits, New York Dolls, Bad Brains, Lou Reed, The Damned, Richard Hell & the Voidoids, and Patti Smith define punk in the late 70’s/early 80s. Artists like Blondie, The Clash, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, and the B-52’s went on to greater commercial success as artists. New punk bands like Green Day and Offspring flocked to the birthplace of American punk. Even rock bands such as Guns N’ Roses, Pearl Jam, and Korn have appeared onstage at CBGB.
Even if CBGB opens in a new location, it just won’t be the same, at least in my mind. If those walls of the original club could talk, it would make for one heck of a story.