Heartbreakers 'L.A.M.F. - The FOUND '77 Masters' for RSD21

 You're welcome!!!

Johnny Thunders’ Guitars:

Johnny achieved his unmistakable tone from playing vintage guitars very loud and clean.

The natural speaker distortion of an overdriven amplifier and his R 'n' R attitude provided more than enough beef. On top of other addictions Mr. Genzale will always be known as a late 50's Gibson Les Paul T.V. junkie, not to be confused with the more common Les Paul junior of the same period. From the middle days of the New York Dolls to the final gigs before his untimely death in 1991, it is believed that he played just two main Les Paul T.V.s.  

His first Les Paul T.V. which he first acquired while playing in the New York Dolls was stolen in late 1979 early 1980 while he was touring with Gang War. Another one was purchased towards the end of 1980 in New York to replace his original. The "T.V." denoted the color of the guitar (a beautiful honey yellow) which was assumed to show up better on black and white television sets. Both guitars were the double cutaway versions which means they were produced between mid 1958 and 1960.

It is my opinion that these guitars were 1958's due to the more squared off horns on each cutaway (the later 59's and 60's horns were a bit smaller and more rounded). The production totals of the Les Paul T.V. were 429 in 1958, 543 in 1959, and 419 in 1960. Gibson electric guitar aficionados will classify these years as the golden years of guitar making. These are now considered rare and collectible guitars. On top of it all, Johnny's guitars had the rarer tortoise shell pick-guard instead of the more common black pick-guard. His only modification he did to the guitar was to put on modern Grover tuners (good idea). It is funny to hear people talking about Johnny always playing slightly out of tune. The "primitive" bridge set up of these guitars made it impossible to intonate perfectly. The imperfect tone was more a function of the guitar and his heavy handed playing. One of Johnny's T.V. guitars hangs proudly in the New York Hard Rock Cafe. It is a miracle that it was recovered after his death.

By HeySuchandSuch

Various Artists - "Born To Lose - A Tribute To Johnny Thunders" (3xCD, Skykrebs Records - 2009)

Oops, here I am again!
How many tribute albums have you bought people and how many of them are worthy of your hard earned spent money? Not much right? OK, let's make it easier. How many tribute albums have you downloaded so far and you've been bored to death for the time you spent on 'em hearing? Not so much, again, am I right?
Well, for some very strange reason this one even though was probably of the best around and surely the best on our beloved Johnny Thunders, never got the credit. I mean, even fuckin' Discogs doesn't have it on (wtf)! And if the producer had it reduced to a single disc it would have been the ultimate, but what the hell, the more Genzales the better, right? RIGHT!
And thanks to the old pal of the blog, Steve, came to my own hands too a couple of years behind. Here's the story: I was looking for material The Waldos haven't had anywhere else and I came across this. Three tracks man! The Waldos on "Jetboy", Walter on "Short Lives" and Tony Coiro with "Blame it on Mom"! I remember myself searching for it for quite a lot but I wasn't able to track it down in a reasonable price, cause you know they weren't many places have it on their vault. So I asked Steve if he was sitting on and the reply was a link with full scans and 3 CD rips! The tags was a mess but who cares, do something for yourself you lazy prick and so I did! The performances doesn't go below good and the names are at least underground scene thugs. My beloved Devil Dogs with a rip-roaring version of "I Wanna Be Loved", Blanks 77 with "London Boys", The Stiffs take on "Crime of the Century" (with a lil bit of Sex Pistols...) or Nine Pound Hammer ("Let Go") and New Bomb Turks ("Bad Girl"). Impressive, huh? Except for the Waldos familia, there are plenty of other people who knew and played with Johnny over the years (Buddy Bowzer, Jeff Magnum, Andy Shernoff, Alison Gordy etc) or people with more maintream creds (Jesse Malin, New York Loose). And oh, there are also a few surprises (listen for yourselves for 'em) and many a guest star if you read the extensive liner notes carefully. In other words people, this boxset is a must for anyone who is a fan of Thunders or The Dolls or The Heartbreakers.

Cheers!
 

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - "Vive La Revolution! + LAMF Outtakes" (10", Munster/Skydog - 1999)

This one was recorded live (12/8/1977) by our pet band here at the much talked these days (sadly, for the wrong reasons) Bataclan. Jean-Philippe thought this must be a proper tribute and he was right, so...

I said it's like thunder... It's like lightning... A summarize of an already good year for all Johnny Thunders fans!!!

Hey there! The good guys over at Chatterbox forum reminded (and in some cases actually, informed me, about some of the following Johnny Thunders goodies! So it's my turn to spread the word and summarize an already good year for all us Thunders' acolytes:

Easy Action Records put out some shit, with some more in the pipeline!

• A Comprehensive and remastered In Cold Blood, with all of Johnny's studio recordings from 1982 (on Double-CD and vinyl)  
• A remastered version of some old Dolls' gigs under the Butterflyin' name (waiting from day to day for this to come in my mailbox).
• A 10" vinyl Critic's Choice/So Alone single (I suppose the Chesterfield Kings backed recordings)
• A 7" vinyl In Cold Blood single

Remarquable Records is going berserk on The Heartbreakers/Johnny front:

• 10" vinyl Daddy Rollin' Stone EP (27 Nov 2015)
• So Alone Double-LP (remastered from the original tapes) with the LP + non-album tracks (29 Jan 2016)
• JOHNNY THUNDERS:1978 - 2CD + Book (still in pre-production, but rumors say it will include all of the tracks from RBL1 + RBL2 10" EPs + even more previously unreleased tracks) 

Cleopatra Records released recently a (supposed) unreleased live recording of The Heartbreakers at a 1977 Village Gate gig, when they were hot as hell and they were firing in all cylinders!!! Look for it under the L.A.M.F. – Live At The Village Gate 1977, title. It reminds me a few well known old boots but the sound's definitely better (way better in fact) and the packaging an awesomeness! Walter Lure got involved with this in one way or another, so go ahead... 

Last but not least, a reminder on the special RECORD STORE DAY Jungle Records double vinyl release of the now legendary, Live At Max's Kansas City Volumes 1 & 2.

Keep 'em coming!!!

The Heartbreakers - "L.A.M.F. - Original U.K. Cassette Mix" (Cassette/Tape, Track - 1977) RESTORED & REVISITED!!!

