Summary: All this week on Soundcheck, we're taking getting all nostalgic for New York music in collaboration with New York magazine, which this week is presenting their annual "yesteryear" issue -- this year, focused on New York City music. And we've asking listeners which decade you're most nostalgic for. (Call us at 866 939 1612, or leave a comment below.) So far, we've had Jody Rosen on the songwriters of the 1920's, and Lane Brown on the '60s and the Bob Dylan-era Greenwich Village folk scene. Today, New York magazine's Jennifer Vineyard talks to Soundcheck host John Schaefer about being most nostalgic for the New York music of the 1970's -- and specifically CBGB, a place she was much too young to visit in its heyday. Vineyard points to bands like The Ramones and Talking Heads who not only got their start thanks to performances at CBGB, but have songs that reference the beloved, but now-shuttered club. "There were all these great bands that were in their beginning stages at that point, and they were just figuring out what they were doing." Vineyard explains. "And they were trying things out on stage for the first time, and sometimes arguing with each other on stage about what song they should play next. The Ramones have all these 'I Don't Wanna' type songs -- apparently they don't want to play the 'I Don't Wanna' songs on stage sometimes. And they would just top the set and argue with each other." Vineyard also points to Debbie Harry of Blondie, who was able to experiment with her persona and antics on stage and see what worked. "Debbie Harry was figuring out what does she want to do to rip her to shreds," says Vineyard. "And so she tried this wedding dress that she apparently had -- like a tear-away wedding dress. She would tear off other people's clothes, she was just trying to figure out what should be part of the set; 'How am I a performer?' This is a new thing for her."
