It is with heavy regret that I report Hilly Kristal has passed away of lung cancer at the age of 75. For those of you that don't recognize the name, Hilly was the owner/operator of the infamous CBGB nightclub and widely seen as one of the father figures of the American punk rock scene. For nearly 33 years his club was the incubator for generations of New York punk rock bands including the Ramones, the Dead Boys, Agnostic Front, Madball, H2O, and the list goes on. Many icons of the music industry got their start in that dark, seedy little club at the corner of Bleeker and Bowery such as Blondie, Pattie Smith, the Talking Heads and the Velvet Underground. Performing within its dank, flyer-encrusted walls was something musicians would brag about and they even had a saying - "once you play CBGBs you know you've arrived". CBGBs has  served as a mecca for east coast punk from 1973 until last October when it was forced to close due to a longstanding rent dispute Hilly had with the landowners. I flew to New York on business last October, knowing the club was to close soon but unsure of the exact date  -  I was 2 days late.  I remember the doors being open early in the morning on the day I arrived and employees were selling off the last remaining souvenirs, T-shirts, shot glasses, ect. There were 20 or so people milling about the front sidewalk area taking pictures and whatnot, in an almost silent vigil for a glorious period in their life that had come to pass. As I started to recollect all the shows and good times spent with friends at this historic venue an uncontrolable feeling of loss seemed to come over me. They allowed me to walk in for one last look around and as I climbed onto an empty stage where once stood the likes of Joey Ramone, Henry Rollins, Roger Miret, Duane Peters and virtually every musician I looked up to my heart broke. Now almost a year later, much like a husband who can't seem to get over the loss of his wife who's died before him, Hilly Kristal joins his famous club in the anals of punk rock history and my heart is broken once more.    God rest your soul Hilly  -  you will be missed.

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