Nightclubbing (some PC)

[tomhosier (Tom Hosier)]

On Friday night, I was invited by a friend to attend a screening at the Cantor Film Center in NY which was a part of a project called "The Downtown Show: The New York Art Scene 1974-84". The screening was of footage shot by Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong at various clubs and of various bands during that period. It was originally shown on "Nightclubbing" a local NYC cable access show in the early '80's. The screening was great fun and made me want to go out and start a band immediately.

Bands included in the edit they screened were:
Talking Heads ("Psycho Killer", as a trio)
Blondie ("Femme Fatale", before the boys got their haircuts)
The Heartbreakers w/ Richard Hell ("Chinese Rocks")
Dead Boys ("Search and Destroy")
Dead Kennedys
Lounge Lizards
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks
Contortions
Dead Boys w/ Divine
Stilettos w/ Tish and Snooky
Richard Hell and the Voidoids
Suicide
DNA
Iggy Pop
Levi and the Rockcats
The Cramps
The Heartbreakers
John Cale
The Offs
Max Blagg
Bush Tetras
Bad Brains
The Go-Go's
Pylon
Ballistic Kisses

During the Q&A after the screening, the filmmakers said that they always made friends with the soundmen at the venues where they shot, and got a soundboard feed. Theirs is apparently the only footage from that era with synchronized live sound. They said they were working on a DVD release for next year, so look forward to that. They shot tons of stuff, over a period of years, and said that a great deal of their footage was stolen at one point. Pat Ivers said that she was inspired to document these events by a performance by the Patti Smith Group and Television at Max's Kansas City. Ironically and unfortunately, once the project began, these two bands did not want to be filmed. A dapper Jay Dee was in attendance at the screening.

The footage of the entire Talking Heads set is up on Dime.

-Tom


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