Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Bye Hilly. I just wanted to take this opportunity to mark the passing of Hilly Kristal: the owner and operator of the legendary punk rock incubator known as CBGB's who died Tuesday. The Ramones. The Talking Heads. Patti Smith. Blondie. Television. We all know the litany of punk and rock legends that sprang to glory on the dank and spit-covered stage of that glorious New York dive CBGB's (and if you don't. . .what the hell's wrong with you?!?). And Hilly was the wacky Svengali that provided an outlet for this strange, iconoclastic punk rock fuck you to bloated 70's rock and roll royalty which had turned contemporary music into such things as Emerson, Lake & Palmer or Yes. Little did Hilly or any of the punks realize how big a contribution they would make. And now he's gone; probably fittingly less than a year after CBGB's itself closed it's doors forever. So wherever you are, spit a nice gob on the floor in memory of Hilly Kristal and CBGB's. Come on, you know you want to.

2 comments:

Pax Romano said...

Sigh ... I spent a few night at CBGB's back in the 70's and early 80's.

Smoked an illegal substance with Iggy Pop outside of that building...really!

RIP Hilly!

Cerpts said...

I remember (and love) that story about you and James. It's such a shame that CBGB's is gone forever. Although I guess the "real" CBGB's has been gone for years.