David Johansen

On May 17, a week shy of the Season 11 finale of the commercial TV hit show American Idol, another major—and historically more significant—11th event, the Jazz Foundation of Americas annual Great Night In Harlem benefit show, took place at the hallowed music landmark the Apollo Theater. Read More

NEW YORK , May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Featuring over 300 bands, the CBGB Festival announces a first music line up in addition to film premieres and screenings, a distilled spirits fest and conference panels at 30 venues over the four days from July 5th to 8th, 2012 in New York City .  Focusing on new music and emerging young bands, the CBGB Festival will stay true to the original mission of the CBGB & OMFUG club that once lived on the Bowery. Read More

Cloud Nothings, Pains of Being Pure at Heart and War on Drugs are among the bands who will participate in the first CBGB music festival being produced this summer, joining a line-up that is heavy on New York groups and spans rock from the mid-1970s to today, organizers said. Read More

Is it possible that the best punk band in the world is from Tennessee? 411's C.A. Bell takes a look at the newest release from Southern glam-punkers Cheap Time. Find out if he thinks they've got what it takes. Read More

Full reviews of recent jazz performances: nytimes.com/jazz. ★ Read More

The new owners of the club's assets — some with ties to the original Bowery establishment — say they hope that the festival will revive the wide-open artistic aesthetic associated with CBGB, which in its heyday served as an incubator for influential acts like Television, the Talking Heads, the Ramones, Blondie, Sonic Youth and Patti Smith. Read More

What appears (at least to the guy who filmed it) to be footage of the New York Dolls playing at the Central Park Bandshell in 1973 is actually the Harlots Of 42nd Street fronted by Gene Harlot. Read More

To me, theres two criteria: sometimes a song is really a song, and sometimes its just a record, Johansen said. Read More

There were so many deserving bands playing in the early hours on Saturday, but fuck 'em—the first band I saw was the Black Lips , and they were worth waiting for. Read More

A new documentary on the ill-fated career of glam rocker Jobriath, Jobriath A.D. , screened last night at the BFI London Lesbian and Gay film festival and has received a very warm critical reception. [...] in this fantastically revelatory documentary by Kieran Turner, Jobriath has been thoroughly rehabilitated: as a charismatic performer in his own right, the unwitting victim of record-industry hubris, and an unlikely, reluctant martyr for gay rights. Read More