Hey there! I know that I promised this re-up quite long ago, but better late than never right?!
Well if I got it straight, it was this fuckin' place that made this tape again available to the public but we've seen it been uploaded on YouTube without having the credit we thought at least we deserved (for better) or (for worse) founding out that some stupid fucks ca$hed on it and on fans thirst to hear the legendary LAMF cassette sound... So here's another chance to grab it, dance to it and send these jerks to hell!!! If you came here for the first time and you want to know the whole story, go to our first post, dated back in 2012. Feel free to share it with your friends and having some drinks on us! Once more, many thanks to Brian Young and his generosity for sharing such a piece of history.

------- DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MIDNIGHT RAMBLER (SOTD) -------

Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - "D.T.K. - Live at The Speakeasy" (LP, Jungle/SMS - 1982 ~ Japanese press )

I was thinking on my way home that Billy Rath died on the same day as Elvis Presley and almost immediately came a second thought about the last chapter in Legs McNeil/Gillian McCain brilliant book, "Please Kill Me"... For those haven't read it yet, Chapter 44 is closing the book and has Jerry Nolan on his last legs, terribly sick and lonely right after Johnny's death, thinking about the past. In between many things, he remembered he attended a young Elvis show (he was ten at the time) that changed his life ever since... What a strange coincidence..? What a stunning afterword... Well, that's probably the most haunting, otherworldly rock & roll writing ever put on paper and for sure my favorite... Read it and you'll understand what I'm trying to say now... My partner, JP was informed about Billy's passing from our blog. Then mailed me this as a White Trash Soul tribute. I couldn't have think something better, buddy!

Jerry & Billy at Hotel Stadt in Västervik, Sweden 25/7-84 - Taken from The Waldos Facebook page

Broken Heart... RIP Billy Rath

Official Facebook page 'bout Johnny Thunders movie, "Looking for Johnny" have posted this a couple of hours back: "Thank you for the music and for being part of our film. Billy Rath RIP." There's nothing else on the web at the moment, but the aforementioned page is sadly, accurate enough... We here as well known Heartbreakers aficionados, want to express our sorrow to Billy's family and thank him for being part of one of the most important ever bands in rock & roll! R.I.P. 

Henry Rollins on "L.A.M.F.T.M.J.B." !!!

Click to enlarge!

Hey! This is really something special for the White Trash Soul team and we thought it's cool to share it with you guys and gals. Henry Rollins dedicated the most of the second hour of his radio show on our 'L.A.M.F.T.M.J.B.' essay! He blog-ed about us on his site and L.A. Weekly the day before and what wrote and said on air, makes us REALLY PROUD and somehow red faced, cause after all you all know we are down to earth kids, right? Hehe!
I grew up with "Damaged" and "My War" so it's kinda easy for you to understand how much honored I felt with this. The same thing for Jean Philippe cause we both know who Henry Rollins IS!!!
Anyway, if you want to check it out too here it is:



Thank you Mr Rollins! Stay tuned for more Rock & Roll!

The Heartbreakers - "L.A.M.F. - Original U.K. Cassette Mix" (Cassette/Tape, Track - 1977)

AT LAST! Thanks to our friend Brian Young of the kick-ass rockabilly gang Sabrejets fame, we are able hereabout White Trash Soul HQ after a long and hard trying, to finally witness the original (and now legendary - known also as UK) cassette mix of punk & roll's ultimate uterus 'L.A.M.F.' ! I'm so damn bored to repeat myself so if you're a rookie on this read here first, you may need some introduction cause what you're going to face up within post is quite simply something of a 'holy grail'.
The story goes a little back, during the 'pre-production' days of 'L.A.M.F.T.M.J.B.' when along my buddy Jean Philippe tried our best to come up with a cassette copy of the album but as you maybe already know, failed entirely. Like a Deus x machina somewhere in there and out of a sudden, Brian makes his appearance volunteering but the sensibly tight schedule of the Jets doesn't let him feed our hunger on time. And you know what, some times in life something's not happening for the best. I know this now may sound like some soft-boiled crap to you all, but I do believe it.
Anyway, on our subject and the verdict says clearly this: Yes, the cassette has the original U.K. mix as most of us know for ages like the back of our hands - minus the mud! Yes, it sounds GREAT! Yes, it was a fuckin' bad pressing issue that caused the whole trouble (and legend). Yes, you still NEED to hear this if you consider yourself a serious rock & roll fan. What still mess ups my mind though are those two "why"s?
1. OK, obviously something went wrong with the pressings and the disbanding of Track Records a little later hold up things for a while maybe, BUT... when the bloody tapes (all those!) came to Leee Black Childers' possession or Jungle's afterwards, why not anyone thought to release properly the original mix instead of the 'Lost '77 Mixes'? We live at the digital age goddammit, we were able to hear in the past years without any sound difficulties for instance Slim Harpo kicking the shit out in a 1961 concert or the Link Wray's lost Cadence album for half a century but we can't do the same for the Heartbreakers original mix!!?
2. And what was Track's possible thinking for sending different tapes/mixes to other countries for their own L.A.M.F. releases (not to mention the singles...)? Anyone?
The cassette proves in the end that the 'breakers were right chatter up about it. From the first two concluded  plays I'm able to say that it sounds powerful, dirty and furious as we hoped or better, fantasized! The vocals of Johnny and Waldo for the first time have BALLS (if you think already had, listen up to this baby, ha!), and Billy's bass lines are audible and fat like Bon Scott's Rosie's ass! Oh, and somehow Jerry's drums sound louder. It's not THAT different from the 'Lost 77 Mixes' but in a way it is (I don't know how to put it right, you have to listen for yourself).
So where the mix issue lies? Perhaps on the surviving tapes Alan Hauser got from Childers, don't know. But that's not the answer to my own question No.1. If we're able here at WTS to track down a decent cassette copy, I'm definitely sure that the Heartbreakers rights keepers have (a lot) more chances to find a better one and master from it, if actually the reason why for all these, is a possible loss of the original mix tapes... Shit, I know I'm sounding like I'm bitching now and Brian told me that Alan's an OK  guy, but I got through so much trouble finding this after 15 years or something... you know what I mean?
Anyway, I came home from the office quite late the day Brian's package arrived and I waited for kids to go to bed first. I made the rip and gave a quick shot... I was blown! The first hour of the new day was running its first steps but I couldn't wait till the next morning's arrival to deal with again... I started the upload immediately and mailed Jean Philippe:

