CBGB, located in what was at the time one of the least desirable parts of New York City, could barely aspire to divedom. It was a sleazy, tiny and filthy bar in a city that was spiraling down the toilet. In spite of all that, it became the center of a music scene that defied expectations as well as explanation. If you think CBGB was nothing more than the Ramones and their ilk, or that the bands who performed there in its heyday were talentless, three chord guitar bands who somehow made it out of dad’s garage for the day, CBGB & OMFUG A New York City Soundtrack 1975 – 1986 will blow your mind while disabusing you of any such notions.
As detailed in the excellent liner notes, within a span of fifteen months, the likes of Television, Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith and Talking Heads all made their debut at the club. Even then, the range and depth of artistic vision was astounding. Over the ensuing decade, CBGB was host to rock, jazz, hardcore, punk, synthpop and power pop. Some bands got major label deals and conquered the world, others self-released a single that went nowhere. What they all had in common was a fearlessness that was necessary to survive in the sewer that NYC had become, an attitude that was reflected in a scene that refused to be categorized or pigeonholed but was more often than not tough as nails. The people themselves were equally diverse. Men and women, gay and straight and trans, black and white and Asian, outcasts and upstarts. All were not just present, but welcomed with open arms by club owner Hilly Krystal.
Over the span of four discs, CBGB & OMFUG A New York City Soundtrack 1975 – 1986 presents in roughly chronological order one hundred and two bands who helped define the era. The Dictators’ surf rock homage, (I Live For) Cars And Girls opens the set with a blast of rocking good fun. Patti Smith’s Free Money is warts-and-all brilliance that lays the groundwork for her status as an icon. Sexual proclivities, from the vanilla to the extreme, were the subject of songs like the Harlots Of 42nd Street’s punkish S&M (I Can’t Live Without You), the Brats’ gender confusion rave-up, Be A Man, and Cherry Vanilla’s Hard As A Rock. Sixties influences coloured the likes of The Hounds’ Call Me, The Planets’ Come On Up and Milk ‘N’ Cookies effervescent Not Enough Girls (In The World). A band I always admired for living on the outer fringes of prog was Television. Intricate twin guitar workouts and expansive songs were a hallmark, but here the band is represented by a shorter (but no less enjoyable) tune, See No Evil. Plenty of angry young men graced the stage of CBGB, as evidenced by the likes of The Senders’ truth-be-told You Really Piss Me Off and The Electric Chairs’ scabrous F*ck Off. Disc one ends with the Talking Heads recorded live at the venue performing the funky A Clean Break (Let’s Work).
Experimental synth duo Suicide kick off the second disc with the hypnotic but monotonous Ghost Rider. Even guitar bands jumped on the experimental noise band wagon as evidenced by groups like Mars (Helen Forsdale), Theoretical Girls (Lovin’ In The Red) and James Chance & The Contortions (a barely recognizable live from CBGB cover of Jailhouse Rock). Pop bands had their share of the scene as well. The Paley Brothers’ Baby, Let’s Stick Together is all California sunshine. Peroxide sings about how it’s time for old people to just go on the amusing Heart Disease, and Richard Lloyd (ex-Television) spices up the pop tune Number Nine with guitar heroics worthy of his old band. Not to be outdone, Lloyd’s onetime bandmate Tom Verlaine shows what one can accomplish with six strings and songwriting chops that owe much to prog during his glorious extended solo on Breakin’ In My Heart. Speaking of prog, Material’s O.A.O. layers proggy synths, funky bass and cool guitar melodies in one of the more sophisticated songs in this compilation. However, the award for high-brow cool goes to Mink DeVille’s “A” Train Lady, a romantic throwback tune full of beautifully subtle instrumentation and silky vocals. However, no band was more retro than female vocal group The Stillettos (from which Debbie Harry sprang), who took their cue from the Andrews Sisters on Pink Stillettos.
