Five by Five: Year End Favorites, Part 1

I put out the call to some friends for a simple list of five favorites from the year...anything: events, concerts, recordings, personal moments, whatever. The title is in honor of the first responder, Andrew Loog Oldham, being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A big congratulations to him! This is the first of three installments.

ALO by Ambrea Dean

Andrew Loog Oldham -

1. Shambhala Mountain Center. "Chi-Gung, meditation, 12-step seminar," December 5th-8th MM13 with Kevin Griffin & Greg Pergament.

2. Re-watching Lou Reed's BERLIN directed by Julian Schnabel

3. Catching the hype as opposed to the content of David Bowie's THE NEXT DAY

4. Catching, finally, Wayne Wang's SMOKE with Harvey Keitel & William Hurt

5. HOUSE OF CARDS w/Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright...

RB, Mudd, 1979

Richard Boch - Top 5 Meals at Dave's Luncheonette, Canal Street NYC 1979-80:

5. Eggs Over, Potatoes, White Toast, Extra Grease

4. Eggs Over, Potatoes, White Toast, Extra Grease, Coffee

3. Hot Dog with Mustard To Go

2. Hot Dog with Mustard, Onions, Sauerkraut To Go

1. Two Hot Dogs with Mustard, Onions, Sauerkraut and a Vanilla Egg-cream ~ the second Dog eaten on the front steps of the Mudd Club

Delphine Blue - Top 5 Non-Brooklyn events:

Delphine at by Janette Beckman

Mark & Cetera, Santo's Party House, 4/17/13 - Mark Kamins' sudden passing in February knocked the club music world on its ass. The party to celebrate him was an ecstatic night featuring 19 DJs and the first performance by Konk since 1986, not to mention Coati Mundi, Johnny Dynell, Lady Miss Kier and many others. Everyone swore they saw Mark in the crowd, more than once....

The Clocktower closing party 11/23/13 - Our out-going Mayor sells the municipal building known as The Clocktower (designed by Stanford White), home to the Clocktower Gallery since 1973 and Art on Air Internet Radio. Before its conversion to condos the farewell party was an orgy of art and music and an amazingly cool looking crowd. Alanna Heiss who ran this little arts mecca made her farewell toast on the spiral staircase to the clock. The party featured a sunset dance on the roof by legendary Butoh dancer Min Tanaka.

Lou Reed Memorial, Apollo Theater 12/16/13 - A beautiful touching, intimate, and at times very funny memorial designed by Laurie Anderson featuring Lou's tai chi master Ren Guangyi as well as Hal Willner, Jenni Muldaur, Philip Glass, Emily Haines, Patti Smith etc. plus amazing film clips. Everyone floated out the door when it ended, entirely uplifted.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Beacon Theater 3/29-3/30 - So intensely amazing that I only went one night. To see it a second night might have lead to a sensory overdose.

Peter Hook and The Light Webster Hall, 9/13/13 - The infamous feud between the original members of New Order prevented fans from seeing all the players together. New Order played outdoors in Brooklyn on 7/24/13 bringing fans a lot of joy. But Peter Hook has been touring Joy Division's albums with his own band since 2010. This show featured the entire New Order albums Movement and Power Corruption and Lies. There was a lot of 'fuck you, here's how we do it' making for a blisteringly hot performance.

Kate With Bob Marley

Kate Simon - Here are 5 showbiz biographies that filled me with joy:

Under a Hoodoo Moon: The Life of the Night Tripper

by Mac Rebennack & Jack Rummel

Rage To Survive: The Etta James Story

by David Ritz & Etta James

Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra

by George Jacobs & William Stadiem

The Peter Lawford Story: Life With the Kennedys, Monroe and the Rat Pack

by Patricia Seaton Lawford

Lucky Me: My Life With and Without My Mom, Shirley MacLaine

by Sachi Parker & Frederick Stroppel

Laura self-portrait

Laura Levine

May 1

September 26

February 20

March 14

August 2

Ruts DC shot by Laura Levine

Photographer Laura Levine posted this great photo of Ruts DC on her Facebook page yesterday. The band are enjoying a post-photo shoot cup of tea in Laura's kitchen in Chinatown, NYC, circa 1982. You may remember these cool shots of the band from around the same time, by Godlis, which I posted about a year ago. Be sure to visit the Ruts DC website, and check out their fantastic new album Rhythm Collision Vol. 2.

