“In the late 1970s, the “greatest city in the world” was teetering on the edge of total chaos. A failed economy, crime and en mass housing corruption gave way to a city in crisis. Yet out of the economic and social strife that held the “Big Apple” hostage, a family of homegrown cultures that would forever change the world began to emerge. Downtown Calling not only documents, in detail, the evolution of New York City’s fertile music and art subculture during this period, but how its collective output continues to play a prominent, driving role in the international fashion, art and music industries today.”

Thanks to Jon Moskowitz’s retweet of Gak City’s post for putting me onto this, looking forward to getting the chance to check it out. I’m so fascinated with this time and era since I was able to catch glimpses growing up…

Although at the time I was living all the way uptown in Washington Heights, and only five years old, 1977 was a year that was indelibly emblazoned on my mind. I was just beginning to know the difference between my ass and my elbow, but still impressionable enough to remember so much that went on in the city throughout that year. Everyday I would see The Daily News and New York Post on my kitchen table and their sensationalized covers, learning to read by sifting through it’s pages. I’d listen to my parents discussing current events and what was being said on the nightly news. My developing mind’s curiosity would make me ask questions and in their best way they would to try simplify things to make me understand or shield me from the harsh realities that were truly going on.

I was mainly oblivious to the squalor, but I remember there was a distinct and different vibe back then. Our city was literally bankrupt, corrupt and extremely polarized. There was a mayoral race that included Mario Cuomo, with the winner being Ed Koch, both of whom would go on to be integral parts of New York’s political scene. Crime was really, really rampant; there was a gang epidemic, we had a serial killer nicknamed the “Son of Sam” who had the city shook and a blackout in the Summer that led to widespread looting. All of these events and elements were leaving the city close to shambles. At the time, the rest of the country including our President didn’t seem to care if New York City fell off the face of this earth.

Through it all, New York City showed it’s resilience. After a tumultuous season the Yankees won the World Series in dramatic fashion, lifting the city’s spirits like the team was carrying us on their back. And while New York was decaying, it also began to go through a transformation reflective of all the angst and energy of its people.

I was too young to experience all the cultural aspects, but I do remember hearing my first Hip Hop record during a student ‘show and tell’ in my kindergarten class. Never heard anything like it in the world, which left such an impression on me. My sister who was eleven years older than me and going to high school at Music and Art would tell me about her friends and experiences. Mind you, I had no idea nor did I care, I just wanted to watch cartoons and play on my Big Wheel. She would later confess to me that I was sort of her ‘therapist’, telling me all kinds of things knowing full well that I was absolutely oblivious and didn’t understand. I can recall her telling me about her friends like Ricky Powell, showing me pictures of Andy Kessler (R.I.P.) and the original Zoo York crew skateboarding. She’d show me her black book with pieces Zephyr and other artists made for her and when we’d ride the train together, she’d point out tags and top-to-bottoms done by friends she knew. It was funny to get the opportunity to meet some of the friends she’d told me about when I was much older. I’d introduce myself telling them I was her younger brother, which led to surprised responses, but little did they know that I looked up to, and had respect for them just from the ‘urban legends’ and stories my sister told me.

As I got older and things began to make (a little) sense to me, I would live vicariously through her especially since I moved to Staten Island and she was still living in Manhattan. She’d tell me stories of what was going on downtown – the scene, the music, the people, the culture. I can vividly remember one night when she and her boyfriend (now my brother-in-law) took me to Hotel Amazon (for those who remember on Suffolk and Rivington Street) in 1980′something. It wasn’t the first (or last) time I was in a club waaay underage, but that night a couple of local punk bands played, and when their set was over, all of a sudden DJ Red Alert took to the stage and spun a set till the wee hours. It was amazing to see the diverse mix of people from different genres and lifestyles all together in one place, it’s a feeling and image that’s unforgettable for me, forever holding a place in my mental timeline. In a way I was unknowingly witnessing history and the future at the same time. There would be many more ineradicable experiences like these that helped shape and inspire me, keeping me fascinated with the culture and its permeating influence to this day.