Clever put-downs are never out of fashion. Two of the better ones are represented here by The Dots’ high energy slag off I Don’t Wanna Dance (With You) (sample lyric: You make me wanna read a book) and the dB’s jangly power pop Black And White. Punk’s rawness and aggression continued to attract listeners, with The Rattlers adding pop sheen for On The Beach and The Colors going the opposite direction for a hardcore Jealousy. Still, as the eighties dawned, more and more bands were not shy about exposing their pop roots. Sylvain Sylvain (ex-NY Dolls) was unabashedly tuneful on Teenage News. The Outsets’ I’m Searchin’ For You contains enough hooks for a day out fishing, and the Bongos showed how to have an edgy good time with a Telephoto Lens. Sorrows delivered one of the catchiest tunes of this compilation in Teenage Heartbreak. Jazz influences also crept into the scene. Model Citizens used marimba to delightful effect on Shift The Blame, but the Lounge Lizards embraced the genre with their fabulous instrumental Do The Wrong Thing. Dance music also popped up in the form of The Cosmopolitans’ goofy Wild Moose Party and Polyrock’s cooly minimalist Your Dragging Feet. Prog also continued to subtly (or not) influence artists such as Love Of Life Orchestra (The Revolution Is Personal) and Phosphenes (the Red era Crimson influenced Asexual).
As the eighties progressed, the chances for using the club as a springboard for international stardom diminished. The Beastie Boys (Egg Raid On Mojo) were an exception, but only after they switched from their hardcore sound to rap. The guitarist from Vatican Commandos (Housewives On Valium) went solo as Moby to achieve his fame. One of the more interesting should-have-beens was guitarist James Blood Ulmer, whose Open House was a brilliant synthesis of jazz, rock and funk. The Individuals leveraged bottomless bass, harmonized choruses and excellent production values on My Three Sons (Revolve Around The Earth). The Necessaries (Back To You) brought a level of new wave sophistication tinged with reggae. Rhys Chatham leaned on his classical and experimental backgrounds for Drastic Classicism, one of the most interesting pieces from a compositional perspective, as it uses four guitars with dissonant tunings playing a single chord, which somehow is much better than it sounds. Nona Hendryx (LaBelle) delivers one of the best songs on the compilation with a slice of electro funk; her Transformation would not have been out of place on a Tom Tom Club record. Old school punk and hardcore continued to rear their dirty, raunchy heads as the time period covered by this compilation wound down, but none would achieve more than minor recognition with the exception of Sonic Youth (The World Looks Red). Closing out the set, however, was one more surprise. The Ordinaires stealthily combined violin, sax, cello and talent to spare for a very prog-influenced instrumental, Grace.
Compiled and annotated by musician and writer Rob Tannenbaum, the liner notes and song choices are exceptional, full of fun facts and quotes from the artists. Sprinkled with songs both previously unreleased and unreleased on CD, there is a treasure trove of material here to surprise, delight, anger and intrigue the listener. This is a compilation that will reward casual observers of this era in music history as well as those who grew up listening to the music. One of my favourite Cherry Red collections to date.
TRACK LISTING
Disc One
01. The Dictators – (I Live For) Cars And Girls (3:58)
02. The Harlots of 42nd Street – S&M (I Can’t Live Without You) (3:52)
03. The Magic Tramps – S&M Leather Queen (4:39)
04. Patti Smith – Free Money (3:49)
05. The Brats – Be A Man (2:51)
06. City Lights – Travelin’ Man (3:51)
07. The Hounds – Call Me (03:13)
08. Erasers – It Was So Funny (That Song That They Sung) (3:38)
09. Ramones – Beat On The Brat (2:32)
10. Stuart’s Hammer – Everybody’s Depraved (Live at CBGB) (3:21)
11. The Planets – Come On Up (3:03)
12. Milk ‘N’ Cookies – Not Enough Girls (In The World) (3:32)
13. Just Water – They Live By Night (4:33)
14. Television – See No Evil (3:51)
