The Sounds Of New York City

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The Sounds Of New York City

Punk - Rock - Industrial - New Wave - Gothic and more

Living Our Dreams In The Moment

The musical evolution from the 1980s until today.

New York City's Underworld Rock Live Music Scenes.

Max's Kansas City, CBGB, Cat Club, Pyramid, Limelight, The Bank, Continental Divide, Scrap Bar, L'Amour, Great Gildersleeves, Coney Island High, Danceteria, Don Hill's, The Loft, Lismar Lounge, Lions Den, Mudd Club, Nirvana, Peppermint Lounge, The Ritz, The Bitter End, The Grand, Wetlands, Space at Chase, Tramps, Webster Hall, Spo Dee O Dee, Rockridge Saloon, Brownies, Bond Street Cafe, China Club, February's, The Stone Pony, Raw, The Fast Lane, The Rock Palace, Dock Of The Bay

a labor of love production

by multi-award winning producer/director
Wolfgang Busch

The Sounds Of New York City

Rockumentary, due to its large content, will be releasing a series of documentaries.

Coming soon

Our History - Our Dreams - Our Legacy

THE SUCCESS AND DEVASTATING STORIES ARE BY THE HEADLINING BANDS WHO WERE PROMISED TO BE THE NEXT ROCK STARS BY THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND FANS, DIY INDEPENDENT ARTISTS AND THE MANY PEOPLE BEHIND THE SCENES CHANGED THE MUSICAL LANDSCAPE IN NEW YORK CITY.

Trailer

Once Upon A Time New York City Was A Music Capitol Of The World

It went from a thriving economy & live music scenes with many opportunities, collaborations and D.I.Y.

and a bottle of Heineken at the Limelight was $4 during the 80s

economic crisis and the death of the live music scenes as we knew it. Clubs were forced to close down by city agencies due to rates and fines, real estate developers and greedy Landlords
and a cup of beer is $15 in 2018.

Larry Mitchell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV_JU0H2jsU

please check back for updates

New York New Rock TV archive links from the 1980s and 1990s, including music from original demo cassettes with art work and more than 600 live performances and interviews.

New York New Rock TV, Live & Interviews

https://www.youtube.com/user/NewYorkNewRock

Original Demo Cassettes On Soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/wolfgang-busch-4

Rest in piece F.L.

Wolfgang Busch, New York New Rock TV
best known for his interview with GWAR.

Today We Are

GRAMMY, EMMY, TECH, PLATINUM, GOLD, HUMANITARIAN AWARD WINNERS, SESSION PLAYERS, TEACHERS, PRODUCERS, ENGINEERS, TOURING AND ENTERTAINING THE WORLD.

THE 80s AND 90s MUSIC IS CONSIDERED TODAY SOME OF THE BEST ROCK MUSIC EVER WRITTEN AND PERFORMED AND SO MUCH AMAZING MUSIC IS YET TO BE DISCOVERED.

The Sounds Of New York City

During the 80s and 90s, NYC had a thriving live music economy and a new club was opening up on a regular basis. Some clubs lasted only one night, a few weeks, others a few months like Beowulf, The Grand, Zone dk, Hot Rod, Woody's and the Marquee.

Musicians, bands and music entrepreneurs from around the globe came to New York City to follow their heart and their musical and creative dreams. Some came to New York looking for a challenge, because they plateaued within their local scenes and they felt the need to grow as a musician and to further their careers, others wanted to express themselves and share their art and some wanted to become the next big rock star. It was a time, where some bands made between $500 and $2000 a show and sometimes it didn't matter if they made any money performing live, broke even, made a few bucks or they played for a few drink tickets.

NYC was a cultural melting pot where they can meet, network, record their music and they had the total freedom to express themselves musically, sexually and through fashion. Together as a band they wanted to reach their goals or as an individuals and sometimes they worked together as an artistic collective, just like a real community and family.