Now I’m not trying to claim that I’m “down” or cooler than thou because of my stories. There are many, like those featured in the film, who are the purveyors of the Downtown scene and more ingrained in the cultural fabric, but these experiences are mine, and in a sense, Downtown was calling me too, just like it did for others and will continue to.

So as much as this post relates my experiences to the theme of “Downtown Calling”, it’s an “ode” to my sister, who I still look up to to this day and absolutely grateful for her “putting me on” after all these years.

One night Last week Rachel and I were walking down Eldridge Street, and from three blocks away we could see the bright set light up the sky. From a distance you could see the multiple rows of lit-up, red, chinese lanterns strewn across the buildings. As we got closer, it looked as if the entire set was sparkling and shimmering like stars falling from the sky, it was an amazing thing to see up close, as if we were experiencing the ‘magic’ of making movies firsthand. Every curious passerby stopped to look in amazement at this very magical looking set and my pictures below can’t even come close to conveying what we were all seeing take place in the wee hours. Although I haven’t been a fan of Nicholas Cage’s recent movies, I am intrigued on how “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” will be received at the box office, and how this will translate and look on-screen when it does get released in 2010.

I subscribe to Bob Lefsetz’s email mostly for the shits and giggles I get reading his constant critique and blasting of the current state of the music industry, at times he can be very insightful with his observations, but in one of last week’s emails he wrote:

“As for Record Store Day…How laughable is that.  If you’re salivating over this, you’re living in 1990, and hoping we go back to 1970. Record stores are dead. As dead as your Apple II. Some will survive, as dealers in antiquities and tchotchkes, but essentially everyone will buy online.”

And although he may be half-right, I don’t particularly agree with calling the effort laughable. This is going to be Record Store Day’s third year and many labels are creating special rare releases for various genres on 7″, 12″s and CD’s for the thousand plus independent retailers involved globally, not to mention the hundreds of artists performing and having ‘in-stores’ to support the cause.

Like many, the record store meant a lot to me when I was growing up, especially the independents, eclectically curated by it’s staff with what they were listening to, the indie record store staff were always extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the music they listened to and the artists who created it. Record stores and those who frequented them are part of a subculture like no other, the experience at the stores is almost as important as the music, I remember being the curious kid always checking the various NYC (and outer borough) record shops always searching to find music new and old, digging through the bins, finding both popular and obscure bands’ albums, singles, b-sides, live recordings and DJ mixtapes. I’d study the different albums’ artwork and visuals, listening intently to the depth of their sound on vinyl, loving the crackle coming from the speaker when the needle hit the record. I remember visiting stores like Other Music, Record Runner, Downtown Music Gallery, Jammyland, Dance Tracks and Finyl Vinyl to name a few, listening and finding out about different genres of music or going to Bate Music on Fridays to get the next Tuesday new releases before most. Sadly, many of these spots are no longer, but these indelible experiences that they provided me will have me out to support the movement on April 18th.

To end this off, I also want to applaud Bob Lefsetz for later posting a response to his email by Record Store Day’s co-founder Michael Kurtz, a part of which read:

“…We aren’t claiming that we are the saviors of the music biz, but we are doing a great job with what we do. And, just as importantly, we are having fun. Remember what that was like? If we could get a hundred other music biz people to take this approach, instead of hyping Irving Azoff’s latest Wall Street-like-move, or Wal-mart, or Apple, or Google China, or whatever the latest nonsense of the week is, we’d all be in a lot better shape. Now is the time to get behind the artists. They are the stars. They are the creators. Find the ones that suit your taste and do all that you can do to make them shine. If you can’t do this then my suggestion is to please do us all a favor and be quiet for awhile. There’s too much noise and negativity already. It’s time to be appreciative about music and the very special people who make it, as well as the fans that love it. That is what record stores do and what Record Store Day is about.”

