IRT Magazine

From The Syndicate Blog. I am in shock about this news. Myself, Danny Boy and Frank McGar were there just this week on Monday and its just a terrible tragedy. I am optimistic, however, that Looney Tunes will be open for business once again sooner than later. It is one of my all-time favorite record shops and one of the last vestiges for true music fans on Long Island. The IRT sends our prayers and thoughts to Karl Jr. and Jaime. I cannot believe this. -Ed.

Looney Tunes Record Store Catches Fire

The very popular music store Looney Tunes caught fire last night. They are saying a faulty electrical cord was the source.

August 30, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LONGSTANDING LONG ISLAND INDEPENDENT MUSIC STORE, LOONEY TUNES FALLS TO OVERNIGHT FIRE

PLANS TO REBUILD THE STORE ARE ALREADY BEING DISCUSSED

West Babylon, NY: Looney Tunes, the longstanding, nationwide renowned independent record retailer experienced a devastating fire last night. The cause, arson investigators say, was a faulty extension cord.

The decimated 4,000 square foot record store has been the toast of not only its native Long Island, but also a national testimony to the perseverance of the independent music retailer. In an age when much of the general outlook seems bleak, Looney Tunes is 35 years standing. The family owned business, first opened by Karl Groeger in 1971, now run by his sons Karl, Jr and Jaime, has not only thrived over much of its years in business, but it has also boasted high profile in-store appearances such as Ice T, Ozzy Osbourne and Staind, whose 2001 rooftop in-store performance attracted 7,500 fans to the store.

The intention at press time is to rebuild Looney Tunes as soon as possible. Despite hundreds of thousands of dollars in merchandise and memorabilia including 57 autographed guitars and countless Gold and Platinum records destroyed, owner Karl Groeger, Jr, asks customers and fans, “Keep us in your prayers, but have faith that we will be back stronger than ever.” Groeger’s attitude, still positive in the wake of the devastating fire, is clearly an indication of what’s made Looney Tunes work over the years- moving forward, despite the circumstances or the climate.

Looney Tunes is a long time member of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), an organization that supports the best music stores in the country. CIMS President Don Van Cleave reflected, “Looney Tunes is one of music¹s premier stores. Their focus on serving the music fans of Long Island is legendary. We will miss their energy while they rebuild and look forward to the store being even better when it reopens.”

Music industry folks wishing to send donations for the rebuilding of Looney Tunes can address their offerings to Don Van Cleave at the Coalition Of Independent Music Stores; 3738 4th Terrace North, Birmingham, AL 35222. This can include a financial donation, autographed memorabilia or award plaques.

For more information about Looney Tunes, please visit www.looneytunescds.com

For more information about the Coalition Of Independent Music Stores, please visit: www.cimsmusic.com

HILLY KRISTAL 1930-2007

It is with great sadness that I bring to you the news of Hilly Kristal’s death, which I had just read about after being away from the computer for about a day or so.

When I met Hilly for IRT’s cover story on CBGB in the summer of 2005, he was sitting behind his famous desk right near the door of the club. Weekday afternoon TV was playing from an ancient color TV above his head and in a playpen behind his assistant’s desk was his granddaughter, laughing and smiling away as infants do in spite of the scary looking beasts of men lugging equipment into the club and the cacophonous sound of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion soundchecking behind the thick curtain separating the office from the stage and bar area.

That afternoon, he didn’t look like the man who could keep a few hundred skinhead punks in check on a Sunday afternoon with the deep, authoritative bellow of his baritone voice, but a loving grandfather waving and goofing around with his grandchild, even though he worked the phones trying to set up a festival to help save CBGB that never happened like a man a third his age.

I am truly grateful for the time I got to spend with this genuine New York rock legend, and had the chance to hear the stories he had told me for the article. Writing that piece was one of the highlights of my 10 year career as a rock journalist, and to have him shake my hand and thank me for it the next time I saw him at CBGB a few weeks after that issue was published, will be a memory I shall never soon forget.

I lost both of my own grandparents to lung cancer, and have seen firsthand the horrors of this most disgusting disease. It breaks my heart to know that Hilly went through the same thing they did, but I can tell you firsthand that cancer might be able to take away the physical form of those who we love, but it can never extinguish their legacies.

I extend my deepest condolences to the Kristal family, and want to let them know what an honor it was to have been able to spend just a little slice of face time with Hilly, one of the truly great men this city has ever known.

Anyway, Heaven seems like a much better location to re-open CBGB than Vegas anyway.

Respect,

Ron Hart

Editor and Publisher

Interboro Rock Tribune

Yes, the rumors you may have heard are true. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have a new studio album, Magic, as well as an extensive tour lined up. The album is Bruce’s first with the E Street Band since 2002’s The Rising. The fun begins on October 2, when the album is released and the Boss and Co. play their first show in Hartford CT. You can also go to itunes right now, and for the remainder of the week and download the single, Radio Nowhere, FOR FREE. If it’s any indication of what’s to follow, it’s going to be a fist pumping, guitar heavy affair. ~Shawn Schank

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band fall tour itinerary.

This is sad. It hasn’t even been a year since CB’s closed. I’m guessing this is the real end of the club and there will be no NY or Vegas re-opening, unless his family sells the rights to the name. If you’re new to the IRT and have yet to read our cover feature on CB’s, all the way back in issue 5, now’s the perfect time to download the pdf by clicking the “see past issues” link in the upper right hand corner of your screen.

~Shawn Schank

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hilly Kristal, the founder of New York punk rock club CBGB, which helped make the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads stars, has died at age 75, his daughter said on Wednesday.