During the 80s and 90s, we were going out to clubs and parties 7 days a week and you were always meeting people in the scene who were involved in a cool project or they worked for a record company, magazine, publisher, Public Access TV, DJ's, College or Community Radio or something creative.

Together they created an organic and very flourishing live music scene that was so exciting that you wanted to go out every night to be a part of it.

One of the local musicians that changed the musical landscape for decades in New York City is Phoebe Legere, a multi instrumentalist, performance artist, painter, a classical trained pianist with a four octave vocal range with cult status from the east village who was a runaway at the age of 16, who was living in an abandoned building in the east village. Phoebe didn't become a household name, because it wasn't about becoming a famous rock star and selling out, it was and still is for many musicians like her to work hard to make a living, to follow your dreams and to express themselves through their music, art and live performances.

On the other hand, glam punk rocker Neon Leon from the Jersey Shore for example had to leave New York City to find success and fame in Europe, because he could't find it in this country.

The local heroes and headliners Sunshine Blind, Adam Bomb, Smashed Gladys, Broomhellda, Larry Mitchell and Skin & Bones were treated like rock stars by their fans, promoters, booking agents and club owners and they all deserved to be household names.

Some bands were blessed and signed that first time $250,000 recording contract such as Gods Child. Carboy got booked for those special private record company VIP events but they didn't get the touring support or they got shelved by the record company because the A&R person who signed them to the label was either fired or left the company. A very common reality at the time.

They were the industry’s sweethearts for a "moment" and they actually got to experienced what it is like to be a rock star for a moment when the stretch Limo picked them up and they were given free airline tickets to meet the record company executives’ and music industry icons on the west coast, living the ROCK STAR DREAM.

Their definition of success is to make a living playing music and to write and perform music like it was meant to be. They lived in the moment expressing themselves without borders and filters. They had the artistic freedom without having to compromise how they dressed, what they wanted to do artistically or what their sexual orientation was.

When Tommy Gunn proposed the Wednesday “Glam” night at the Cat Club, he was told that it would never work. But that didn't stop him from trying and he proved to his bosses that they were all wrong. Tommy created one of the most influential and successful hair metal nights in New York City at the Cat Club on 13^th street and Broadway with the help from one of the trend setting bands at the time, Smashed Glady's. Skin & Bones was a "Bands" band that packed and headlined the Cat Club many times. The word was, they were just as good as Guns and Roses. Tommy Gunn’s Wednesday nights provided for bands the opportunity to build their fan base and more than 20 bands got signed to a record label right after they played the Cat Club stage.

When a local band was rising to the top and became a local favorite, they became local celebrities at the Cat Club, Limelight and China Club and the not so clean red carpet was laid out for them. They never paid for admission including their 15 friends, got the drinks and drugs for free and they hang out at the VIP rooms with the superstars.

LIMELIGHT

After the success of the Cat Club since the mid 80s, the Limelight opened up its doors for live music during the late 80s and became one of the most desirable venues for local bands to showcase their talents. Wolfgang Busch's weekly New York New Rock concerts on Friday nights started before the Rock n Roll Church on Sundays and Communion on Tuesdays.

MOBILE VIDEO LINK

Animation- Lorenzo Perez, Music- Man Parrish, Vocals- Phoebe Legere,

Concept Wolfgang Busch for Art From The Heart Films.

During the late 80’s and early 90’s, Limelight had three nights a week of live music on a regular basis and was one of the most popular venues for local acts to perform and to socialize.

The Limelight was a place were you could live your Rock & Roll dreams and fantasies, from having sex and doing drugs in the bathroom and back-rooms and to meet your favorite rock star in the Library VIP room. When a local band was selling out the Limelight, you received the full VIP rock star and red carpet treatment. Competition was tough though.

