The Sounds Of New York City

The Sounds Of New York City

(work title)

Rockumentary Series Summary

The Rise & Fall of New York City's Rock Live Music Scene in the 1980s & 1990s.

During the 80s and 90s, New York City had a very diverse, inclusive and vibrant underground rock live music scene that attracted musicians, bands, music professionals, entrepreneurs and fans from all walks of life and from around the world. It was a time of opportunity and creativity, inspired by the explosion of independent record companies, Bands, Clubs, DIY and the annual New Music Seminar. Unfortunately the scenes started to disappear during the mid 90s as we know it, because of corruption and external factors.

The city was a melting pot of musicians and people from the industry, where they could socialize, network, and collaborate with like minded from different backgrounds and sexual orientation. This led to a diverse and exciting musical landscape, where experimentation was flourishing, musical & social boundaries were pushed, where musicians could express themselves freely and the fans could experience a wide variety of musical styles and genres seven days a week.

Despite the vibrant economy and the opportunities available, New York City's rock live music scene during the 1980s and 1990s also faced challenges that had a devastating impact on the musicians and the scene. Musicians struggled to make a living from their music, as many clubs were short-lived and record companies used their music as a tax write-off. The consumption and easy access of drugs, while contributing to creativity and freedom of expression, also had negative consequences on the musicians and the culture.

The mid-1990s marked the beginning of the end for the rock live music scene in New York City. Gentrification, greedy landlords and real estate development caused many small club owners and managers to close their doors forever. The NYC mayors' office was targeting small clubs, which imposed unjustified and outrageous violation fees. The Limelight's closing was the final nail in the coffin, and the closing of clubs snowballed from there.

The legacy of the New York City rock scene continues to live on through the memories and music of those who participated in it. Wolfgang Busch's rockumentary series, produced by Art From The Heart Films, serves as an authentic archive of oral and performance history that documents the significance of this scene in the cultural and social context of its time.

The preservation of this history is not only important for future generations, but it also provides a platform for academic research, analysis, and discussion of the evolution of music and its impact on society.

The audience will be inspired and engaged with compelling stories from industry insiders, new music and entertaining videos. They learn about the evolution of the punk and new wave music scenes in New York City during the 1980s and 1990s, where its impact on the music industry is often overlooked by mainstream media. The audience will also gain insight into the lives of local musicians, club owners, and scenesters, and how they contributed to the thriving underground economy.

For participants, this Rockumentary series also serves as an investment for the future. By re-connecting musicians, fans & industry professionals, it reminds us of the importance of supporting the preservation of music history and culture, to inspire future generations of musicians and music enthusiasts.

The rise and fall of New York City's rock live music scene during the 1980s and 1990s was a dynamic period in music history that had left a profound impact on the music industry and the cultural landscape of New York City.

produced by

presents

Punk - Rock - Heavy Metal - Industrial - New Wave - Gothic

WHY DO WE NEED THOSE ROCKUMENTARY EPISODES ?

To preserve the New York City musical evolution of that time, its history & culture for academic purpose.

Who were the headliners after
the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, Jane County & Talking Heads
and who was going to be the next Rock Star of the new era ?

Who was the next generation of booking agents and visionaries after Hilly Kristal, Peter Crowley, Don Hill, John Argento, Stephen Trimboli, Jim Fouratt and Rudolph at the Cat Club, Limelight, Danceteria, China Club and all the new clubs popping up all over the village ?

What new bands were the Record Companies darlings who were promised to be the next "big thing", but their CD got shelved and their music is yet to be discovered ?

The stories are told by the bands and the industry people behind the scene who were living their dreams and living in the moment to entertain you, because it was and still is in their DNA ?

The Sounds Of New York City

by multi-award winning producer and director

Wolfgang Busch

Coming soon

The Sounds Of New York City

Our History - Our Dreams - Our Legacy

Some of the Clubs during the 80s and 90s.