Kristal died on Tuesday from complications of lung cancer, his daughter, Lisa Kristal Burgman, said.

He founded the club in 1973 hoping to showcase country music, calling it CBGB & OMFUG, for “Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gourmandizers.”

But the club drew few country acts and instead became a breeding ground for punk rock, playing host to the likes of Patti Smith, Television, Living Colour as well as countless local hopefuls that never made it to the big time.

“He loved country, but he loved music even more, and as a singer-songwriter himself, he knew rock musicians needed a place to play their own music,” his daughter said.

Marky Ramone of the Ramones said in a statement, “Hilly was an integral part of the punk scene from 1974 until his death.”

“He was always supportive of the genre,” he said. “In an era when disco was the mainstream, Hilly took a chance and gambled. The gamble paid off for both him and for us. We are all grateful to him and will miss him.”

Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, who first played CBGB in the late 1980s, said agents from recording companies often came to the club. “So many bands would have never have made records unless they came to CBGB,” he said.

Kristal was born in Manhattan but his father moved the family to Hightstown, New Jersey, soon after. He became a concert violinist by the age of 9. In the late 1950s, Kristal sang in the men’s chorus at Radio City Music Hall.

He went on to manage Manhattan jazz haunt the Village Vanguard, booking acts like trumpet player Miles Davis. He opened a bar that served sandwiches, such as the Hilly burger, that later became CBGB.

Kristal lost a battle last year to stop CBGB from being evicted. Its last shows in October featured Patti Smith and Blondie’s Debbie Harry. The club’s clothing store, CBGB Fashions, remains open a few blocks from the original club.

“He wanted the club to survive him,” his daughter said. “He is survived by the fans and bands that played there.”

Well, at long last, here is the new issue of IRT for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

http://www.irtmag.com/issues/irt-9.pdf

From Billboard.com

Bob Dylan Location: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach) Event Date: June 29, 2007

August 02, 2007,

Dylan Does Right By Long Island With Rarity-Flecked Set

Ron Hart, N.Y.

Anyone who has ever seen Bob Dylan perform in concert over the last 20-odd years knows the rock icon only works in two speeds live: on or off. So it was with great trepidation that we took our seats for his first show there since a 1999 double bill with Paul Simon.

But on this gorgeous, crisp June evening underneath the big orange moon illuminating the water behind the stage, Dylan and his band were most certainly “on” at this juncture, playing what one blogger on the popular “Dylan Pool” Web site hailed as “the greatest set list ever!” Kicking off with “Cat’s in the Well,” his standard tour opener as of late, Bob was in excellent voice, reaching a timbre that floated somewhere between his old school nasal delivery and the gruff Tom Waits-ian growl he has acclimated his vocal chords to in recent years.

And his longtime touring band were nothing short of outstanding, proving to this that this well-dressed ensemble of musicians Dylan has been on the road through most of the decade with is his strongest and best since the mid-’70s.

Sure, they broke out some of the standard warhorses they’ve been playing since this particular tour began: a great, traditional spin on “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”, “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”, “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding),” a scorching version of “Highway 61 Revisited,” a simply sublime country waltz revision of “Blowin’ in the Wind” and a defiant rip through “All Along The Watchtower”, which closed out the two-hour-long show.

However, newer additions to the catalog, like “Thunder on the Mountain,” “Summer Days,” “Things Have Changed” and the beautiful “Moonlight” were just as highlight-worthy as the classics.

But what really made this Jones Beach show truly shine were the surprise inclusions on the set list, most notably the phenomenal full-band rearrangement of “Visions of Johanna” and a lucid reading of “Shelter From the Storm,” both of which were enhanced by Dylan’s spot-on harmonica accompaniment. He also threw in a rare spin on the “Time Out of Mind” nugget “Till I Fell in Love With You” as a heavy blues rocker.

In all, an “on” moment that, for longtime fans, was probably akin to hitting the concert lottery.

RY COODER

My Name is Buddy (Nonesuch)

MAVIS STAPLES

We’ll Never Turn Back (Anti-)

Ry Cooder continues to bank upon the resurgence he enjoyed 10 years ago with Buena Vista Social Club and Talking Timbuktu by celebrating his decade back in the national spotlight by returning to the swampy R&B sounds that made him a rock legend in the first place. Flanked by appearances by Van Dyke Parks and Pete Seeger, My Name Is Buddy is a concept album involving the plight of the American working class through the voices of a toad, a mouse and a cat named Buddy through a collection of songs that instantly recalls Cooder’s early albums like Into The Purple Valley and Boomer’s Story. As much as his Spanish stuff was fun and all, it is definitely great to hear Ry guy get his hands dirty in our native soil once again. For more Cooder action, refer directly to his outstanding production work on Staple Singer Mavis Staples’ label debut on Epitaph’s roots/rock imprint Anti-. Though this whole talking R&B thing Mavis seems to be using as a crutch for her once-mighty vocal powers gets to be a bit annoying, hearing Cooder’s mighty guitar work laying that bed down is well worth the 30 seconds it’ll take to download it off iTunes. –Patch Atomz

MATT SHULMAN

So It Goes (Jaggo)

So It Goes is the perfect example of how you should never judge a book, or an album, by its cover, as the old cliché says.  From the sound of this wild set, which really does live up to its Chet Baker-meets-Radiohead comparative hype, you would think music like this would be graced by artwork akin to something you would see on Impulse in the late 60’s or early 70’s.  But instead, you get a glam shot of trumpeter and loop enthusiast Shulman rocking a shirt that looked like something my stepmother used to force me to wear to middle school.  Whats up with that? –Grover Cleveland