Shot By: Allan Tannenbaum

Lenny Kaye, working at Bleecker Bob's then Village Oldies at 170 Bleecker Street, NYC, 1974. By Allan Tannenbaum.

End of An Era: A Tribute To Bleecker Bob's

Tomorrow marks the end of an era: For myself, for record buyers & music fans around the world. After 30 years at 118 West Third Street in New York, NY, (not to mention the years before that in a couple of other locations - almost 50 in total!) Bleecker Bob's Golden Oldies will be closing its doors. Of course there's a chance that they'll rally, and really get that new, hoped for space, somewhere in the East Village (or somewhere), and I hope they do. But, stating the obvious, it's the end of an era. Continued after the jump. 

View from the front looking at the back of the store.

Bleecker Bob's to close Saturday 4/13

Bob's long time store manager, Chris W, strikes a pose

This just in from the Bleecker Bob's Facebook page:  

ONLY 5 days left!!!!!
get to Bleecker Bob's NOW!!!
we're closing this Saturday April 13!!!

Stay tuned for more info as it becomes available. There's a chance they'll be moving to a new location at some point.

So long, farewell, Bleecker Bobs

I'm a couple of days late here, but wanted to mention Bleecker Bobs announcement of their closing sale which started Thursday - two days ago. As per their Facebook page:

thursday 3/14/13
well folks, very sorry but.....
Bleecker Bob's
C-L-O-S-I-N-G S-A-L-E
starts today!!!!!

Below is a scene, shot in the store, from a 1985 film called No Picnic. Its right around the time I started working there, and my friend Russ can be seen in it...the music is by NYC garage band, the Raunch Hands.

Bleecker Bobs update

This just in from Bleecker Bob's Facebook page:  

STORE UPDATE:: 3/6/13
looks like the new tenant has signed the lease. we've heard they want to be open by June 1. it will take probably around 2 months to get work permits for the massive remodeling job they'll need to do so we're figuring we should be open until May 2013!!
---get ready for another chain of self serve yogurt/coffee/hot chocolate cafes NYC!!

In the meantime, New Yorkers should keep an eye out for future screenings of For The Records — The Legacy and Lessons of Bleecker Bob’s. As stated over at the website for the Greenwich Village Society For Historical Preservation, "...the documentary film by Emily Judem and Hazel Sheffield explores Bleecker Bob’s impending closure and the nature of change and development in an urban setting.  It also showcases the history of the shop and its connection to the downtown movements from the Village’s folk scene through punk, new wave and alternative music.  In fact, the event was so popular that we will be re-screening the film in the August (stay tuned for more details!)."

No word on whether or not this film has anything to do with the short doc that surfaced last year, The Final Days of Bleecker Bobs. Watch it again below.

Another West Village rent increase victim: Bleecker Street Records to close in April? Tropicalia In Furs closed now!

Bleecker Street Records, 239 Bleecker Street, New York, NY (photo source)

According to a recent report by 1010 WINS, Bleecker Street Records will be most likely be closing its doors in April due to that all-too-often occurring reason these days - a rent increase. According to the report, ...1010 WINS’ Carol D’Auria reported the store will probably close in April, because the new landlord plans to jack up the rent to $27,000 a month. Chris Simunek believes that trend is ruining the Village.

“It’s absurd,” he said. “You know, what’s going to go in there is a Starbucks or something , or just something that we already have plenty of.” 

So it seems we'll be bidding yet another New York record store farewell, possibly around the same time that Bleecker Bob's goes away. Obviously, this is not the first or last time we'll hear this story. If you currently have a favorite record store, you'd better hope they have a long term lease, and a really good business emergency plan, in place.



UPDATE: Courtesy of EV Grieve comes the news, just posted today, that East Village vinyl spot, Tropicalia In Furs, has also closed its doors. Located across the street from the now-relocated-to-Los Angeles Gimme Gimme Records, they specialized in an interesting selection of Brazilian, garage, and punk rock from the sixties & seventies.

Bleecker Bobs: more on the closing

Bleecker Bobs facebook page announced Saturday that the storied record shop has possibly 2-3 more months to go, but that they will definitely be closing early in 2013. The chatter began as early as this past January when it was mentioned in the NY Times. Click here for previous Bleecker Bobs related posts. Read more over at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York.