Well said…

For more info about Record Store Day in your area go to http://www.recordstoreday.com

Capone and me "shooting myself in the foot"

I’ve been seeing some recent posts on Capone-N-Noreaga promoting the upcoming release of their third album, “Channel 10″, which leads me to this photo that I dug up from my archives.  Back in March of 1999, while I was working for TRACE Magazine I got offered the opportunity to interview Capone  for a Queensbridge-themed music issue.  Mind you, I wasn’t originally hired as a writer, I handled ad sales and marketing, but with such a small staff I got the fringe benefit of being able to ‘wear different hats’ while I was there.

I remember the day vividly, it was such an indelible experience for me to get an ‘official’ tour of the historic QB projects from one of its very own and being able to see and experience the neighborhood that inspired and spawned so much talent.

Suffice it to say, I’m not that good of a writer, hence my short lived career and to even further add insult to injury, the story ended up being dropped from the issue!  Hahahahahaaa…

Fast forward seven months and now I’m working for Triple 5 Soul, (Yes, I mentioned it as 555-Soul in the previous post, because it was totally different then.*) and DJ Soul was music editor for Mass Appeal. (R.I.P.- Patrick Elasik)  He was trying to close his first issue, so I asked him to consider the story for an upcoming issue and joked that if he wasn’t going to run it I would be left with no choice but to drop Mass Appeal from Triple 5 Soul’s ad plan!  I guess he took me seriously because he ended up running the piece and it was the first story in the magazine only four pages in from the ad we ran on the inside-cover-spread.  I’m joking…I don’t think that was the reason…Regardless, I’m just glad he ran the story and gave me a shot.  Thanks DJ Soul…

You can read the story below:

Colin Sutton, Raymond Roker, me and Ruslan Karablin @ 432F - 1992

Raymond Roker posted this picture on Facebook recently in an album titled, “A Time Before Digital Cameras”, which evoked fond memories taking me back seventeen years.  Wow, seventeen years, I doubt anyone in the picture knew at the time, but looking back now, the first 432F trade show could be considered a seminal chapter in streetwear and its culture. This was the first time streetwear brands like 555-Soul, (Ludlow Street days) SSUR, Subware, Pervert, HAZE, ConArt, Label, Greed, Tribal, Mankind and even Ecko were showing their lines.  In the following seasons Futura 2000, PNB Nation and Obey would show, as would many others; in a sense 432F paved the way for trade shows like Agenda today.

It’s also great to see that everyone in this flick is still doing their thing, growing and evolving, being true visionaries and pioneers; all of whom I have the utmost respect for.  In future posts I hope to be able to reach out to everyone in the picture to get their thoughts and insight on the changes and seismic shifts that have happened in our world and culture since.  Back then, we were just a young, creative, independent community brought together through a network in a time before the internet, a time before digital…

Thinking back, it was last New Year’s Eve when I bumped into Jon Shapiro, random considering I hadn’t seen him in a couple of years and here he is in the madness that ensues on the streets of Manhattan just after midnight.  Shipes said he’d been on his grind making moves such as bringing Sean Kingston to Epic Records and in the process leveraging an imprint deal for his label, Cinematic Music Group.  He also mentioned that he was signing Devin The Dude to an indie label, Razor and Tie, which baffled me since (I thought to myself, “Wait, didn’t you just say you signed to Epic? and) I knew Devin had been on Rap-A-Lot for his entire career. We laughed about some buffoonery that took place the last time we saw each other, exchanged numbers and that was how 2008 began…

After that chance meeting he offered me the opportunity to consult and project manage the marketing and album packaging for Devin The Dude, which I was psyched about because for one, I’m a fan of Devin’s and second, throughout my career I’ve (sort of) been on the peripheral of the music industry, but never had the opportunity to work directly in it, so here I am with my first hands-on gig and it’s an ideal one at that. Ideal because not only is Devin one of nicest, most down to earth artists I’ve met, but I also got the chance to meet, and work with a bunch of talented and creative people on this project, which I’m absolutely grateful for.

I’ll elaborate more on the project and the people in a later post, but for now, it’s a brand new year and although I didn’t have chance meetings this New Year’s Eve, I’m looking forward to what the future brings…