The Life and Death of CBGB's

On October 15th after 33 challenging years, New York City's rock haven CBGB's has shut its doors, apparently for good. CBGB's was a legendary music club/bar located at 315 Bowery and Bleeker on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was made both famous and infamous by the artists that began careers there and rose to stardom. The Ramones, Televison, Blondie and the Talking Heads, among numerous great bands, all contributed to the legend that became CBGB's. The full name of the club CBGB and OMFUG, "Country Bluegrass Blues" and "Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers." (Gormandizer by definition, means a greedy voracious eater...in this case, a eater of music.)

CBGB's was founded and opened in December 1973 by Hilly Kristal. His intentions were to create a club for country bluegrass music. Little did he know at the time that his club was to become the fertile birthplace of American punk rock music.

It is always difficult for musicians to break into the market, and in New York during 1970's was no exception. Many clubs would not allow bands without signed record deals to play, therefore gigs and media attention were hard to come by. Hilly Kristal broke the trend by allowing these unsigned bands to play his club.

In 1974 a band called Televison, which served as the punk rock barrier breaker, took the Sunday night weekly spot. After Television's breakthrough, CBGB's became known as the hot spot in the country for punk bands, especially The Ramones. Television and The Ramones became two of the most important punk bands of the 70's.

Quickly following their success a wave of musicians landed at CBGB's and it was off and running as the epicenter of NYC's musical stomping grounds. Bands such as The Talking Heads, Blondie, and The Fleshtones all got their big break at CBGB's. And not only did the club become home to local bands (the Ramones came from Queens), playing CBGB's became a highly desired "must" gig for bands touring in the NYC area. Famous musicians who played at CBGB's include, among others, AC/DC, The Beastie Boys, Elvis Costello, The Dave Matthews Band, Disturbed, Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls, Guns N' Roses and Korn.