Just Daisy! Daisy checks out the Just Chaos! opening at Bookmarc

Our pal, Daisy, who usually checks in once in a while with her Letters From London, happens to be in NYC this week. Last night she attended the opening of the Just Chaos! photo show at Bookmarc in the west village. Here's what she had to say:

Met lots of punk rockers last night - ahem… maybe I shouldn't have started with the word "MET". Did you read the reviews of the Gala at the Metropolitan Museum's annual fundraiser Costume Ball the other day?  Someone on TV actually asked Vivienne Westwood who she was wearing,  and they didn't mean her Bradley Manning jewellery.

I read about the Gala in the Costa Coffee lounge at Heathrow. They have free newspapers. The Times of London loved it: "Crowns are the new Tiara's," they wrote. The Daily Mail hated it (probably because Lady Diana is dead and couldn't be there).  

I am a bit confused about it all.  It's not like the designers were meant to re-create 1976, were they?
I thought Madonna's outfit with her signature crucifix on her bottom was trying hard, and please, someone, give Sarah Jessica Parker something to eat.

Bookmarc is a clean and bright corner bookshop owned by Marc Jacobs. Yes the fashion designer.  I am glad he has a bookshop.  He used to work for Louis Vuitton.  Now there are 200 Marc Jacob stores in 80 countries. This show was organised by Roberta Bayley who invited Punk Photographers:  Janette Beckman, Stephanie Chernikowski, Laura Levine, Julia Gorton, Eileen Polk, Marcia Resnick, Lee Black Childers, Danny Fields, Godlis, Bobby Grossman, Bob Gruen, Chris Stein and Joe Stevens, to put a few photos each in the store windows and amongst the punk rock literature inside.

Sofia Coppola tins of wine and Pelligrino were served.

Because I had been a little thrown by the torrential rain in the morning, but decided to visit the local thrift shop to see if they had anything interesting, $15 got me a pair of red tartan trousers.  Perfect!
I didn't see a pair of converse at the show but I did have a wonderful time - this included:

John Leyland & Andy Schwartz

Speaking with John Leyland (nee SPIN now NYT) about going to the punk show at the Met.  We both hoped the Gala was successful even if the punk exhibit fails. I saw Leee Black Childers (another Warhol Factory man) but we couldn't chat because he was being interviewed all evening pretty much.

Randy Haecker

I admired Laura Levine's photographic career and she told me how she organises events at her shop upstate called The Mystery Spot.

Randy Haecker told me he's working on a Clash Box Set (I forget how many discs but there are quite a lot).  He had a Marc Jacobs bag and when asked to show-and-tell he didn't produce a shirt or a tie, but a book, nicely wrapped, by photographer SHEILA ROCK.  Sheila just had a book launch in London.

I met a real-life ballgirl for the Phillies baseball team:  Ms. Ronnie Norpel.  She's even written a book called Baseball Karma & The Constitution Blues. 

Howie Pyro & Jahn Xavier

I met Howie Pyro who told me his punk rock flyer collection is still up in the Bowery Electric and will be for a few more weeks. 

I stood with Jahn Xavier who could name most of the people on the sidewalk from his youth - and I mean YOUTH.  He was 16 when he played bass for Richard Hell.. he named the CBGB's waitresses amongst others...

My Smoking Life

I met a Jewish-Norwegian man who had given up smoking three days ago.  WELL DONE.  I may have said, it's a bit of a mystery why we smoke, isn't it? And he produced a typed - on a TYPEWRITER - paper - why he liked smoking.

The Huff Post team lead by Mark Sax were on the sidewalk.

Handsome Dick Manitoba and Handsome son Jake were present. 

Handsome Jake & Handsome Dick

It was warm.  It got dark.  Godlis took a last look at the window before heading off to his neighbourhood.

Someone said, "I can't believe I'm nearly 60."

"You have such great skin."

Someone else said, "That's because we don't go out in daylight.  Rock and roll isn't a daylight thing".

I hopped the uptown train with a good friend.  We talked about Dylan, and people we knew, and how we are going to raise some funds of our own, without mentioning google, internet, like it was 1976.

See more photos of the event here.

From left: Julia Gorton, Laura Levine, Bob Gruen, Godlis, Stephanie Chernikowski, Bobby Grossman, Marcia Resnick, Roberta Bayley, and Leee Black Childers.

Friday Ephemera - Laura Levine

Club 57 membership card, and NYPD press ID card courtesy of Laura Levine

Last Night's Opening: Laura Levine and Rude & Reckless

Last night was an interesting one for anyone into the nostalgia trip for the mid-70's to mid-80's period of punk/new wave/post punk music and art. At the New Museum, there was the late-reported Gray two-set show. And at the Kasher Gallery was the long awaited opening for two exhibits: The Laura Levine: Musicians photography show, and the Rude and Reckless: Punk/Post Punk Graphics 1976-1982 collection. As planned I attended the shindig at the Kasher Gallery, and was glad I made it.

