Read this excellent NY Times article on the long-lost music scene of Morrisiana while you can.
While you're at it, might as well patronize the Continental soon before it starts catering strictly to the turntablist set this summer. Speaking of lost punk dives, click here for loads of City Gardens memorabilia.
I've had a longtime video lending exchange program going with my dear friends Flipped Out and Sophie. Among the treasures they've loaned me are their DVDs of the Naked City TV series. The movie has long been one of my faves, and while the TV show's stories aren't always as super-engaging as that film's plot, its priceless location shots totally capture the look and feel of early-'60s NYC. Various rock & roll landmarks have even made their way into some shots. An episode entitled "The Fault in Our Stars," featuring Roddy McDowall as a psycho-killer actor, had an extended scene at the Cafe Bizarre, the beatnik (as opposed to beat) hangout/future Velvet Underground gig spot. Another episode, "The Face of the Enemy," had many scenes on Second Avenue, with the Anderson Theater, a neon sign for Club 82, Loew's Commodore, Thau's Restaurant, and Ratner's clearly visible. And a previous episode whose title escapes me included a fight scene outside of Slugger Ann, the bar owned by Jackie Curtis' grandmother. Other buildings crucial to my personal mythology, like the Hunter dorms (my alma mater housing) and Sunnyside Gardens (where my parents had some early dates), have also shown up as background. There are eight million stories...
New material to come soon, I promise...but between estate administration, DJ-ing at CIUT, and constant listening to Gene Pitney records, it hasn't been easy to carve out a spare moment for research.
