i just heard that ‘liquid liquid’ will be performing at the detroit electronic music festival. if you don’t know liquid liquid, well, not to sound presumptuous, but you should.
there are a lot of good reasons to go to the demf, but seeing liquid liquid would, for me, have to top the list.
liquid liquid were a part of a scene in the late 70’s and early 80’s in new york city that never really had a name. you could sort of call it ‘no wave’, but that doesn’t do it justice.
it was a scene based around a bunch of kids in bands making really sexy and atmospheric dance music. the groups central to this scene have never received the recognition and acclaim that they deserved. esg, liquid liquid, the bush tetras, polyrock, konk, suicide, and so on. i get very nostalgic reminiscing about manhattan in the early 80’s, even though it was a world in which i was only very peripherally involved. but suffice it to say, it was an amazing time in music.
and i’ve written about it before. in fact, if looked at from a broader perspective you can almost see manhattan in the mid 70’s to early 80’s as a crucible wherein most of todays musical genres were born. hip hop, alternative rock, punk rock (yes, punk rock started in america, it’s not even a point worth arguing over, and let me put this to rest once and for all in this parenthetical statement. punk rock started in america with the velvets and the stooges, and then was further developed by the new york dolls, the heartbreakers, the dictators, the ramones, etc.
punk rock was almost over in nyc before it even began in the uk in 1976. i love punk rock from the uk, but it did start in america. the 2 seminal events in punk rock history in the uk were the first ramones tour and the forming of the sex pistols. and the sex pistols were put together in large part by malcolm mcclare who had just returned from new york where he had been managing the new york dolls. there. issue put to rest. the uk punk scene was phenomenal, but it happened after the punk rock scene in new york had already ended. thus ends my longest parenthetical diatribe. thanks.)
ok, back to new york from the mid 70’s to the early 80’s. during this period in manhattan you saw the birth of hip-hop (kool herc, afrika bambaata, grandmaster flash, grand wizard theodore, etc), punk rock (heartbreakers, ramones, the dolls, etc), alternative rock (television, talking heads, the feelies, etc), contemporary dance music (larry levan, david mancuso, johnny dynell, etc).
it’s just amazing to me that these 4 genres, hip-hop, punk rock, alternative rock, and contemporary dance music, that still dominate contemporary music, were all born in 6 years on one small island (manhattan).
and if you’re going to be petulant and take issue with this theory, please do your homework and get your dates right. i’m not saying that the music that came out of manhattan during those 6 years is better than the music to come out of other places (i would actually rather listen to the clash or the buzzcocks than most nyc punk bands), but it is amazing, from an historical perspective, that 4 genres that still dominate contemporary music all arose from dirty nightclubs in manhattan during the same 6 year period (oftentimes the same nightclubs, like danceteria).
but for all of the bands who justifiedly received tons of attention (blondie, talking heads, the ramones, etc), there are so many remarkable bands who never received much attention at all. and liquid liquid were among the best of the bands from this period who never received much attention. so if you’re at the demf, go see liquid liquid.
it’s 21 years later, but apparently they’re still amazing live.
thanks,
moby