Adam Bomb called the Limelight his second home, because his wife Claire O’Conner (rest in peace), was the right hand to Limelight’s owner Peter Gatian and is best known for as the "Mother Teresa of Rock n Roll". Adam was talking to Claire and together they convinced Peter to start the rock Sunday night at the Limelight. At first they brought in Tommy Gunn from the Cat Club to run the night, unfortunately Tommy didn't agree with some of the politics at the Limelight and they brought in Pamela Britt and Nicki Camp. Nicki used to design the invitations for Limelight and together with Pamela they started the Rock & Roll Church on Sunday nights, which became one of the best new rock music venue’s of all times during the late 80's for local acts like the biker band Cycle Sluts From Hell, Blitzspeer, Smashed Glady's and Adam Bomb.

During the early 90s, some local bands organized themselves to create a new industrial/goth scene such as Virus 23, Fractured Cylinder and Mosaic Kisses and goth bands Caroline Bokeman from Sunshine Blind, Bryin Dall from Loretta’s Doll, Mark Walsh from The New Creatures, Myke Hideous from Empire Hideous, Lisa Hammer from Requiem In White and the vampire goth band Jerico. This collaboration opened up the opportunity to reach a larger audience, it gave them more exposure and power and they got the recognition they earned and deserved to play at larger clubs. As their momentum and fan base was growing, the Limelight started “Communion” on Tuesday nights, produced by DJ Tony Fletcher and promoter/booking agent Neville Wells during the early 90’s, catering to the Industrial and Goth scene and the “Alternative” music, featuring also the early Techno music. Chumley Twist was a regular DJ and VJ and Darryl Hell did special Industrial DJ appearances.

On Friday nights at the Limelight, Wolfgang Busch, founder of New York New Rock TV was booking mostly up and coming bands to bring them up to the next level and those bands that didn't fit the Sunday Metal or Tuesday Goth/Industrial format like the world music band Crimes Of Passion, synth pop rock artist FL Bangbop & The Blue Wazoo, rock band Gluegun and Cha Cha Fernandez & the Slumlords, glam band Sweet Revenge and some more established artists Phoebe Legere, Larry Mitchell and from England Jon Dunmore.

The Sounds Of New York City

During the mid 80's and early 90's, it gave birth to music organizations such as the Staten Island Rock Coalition co-founder Tom Taaffe, Christian Musicians United founder Sal Baldino, the Rock R&B Committee founded by the Local 802 the Musicians Union and the Women in Music co-founder Anita Daly and the Black Rock Coalition co-founder Vernon Reid, which celebrated its 30th anniversary.

While this grass-root movement flourished during the mid and late 80’s, during the early 90’s, it was happening in the Gay community. Tom McCormick and Michael Mitchell founded GLAMA, the Gay Lesbian American Music Awards. They met at OutMusic, an organization for LGBT singer songwriters which was providing open mics, networking and socializing for the local LGBT musicians. Tom McCormick and Michael Mitchell took grass-root organizing to another level. They put their blood sweat and tears into GLAMA, Gay Lesbian American Music Awards, and they worked with all the mayor, indie labels and artists to honor LGBT artists and their supporters like Ani DeFranco and Bob Mould. Unfortunately they couldn't maintain the GLAMA awards due to lack of support from the industry, financial & cultural institutions, government, advertisers and sponsors.

Within the LGBT local singer songwriting scene, Robert Urban a multi instrumentalist, producer and engineer, recorded many LGBT artists and produced many showcases, including the first Transexual Rock concert. Zecca who had his claim to fame with his band Get Wet in the 70’s was producing and managing Marco from Cha Cha Fernandez and the Slumlords and is the musical director for John Kelly. Michael T became known as a performer and events producer at the legendary Pyramid club in the east village. Members from the LGBT community were very influential in the early punk movement such as Wayne County and Miss Guy, the lead singer for the Toilet Boys. Before the AIDS epidemic in the early 80’s, NYC was also a musical melting pot supporting the collaboration amongst all genders and it played a large role in the overall development of the music scene in NYC. A highlight moment was the SqueezBox party at Don Hill’s on Friday nights, where straight boys dressed in womens clothing wearing make up hanging out with drag queens. It all came to an end when the AIDS epidemic reached its all time high.