Ex-Tuff Dart and all around good dude, John DeSalvo, behind the counter at Bobs

The Final Days of Bleecker Bobs (updated)

 For a nice appreciation of the iconic record store, Bleecker Bobs, visit Capital New York here (or watch below) for a brand new 30 minute documentary. Unfortunately there isn't any info on what will happen with the film, or where it will be available. The store is not gone yet, but it seems to be only a matter of time. As an alumnus of the shop, I can honestly say it changed my life working there, and I'll never forget it.

"When Bob Plotnik quit law to open up a record store in Greenwich Village in the '60s, the only thing he wanted was to get hold of his favorite street doo-wop records ahead of everyone else. He couldn’t have known that the store would still be there nearly 50 years later—that it would survive the introduction of cassettes, CDs and MP3s, outlast CBGB, even stay open after Bob had a huge stroke and handed the store over to his colleagues to run." Continued here.

‎"Full global reach can only be a matter of time."

 What a hell of a rollercoaster week...or at least the last two days. It started with the news of at least some sort of CBGB festival this summer, if not a full blown relaunch. Then came the news that Bleecker Bobs is being replaced by a Starbucks, and it must be going out of business, right? And oh yeah, by the way, the Holiday Cocktail Lounge is closing. Last call is Saturday night. Then today came a rumor that Bleecker Bobs may not be closing...they're supposedly looking for a new space in the East Village.

Also today, something I've been waiting on...Mojo magazine mentioned the Vinyl District Record Store Locator app in the news section of their brand new issue, March 2012. For me this is a great personal validation. I've read almost every issue of Mojo since they started when...18, 19 years ago? Anyway, I'm simply thrilled, honey. Thanks to Andrew Male of Mojo for noticing, and thanks to Phil Wilson for the JPEG today. And of course, thanks to Justin Bieber for having his picture taken with an iPhone so Mojo could use it for this piece...I love celebrity endorsements!

‎"Full global reach can only be a matter of time." Indeed.

Bleecker Bobs: A story to follow

Looks the Bleecker Bobs saga will be one to keep an eye on. According to Jeremiah & Ken, they are currently shopping for a new space, possibly in the East Village. Let's hope they find it:

"...not sure who this reporter spoke to since he doesn't mention anyone by name, but Bleecker Bob's is currently looking at spaces in the east village. we are definitely NOT planning to close. please email us at bleeckerbobs@yahoo.com with any leads on storefront. thanks and stay tuned."

This morning's NY Times carried news of the demise of Bob's West Third Street location.

Bleecker Bob's saying goodbye?

 Greenwich Village Daily Photo & Jeremiah's Vanishing NY report the following:

Sweet suffering Christ, when will it end? Ken Mac over at Greenwich Village Daily Photo just reported the staggering news that Bleecker Bob's record store is becoming a Starbucks.

He writes on his blog, "I walked into Bob's the other morning and asked him straight up, 'Is a Starbucks moving in here?' He replied 'Maybe,' not 'absolutely not!' The manager of Cafe Reggio confirms the Starbucks takeover of Bob's space, adding 'Starbucks will take 30% of our business. All the NYU kids want their mocha frappuccino.'"

Killing two birds with one stone, Starbucks?

Friday Ephemera - Tuesday Night, Sept. 1977

 

Ten page zine that was around in the mid 70's in NY. This issue includes some Anya Phillips related stuff, a cool top 10 chart for 45's and LP's sold at Bleecker Bobs, plus some other fun stuff. Download a PDF of the entire issue here.

Via PCL LinkDump.

Watch the Closing Doors: Kris Needs remembers living in NYC

 As mentioned a couple of weeks ago,  beginning on June 20, the Year Zero label will begin releasing an amazing series of compilations covering a history of music in New York in the 20th century called Watch the Closing Doors. All lovingly compiled & notated by UK music writing great Kris Needs, volume one will cover the years 1945-1959. I had mentioned in the initial post that Kris & I had worked together at Bleecker Bobs Records on West 3rd Street for a couple of years in the mid 80's. As a special exclusive to Stupefaction, Kris was kind enough to put together this list of his top memories of living here at the time. And wouldn't you know? It was exactly like this! BIG THANKS to Kris for the contribution! For more info on these releases visit the Year Zero/Future Noise website.