"I'm putting up this moment Side 2 of the Cassette Mix, it's 1:30 in the morning I can barely keep my eyes open but you NEED to hear this buddy! I gave a quick (about one minute of each song sliding the bar of the player and all this through my laptop's speakers) listening and it's definitely different! It's the UK mix indeed but with no fuckin' mud around it. A little bit speed-ed up also, don't know if it's because of the tape recorder or Brian's copy, but for a quickie attempt it sounded like the real thing. I need to hear this tomorrow with less wine running through my vains and through my stereo's speakers but don't know man, I don't think it sounds like the Italian, French or any other pressing. "

A few days later came my buddy's answer:

"Well, well, well, you were right, I was wrong! The cassette mix is definitely different from other mixes. I reduced speed by 3% (but it seems faster still), cut the wav files into individual tracks and uploaded it to our account. There's some (expected) hiss on the tape, which could have been easily removed, but I left it as is. I noticed L&R channel are reversed on some tracks (eg. 'Pirate Love' has guitar inro on the left vs. on the right on other pressings), but not all of them (so that's not Brian's mistake in plugin' his gear). What's not easy to tell is 'how much' this mix is different from others. A good part of the difference might be due to the media (tape vs. vinyl) and rig (tape player vs. turntable). The cassette is not muddy, but it doesn't have much bottom end, and sound is quite midrangey. Is it because of the mix or the media/rig? Some tracks are very different though: 'Baby Talk' and 'Going Steady' for example. 'Baby Talk' seems to be what the UK LP would be if it wasn't muddy. 'Going Steady' drums intro is different from other versions (including UK LP). It would have been a blast if we didn't have France/Italy LP already. Anyway, it's nice to finally hear it and know the truth. "

Indeed, 'Baby Talk' cassette take is by far the best we have heard (at least me)! If we had it during the creation of 'T.M.J.B.' would have kicked 'Lost 77' s ass without second thoughts! But as I said, it was meant to be this way. A full post dedicated to the 'media' a couple of thousand lunatics around the world for ages are/were looking for! There's really no need from our side to bull more. You all going to have in a while your own point of view. Just to complete WTS stuff's blurbs I'm adding the one Brian wrote me for the tape had sent me (the old fashioned way, on paper with a cool Sabrejets logo up left and a signature at the bottom- I dig you man!):

"I have heard lots of different stories about LAMF mixes. Some people insist that the French or Italian albums are much better sounding. It's not something I've ever worried too much about. When I bought LAMF (when it came out) I played it to death anyway. I think the problem isn't that it sounded THAT bad - but it does sound pretty feeble in comparison to the records which bands like the Pistols released which cost thousands and thousands of pounds... and took months to record.
It must have been really disheartening for them though - as some of my pals saw The Heartbreakers on the Anarchy tour and everyone (even if they didn't like the band!) told me they blew the Pistols/Clash etc offstage every night...
So if whoever was recording the band could have captured that live sound then it really would have been a killer album...
But there are too many buts and ifs... for sure Track were a waste of space compared to some of the other labels BUT in fairness they DID advertise the first singles and the album a lot. Perhaps the Heartbreakers should have chosen a less controversial topic for their first 45 too... not gonna get much airplay with a song about smack!
Certainly a different producer would have helped - but you can't rewrite history - and even though the reviews at the time mentioned the muddy mix, most people who bought the album couldn't care less. At the end of the day the in fighting and bickering over the album destoyed the band - but that was their own fault. "


What's left now is the hope Jungle to create a box with deep care for all those rumored different mixes that stayed in the can. I mean, who doesn't want to hear 'L.A.M.F.' in a sixties girl pop sounding mix? 

Keep the rocks rollin'!

The Heartbreakers - "L.A.M.F.T.M.J.B. - A Mixed Attempt For The Best Mixes" (WAXCD 007)

Hi there! Hope everything’s OK for all of you. “The Nightmare Returns”, perhaps this must be the right title/marquee for the new WAX CD. You know (I’m sure you do), when you’re young (loud and snotty) your only ambition in record buying things, is just to find the money and grab your bloody passion’s object. Actually at this age, your only ambitions are always a 'passion’s object' matter: girls, records, bikes etc. After your 25 or something, the lust’s being replaced by geekness. Come on, admit it! This entire ‘punk rock’ attitude obliterates for good. Cause the first time I purchased ‘L.A.M.F.’ (I was probably 14) had sounded to me like THEE record, THEE pattern and THEE way rock & roll should sound and look! Fuckin’ dangerous, sloppily tight (the brilliance of the Rolling Stones it’s being built on this formula and Johnny as a big fan of theirs, knew where to look) with more than obvious the evidence of the street culture (drugs… unfortunately). No problems then with fidelities, “muddy” mixes and overall sounding. Life was being taken as it had come, a day by day trip; don’t give a fuck for all the rest (except maybe once in a three months, when you have to find the way you’re going to defend yourself to your parents for the bad credits at school)! My crappy stereo and the absence of money in my pockets had left no space for such thoughts anyway. I wish sometimes to have still the same concerns in life I had then. ..
Fast forward some years from that era, in one of at the time usual daily walk in the few cool record stores of the city (now there's nothing), and a Jungle CD under the title of ‘L.A.M.F. – The Lost ’77 Mixes’ makes its presence in front of my eyes and guess what, it screwed my life ever since. A better stereo has been gained already the previous months, after a really hard trying by my side to gather up the bread-and-butter, but the a lot clearer version of the ’77 Mixes’ started almost instantly giving me the headaches. Mind that I didn’t say ‘better’ but ‘a lot clearer’. And the ‘a lot clearer’ phrase means more audible for sure, no less aggressive thankfully but not securely the one the band got in their minds (or the fans if I judge from my point of view). Oh well, who knows what do they have actually? Heroin’s like the best pussy around they say and quite logically no mind for the best possible results even if they claimed for the opposite, right? (My fave of the ‘breakers gang) Walter Lure drenched the situation in sound, with ‘Too Much Junkie Business’… In fact the added part next to ‘L.A.M.F.’ on our try here (T.M.J.B.) has been taken from this stellar sign tune for the obvious reasons. After all, all Heartbreakers ‘career’ wasn’t circled by powders, syringes and cold turkeys? Anyway, a little later came to my hands this Johnny’s ‘Revisited’ antiseptic attempt with Tony James ‘help’ (Generation X, Sigue Sigue Sputnik), which to be honest was a huge disappointment at the time. Actually still is cause with a few exceptions (‘Pirate Love’ most notably) succeed to overpower the dynamite. You need a ‘real talent’ to do such thing, right..? I’m not sure if it’s a totally avoidable release (try find the Jap, A LOT better – still away from the ‘breakers live majesty though) but I’m sure most of us fans, got it or kept it for historical reasons mostly. Cleaning is a good idea (that sadly Johnny never did) for drugs, not for rock & roll. Adding bits and pieces to by that time recorded material, made the situation even worse. Brian Young (Rudi/Sabrejets), a HUGE Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers fan in an email he sent me on this subject have written me:

“Everyone I knew who saw the Heartbreakers live in ‘77 said they wiped the floor with everyone onstage - but if they couldn't get it together in the studio they had no one to blame but themselves. I didn't like the Tony James remix either. Too 80's and what would Tony James know about producing records anyway? He certainly didn't produce Generation X's records and when he did Sputniks they sounded feeble....He was probably just cheap... I knew A. Hauser from when he managed the raped and he's a really nice genuine guy so I know he did his best - but if you ask me a lot of the excuses for the bad sound of ‘LAMF’ are simply that. Excuses...”