The natural progression of the grass-root organizing turned into 501 (c) 3 not for profit organizations and they have become an important infrastructure and cultural vehicle to educate its members, friends, the industry and the community at large. The Black Rock Coalition and Women In Music have been making a difference in musician’s life for over three decades and they continue to grow and flourish.

The mid 80’s and early 90’s also gave birth to many Public Access Music TV shows, because the government provided the community with free Public Access TV programming, including free video production and post production facilities. This started a whole new trend for individuals to become public access tv producers, hosts, directors, camera operators and editors. Let’s not forget the early access to video effects for the producers for the first time during the early 90’s, which gave the music video’s and interviews a psychedelic look and was used and abused way to much in the beginning.

The early TV shows were Louis Perego’s International Music Video, John Culkin’s Citirock, Wolfgang Busch’s New York New Rock TV, Jason Starr’s Rock Underground, Tucci Live, The Jon Hammond Show, Uncle Floyed, U68, Dick Craig’s – Not Just Rock & Roll, Underground Railroad, Videowave, Chumley Twist’s Big Video Dynamite, and Howie Zappa’s Rebel TV. This incredible opportunity was a new level of exposing and promoting many of the local talents on Manhattan TV. Each show was reaching a weekly audience of 250,000 households. It became another outlet for musicians to showcase their talents and to build their fan base. The band Skimax from the Bronx, Adam Bomb and TV producers Howie Zappa and Wolfgang Busch became local public access TV celebrities. Because of the TV exposure, bands were offered contracts like Planet Virtue from Long Island. Public Access TV became a very influential vehicle to promote local bands. It was during the days of MTV where Major record companies pushed their music videos to the public access producers to promote their stars without any financial support and they got free promotion in return of free merchandise.

With all the opportunities NYC had to offer, why haven't we heard of the many bands we are talking about here.

There are many reasons. For example the Goth band Sunshine Blind had everything going for them and everybody said you are going to be the next big star. They had a record, publishing and management deal and a “You Can’t Stop Me“ …. attitude … BUT… as we all know “Shit Happens”… 9/11 happened when they were just about to hit the road to promote the record… After such a set back, Lisa Hammer and the band Sunshine Blind got back up and started all over again and how life can be, and they were ready to hit the road again…. Than the financial crisis happened in 2008…. Hearts were broken, friendships dissolved, the band broke up and the marriage with the guitarist and husband Eric ended in a divorce. This also happened to the band Carboy after MCA records shelved their CD.

Other very common stories why bands didn't become a household name was that the A&R guy who signed the band to the label was fired or moved to another label; the record company was bought out or ran out of money and filed for bankruptcy which meant the Record or CD got shelved, or they loved the band and the music, but they already had a Gun’s and Roses on their roster and they passed on the band Skin & Bones.

A very few musicians became independently successful like Larry Mitchell, Jon Dunmore and Phoebe Legere, some toured with big stars like Alex Alexander, because they either had a good sense of business, worked hard or had natural talents. They say, the only thing I know is how to play music and be creative.

Others got involved in mixing live sound at clubs and became also producers and engineers like Freddie Katz from the band The Gift and Craig Randall from the band Buzzby. Steve Bondy was building the sound system for the Limelight and hired Sonny Waysack to run the sound board. Steve Remote started out doing live recordings at Max’s Kansas City and became a multi Grammy and Tech award winner.

Some are now playing in a cover or tribute band for fun or teach music like Bruce Mack the executive director for 10 years for the Black Rock Coalition and Arty Blaurock from the band Sweet Revenge, Dorian Grey and Needulhead.

Many musicians left New York City, because they couldn't financially support themselves anymore, because they couldn't find work during the end of the 90's. Fred Schreck from Shoot The Doctor and The Ancients band moved to Nashville, Michael Ferentino from the band Dog and Noli Novak from Gluegun moved to Florida, Bryin Dall from Loretta’s Doll moved to Denver, Kraig Tayler and Leo Canneto from the band Virus 23 & Jon Dunmore moved to Los Angeles and Linda Moore and Howie Zappa from Rebel TV to Las Vegas.

