CBGB & The Marquee - Two Great Books About Two Legendary Venues Out Oct 15
The history of rock and roll is as much about the venues that hosted shows as it is about the actual musicians. Some venues have reached iconic status and the stories of the wild events within them have become legends. Chronicling two legendary rock venues is a pair of books being released by Trouser Press.
This Ain't No Disco: The Story of CBGB by renowned rock journalist Roman Kozak explores the club that was the epicenter of punk culture in New York. The book was originally published in 1988 but has been out of print for many decades. Written when CBGB was still active and the Bowery neighborhood it resided in was still rough and gritty, This Ain't No Disco is an unrestrained account of the club.
The book has insightful quotes from the people who experienced the CBGB scene firsthand including club owner Hilly Kristal, Joey Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone (the Ramones), Clem Burke and Chris Stein (Blondie), David Byrne (Talking Heads), Jim Carroll, Willy DeVille (Mink DeVille), Annie Golden (Shirts), Richard Hell and Richard Lloyd (Television), Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group), Handsome Dick Manitoba (Dictators), Wendy O. Williams (Plasmatics) and many others.
The new Trouser Press edition of This Ain't No Disco includes a foreword by Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz, 12 pages of photography by Ebet Roberts, and two articles on the closing of CBGB in 2006.
The story of rock and roll in England centers on Wardour Street where the Marquee reigned supreme among other clubs in the trendy Soho neighborhood. Originally an Oxford street jazz club, the Marque moved to its more well-known location where it hosted shows from R&B and rock legends such as Alexis Korner, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Who, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin.
The evolution of the British music scene would result in the Marquee presenting shows by prog-rockers Jethro Tull, Yes, and Genesis. Progressive rock’s dominance in the British charts would be challenged by the iconoclastic punk movement. The Marquee would then provide a space to the new generation of bands including the Sex Pistols, Stranglers, Damned, Sham 69, and Generation X. As punk evolved into new wave, the Marquee hosted Adam and the Ants, the Jam, and the Police. The New Wave of Heavy Metal made metal gods out of Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, both of whom rocked out at the Marquee. Now internationally famous, the Marquee attracted bands the world over including AC/DC, Bryan Adams, Faith No More, Guns n’ Roses, INXS, Metallica, R.E.M., and ZZ Top all played there.
Marquee: The Story of the World’s Greatest Music Venue was co-written by pop culture journalist Robert Sellers and Nick Pendleton, the son of the club’s owner. Together they share all the crazy stories, high and low that took place at the Marquee.
Trouser Press will release both This Ain't No Disco: The Story of CBGB and Marquee: The Story of the World’s Greatest Music on October 15, 2024.