10 NEW YORK MOMENTS FROM THE 80s by Kris Needs

 

1. The magnificent Danceteria on 21st Street was, literally, my first stop on my first visit to New York; straight from the airport! I was there with the Specimen and Bat Cave, which we were preparing to take around the US. The tour, and Danceteria itself, were booked by a lady called Ruth Polsky, who opened up the city and US for British new wave bands. Ruth, who was tragically killed by a runaway cab in 1986, was lovely, showing us around this amazing, multi-floored club where Madonna worked in the cloak-room and they had different floors for rock, disco, hiphop and the world’s first video-adorned chill out bar. I remember thinking, ‘One day all clubs will be like this’…

2. Walking into CBGBs for the first time, thinking, ‘Is this where it all happened?’, then watching amazing sets by Certain General and the Band Of Outsiders [two criminally overlooked downtown bands]. A few weeks later the two bands joined forces to form the Dead Rabbit Gang and I ended up singing with them on that hallowed stage. Both groups became friends, helping me immeasurably while I was there, so I returned the favour by bringing them to the UK [and will be featuring them on future WTCD sets]. Seeing Suicide there a few years later remains one of the greatest gigs I’ve ever witnessed; the perfect soundtrack to the city, which had not yet been sand-blasted by gentrification.

3. Hitting the Paradise Garage at some unknown hour early in the morning, stumbling into one of the most incredible atmospheres I’ve ever encountered at a club, bodies screaming, cavorting and utterly unified by the guy behind that huge DJ consol; Larry Levan at full throttle. When he played The Clash, the place erupted. The acid house revolution had yet to erupt so this was like nothing I’d seen before in my whole life.


4. My first foray down the subway, at Union Square station. There was a distant rumble in the tunnel before the number six train came roaring in, screeching and sparking, covered top to bottom in full car graffiti. From then on, I rode the subway just to look at this mobile art gallery, met some writers and started doing it myself [hence the sleeve art on my compilation!].

 5. Hiphop was in the process of busting out and progressing alarmingly with the introduction of samplers and drum machines. One night, this new outfit called Run DMC were playing at Danceteria; a new, stripped down sound and charismatic group who I would experience under riot conditions at Madison Square Gardens a few years later.

6. It was always good to catch up with friends in visiting UK bands, seeing how they went down in NYC and often writing about them for Creem. These included Big Audio Dynamite, the Cult, Billy Idol, Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction. When I first lived in the city I was hanging out with Rick Rubin a lot and he nearly signed the last bunch to Def Jam!

 

7. Hearing New York radio for the first time. To me, the city wasn’t just about great bands and venues, it was the whole experience, sound-tracked by the incredible 24 hour black music radio stations; KISS FM, WBLS and KTU and their astonishing master-mixes. Tapes of these stations were like gold dust back in London, so Ruth found it highly amusing when I made straight for the radio, plonked a cassette in her sound system and recorded relentlessly. First thing I caught was a master-mix of Grandmaster Flash’s ‘White Lines’ and Liquid liquid’s ‘Cavern’. I was just sitting there with my mouth hanging open, listening to the future. Then I decorated the cassettes with paint markers to look like subway cars. I was in rather deep!

8. Standing next to cool DJ Red Alert in some club as he cut and scratched his way through a set for the 1989 New Music Seminar. That year, I assistant-edited a magazine called Dance Music Report, which was published by Tommy Boy. It was brilliant spending a year in the eye of NY’s hiphop hurricane; watching De La Soul’s rise from close quarters, coming in to the office to find Afrika Bambaataa sitting at my desk, charting the rise of acid house and getting sent mountains of juicy vinyl!

 9. George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars at the Harlem Apollo. I first interviewed this all-time hero for a P-Funk edition of DMR, coinciding with his first album released on Prince’s Paisley Park label. Around this time, he played an amazing gig at the Palladium on 14th Street; three hours of pure, uncut Funk euphoria. However, the big one was going to see him again a couple of months later at Harlem Apollo. I’d always wanted to see this landmark in New York’s musical history, which obviously figures regularly in my series, and it didn’t disappoint, despite Harlem still being rather hairy at that time. Needless to say, George, Garry Shider and co rose to the occasion. The man would provide another great NY moment in 1994 when I was over with Primal Scream, who I was now DJing for and were recording an MTV spot with George as the two had recently joined forces. Sparks [and many other things] were flying!

 10. Buying a spider-skull ring off Tim B. of this very parish when we both braved working at Bleecker Bob’s record store [itself with some great moments, even alongside the incessant bullying, but rather hazy at the end!]. The ring’s there for good as a symbol of my time living in New York, haven’t taken it off since [Also, it’s stuck!].