The truth? Quite honestly, I'm now with the Brian's side of thinking and you'll gonna know why a little later. Btw, Brian did a very cool piece on the Heartbreakers fatal existence for the 'Punk 77' website as 'Cursed, Poisoned and Condemned' and you should check it out without second thoughts, here and here. Really cool bloke!

You probably got it that I’m a totally bloated bastard, right? If you shake your head in affirmative to the previous, means that it isn’t difficult to imagine how this fire came to me head, haha! The ‘idea’ to cross paths with record’s history, was for years something intriguing. I mailed my comrade if he’s in and the reply from the dark shelter of France came almost instantly, ‘YES’! Ha! I knew I was right for one more time to base upon JP! And just like that our deep dive in ‘L.A.M.F.’s confused route, began. Our vaults opened, records and CDs (officially released or/and not) started to come out and our thoughts on how this ‘project’ might/should be built were exchanging rapidly. That was the easy part… “We’re gonna use all the songs original pressings had as uterus, and we’re gonna pick up the best in our opinion versions plus all the extras that appeared later and we can use as bonuses, tracks that's now widely known and recorded most properly from the post Heartbreakers bands (Johnny solo, The Waldos, Jerry solo, The Heroes etc.) but hither executed from their ‘breakers themselves, OK? “ I mailed my associate. Sounds cool, right? You betcha! There goes the hard stuff. We were missing pressings (we still miss the ‘legendary’ original Track cassette – anyone? - which many Walter Lure included, bring as evidence of not a ‘bad mix’ situation but of ‘bad mastering’) so we had to find them. I remember as well that when I’ve send my questions to Mr. Lure for the interview, next email from his side was if I was writing a book or something? Imagine in what heights my grind had come! Anyway, we tried but failed to come up with the tape and somewhere in there we stopped a little to think if a 'definitive' essay from our side will be 'complete' without this DAMN (ancient to all of our readers below 16) thing? I spent countless hours on old fanzines, internet forums, every possible (little or not) detail anyway, to see if this actually apply to reality or if it's just an urban legend that almost everyone helped grow (from die hard fans to the surviving band members), as the only 'true' evidence of the 'original mix'? I mean, Walter had then written me: “The problem was in the translation from tape to vinyl because it always sounded good in the studio on tape but lousy on vinyl”…. He can’t be wrong, right? He was THERE! But where in the bloody hell can we found this and in a MINT condition? I tried ePay, but no sir! I tried the internet for a possible download, but no luck…
And then Jean Philippe’s ‘bad habit’ resurrected… My mate debouched for other countries copies/pressings! Thank god, some things never change! He wasn’t in need for any further information by me and he didn’t needed as well my ‘knowledge’ for the presumably among the Heartbreakers fans rumors for the ‘excellent’ Scandinavian and Italian pressings… At first he surfaced (naturally) the French print: 

“I gave a careful listening to the French ‘L.A.M.F.’ LP, and the more I listen to it, the more I like it. It's no Hi-Fi for sure, but I like the fact that's it's the exact opposite of ‘Revisited’ version: the French LP sounds almost "unmixed". Vocals have no reverb, it's like demos. The drums on "I Wanna BeLoved" intro (or "Baby Talk") sound very, very thin but very natural. The French (or probably any non-UK LP) is definitely different from "The Lost 77 Mixes". Acoustic guitar on "It's Not Enough" is mixed upfront on "The Lost 77 Mixes", while it's not on the French LP. I guess that most people would prefer "The Lost 77 Mixes", but I don't. As for the ‘Revisited’ version, it's almost a joke. It sounds like it was remixed by a kid. The way the drums are far too much "enhanced" on "Pirate Love" is beyond silly. But I love it! It's ‘LAMF’ still! Anyway, I checked UK vs. French original LPs, and here's what I noticed:

* All of side one and "Goin' Steady" on side two are different, and the French LP is much better, especially on "Born To Lose" and "Chinese Rocks" which are pretty bad on the UK LP.
* The rest (side 2 minus "Going Steady") is the same mastering/mix. I hear differences on these tracks, but I think it's a matter of pressing quality. Despite its obvious mastering problems (on side 1), the UK version is a better pressing than the French one, as it's got more bass.
* "It's Not Enough" doesn't fade out on the French LP, but it does on the UK LP. I guess that ending a song that way is a studio job, not a pressing plant job: the UK and French pressing plants didn't receive the same "tapes". So that's not just a manufacturing problem?”

