Each Fall and Spring semester, Village Preservation offers a Continuing Education Course for Real Estate Professionals. Designed to fulfill all legal requirements for the compulsory 22.5 hours of continuing ed credits for real estate licensees, the course is also open for the general public to audit at a discounted rate. Our home base for the […]
Talking Heads frontman David Byrne was 23 years old when he and his band took the stage for the first time at the legendary CBGB. It was June 5, 1975, and the Talking Heads – just one year old as a band – were opening for the Ramones. History tells us that there were about […]
This is part of a series of curated tours to help the public explore the buildings and history shared on our recently-launched East Village Building Blocks site — see it here. From 19th-century concert halls to punk palaces of the 1970s, many influential music scenes got their start or found a home among the East Village’s legendary music venues. […]
The Village’s misfits, we know quite well, are very dedicated, special kinds of misfits. Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground certainly fall into this category. Everyone remembers when they were unknown, fighting for their unusual sounds and visions, giving voice to the fringes of NYC culture. That’s where Lou Reed could be found. August 23rd, […]
Buddy Holly (Charles Hardin Holley) was born on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas. He was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and producer who was one of the pioneers of Rock and Roll as it emerged in the 1950s. His impact on music and musicians resonates to this day, and those who cite him as […]
Today, 105 Second Avenue is a bank. The city moves on and overtakes what used to be at a given spot pretty quickly, but maybe you know that 105 Second Avenue was the home of the legendary Fillmore East from 1968 until 1971. It’s a narrow building with a brick facade and a domed roof, […]
Who doesn’t know the opening notes? Who can’t recognize the wild, seething energy behind them? Who hasn’t seen his face, wavering with smoke and mystery? We heard him at concerts and celebrations all over the world. We watched and heard those first stark notes at Woodstock. We see him in his bright, colorful outfits. We […]
On November 8, 1972, Walk on the Wild Side, Lou Reed’s classic paean to downtown New York, and some of the more prominent characters that occupied that space and time, was released. the original single At the time, Walk on the Wild Side was groundbreaking in many ways — musically, lyrically, thematically. Though it’s now comfortably […]
David Bowie’s plastic soul-funk hit “Fame,” his first (and one of only two) American number one singles and a biting cautionary tale about success and excess in the entertainment business, was released on July 25th, 1975. The song is considered a classic of the era, and is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 […]
Famed Rock n Roll legend and Greenwich Village icon, Lou Reed, was born on March 2, 1942.Reed grew up on Long Island and moved to New York City at the early age of twenty and co-founded the groundbreaking band the Velvet Underground with fellow musician John Cale. From a previous Off the Grid post on […]
Lou Reed’s classic paean to downtown New York and some of the more prominent characters that occupied that space and time, Walk on the Wild Side, was released on November 8, 1972. At the time, Walk on the Wild Side was groundbreaking in many ways — musically, lyrically, thematically. Though it’s now comfortably middle-aged, the song […]
We have two great birthdays in the world of punk to mark. The two celebrants straddle the East and West Village, and both sides of the Atlantic.
The Ramones sprung onto the scene in mid-1974, revolutionizing rock music and performance by reinjecting energy, simplicity, and humor into a genre which had become increasingly serious, self-important, and bloated. In the midst of presidential scandals and resignations, urban decay, and disintegrating social fabric, the Ramones called for a new order based upon three chords, […]
On December 13, 1975, Patti Smith’s album ‘Horses’ was released. Simply put, music was never the same again.
You don’t have to live in the Village to celebrate the birthday of John Lennon, who was born on October 9th, 1940. But Villagers, and those who love the Village, have a special reason to celebrate the birth of one of the greatest and most transcendent popular musicians of the late 20th century.
…what a long, strange trip it’s been. On August 26th, 1970, an electric lady was introduced to the rock and roll scene on 8th Street in Greenwich Village. Ushered in by none other than Jimi Hendrix, Electric Lady Studios at 52 West 8th Street was built to provide Hendrix with affordable studio space that would […]