15. Mumps – Crocodile Tears (2:08)
16. The Heartbreakers – Born To Lose (3:04)
17. Testors –You Don’t Break My Heart (2:41)
18. The Dead Boys – Ain’t Nothing To Do (2:25)
19. The Senders – You Really Piss Me Off (2:38)
20. The Electric Chairs – Fuck Off (3:06)
21. The Marbles – Forgive And Forget (2:49)
22. Cherry Vanilla – Hard As A Rock (2:32)
23. Tuff Darts – Fun City (2:55)
24. Talking Heads – A Clean Break (Let’s Work) (Live At CBGB’s) (4:54)
Time: 79:55
Disc Two
01. Suicide – Ghost Rider (2:33)
02. Pure Hell – I Feel Bad (2:31)
03. Helen Wheels – Room To Rage (3:55)
04. Blondie – Picture This (2:57)
05. Mars – Helen Forsdale (2:30)
06. Come On – Don’t Walk On The Kitchen Floor (2:15)
07. Mink DeVille – “A” Train Lady (3:23)
08. The Heat – Instant Love (3:34)
09. Genya Ravan – Aye Co’lorado (3:00)
10. Theoretical Girls – Lovin’ In The Red (2:17)
11. Richard Hell & The Voidoids – The Kid With The Replaceable Head (2:20)
12. The Stillettos – Pink Stillettos (2:09)
13. The Paley Brothers – Baby, Let’s Stick Together (2:57)
14. Neon Leon – Rock ‘N’ Roll Is Alive (2:52)
15. Revelons – The Way (You Touch My Hand) (3:06)
16. New York Ni**ers – Just Like Dresden ‘45 (3:19)
17. L.O.K. – Fun House (3:03)
18. Material – O.A.O. (4:47)
19. The Laughing Dogs – I Need A Million (3:10)
20. Shrapnel – Combat Love (2:17)
21. Peroxide – Heart Disease (2:25)
22. Student Teachers – Christmas Weather (2:48)
23. Tom Verlaine – Breakin’ In My Heart (6:08)
24. Richard Lloyd – Number Nine (2:53)
25. James Chance & The Contortions – Jailhouse Rock (Live At CBGB 1978) (3:22)
Time: 76:31
Disc Three
01. The Cramps – Garbage Man (3:36)
02. The Dots – I Don’t Wanna Dance (With You) (1:44)
03. The Miamis – We Deliver (2:04)
04. Model Citizens – Shift The Blame (1:46)
05. The dB’s – Black And White (3:08)
06. The Rattlers – On The Beach (03:01)
07. Love Of Life Orchestra – The revolution Is Personal (5:05)
08. Urban Verbs – Next Question (5:47)
09. Sylvain Sylvain – Teenage News (3:10)
10. Stimulators – Loud Fast Rules (3:08)
11. Tot Rocket And The Twins – Reduced (2:42)
12. The Bongos – Telephoto Lens (2:04)
13. Outsets – I’m Searchin’ For You (2:46)
14. Sorrows – Teenage Heartbreak (2:40)
15. The Lounge Lizards – Do The Wrong Thing (2:40)
16. Nervus Rex – There She Goes (2:46)
17. The Cosmopolitans – Wild Moose Part (2:10)
18. Polyrock – your Dragging Feet (5:00)
19. Lenny Kaye With The Lone Wolves – Child Bride (3:20)
20. R.L. Crutchfield’s Dark Day – Arp’s Carpet (3:09)
21. The Colors – Jealousy (2:54)
22. TV Toy – (Don’t Blame It On The) Weekend (2:48)
23. DNA – Blonde Red Head (1:51)
24. The Rudies – Sherri Goodbye (2:52)
25. The Raybeats – Tight Turn (3:55)
26. Phosphenes – Asexual (3:01)
27. Minor Threat – Straight Edge (0:47)
Time: 79:54
Disc Four
01. Bush Tetras – Things That Go Boom In the Night (4:25)
02. Human Switchboard – (Say No To) Saturday’s Girl (3:50)
03. Disturbed Furniture – Information (3:09)
04. The Necessaries – Back To You (4:05)
05. Chemicals Made From Dirt – Oriental Television (2:07)
06. China Shop – If It’s New (4:07)
07. James Blood Ulmer – Open House (5:20)
08. Nihilistics – You’re To Blame (1:06)
09. Beastie Boys – Egg Raid On Mojo (1:21)
10. The Individuals – My Three Sons (Revolve Around The Earth) (3:20)
11. Rhys Chatam – Drastic Classicism (Edit) (3:47)
12. Unknown Gender – Boys-Girls (Radio) (2:50)
13. Khmer Rouge – Hinterland (3:51)
14. Bad Brains – Banned In D.C. (2:09)
15. Heart Attack – English Cunts (1:21)
16. Outpatients – Fight (2:13)
17. Vatican Commandos – Housewives On Valium (1:37)
18. Sonic Youth – The World Looks Red (2:41)
19. Jeff & Jane Hudson – Operating Instruction (4:38)
20. Glorious Strangers – Deception (3:20)
21. Non Hendryx – Transformation (5:31)
22. Reagan Youth – No Class (1:35)
23. Rat At Rat R – Assassin (3:55)
24. Ritual Tension – Social Climber (3:05)
25. The Ordinaires – Grace (4:30)
Time 79:43
MUSICIANS
Way too many to list – if at all possible 🙂
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Cherry Red Records
Country of Origin: US
Date of Release: 30th January 2026
LINKS
Various Artists – Compilation info at Cherry Red Records