Didn’t I tell you? When it comes for rock & roll we’re 100% geeks and junkies! We‘re corroded to the bone but we’ll never see it as an academic work, OK? It’s an adventurous and uncompromising trip for the truth behind the legend. Anyway, I gave a (two, three, four) listen(s) and I wasn’t able to go against my buddy. After all he’s the WTS Analog Department Engineer (we have a loose screw, right!?  - it’s obvious now), I’m the guy with the long lasting adherences (the doc said I have already too much inside my head to deal with more...) and his conclusions destroyed twice my thoughts! Thanks mate! Aaarrrgggg! My wife for two months now grumping (OK I know, she’s totally right, she married a mentally ill person) that when our kids go to bed, I rush myself to the headphones or the library but… I CAN'T HELP STOP DOING IT. (Sorry babe, you knew what you had in your hands, don’t tell me I didn’t warned you!) As long as I was trying to gather information from a million possible sources, or to reply JP in what changes maybe we should make for the CD Covers (a whole lot different but same ball bustin’ story – try find on the net a good resolution Heartbreakers pic and you’ll understand…) my friend was keep sending me bombs. 'Another pressing, another story' to paraphrase Only Ones’ signature song. For example, I wanted to buy a Jap “Revisited” version to see if there were more in there (and actually THERE ARE MORE IN THERE!) but my part for one more time was catching me up. I was enthusiast at first, wrecked in the end. Another damn version to discover, master and have an upshot at it… Fuck!  And I knew already that the Heartbreakers singles and EPs have sounded ‘different’ to my ears but I didn’t have the knowledge to express things. To cut a long story short, JP’s comments in every email of the countless we exchanged were GREAT (we stopped at 69 as I see now, ALL for this nut case), enlightening, but on the majority of the things we put our hands upon, we faced the reality of the non identical versions, making things dizzier (in diverse with what Walter Lure have told me, I’m quite sure now that THEY DO EXIST 300 plus different mixes!), so I started go back and forth to this ‘chain-message’ shit gmail has, to see how to edit and place in this post the information that maybe some of you wanted to know. Not longer than 30 minutes of occupation, I go ‘@#$%’!!! Man, it’s easier to steal Monica Bellucci from Vincent Cassel’s hands, than to do this... In the end I gave up things. I ‘enforced’ JP to gather up his audiophile stuff (you have no idea how HARD was that too, I had to play at the same time early Gun Club and Cramps records, mumbling on top some voodoo spells a witch from the French side of New Orleans have taught me – a great chocolate chick btw, and menace him with transmogrify into Sarah Palin’s animal print bikini –  I’m sure some of you might find it not a bad change, and all these just to write a few words...) cause I’m not going to write a bloody book here, OK? Believe it or not, it worked! It needed still a little editing but hey, my part rejected all his fears about writing (I told you man, I’m no Hemingway either!). So more or less this is our conclusion:

“It's a well known fact something went wrong with the mix and / or mastering of the original Track 1977 LP. Well that's not exactly true. The 1977 UK LP has a muddy mix indeed, but UK 7"/12" or LP for other countries is fine (but harder to find). The 1994 ‘Lost 77 Mixes’ sounds pretty good, but it's not exactly the original mix. If you want to know how the original UK LP sounds, play the ‘Lost 77 Mixes’ on your stereo and put a blanket on your speakers. No high frequencies. The original French pressing is much better (play the ‘Lost 77 Mixes’ on your stereo, remove the blanket from the speakers, but kick the woofer as hard as you can, you'll get the idea: no low frequencies). Now, we found the original Italian LP and is as good as it gets, with the right balance between frequencies, a real good in-yer-face mix, nothing muddy or thin here, that's why most of the tracks we selected for your listening pleasure are from this rare LP. Pressings from other countries (Germany, Sweden, Holland) are probably good too (or even better), but please remember we have to save some $/€ for feeding our kids. And no, we haven't heard the cassette version (please share it if you can). ‘The Lost 77 Mixes’ is cheap & easy to find, but it's definitely different from the original mixes. For example, the 'Pirate Love' guitar intro (right channel) on the Italian LP has much more "crunch" (it KILLS!), and there's less reverb on the drums. 'It's Not Enough' has much more acoustic guitar on the ‘Lost 77 Mixes’ than on the Italian LP, and so on. The 1984 remix, known as 'Revisted' is so-so, but it has its moments, that's why we included some tracks from it, presented here in the best sounding version we could find, that is a Japanese vinyl. Neighbour warning: 'Pirate Love' has wall-shaking bass drum. 'Do You Love Me' for example is from the original 1977 'One Track Mind' EP. It's the same take as on 'Lost Mixes' 1st CD, but with a completely different 'pogo dancing' mix (much more bass). Now you can hear that Billy Rath is actually playin'. We had a hard time gathering the best sounding ‘L.A.M.F.’ & ‘L.A.M.F.’-related tracks from our vaults, and we hope you'll enjoy'em as much as we do. Play it loud, of course!”

We started this as a ‘just for kicks’ project like always, exactly the way we created all other WAX CDs. We have absolutely no intention to replace original, ‘Revisited’ or ‘Lost ’77 Mixes’. You must see our aspect like a cassette tape we used to create by tons us older ones; 15-17 years ago for our own listening pleasure, our friends and nothing else. We‘re HUGE Heartbreakers and Johnny Thunders fanatics and since we’re hooked enough, we thought this was a great idea to dive in, feast our hearts out from our every day routine, and give a possible ‘new look’ on one of our VERY favorite records ever. It just happened to share it with more, haha! As you can see for yourself we didn’t use the usual nowadays stamp of ‘Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers’ for our ‘L.A.M.F.’ version but the original of ‘Heartbreakers’ cause in our minds Johnny was just an equal member of the four. Waldo and Jerry created many songs together; possibly the best and they were a kick ass fine songwriting combo to not to be mentioned by yours truly! Billy’s another story, a happily after MANY years of no sign, and on going (check out the Broken Hearts and the Street Pirates). And it’s a bloody shame as the years gone by, the legend of JT to grow up (so) alone and those of ‘the other three’ to stay in the shadow. For the White Trash Soul duo, when we’re talking about the Heartbreakers, we‘re not having in our minds the Traveling Wilburys blonde guy’s band, OK..?

It was a quite enough busy winter for both of us. We’d like to thank you all for the continuing support. If it weren’t for you all, giving us your attention by commenting or just ‘hitting’ our site, then we have no reason to do all these! We’re gonna slow down a little a bit for the summer, cause we need some rest. Crank this fucker up high just like Johnny used to say: “Turn this shit P.A. up! Yo, gimme some fuckin’ reverb!”

As usual no bootlegging on WAX CDs. Share and dance loosely!

We hope all of you guys and gals to have a great summer!!! See ya around!