CBGB, Max's Kansas City, Cat Club, Pyramid, Limelight, The Bank, Continental Divide, Scrap Bar, L'Amour, Great Gildersleeves, Coney Island High, Rocketeria, Don Hill's, The Loft, Lismar Lounge, Lions Den, Mudd Club, Nirvana, Peppermint Lounge, The Ritz, Woody's, Hurrah, The Bitter End, Kenny's Castaways, The Grand, Wetlands, Space at Chase, Tramps, Webster Hall, Spo Dee O Dee, Rockridge Saloon, 6 Bond Street Cafe, Brownies, Tilt, The Spiral, Street Level, China Club, February's, The Stone Pony, Raw, The Fast Lane, The Rock Palace, Dock Of The Bay, Cafe Wah, New Music Cafe, Hot Rod, Sanctuary, Aldo's, Arlenes Grocery, Downtime, Irving Plaza, Iguana, fez, Marquee, Le Bar Bat, LoneStar, Raw, Redspot, Mercury Launch, Continental Divide, The Ritz, The Rock Palace, The Fast Lane, Tramps, Zone dk, The Bottom Line, Wetlands, Knitting Factory, and the list goes on and on ...

... today we can count the clubs on one hand.

They changed the musical landscape in NYC.

Larry Mitchell

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.

That was 30+ years ago

Today We Received

GRAMMY, EMMY, TECH, PLATINUM & GOLD Records and HUMANITARIAN AWARDS

and are

SESSION PLAYERS, TEACHERS, LECTURERS, PRODUCERS, ENGINEERS AND WE ARE STILL TOURING & ENTERTAINING WORLDWIDE.

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 and it became hard to keep up with them at some point. Some clubs were short lived and lasted only one night, a few weeks, or a few months like Beowulf, The Grand, Zone dk, Hot Rod, Woody's and the Marquee.

At the time, NYC offered great opportunities through the New Music Seminar and the explosion of independent record companies. 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 in New York City. Others wanted to express themselves by sharing 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 at all and they played for a few drink tickets and a good time.

NYC was an international cultural melting pot for musicians where they socialized, networked, recorded their music to be heard and to be seen. It was a time, where drugs were easy to access and they had total freedom to express themselves musically, sexually and in fashion. Some worked collectively and lived together in a one bedroom apartment, just like a real family.

It was a time were we could party and see bands 7 days a week, and meet scenesters and people from the industry working on cool projects. If they weren't a musician, they worked for a record or publishing company, booking agent, magazine, management, Public Access TV, DJ on College or Community Radio or something else creative.

Together they connected the dots and created an organic and very flourishing live music scene that was so exciting, that you wanted to go out every night, dressed in all black, to be a part of it.

The Musicians

One of the local influential musicians that changed the musical landscape for decades in New York City is Phoebe Legere, a multi instrumentalist, performance artist, painter, play write, a classical trained pianist with a four octave vocal range with cult status living in the east village. Phoebe was a runaway from a religious family at the age of 16, who was living in an abandoned and later a converted building in the east village where she still lives today. Phoebe didn't become a household name, because for her it wasn't about becoming a famous rock star and selling out. It was and still is for many musicians to work hard to make a living and to express themselves through their music, art and live performances and without the corporate manipulation and exploitation.

On the other hand, glam punk rocker Neon Leon from the Jersey Shore for example left New York City to find success and fame in Sweden and became a German citizen, because he couldn't find success here.

The local influencers and headliners Sunshine Blind, Smashed Gladys, Broomhellda, Larry Mitchell, Gluegun and Skin & Bones were treated like rock stars by their fans and they did walk that dirty red carpet at the clubs, and together with the promoters, booking agents and club owners, they all deserved to become household names and make a living doing music.

By allowing the corporations in form of record companies to come into our music community and allow them to regulate and manipulate the community, those bands never stood a chance.

A very few bands were blessed and signed that first time $250,000 recording contract such as Gods Child. They were one of the industry’s sweethearts for a "moment" and they actually got to experience what it is like to be rock stars, when the stretch Limo picked them up in the village and they were given free airline tickets to meet the record company executives’ and a music industry icon on the west coast. Even though they were living the ROCK STAR DREAM for a moment, its a memory that lasts for a live time.

Another record company sweetheart was Carboy. They got booked for those special private record company VIP events. Unfortunately they didn't get the touring support and their CD got shelved by the record company, because the A&R person who signed them to the label left the company and the new guy had different ideas.

Getting shelved by the record company was a very common reality at the time. It is extremely unfortunate for those bands that got so close to making it. The CD was produced an paid for by the label and they can not even use their own music commercially anymore.

Musicians definition of success is to make a living playing music and to write and perform music like it was meant to be, to express themselves without borders and filters. They had the artistic freedom without having to compromise how they dressed, what they wanted to do and say artistically or what their sexual orientation was. It became this one big artistic family where only your limitation was your imagination; until the AIDS crisis hit the scenes very hard in the 80s.

