Hilly Kristal

So since we're talking about The Ramones, um, and that is a dovetail to a bunch of other bands and a time and a place, I thought it would be good to give some background on the, uh, variable institution that is CBGB's.

So CBGB's was founded in 1973 by Hilly Kristal.

Uh, CBGB opened its doors at 315 Bowery in Manhattan's East Village.

The club's full name, CBGB & OMFUG, stood for Country, Bluegrass, Blues, and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers.

I mean, it was, it was quite a time.

I was, you know, friendly with Hilly Kristal at CB's and, you know, it was a very interesting moment in, in, uh, the late '80s.

And we had everything from alternative jazz to middle-of-the-road jazz to very avant-garde, and then a lot of independent rock stuff, and Sonic Youth and first Beck shows and Indigo Girls, all that kind of stuff came through.

So what made you go from New York to LA to open a second...

And television are the band that they become almost like the house band.

So they persuade the owner, a guy called Hilly Crystal, to let them play.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're kind of bluesy.

They're not at all.

He came back with glowing reports.

He had talked to Hilly Crystal at CBGB's, who was generally positive about the possibility of booking but only if they came out for an audition first, which was kind of a problem when you live in Cleveland.

So Stiv called Joey Ramone to see if he could intervene, and Hilly gave him a regular night slot, sight unseen.

The band dropped the Frankenstein name, but did not come up with a replacement for a while.