Because many musicians can’t make a buck playing original music in NYC anymore, they moved on to play in a cover or tribute band to have fun and make decent money. It is also a lot less stress and pressure than playing in an original band with little or no income.

As the scenes and the music evolved over the past three decades, the New York City live music scenes has evolved for many musicians from only playing original music back in the day to cover music today with very little interest and opportunities to play original music. From playing large venues like Limelight, Cat Club, Danceteris, China Club, The Bank and Batcave it evolved back to what it used to be to much smaller clubs like Berlin and Bowery Electric. Gigs today are more like a one stop concert, where you play in front of your own fans, because the clubs don’t have their own scene anymore like it used to be in the 80s and 90s.

The Sounds Of New York City

The nature of the music industry with all its glamor, glitz and fabulousness was also for many bands and musicians a bitter sweet and devastating experience. While only a very few bands got that $500,000 mayor label investment deal, others experienced exploitation, disrespect, discrimination and their record or CD never saw the day of light and their music ended up on the shelves at the record companies.

During the early and mid 80s, Black and Hispanic rockers were told by club owners, if you want to play my club than you can play R&B or Salsa music, but no rock and roll. On Staten Island, the club owners didn't want original music until they learned that bands packed the clubs like funk/rock band Bam Bam. As a result of it Tom Taaffe from Bam Bam co-founded the Staten Island Rock Coalition and they changed the live music scene on Staten Island into a thriving economy, where bands were playing original music and got paid.

In a man's dominated entertainment industry environment, the stereotypes against female musicians during the mid 80s was that they don’t know how to play an instrument and how to carry a tune. If they didn't sing in the perfect pitch such as Sally from the band Smashed Gladys, they had to do a retake, while it was more acceptable for the male singer to get away with it.

Having to face those realities in New York City, there was a strong need for a grass-root musician’s movement to address stereotypes and exploitation and there was a need to create a space and place where they could educate themselves about the music business in a safe and supportive environment. It became imperative for them to learn how to survive and exist within the corporate music industry structure, which corrupted unfortunately the entire music community. They corrupted the music industry with their money and exploitative contracts. Unfortunately the music community was a disenfranchised and a very vulnerable community which allowed the corporate music industry to come into their community and they gave them the power to decide who is going to be the next rock star and what is going to be the next music trend without following any natural and organic progressions. For the music community to allow this to happen came with a price that still affects us today. As a result of it, it became a self-destructive community, which is under funded and an under-served community to this day.

With the billions of Tax dollars collected, literally nothing was invested back into the live music community which resulted into the death of the live music scene as we know it.

The Sounds Of New York City

Everybody contributing and appearing in the rockumentary feels very passionate and supportive about this project. They are looking forward to give back to the community what was once taught to them and they are ready to pass on the Rock ‘n Roll torch to the next generation.

This labor of love production is produced by humanitarian award winning director and executive producer Wolfgang Busch, founder of New York New Rock TV and Art From The Heart Films. Wolfgang was inducted in 2015 into the LGBT Hall of Fame for his contributions to the LGBT music community and his company Art From The Heart was inducted into the 2018 Queens Hall Of Fame for his contributions to the Harlem House Ball community for lecturing at the most prestigious universities and community based organizations across the country about Artistic Empowerment and HIV Awareness.

The purpose of this project is to record our oral and performance history and build an archive of the people who created and were part of the New York City underground live music scene during the 80's and 90s. They experienced the music evolution first hand and are sharing their stories and highlight moments about a time and place in music history, that will never happen again in this shape or form as we knew it.

The Sounds Of New York City

Forever In Our Hearts

is dedicated to
R.I.P.

