New York City is home to thousands of musicians and even more listeners. Throughout the years, there have been many different genres of music developed and one of these is Punk Rock. One of the reasons the Punk genre grew popular and went global was because of a music venue in New York City by the name of CBGB & OMFUG. Not only that, it played a major role in advancing Punk music.
In December of 1973, one of, if not the most, famous music venues in the world opened its doors, CBGB & OMFUG. Hilly Kristal, owner of Country Blue Grass and Blues, opened up shop in the Bowery section of New York City to what at the time was a venue for exactly that. During this time these musical styles received tremendous amounts of airtime on radio stations all over America and were being played in every jukebox; it was the trend for a long time. One day Kristal was approached by a group of leather-clad men who were interested in playing at the venue. These hooligans were definitely not about to play banjo and harmonica, but this is where the rest of CBGB’s name comes in, OMFUG or Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers. A gormandizer usually refers to a ravenous eater of food but according to Kristal, here it means “a voracious eater of…music” (CBGB). Kristal booked the show and thought it was absolutely terrible. Many bands from this genre, called Street Rock at the time, saw this place as an opportunity to start playing gigs and the Kristal received many more inquiries from these Street Rockers.
The Ramones, a four-piece from Queens, New York was one of these bands and went on to play over 100 sets at CBGB and even today is considered to be the quintessential Punk band. It was by no accident that The Ramones played at the famous venue because at the time, there were no Rock and Roll venues. If a group wanted to play original Rock and Roll at any other venue, they were out of luck unless they had a record contract. Fully aware of this, Kristal made CBGB’s policy, “I made it policy that the only way to play CBGB was to perform only your own music” (The History of CBGB). He encouraged every band to play their originals, make their statements and do it loud. This is exactly what happened. Bands from all over the country began to play at CBGB and the venue started making some serious cash despite its appearance and location. Fans did not mind stepping over drunks or dodging beggars, they had a place to call their own.
The country was in recession, by now Nixon was impeached, and the Vietnam War had just come to an end leaving young people everywhere with a sense of emptiness. They wanted something to hold on to, something that was their own, and something that they could do to illustrate their emotions during these trying times. At the same time, Disco music was stealing listeners away from Rock and Roll. The bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s stood no match against Disco even with their face-melting solos that went on and on and on. So, Rock music went back to basics and Street Rock became Punk Rock.
After Punk Rock was established and bands along with fans started piling in, it was time for the next step; getting Punk and CBGB & OMFUG noticed by the music industry. Kristal was well aware of the fact that the Newport Folk and Jazz Festival was scheduled to come into town, so he took total advantage of its audience and scheduled his own festival at CBGB the same week. His plan was an absolute success and press from the Newport Festival heard wind of the festival at the Bowery largest club and flocked to see what all there hype was about. This exposure along with the reopening of another Rock and Roll Venue sixteen blocks away, that had been closed due to a change in ownership, sparked the beginning of the Punk Scene in New York. This newly established Scene as well as Boston’s Punk Scene that came about from the help of a venue called The Ratskeller solidified the beginning of a new musical era; the Punk Era.
More and more music industry peoples started to come into CBGB on a regular basis, which ultimately led to The Ramones receiving a record contract and took Punk Rock global. Their first tour was in the United Kingdom, which further spread the Punk Rock scene and style. Much like in America, British teens were angry and wanted a way to get back at the establishment and they began to do so through Punk. However, they took the Punk style and made it a lifestyle. The Punks in Britain started wearing torn jeans, ripped shirts, bullets on their belts, high boots and if that was not enough, they had outrageous hairstyles most commonly the Mohawk. While American Punks had bands to listen to such as The Ramones, the Sex Pistols blew up in Britain and their Punk Scene started growing as well.
Without the help of the late Hilly Kristal and his club CBGB & OMFUG, this world may not have ever seen the success of Punk music. Many people would have absolutely no problem with the absence of these dirty, loud, ripped-jean wearing, Mohawed, ink-ridden Punks, but therein lies the beauty of it all, Punk music was all about doing what you want and not caring what anyone else thought. With that, I leave you with a quote to strengthen my thesis written by Richard Hell of The New York Times, CBGB “housed the most influential cluster of bands ever to grow up or to implicitly reject the concept of growing up under one roof” (CBGB & OMFUG: The Bio).