New book of note - St. Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America’s Hippest Street by Ada Calhoun

St. Marks Place and Third Avenue, 1963, photographer unknown.

Ada Calhoun, the author of this enticing new title on the fabled stretch of 8th Street in NYC recently posted the above image of Third Avenue & Saint Marks Place on Facebook, and it caught my eye. That's how I found out, eventually, about her new book coming out in November. Count me in.

If the following quote by Calhoun (from a Q&A on her website) is any indication, this should be an excellent read!

"...In the course of three years of research, I learned that people have always said St. Marks was dead. One thing you hear a lot about the street is: “I was there when it was cool. It’s over now.” People said that in the fifties about the thirties, and in the eighties about the sixties. Whenever people say that to me I ask them to tell me the last time they stayed out until super late on St. Marks Place. I did recently and it was packed with young people having the time of their lives. I’m very suspicious of anyone who identifies the best era in a place’s history as coinciding precisely with when they were sixteen."

St. Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America’s Hippest Street:

Coming November 2, 2015, from W.W. Norton & Co. 

Pre-order from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or iBookstore

Saint Mark's Sounds To Close - Not A Surprise

Well, I hate to say it, but it was only a matter of time. Over the last several years, Sounds (on Saint Mark's Place between 2nd & 3rd Avenue) was hardly ever open, and when it was, it STILL looked closed. This morning, via an article in the Wall Street Journal, EV Grieve reports: 

"Sounds, the last of once-many record shops on the strip, recently limited its business days to Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, said Felicia De Chabris, an associate broker with Halstead Property. She said Sounds' space went on the rental market this month, with its first showings this week."

Its hard to believe if you weren't there, but at one time, this store was one of THE go-to places to buy, sell or trade, records. I still have albums with their over-sized price tags on 'em. The only way to get them off without damaging the cover was to use a blowdryer. It was a fantastic place to pick up lots of albums for a reasonable price. Or sell them if you needed the cash.

At this time, there is no further info on when the space will shut. And I'm afraid to say it, but the sad thing is, hardly anyone will notice when it does.

The Shop That Punk Built: An appreciation of Trash & Vaudeville in the NY Times

Trash & Vaudeville in 1983 through the lens of Godlis

Despite the lukewarm-at-best reviews, the new punk related fashion show at the Met is doing one thing of great benefit to many folks in my social circle: It's enabling more exposure for a lot of people who have been doing their thing for years (writers, photographers, artists, designers) without much mainstream acknowledgement: 

James Wolcott mentioned yours truly & Dangerous Minds in the May issue of Vanity Fair magazine. The Marc Jacob's owned Bookmarc in the West Village just opened a pretty widely publicized photo exhibit by many of New York's classic rock & roll photographers. And quite a few other events & stories have popped up either through planning, or serendipity. In fact there's been too many to keep up with.

Trash in front of Trash by Tim Broun

A couple of days ago the NY Times published a story about Trash & Vaudeville - the long time rock & roll clothing store located on Saint Marks Place just east of 3rd Avenue. It was nice to see, and I was glad to read a succinct history of the storied establishment. When I was 14 or 15, and making my first trip into the East Village, Saint Marks was definitely the destination - a beacon of sorts - and always has been. No matter how long I'm away from the neighborhood at any time, inevitably I'll find myself drawn to the block whenever I'm near. As long as the street, and at least Trash & Vaudeville are there, I'll know everything is ok. Of course, the same was said about CBGB, but it was too late by the time we knew it was going. Trash & Vaudeville is still here. Lets appreciate it now!

Lou Reed’s 1972 ode to hustlers, transsexuals and transsexual hustlers would alter Mr. Webb’s life. “A friend asked, ‘Do you know what it means?’ ” he recalled. “I did without knowing it. I knew I was a boy that had to leave to go somewhere.” Read the entire story here.

Sonny Vincent, Suicide, and living to tell about it

The Dogs, Distance & Suicide at The Circus, St. Marks Place, NYC, October 1971

Sonny Vincent

Sonny Vincent is one of those New York guys...the type of musician who has always been around...played the right places at the right time with the right acts, but for some reason never really made it (although you wouldn't know that from his discography). Always a part of the underground, you really need to dig a little deeper to find out about these types. And they usually have interesting stories to tell.

Thanks to Peter Dougherty for pointing me to this pretty amazing interview with Vincent over at Victim of Time. While the entire thing is definitely worth reading, it was the story about Suicide that really interested me. I've excerpted that below, but make sure you check out the entire interview right here. And keep up with Vincent's current stuff via his Facebook page and website.

What was your most lasting impression of Suicide and what was your first encounter with seeing them?

Ahhh Suicide. In the early days I would see Alan and Marty pushing gear down the street in a shopping cart, Didn’t know who they were, but it definitely looked odd seeing them walking along the sidewalk on St. Marks Place or Canal Street pushing an A&P cart with a keyboard that had no protective case sticking out of the cart. The first time I played a show with them was at a place called The Circus/Playwrights Workshop. It was originally called The Electric Circus where all the 60’s groups like Hendrix and The Doors played. Then a bit later, it was called The Dom, and Moe Tucker and Sterling Morrison told me they played there early on when it was shortly called The Balloon Farm, and also they did a lot of the Velvet Underground / Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable performances there when it was The Dom. I think Andy rented the place sometime to put on his events. (Continued after the jump.)

Electric Circus interior, 23 St Marks Place, NYC, 1967

Electric Circus interior, 23 St Marks Place, NYC, 1967. Via.

Friday Ephemera bonus - the Electric Circus

Lots of nice little things popping up today. Our friends over at All the Streets You Crossed posted an amazing collection of 1967 Electric Circus ad's this morning. A column from the Voice, dated August 31, 1967, proves one thing - the more things change, the more they stay the same: "The Electric Circus is overloaded and is not soundproofed. If the laws were enforced, it would be shut down."