Jesse Rifkin

Jess Rifkin details the people and places of the music scene in New York City from the 1950s to near present. He also notes the impact the music has had on the city. From the folk scene in Greenwich Village, the club/disco era in Soho and other areas, the giant clubs, anti-folk, rock clubs, punk clubs – he covers it.

Max’s Kansas City, The Loft, CBGB, Mudd Club, The Knitting Factory and numerous lesser-known venues are here. Bob Dylan, Madonna, Beck, Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, Real show more Estate and many musicians and groups that never got big are here.

The various music scenes clung to the city and avoided Brooklyn until rent became too high in Manhattan in the 2000s. “Brooklyn was both dangerous and boring: It was where you could be mugged, but it was also where your grandma lived.”

This is not only a story of music, but also one of real estate, changing neighborhoods, economics and gentrification. How low rent in undesirable areas attracted musicians and how rising prices drove them out. How people who paid a lot of money to live in neighborhoods that became cool because of live music didn’t want to live above it once they moved in. “The gentrification of the music scene follows the same rules as the gentrification of real estate.”

A truly impressive and enjoyable book. show less