Writing

This Ain’t No Disco

I’m in an East Village mood today.
The sort of day where I daydream about waking up in my rat-infested loft next to my boyfriend who is lying next to his boyfriend who is lying next to a nightstand full of hypodermic needles and a vinyl of Talking Heads: 77.

When I feel pretty uninspired, I just think of all the music and art that came out of New York City in the 70’s and 80’s.
Some of it was great.
Some of it was pretentious and overhyped.
Nonetheless, people were always creating.

And that’s what I gotta do…

If you can guess everyone in the pictures below (for a few of them guess the photographer), I will give you a copy of “Low Rent: A Decade of Prose and Photographs from The Portable Lower East Side“. It’s a fantastic collection of short stories, poems, and photographs from artists who lived or live in LES.

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14 Comments

  • Reply Just Plain Tired November 15, 2010 at 4:16 pm

    I have absolutely no clue, on any of them. This makes me feel pretty dumb, which isn't necessarily new. 😉

  • Reply Emily November 15, 2010 at 5:12 pm

    Well I got David Johansen and Patti Smith, I'm pretty sure one of Andy Warhol's girls were in there too. And at the end was it David Byrne, looked like him?

  • Reply Hipstercrite November 15, 2010 at 5:22 pm

    @Just Plain Tired- I'm sure you know some of them. They are young in lots of the pics…

    @Emily- Yes on those four…

  • Reply theTsaritsa November 15, 2010 at 5:26 pm

    That one with the guy in the curlers is a Diane Arbus!!! I recognized it immediately!!

  • Reply Hipstercrite November 15, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    @Tsaritsa- OH MY GOD. You are so right! You got me on that one. I thought it was someone else's photograph. Damn Google for informing me incorrectly!

  • Reply . November 15, 2010 at 6:20 pm

    I'm glad you chose arthur russell, he's super talented and equally as awesome.

  • Reply Melanie's Randomness November 15, 2010 at 6:54 pm

    Hmm I know the last guy is the singer from Talking Heads I think. The 4th pic down I think is the guy who sings "We're feeling hot hot" who is in the Christmas carol with Bill Murray. hmmm I need to brush up on my 70's & 80's hits! =)

  • Reply Big Mark 243 November 15, 2010 at 7:19 pm

    I know some of them… most of them have been guessed already. One of the things I did think about when leaving Detroit for Nebraska (???) is the occasional brushes with greatnest and local royalty.

    For instance, I used to be a sparring partner for some Kronk fighters, even fought a few in the amateurs. It meant a lot when boxing people like Emmanuel Stewart, Thomas Hearns would spot me in grocery stores or walking downtown and give me a shout out. Kind of made me glow inside.

    The weren't the only ones. I remember a street fair in the Cass Corridor when I was spotted by a cat from the Von Bondies.

    Yeah, I am rambling… but what else can I say? I know I wanted to talk her, mainly because of all the cool pics. Living on the LES must have been cool and you needn't worry about hipster credit… you WERE the cred to the ideal of being a 'hipster', if you lived there.

  • Reply Hipstercrite November 15, 2010 at 7:49 pm

    @Outfit- I love him too. I can't believe I didn't know who he was before two years ago…Have you seen the doc about him?

    @Melanie- Ha! You are right on both accounts there. I freakin' love the movie "Scrooged".

    @Mark- Oh man! I bet you have great stories about Detroit! That sounds so cool. Will you ever move back?

  • Reply Christopher November 16, 2010 at 1:40 am

    I'm not very good at this game. I recognized the Diane Arbus pic but Tsarista totally beat me to that.

    I'm good at checkers though, you know if you ever have a checkers related contest.

  • Reply theTsaritsa November 16, 2010 at 3:38 am

    Oh no, silly google is always misinforming people. Who did it credit the photo to?

  • Reply ISRAEL CARRASCO November 16, 2010 at 8:32 am

    I want the book!!!! The bathroom chick is Patti Smith. The guy holding the Mic= Lou Reed. The dude staring out is the singer of Talking Heads. Please!

  • Reply . November 22, 2010 at 3:45 am

    Yeah that doc about Arthur Russell is so amazing. I actually lied and told Netflix that it never got sent, because I loved it so much. I'd love to get my hands on the soundtrack for it.

  • Reply Megalithic Rick November 23, 2010 at 6:40 pm

    I like Downtown 81…its great. Basquiat makes out with Blondie, and DNA performs a song or two 🙂 I need to see that Aurthur Russell movie.

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