Things have been awfully quiet 'round these parts recently, and I'm not completely sure thats going to change much in the immediate. I'm reserving the right to play it by ear.
In the meantime, the end of this calendar year is turning out to be quite the doozy with Lemmy leaving the building, and just a few minutes ago, John Bradbury of the Specials going as well. Life is hard, and then it gets harder.
If you're so inclined, please keep up with my current goings on at my much more active places:
1979 and 1980, Mudd Club, 77 White. Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane” (live version, Rock ’n Roll Animal), “Public Image” PiL, “The Lost Sheep” Adrian Munsey—baaaa baaaaaaa baaaaaaaa—clearing the dance floor at 4AM. Anita Sarko’s spinning records and I’m working the door; that’s when and where we became friends. Early mornings, her place on Jones Street, more music and whatever else was lying around. A sharp wit, Anita’s sweet and not too scary, still beautiful at 9AM. The daybreak hours gone, I walk out into the sunshine morning: dark glasses, a cigarette, brain cells still burning. I’m heading home, having a laugh, knowing we’d both be back for another round, another night on White Street.
Anita left her job at Mudd before I did. Thirty-six years came and went fast. I missed her then. I miss her now.
Richard Boch Below, Anita discusses the early days of her career with videographer Merrill Aldighieri in 2013 - they worked together at Hurrah.
Peter Dougherty RIP. I took this pic a few years back at an event in NYC (L-R: Peter, Don Letts, Bob Gruen).
Peter constantly surprised me with the depth & range of musical tastes. Although I didn't know him until the last 10 years or so, he always treated me like an old friend. He was one of the few (the only?) Americans who I could discuss the career of Davey Henderson in depth with. And he was friends with the Pop Group! Every once in a while I'd get an email from him with a download of a live Orange Juice recording, or something just as interesting.
He was a big part of getting Yo! MTV Raps on the air, as well as launching MTV Europe. He directed videos for the Pogues and others. He & his brother Paul are well known in the downtown NYC crowd for their archives of countless live recordings & ephemera - much of which is now housed in the Downtown Collection at NYU's Fales Library.
I'm glad I got to spend a day with him just a few months back. He showed me around his house proudly showing off what hung in the walls - an amazing array of posters & artwork of a life well lived and passion pursued. You'll be missed Peter.