Hilly Kristal from CBGB's, Don Hill, Steve Mach from Skin n Bones, Drew Bernstein, Joey & Dee Dee Ramone, Dean Johnson, Claire O'Conner from Limelight, Klaus Nomi, Genghis, Jamey Heath, Johnny Thunder, Bobby Chouinard,Jack Pavlik from East Coast Rocker & Sweet Convulsions, Stiv Bators, Arthur Kane, Linda Lust, DJ Reese,Marco aka Cha Cha Fernandez & The Slumlords, F.L. Lombardo, Theri Kennedy from Sanctuary

Hilly Kristal from CBGB's

Don Hill

Claire O'Conner, music by Adam Bomb
Mobile Video Link

GENGHIS

Rest In Piece Brothers and Sisters
Please submit the names of the loved ones we lost along the way.
They will always be remembered.

About the Director:

Wolfgang Busch was at the center of that history since 1985. He started out as a grass-root organizer, seminar and showcase producer at the largest Musician’s Union in the United States, the Local 802, which was funding the Rock R&B Committee with a membership of 1200 musicians. For 15 years, Wolfgang contributed to the NYC live music scene as a night club promoter, host and booking agent for the legendary Limelight, Palladium, Danceteria and China Club. He is a community activist and the founder, producer & director of New York New Rock TV, producing over 300 television shows for Manhattan Neighborhood Network, featuring interviews and performances by Nina Hagen, Gwar, Hilly Kristal (CBGB), Phoebe Legere, Don Hill, Larry Mitchell, Darryl Hell, the Black Rock Coalition, Women in Music and many others.

His video archive of local bands includes about 700 bands performing live at various clubs in Manhattan, original demo cassettes with art work, CD's, records, band T-shirts, band photo’s, gig flyer's, fanzines and newsletters are a treasure trove of historical records from that era.

Wolfgang Busch has previously produced documentary films on New York City and San Francisco nightlife culture, dance culture and gay rights, including How Do I Look (2006) about the Harlem Ballroom community, which received best documentary and two humanitarian awards; A True Lesson in Humanity (2007) about people with disabilities in the performing arts and Flow Affair (2011) about the flagging and fanning LGBT flow arts community. He received 40 awards, certificates and honors, including the "Keeping The Dream Alive" Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award for "How Do I Look" for his community activism. His company, Art From The Heart Films, received Best LGBT Company in 2015 for making a difference in the community. Mr. Busch is published in the “Award Winning Men” book and was inducted into the LGBT Hall of Fame. Today he is one of the most honored and recognized individual in the LGBT community for his dedication and achievements.

Please Support the Artists

Click on the link and make a donation.

Donors

Charles Gilmore, Noli Novak, Mark Walsh, Melissa Mermaid,
Juan A. Fonseca, Michelle & Dorothy Burrus, Kayhan Irani,

Art By Davey, Art From The Heart Films, PASS Grant

Darryl Hell, administration, producer, video production and consultant

Tom Taaffe, administration, producer, consultant

Jordyn Thiessen, administration and consultant

Richard Jannaccio, administration, consultant

Man Parrish, composing and mixing the audio track to the Limelight animation

Phoebe Legere, vocals on the Limelight animation and Mick Oakleaf for audio engineering

Jon Dunmore, Keep The Dream Alive song, composing, vocals, producing and recording

Jerico DeAngelo, Keep The Dream Alive song, lyrics

Eric Scealf, The Unsatisfied segment producer

Lenny Mitchel, consultant, Planet Virtue segment producer

Freddie Katz, producer and host of the “Rock Clubs Walking Tour”, consultant

Richard Dieguez, Legal
Gaye Carleton, publicity

3D Animations,

Lorenzo Perez, Danijel Radenkovic, Rudhie Kurniawan, Chandon Roy, Kunal Sharma

on-line promotion

Sal Sirchia, Mark Walsh, Fernando Carpaneda, Alina Oswald, Kevin Omni Burrus, Thom Jack, Noli Novak, Richard Jannaccio, Melissa Mermaid, John Demarco, Father JuneBug Ultra-Omni, Maria Esteves.

special thanks

Jerry Adams, Ming Tan, New York New Rock, S6K, Carpazine Underground Art Magazine, Darryl Hell, Tom Taaffe

The Sounds Of New York City

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