Jerry Nolan - Interview on VOICE ROCK & ROLL QUARTERLY - "My Life As A Doll" (1991)

Coming in here and not knowing who Jerry Nolan was it's something like an offense!
So go back a little, google, read, buy Dolls and Heartbreakers albums and come back again later. Jerry before the Dolls and Johnny Thunders had another street pal.  Peter Criss. C'mooon, everybody knows Peter Criss- that's the cat behind KISS drum stool on their best moments. Well, blame Jerry for taught him playing the bongos. I remember Suzi Quatro saying me in an e-mail about how Jerry got involved with Cradle (some of Suzi's earlier bands) just because fell in love with her sister. Jerry always was a cool dude. Ask Nancy Spungen and poor Sid Vicious (OK that's difficult but you better believe me).  Got the job on the Dolls after Billy Murcia's death and with his chunk and steady beats those cuties get what they deserved. No money, no fame but a special position in our hearts. There's no true rock n' roller not loving them. Jerry was Johnny's 'older brother' till the end. They formed together the Heartbreakers, helped him with the Cosa Nostra Band, on his solo efforts and on thousands of gigs around the globe. That's why they died together, cause they lived together. Jerry was also behind the kit on legendary street brats like the London Cowboys and in Sweden formed the excellent Heartbreakers expedient, the Tenerifa Cowboys . The best thing i ever read on what now called "music journalism" was the last chapter on "Please Kill Me" book by Legs Mc Neil n' Gillian Mc Cain. A pastiche of many interviews, brilliantly edited, giving the whole punk (hi)story the way this written. Jerry on his last moments remembering Johnny, life on the streets, his tough chick sis and the hole in the shoe of an infamous greasy kid named Elvis Presley! If you haven't read it yet, do it straightforward. If your back not crawl on this, give up, you have absolutely no relation with this devil's thing called Rock & Roll! What we got here is the complete source for that last chapter. Never a pdf document had so many ass shakes inside his many zeros and aces data. MANY THANKS to the unknown cat, for scanning this piece of history! As Colin Gray wrote on Vicious Kitten zine back in the late 90s, "If Johnny Thunders is rockin' n rollin' somewhere in the unknown, you can bet your life that Jerry will be behind the kit, keeping the beat as he always did. May his memory live on, with those immortal words of David Johansen - "Give me one Jerry"!....

 My Life As a DOLL!

Johnny Thunders & Jerry Nolan - "Countdown Love" (7inch Single - Sucksex Records - Sex13 - 1997)

How many of you out there do you know who Freddy Lynxx is? Not many huh? Well, Freddy's a French (with Croatian) roots rock & roller who's mostly known as a Thunders copycat... Fuck NO! Freddy is one of the few that huge admirers of Thunders/Heartbreakers/New York Dolls family that did SO MUCH about keeping their legacy alive, in a time that these cats were so un-hip (that is for so many years). Not that today are within the 'in' list of the wider audience, but at least much more seem to know and respect the New York's cuties. He got a band (well, actually two) that kicked serious ass, the Jetboys and the Corner Gang, which did magnificent albums of pure n' adrenalin-driven street rock n' roll and a label under the 'Sucksex' moniker, that putted out at times unbelievable rare & unreleased toons of the Dolls/Heartbreakers familia. I wish someday catch him, even through the net for an interview...
Anyway, this thing here it's a housewreckin' two-sider, featuring of course the two late pals, Johnny & Jerry with the recordings they did at different times and different places of the "Countdown Love".  The last, it's one of the strongest moments of the Hearbreakers and it's a fuckin' shame that never recorded this dynamite officially. The song is written by Jerry Nolan and had also a third Heartbreaker approach, through Walter Lure as he recorded it for the Waldos SUPERB album, "Rent Party".
Johnny Thunders Side, are with the "Que Sera Sera" line up, mostly known as the Black Cats.It was recorded in 1985 at Tin Pan Alley Studio (London, England) and on track's background vocals are Stiv Bators and Michael Monroe! Even though what they just did was some 'ahhhhssss' and 'oooohhhhssss', it's for sure and historical moment.
On Jerry Nolan's Side we found Nigs with the Teneriffa Cowboys backing him (whatta band!) and it's easily the best execution of the song of the two versions here (my favorite still is by the Waldos!). It was recorded in Stockholm, Sweden (a place where at the time Jerry lived) back in 1983 at Decibel Studios.
That's for sure a great addition for all the Dolls/Heartbreakers fanatics out there, but if you came here and you'll never heard something else, you MUST GO AND BUY NOW the two New York Dolls LPs plus the Heartbreakers' "L.A.M.F." and leave this rarities for later.
Final Note: To this blogger, the Heartbreakers still are the best rock n' roll band ever and Tom Petty should change his band name NOW. Never too late for this, you square millionaire...
320 Kbps

3,2,1 yeah! Countdown Luv! 

Personnel:

Johnny's Side:
Johnny Thunders - guitar & lead vocals
Henri-Paul - guitar
Keith Yon - bass
Tony St Helene - drums
Stiv Bators - background vocals
Michael Monroe - background vocals


Jerry's Side:
Jerry Nolan - drums & lead vocals
Michael Thimren - guitar
Bonne Lofman - guitar
Sylo Eliason - bass
Syl Sylvain - piano??

Interview : Walter "Waldo" Lure (The Heartbreakers, The Waldos)

This interview was printed in Greek for our old fanzine "Gang Bang" (Issue No. 10), about 18 months ago (if my aged memory serves me well...).

The reason i re-post it here is simply. I send it via email to many friends around the globe when we talked about a new Johnny Thunders related 'zine (that unfortunately never happened), and the plethora of these people told me that is a shame to remain hidden in some old magazine's dusty pages.


Waldo was kind enough to answer to all of my questions extensively and with no displeasure...So, this is it:

I read somewhere that you knew Johnny Thunders n’ Jerry Nolan, before you’ll be a member of the Heartbreakers. How come and you join the band? You were in some other bands before the Heartbreakers?

I knew of Johnny and Jerry from the NY Dolls actually but I knew of Johnny from years earlier. All throughout the late 1960's, I used to go to a lot of concerts in and around New York City, especially at the Fillmore East. Every weekend I'd be there at the late shows usually to see bands I wanted to hear. I would always see Johnny at these shows also - he was always dressed up with the latest expensive British rock star clothes ( thanks to either his girlfriend or his side business) . He would stand out in the crowd and it never failed that I would go to a show and he would be there. Either he lived at the Fillmore and other places or we just liked the same music. I didn't know his name at the time until I finally saw him in one of the Dolls early shows a few years later.

How you and Johnny wrote all these songs? Tell me more about the procedure of the Heartbreakers’ songwriting.

Johnny usually wrote his songs by himself and just brought them to rehearsal where we all worked them out. Jerry and I decided to form a team because he would sometimes start a song like Can't keep My eyes or Take a Chance and wouldn't be able to finish it - he also didn't like writing lyrics that much. So he'd come to me to help him finish the song and write some lyrics. Songs like One Track Mind and Get off the Phone were written completely by me but we'd share the credits - he wrote most of Can't Keep except for one verse. The one song we actually wrote together in a rehearsal studio was All By Myself - he started a drum beat and I started some chords and he started singing All By Myself and then I just finished the Lyrics later.