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 at the Cat Club on 13^th street and Broadway in New York City with the help from one of the ground-breaking bands at the time, Smashed Glady's. Another Cat Club favorite band was Skin & Bones, they were a "Bands" band that packed and headlined the Cat Club many times with many musicians in the audience. The word was, they were just as good as Guns and Roses. Tommy Gunn’s Wednesday nights helped bands to build their fan base and recognition and as a result, more than 20 bands got signed to a record label right after they played the Cat Club.

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 L'Amour's in Brooklyn and the Cat Club in Manhattan during the early and mid 80s, the Limelight on 20th street and 6th avenue opened its doors for live music during the late 80s. Limelight became one of the most desirable venues for local bands to showcase their talents. To be a headliner was a dream come true. After Wolfgang Busch's weekly New York New Rock concert series on Friday nights at the Limelight, shortly after, the Rock n Roll Church on Sundays by Pamela Britt and Nicki Camp and Communion on Tuesdays by Tony Fletcher and Neville Wells got its start.

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 and was one of the most popular venues for local acts to showcase their talents 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, to meeting 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.

Claire O’Conner (rest in peace), was the right hand to Limelight’s owner Peter Gatien and is best known for the "Mother Teresa of Rock n Roll". With L'Amour and the Cat Club being so successful, it was easy to convince Peter to start the Sunday's rock night at the Limelight. At first Tommy Gunn from the Cat Club was to run the night, unfortunately Tommy didn't agree with the Limelight politics 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 local rock live music venue’s and was the peak of the live rock music scene at that time. Local acts like Blitzspeer, Broomhellda and the biker band Cycle Sluts From Hell were regulars amongst so many others. Some of the DJs were Mike Corcione and Seith K.

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 at smaller clubs such as the Pyramid, the Limelight started in February of 1990 the “Communion” party on Tuesday nights, produced by DJ Tony Fletcher and promoter/booking agent Neville Wells. They were catering to the Industrial and Goth scene and also featured early Techno music. It became the most popular New York City “Alternative” music night. Chumley Twist was a regular DJ/VJ, also Jayson 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 rock and pop bands. The purpose was to provide an opportunity for bands to bring them up to the next level. Most of those bands also didn't fit the Sunday Metal or Tuesday Goth/Industrial format like Carboy, synth pop rock artist FL Bangbop & The Blue Wazoo, Gluegun and Cha Cha Fernandez & the Slumlords. Wolfgang also booked some more established artists like Phoebe Legere, Larry Mitchell and from England Jon Dunmore.

The Sounds Of New York City

During the mid 80's, the scene gave birth to music organizations such as the Staten Island Rock Coalition co-founder Tom Taaffe, Christian Musicians United founder Sal Baldino and the Rock R&B Committee founded by the Local 802 the Musicians Union. The Women in Music co-founder Anita Daly and the Black Rock Coalition co-founder Vernon Reid celebrated their 35th anniversary in 2020.

The natural progression of the grass-root organizing resulted into 501 (c) 3 not for profit organizations and they have become an important cultural infrastructure 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 educate.

While those grass-root organizing were already established by the late 80’s, it also reached the Gay community during the early 90’s. Tom McCormick and Michael Mitchell founded GLAMA, the Gay Lesbian American Music Awards. They met at an OutMusic open mics, an organization for LGBT singer songwriters which was providing 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 the Gay Lesbian American Music Awards and they worked with all the mayor and indie labels to honor LGBT artists and their supporters like Ani DeFranco, Bob Mould, Lypsinka, B52's and Kevin Aviance. 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 and was the band leader for glam rock band Killer Lipstick. 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 for the collaboration amongst all genders and it played a large role in the overall creative diverse development of the music scene in NYC. A highlight moment was the SqueezBox punk/drag party at Don Hill’s on Friday nights, where straight boys dressed in women's clothing, wearing make up and they were hanging out with drag queens. It started in 1994 and it all came to an end in 2001, when Don Hill's closed its doors.

Public Access TV

The mid 80’s and early 90’s also gave birth to many Public Access Music TV shows and they contributed a lot to the local music scene by creating public access TV rock celebrities. 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 Culken’s Citirock, Wolfgang Busch’s New York New Rock TV, Billy Bollotino's Rocker Room, Michael Night's Moon Light, Jason Starr’s Rock Underground, Laura Hirschman's 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 wave of exposing and promoting many of the local talents on Manhattan TV, 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 also 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 from public access in return of free merchandise.

