CBGB, also CBGB's or CB's is a legendary club in the Manhattan Bowery district of New York City, New York. The full name is CBGB OMFUG which stands for "Country, Bluegrass, and Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers". In the mid 1970s, the club was in decline, as both the Bowery and the folk music revival were fading. Hilly Kristal, manager of the club, allowed the band Television to begin playing late Sunday night shows, eventually expanding to other nights of the week.

Around the same time (1973 and 1974), the Patti Smith Group began performing at various locations, settling in to CBGBs in time. It was at this early juncture that critics began to call the music played there "punk" rock, from the customers who would frequent a Bowery nightclub very late at night. Blondie, The Ramones, Talking Heads, and many other bands followed in quick succession. Malcolm McLaren saw the fashions of Richard Hell (then of Television) and the sound of The Ramones and brought back both ideas for the group he had just begun managing, the Sex Pistols. The club hosted many punk and new wave bands over the years and is regarded as the birthplace and center of punk rock.

Some of the acts that played at CBGB include:

• The Velvet Underground
• Blondie
• Elvis Costello
• Wayne County (later known as Jane County)
• The Heartbreakers
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• Living Colour
• Richard Hell & The Voidoids
• Flipper
• The Police
• The Ramones
• Patti Smith
• Television
• Talking Heads
• Korn
• Pearl Jam
• The Germs

It was recently announced that CBGB will possibly face closure in the near future; its lease expires in August 2005, and talks between the property owner and Kristal have stalled over alleged unpaid rent and safety concerns. [1]

External link

• Official site