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This weekend marks the closing of CBGB. I now live a couple of minutes walking distance from the club, but by far my most memorable experience there came years before I moved to New York City. It was 1975 and I was just beginning my life as a writer. I heard Patti Smith read her poetry at the YMHA in Philadelphia (I'd gone because I'd read an article in the Voice about her music) and I wanted to write about her for the Drummer, the "underground" paper I was just getting involved with. Her manager invited me to come to New York. I interviewed her in the Cafe Reggio, and she was a sweetheart, patiently tolerating my clearly not-yet-professional technique. She was with her boyfriend--a guy who called himself Tom Verlaine. That night I saw her play CBGB. Television opened, and that guy Tom Verlaine was quite a singer and guitar player. That was my only exposure to the club in the glory years, but obviously an unforgettable one. So long, CBGBs. See you in...Vegas?
I was in Wilmington, NC earlier this month visiting my sister, and had heard that a guy I knew was staying nearby at a beach house, so I pinged him. He invited me to dinner and one of the other people at the house was Mac McCaughan, of Merge Records/Superchunks/Portastatic. After a great group meal, we chatted (I was interested to hear that in his opinion lower prices on downloads would not really jack up online sales), and on the way home, I had two advance CD's to listen to: the M.Ward release, and Mac's upcoming Portastatic effort, "Be Still Please." I admit to not being previously familiar with Portastatic, but I'm really liking it. It's very welcoming music, with smart lyrics. On one song, his voice reminds me of Kenn Kweder, the great, largely unknown Philly singer-songwriter. I see that there's a show in October at the Mercury Lounge--would be fun to see this stuff live.
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It's always great to find new bands, especially when you get advanced copies of cds. =)
This week in Newsweek I write about places on the Web to discovery new music, including MOG. The link is
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13770598/site/newsweek/
There's also a chart that tells what suggestions of new artists I got when I plugged in names of bands I (as a baby boomer) was familiar with. The tip I got from MOG's person-to--person style was that as a Television lover, I might like The Horror The Horror. Which I did.
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MOG Meter
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Shame to see it go, we dropped in when over there a couple of years ago - just because you knew it wasn't going to last forever.
wow, interviewing patti smith AND tom verlaine then seeing them play live that night at CBGB...i type in awe right now..by the way, do you still have a copy of that interview?
Vegas? I shudder to think.