There are many people saying that the best line up of the Heartbreakers was the first one with Richard Hell on bass. There are no many recordings with him in the band and the younger fans like me, have the wonder how the band has sounded with him? Personally I don’t really dig his solo works so, I want your opinion about this.

Hell was not really a great bass player although he was surprisingly adequate for someone with little experience learning it. He always wanted to be a poet and just got into rock n roll to get his writings published. There are some tapes that I have of him with the band that aren't all that bad in the early days. I agree, his solo works were pretty nondescript. He was never a rock and roller at heart. He did have a lot more presence on stage than Billy Rath and he was more widely known at the time as he had just came from the band Television which had a fairly large following. But that measure of fame he had was also bad for the band because he had a big ego and thought he should be in charge of the Heartbreakers and give all the orders. John wouldn't take it and Jerry and I stuck with Johnny after Hell made his little coup attempt. Musically, Billy had much more talent on Bass.

Why “L.A.M.F.” hasn’t got the best mix at the time it came out? I think the last reissue of the album (“77 mixes”) is the best. I read somewhere that there was“post production anarchy” and “each member practically did his own mixes for every song”… What really happened and why it took so long for the album to have the right sound?

No one will ever know why LAMF never got the sound we were looking for - we tried over and over again with different producers and studios and it would always come out the same. That muffled sound. Jerry tried on his own and so did Johnny. I always thought that the Remix by Johnny in the '80's sometime released by Jungle Records ( I think it was called LAMF Revisited) sounded much better than the original but John was also adding things to those mixes - he changed a few solos and did some late overdubs. The lousy sound was the main reason Jerry left the Band - he didn't want it released.

Is it true also that Jerry Nolan agreed with Jon Savage’s review (on Sounds magazine) about “L.A.M.F.” and told the rest of the band that if the album be released without “a proper mix”, then he saw no reason to remain a Heartbreaker?

I don't know that Jerry ever read Jon Savage's review but he could have influenced what Jon wrote - Jerry was very vocal about his dislike of the album mix but so were the rest of us as well. Jerry had 2 months to remix it on his own and never got anywhere with it. We were forced to make a decision by the record company. After trying to remix it countless times, we were in early October, 1977 and we had to get it out in time for the Christmas sales season. if we didn't release it by then the record company would have dropped us anyway. So we had to decide, go with it or find a new label. 3 of us chose to release it and Jerry quit. I don't know who was right to this day - the record sounded lousy but I doubt we could have fixed it anytime soon - everyone tried and it still sounded the same. I think the problem was in the translation from tape to vinyl because it always sounded good in the studio on tape but lousy on vinyl.

When Jerry quit the Heartbreakers during the UK tour with the Sex Pistols, you “hired” Rat Scabies, Paul Cook and Terry Chimes as replacements. In the recent released Heartbreakers' box, we found recordings with Chimes on it. There are others with the other two? By the way, how much unreleased material does exists in the vaults?

Jerry quit after the Sex Pistols tour - it was nearly a year later in Oct, 1977 that he quit - the Anarchy tour ended in Dec., '76. He quit just before the Heartbreakers first solo tour after the album release. We auditioned Rat Scabies but he never played any gigs with us because he couldn't really play rock at the time - just punk stuff. Paul Cook did one or 2 gigs with us at the beginning of the tour before we got Terry to play the rest of the tour with us. We would have like to keep Paul but he was obviously already occupied with the Pistols. I don't really know how much stuff is still unreleased. Jungle Records in London would probably know better than I do. I have a copy of the Heartbreakers with R. Hell demo we did in 1975 that I gave to Jungle but I think they're negotiating with hell about it's release. Hell doesn't have a copy and he's a pain to deal with. There are plenty of bootlegs out there and odd gigs here and there but it's really all the same songs done over and over.

Is it true that exist more than 300 plus available mixes of “L.A.M.F.” and if so, have anyone thought to release them in a box similar as The Stooges’ “Funhouse” Complete Sessions?

I don't know how many mixes of LAMF are around but I doubt it's as much as 300. Jungle should have most of them as I think Leee Childers sold most of them to Jungle back in the '80's sometime. There wouldn't be much difference between them anyway.

I know that “London Boys” and “Too Much Junkie Business” are actually Heartbreakers songs. Did you have more songs for a second LP that never saw the light of day?

Yes, London Boys and Junkie Business were written during the later heartbreaker days - I wrote the music for both and the Lyrics for Junkie. Johnny always put his name on the credits for Junkie because he was jealous that he didn't write it. I actually stole the music for it from the Dolls version of Pills so John thought he had written part of it.

Is “London Boys” a fantastic and hilarious song-reply to the Sex Pistols (also fantastic) “New York”? If yes, how the two Pistols that played in Johnny’s “So Alone”, took the whole thing? …Or it was an answer just to Johnny Rotten?

Yes, London Boys was written as a reply to the Pistols New York. I wrote the music and John wrote the words ( John was dying to write the words because the Dolls were mentioned in "New York" - this was probably the only time John and I actually wrote a song together). The Pistols ( at least Paul, Steve and Sid) loved it just like we liked their song about us. I never heard if Rotten liked it or not - he was always a bit temperamental and had a fragile ego so even if he liked it he probably would never admit it. The song was really about Rotten because he was the one who wrote the lyrics to New York - the other Pistols all got along good with us.

There had been a forum talk that it took place on the net, about the best live LP by the Heartbreakers. Personally I dig all three recordings the same (“D.T.K. - Live at Speakeasy”,” Live at Max’s”, “Live at the Lyceum”), but I want your opinion since you were in all those three documents.

I'd probably have to say that Live at Max's was my favorite because we were still together as a band then - Live at the Lyceum is a good production but as you can see in the video - we looked more dynamic in the shots from earlier tours then we did that night. The sound was good but I look at it more as a money paying gig then a real Heartbreakers show. We already had broken up for several years by that point and we all looked a bit older and more tired from all the years of bad behavior. it's too bad no one ever recorded the Rainbow show in London that we did at the end of the LAMF tour - that was a great show as well as the one in New York at the Village Gate in August of 1977. Live at the Speakeasy I didn't think was that good - Johnny was just starting to abuse the audiences back then and he got a bit carried away. He copied this behavior from Rotten but didn't do it as well.