First Club Video Live Streaming

During the 90s, Thom Jack's club The Spiral was the first club to broadcast 24/7 live streams produced by Rick Siegel for Online TV.

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 they were ready to hit the road for a second time…. 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, because it was more of the same.

A very few musicians became independently successful like Larry Mitchell, Jon Dunmore, Adam Bomb and Phoebe Legere, others toured with big stars like drummer Alex Alexander and guitarist Jimi Bones, because they either had a good sense of business, worked hard or had natural talents. Alex quote: 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 and Arty Skye who was an early electronic musician, became a studio owner and a multi-platinum and Gold record engineer/producer.

Where are they now?
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, Thom Jack from Jax 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, Vic Hennegan & 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 a living. 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 to cover music with very little interest and opportunities to play original music. From playing large venues like Limelight, Cat Club, Danceteria, China Club, The Bank and Batcave it evolved back to its roots to much smaller clubs and to what it used to be like Berlin, Arlene's Grocery and Bowery Electric.

Gigs today are more like a one stop concert venue, 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 as a financial right-off.

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 playing original music 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. After the word got out, bands from the city played on Staten Island.

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 community with their money and exploitative contracts. Unfortunately the music community was and still is 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 was 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 where royalties from down loads are one thousands of a penny per play.

With the billions of Tax dollars collected from clubs and sales, literally nothing came back into the live music community and together with Mayor Giuliani's & Ed Koch's crack down on the clubs, its natural progression resulted into the death of the live music scene as we know it.

The promoters provided great places and venues for the rock stars to hang out in the VIP sections, got free drinks and drugs if need be, unfortunately none of them came around to help keep the music scene alive or offered any support to anybody to save it.

WE HAD IT COMING !

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, executive producer and Hall of Famer Wolfgang Busch, the 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 music community and received the "Keep The Dream Alive" Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award. 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 the scenes and were part of the New York City underground live music 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.

The Sounds Of New York City

Forever In Our Hearts

R.I.P.

dedicated to

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, Jon Dunmore, Theri Kennedy from Sanctuary

Hilly Kristal, CBGB's

Don Hill

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.

The Dark Side of the New York City Rock Live Music Scene.

The death of the thriving economy and opportunities.

The New York City Rock Live Music Scene refined itself during the 80s and 90s and went from a thriving economy with many opportunities, collaborations and D.I.Y. and a bottle of Heineken at the Limelight was $4,

TO
being targeted by the NYC Mayors Social Task Force.

Gentrification, greedy landlords and real estate developers ran this thriving economy into an economic crisis. The closing of 90% of the clubs was the death of the NYC rock live music scenes and after two decades, it still has not recovered.

Clubs were closing down one by one, because city agencies were rating clubs and handed out $1000 fines like they are nothing.

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 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 where he also was a DJ. 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 from 1990 until 2000, featuring interviews and performances by Nina Hagen, Gwar, Hilly Kristal (CBGB), Phoebe Legere, Don Hill, Larry Mitchell, Darryl Hell, the Black Rock Coalition and Women in Music.

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 historic art films on New York City and San Francisco LGBT 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 in 2018 the "Keeping The Dream Alive" Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award for his underground cult film "How Do I Look" and for his community activism. His company Art From The Heart Films was inducted in the Queens Hall Of Fame for "Best Of Queens" Gay & Lesbian Organization for six years in a row. In 2015 Wolfgang was inducted into the LGBT Hall Of Fame for his contributions to the LGBT music community and his company Art From The Heart Films, received *"Best Of Queens" Gay & Lesbian Organization award*** for making a difference in the LGBT community. Mr. Busch is published in the “Award Winning Men” book by Ed Karvoski, he was selected in the LGBTQ+ Celebrities "List Of Gay Men Throughout History". In his hometown of Heppenheim he was selected in the "List of Personalities Of The City Of Heppenheim" as one of the sons of the city. Wolfgang Busch 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

Ziming Tan, Zohar Farkash, Carey Davis, Sharon Middendorf,

Finley Hunt, Jesus, Joan Rose, John Stavros

and several anonymous donors.

Darryl Hell, administration, producer, editor, 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

Johnny Stockman, The Unsatisfied 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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