The gallery, a beautiful space thats just the right size, would make any exhibit look good...not that these two needed any help. More after the break.

Laura Levine: Musicians - photography exhibit opens in July

Alan Vega, 1983

Back in May, I brought you news of a wonderful looking punk & new wave art show opening at Steven Kasher Gallery in July (July 21 - NOT the 14th as previously reported - thru August 19) - Rude and Reckless: Punk/Post Punk Graphics 1976-82. Well, we're in for a real treat because now, in conjunction with this show, the gallery will be also be presenting at the same time Laura Levine: Musicians. Laura's work is up there on the upper tier of music photographers - especially of the late 70's into the 80's ilk. One classic shot of classic artists after another - her collection of work is really something else. To follow is the info on the show. Be sure to get yourself down to the Kasher Gallery on West 23rd between July 21 and August 19 for both of these very very promising shows.

Glenn Branca, 1981

 "Laura Levine's photos are as vividly alive as the music of her subjects. Sometimes when you catch them out of the corner of your eye you'd swear they actually move." - Luc Sante

Steven Kasher Gallery is pleased to present Laura Levine: Musicians, an insider’s look at the artists at the forefront of rock, punk, indie rock, post-punk, hip-hop, New Wave, and No Wave. This is the first one-person gallery exhibition featuring Levine’s photography, including her vintage gelatin silver prints - many one of a kind. The show will feature over 35 vintage and modern prints.

Laura Levine: Musicians is being presented at Steven Kasher Gallery in conjunction with our exhibition Rude and Reckless: Punk/Post-Punk Graphics, 1976-82, the first New York exhibition surveying the extraordinary diversity of punk and post-punk graphic design.

Levine is highly esteemed as a photographer and documentarian of the downtown NYC, London and Los Angeles music scene in the 1980s and early 90s. Her portraits of such seminal figures as Bjork, R.E.M., the Clash, Afrika Bambaataa, Tina Weymouth, DNA, the Ramones, Beastie Boys, Iggy Pop, Chrissie Hynde, Joan Jett, Madonna, and many others are valued for their unpretentious intimacy and emotional power.

Exene & John Doe (X), 1982

Levine was the Chief Photographer and Photo Editor of the important underground paper New York Rocker. She published frequently in the Village Voice, Sounds, Rolling Stone, Spin, the New York Times, Trouser Press, and Creem. She worked for numerous record labels. Levine enjoyed wide access to musical greats, many of whom became close friends.

During the 1980s Levine was active in the downtown NYC gallery scene, showing frequently at East Village galleries such as the Fun Gallery and Bridgewater Gallery. More recently, Levine’s work was shown at Museum of Modern Art, where ten photographs were showcased in the exhibition Looking at Music 3.0. Other recent shows include Vivienne Westwood 1980-1989 at The Museum at FIT, and Backstage Pass: Rock and Roll Photography at the Portland Museum of Art. Her work is part of a current traveling exhibition Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present, originating at the Brooklyn Museum.

Levine’s photographs are in the collections of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Jerome de Noirmont, Michael Zilkha and many more.

Johnny Feedback (Kraut), 1982

In 1994 Levine stopped shooting. Her primary focus has evolved into a cross-disciplinary visual practice spanning painting, illustration and animation to directing music videos and documentary film. It is only recently she decided to revisit her photography archives.

Laura Levine: Musicians will be on view from July 21st through August 19th, 2011. Steven Kasher Gallery is located at 521 W. 23rd St., New York, NY 10011. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm.

Laura Levine

Dagnammit, that's what I get for putting off a post for a week or so. EV beats me to the punch.

Friend of Stupefaction, thrift shop proprietor & photographer Laura Levine, has a three part interview running over at Rock Critics. And of course, besides the great conversation are some wonderful photos as well.


"Annabella Lwin/Bow Wow Wow (1981, NYC) - She was lovely. She must have been all of sixteen at the time. (The less said about the boys in the band the better)."


"The Clash (1981, NYC) - The Clash took over Bond's (a former clothing store turned nightclub) in Times Square for an entire week in June, with different opening acts every night.. I went five of those seven nights and saw everyone from the Slits to ....oh gosh, everyone - open for them. Because I was shooting them for the cover of Sounds, I was granted plenty of access. We shot this on the rooftop."