There’s a lot of confusion about your career after the Heartbreakers. With the Heroes you released just one single on Skydog if I am right and another one with the Blessed on Daven... Please tell us more about them cause no matter how hard I tried, I didn’t find enough information about those projects…

Billy Rath and I recorded 7 Day Weekend and Junkie Business for Island records in early '78 as a single and we were still calling ourselves the Heartbreakers but it never got released. Skydog managed to get their hands on it somehow and released it a few years later when I was playing in the Band I named the Heroes. I had started the Hurricanes for a year or so in the late '70's and then changed it to the Heroes - there were several lineup changes over the years and then finally settled on The Waldos sometime in the mid '80's. The Blessed single was a separate item entirely. I started playing with them around 1977 or '78 when I was back in NYC for a few months. They were a band of 16 - 18 year old kids who became quite popular in the NY scene because they were young and cute and played funny music. A lot of the Warhol crowd was making them the latest fad. Their guitarist left so they asked me to fill in on a gig and I said I'd love to do it. I even dressed like a schoolboy when we did the show to make it look more ridiculous. It was fun so I kept doing it for a few years when I had time off from the Heartbreakers. We did the single at a friend's studio and released it but it never sold that much and pretty soon the band was breaking up and I couldn't devote myself to it full time. The next deal was the Waldo's single in 1990 and the CD in 1993. All the while Jungle was releasing more and more versions of the same recordings of the HB's.

You have worked also with the Ramones on two albums,”Subterranean Jungle” n’ “Too tough to Die”. What’s your memories from the da brudders , cause I know those times there had been a lot of tension between the members, especially between Joey n’ Johnny..

Yes I played on every song on Subterranean Jungle, about 7 songs on Too Tough to die and 3 on Animal Boy. They were looking for a new sound so they asked me to play on those records. They always liked my guitar playing and were trying to get a mainstream hit single - sorry to say my playing didn't help them get one but neither did Phil spector's production so I'm not the only one who tried to help them. It would take too long to describe all the tensions between them - suffice it to say that they didn't get along that well then which was before John took away Joey's girlfriend - it got worse after that. John was the dictator but Dee Dee and Joey had the talent, especially Dee Dee. He came up with most of the song ideas although Joey was always trying new stuff too. Dee Dee was also the druggie and Mark at the time was drinking alot so the others were always looking for signs that they were getting high or drunk again. Mark used to hide bottles of vodka in the trash can in the studio bathroom and Dee Dee would find it and rat him out to John to take attention away from himself who was hiding his drugs somewhere else. It was quite a comedy sometimes.

You help a lot Sonny Vincent and Rick Blaze. How  was it working with these two punks? It seems like a great combo you and them…

I really didn't do all that much with Sonny Vincent - I just played on that one record. Rick Blaze paid me to play on his record and also do a live show or 2 with him at CBGB's. I was just doing it for the money and the fact that they liked my stuff. Rick is a bit neurotic and I never got to know Sonny that well.

Ok, let’s go now to the Waldos! I wrote about them in our magazine that the “Rent Party” sounds to these ears like the never made 2nd album of the Heartbreakers! I fuckin’ love that record! How the name came out and why you didn’t release a new Waldos album since then?

The Waldos CD came out in 1993 or 1994 and I was very proud of it. My bass player, Tony Coiro was really the driving force behind it and unfortunately he died in late 1995 of liver cancer. The other guitarist also started having serious problems with alcohol and even ended up in jail for a year or so. The band basically broke up after Tony died and I was really thinking of retiring from music because everyone I played with seemed to be dying on me - I think I lost 3 or 4 in the previous 3 years and 3 more in the following years. Todd Youth of Murphy's law convinced me to do a gig and call it The Lures ( see question # 16). The band was me, Todd, a Japanese bassist from the Hip Nips ( EZ ) and Joe Rizzo on drums. It sounded good so I kept on doing it. At the same time, Sammy Jaffa from Hanoi Rocks and now with the NY Dolls asked to play some gigs as The Waldos with me, Sammy, another Japanese guitarist ( Takto) and Joe Rizzo on drums. So here I was playing with 2 separate bands but basically playing the same songs with a few differences. Todd eventually left NYC and so I kept playing with the Waldos only Sammy left after awhile so I got the other Japanese Bassist to replace him and that is the current Waldos. We don't rehearse as much as I did with the original Waldos so I don't write as many songs as I used to - that's probably why we haven't recorded anything new after the first CD. Also the fact that it didn't sell all that much and that there are less places to play in NYC now have sort of made me depressed about the whole music scene in NY.

Long Gone John told me when I interviewed him 10 months ago, that he had in mind to re-release the “Rent Party” with bonuses and a different front cover. What happened? It will have unreleased songs in?

Long Gone John was going to release it - we even met in NYC to talk about it. He wanted me to make a DVD from old videos I had at home and also get some new photos for the cover. I sort of agreed but then realized that he wasn't offering any money for all of this and he also never gave us any royalties from the original CD. He did pay for most of the recording expenses but we never heard from him after - I had no idea if he made any money from the CD or not. I was also speaking to Little Steven's label, Renegade Nation, who wanted to release the CD also. They were offering some money to do it but I wanted more for me to be able to get the DVD done - it takes quite a bit of time and money to edit down hours of old videos to make a decent DVD. So that deal seemed to fall through also. Now I might get it released through a Swedish label I've been talking to - I'll see them when I play Stockholm later this month.

 What are your plans for the near future? A new record maybe?

My immediate plans are to play the gig in Stockholm this month and hopefully get the CD released on a Swedish Label. After that I'm not sure. There is more interest in people wanting me play mini tours in the US and Europe but they take time to do and I don't have unlimited vacation time from my job to go off and play tours that don't pay very much anyway.

One last question...You have played in the past numerous times at CBGB’s. What’s your opinion for the closing of the club? Why the city of New York didn’t make the place a part of the city’s culture?

The closing of CBGB's was a sad event but not entirely unexpected. CB's had really lost it's cachet in recent years as the home of new, indie rock but it did have a lot of historical value. New York City rarely designates cultural sites for preservation which is sad - they recognized that the place was an institution but wouldn't do anything to save it. The determining factor in the end was money - that is the god that New York worships and the people who owned the building found they could get more money by selling it to some retail chain store then by keeping it as an artistic destination. The City will eventually regret it but it's too late to change anything now. Culture in America does not have as much power as it does in Europe and certain countries in Asia which is unfortunate because we have lost alot over the years and future generation will never know about it.

" Those who don't know history are condemned to repeat it" I think it was GB Shaw or George Santayana or Oscar Wilde who said it but I'm not sure. Are we done…?

Yes Walter, thank you very much!