A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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Entry from February 27, 2005
CBGB & OMFUG
CBGB's -- a now-defunct music club at 315 Bowery, at Bleecker Street, in Manhattan -- was opened in 1974 by Hilly Kristal. The club was legendary for its punk rock period in the 1970s, when it featured the Ramones. A "Joey Ramone Way" street sign is now at that Bowery/Bleecker address. CBGB's was closed in October 2006.

The meaning of CBGB & OMFUG? See the official web site's explanation below.


Wikipedia: CBGB
CBGB (Country, Blue Grass, and Blues) was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and punk-influenced bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the Patti Smith Group, Mink Deville, The Dead Boys, The Dictators, The Fleshtones, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, Blondie, and Talking Heads. In later years, it would also become known for Hardcore punk with bands such as Agnostic Front, Murphy's Law, Cro-Mags, Warzone, Gorilla Biscuits, Sick of It All and Youth of Today performing there.

The storefront and large space next door to the club served as the CBGB Record Canteen (record shop and cafe) for many years. Eventually, in the late eighties, the record store was closed and replaced with a second performance space and art gallery, named CB's 313 Gallery. The gallery went on to showcase many popular bands and singer/songwriters who played in a musical style more akin to acoustic rock, folk, jazz, or experimental music, while the original club continued to present mainly Hardcore bands and post-punk, metal, and alternative rock acts.

The club closed in October 2006. The final concert was performed by Patti Smith on Sunday October 15. CBGB Fashions (the CBGB store, wholesale department, and online store) stayed open until October 31 at 315 Bowery. On November 1, 2006 CBGB Fashions moved to 19-23 St. Mark's Place but subsequently closed in the summer of 2008.

http://www.cbgb.com/history1.htm
Hilly Kristal, owner and founder of CBGB, writes a brief history of the club that for the past twenty seven years has become synonymous with underground music. CBGB.com presents this history as it is written in sequential installments.
Installment Vol.1

The question most often asked of me is, "What does CBGB stand for?" I reply, "It stands for the kind of music I intended to have, but not the kind that we became famous for: COUNTRY BLUEGRASS BLUES." The next question is always, "but what does OMFUG stand for?" and I say "That's more of what we do, It means OTHER MUSIC FOR UPLIFTING GORMANDIZERS." And what is a gormandizer? It's a voracious eater of, in this case, MUSIC.

I can't begin to tell you how many times I've been asked those questions. Alot of people believe that OMFUG stands for something dirty, but the truth is, I felt CBGB sounded so pat that I wanted something to go with it that sounded a little uncouth, or crude.

The obvious follow up question is often "is this your favorite kind of music?" No!!! I've always liked all kinds but half the radio stations all over the U.S. were playing country music, cool juke boxes were playing blues and bluegrass as well as folk and country. Also, alot of my artist/writer friends were always going off to some fiddlers convention (blue grass concert) or blues and folk festivals. So I thought it would be a whole lot of fun to have my own club with all this kind of music playing there. Unfortunately- or perhaps FORTUNATELY- things didn't work out quite the way I 'd expected.

28 April 1974, New York Times, pg. 136:
JEREMY STEIG AND COMPANY, C.G.B.G. (sic) & Omfug, 315 Bowery, 4:30 P.M., every Sunday.

24 January 1976, New York Times, pg. 28:
CBGB Club Is Hub For Bands Playing Underground Rock

15 April 1977, New York Times, pg. 57:
But this is the new Bowery. A crowd of young people, as many as 1,000 of them, were milling about the front of a nightclub at 315 Bowery off Bleeker (sic) Street called CBGB and Omfug (the full name - Country Blue Grass Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gourmandisers - has been as forgotten by its rock partisans as the policy that gave birth to it).

(Trademark)
Word Mark CBGB & OMFUG
Goods and Services IC 042. US 100 107. G & S: Nightclub Services. FIRST USE: 19760100. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19760100
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 73480074
Filing Date May 14, 1984
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition December 4, 1984
Registration Number 1320078
Registration Date February 12, 1985
Owner (REGISTRANT) Kristal; Hillel INDIVIDUAL UNITED STATES 87 E. 3rd St. New York NEW YORK 10003
Attorney of Record BRETT GREEN
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20040708.
Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 20040708
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
Posted by {name}
New York CityMusic/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus • Sunday, February 27, 2005 • Permalink


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