Ritz (rock club)

The Ritz was a New York City rock club in the 1980s.

History

The Ritz was founded in 1980 by Jerry Brandt on 11th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. Formerly a ballroom known as Webster Hall, The Ritz still retained some of its previous incarnation's Art Deco style. As a venue, it focused primarily on live performances, often of newer acts, but also featured dancing. The Ritz was one of the first clubs to incorporate video into the club experience. In its heyday, top acts including Tina Turner, Madonna, Eric Clapton, Guns N' Roses, Prince, Sting, KISS, B.B. King, Slayer, Parliament-Funkadelic, The Cure, The Residents and 10,000 Maniacs performed on its stage. In 1986 it became the home to Chris Williamson's "Rock Hotel" club. Many bands such as The Ramones, Dead Boys, Bad Brains, Leeway, Exodus, Venom, Death, Agnostic Front, U.S. Chaos and The Cro-Mags appeared there. Mainly due to concerns over their liquor licence, they relocated to the larger 254 W.54th Street, the former home of Studio 54, in 1989. The 11th Street location was reborn as a dance club, reverting back to its original name, Webster Hall.

Public Image Limited

The club received national attention after an antagonistic performance by Public Image Limited on May 15th, 1981. The band was more interested in creating performance art than giving a traditional concert. To this end, they appeared onstage deliberately obscured by a projection screen and played their records through the club's public address system while playing entirely different music onstage. Taunted by lead singer John Lydon (formerly of the Sex Pistols), the Ritz's unhappy patrons rioted, throwing bottles and garbage cans, and pulling on the video screen that covered the front of the stage. [http://www.fodderstompf.com/GIG%20LIST/rit81.html setlist + Sounds review/pix of Pil @ The Ritz.] [http://www.furious.com/Perfect/pil.html Ed Caraballo's account of Pil @ The Ritz. ] [http://www.geocities.com/rstevus/pil2.html Rolling Stone review + other remiscensenses of Pil @ The Ritz.]

On Record

* MTV aired a series of concerts "Live from the Ritz" on Saturday nights in the 1980s.performers included: Gene Loves Jezebel, the Cult, Nik Kershaw, Smithereens, Eurogliders
* U2 performed their first live show in the United States at the Ritz on December 6, 1980.
* Depeche Mode made their American debut at the Ritz in January 1982.
* Ozzy Osbourne recorded "Speak of the Devil" at The Ritz in 1982.
* Iggy Pop recorded "Live in NYC" at the venue in 1986.
* Bo Diddley recorded "Live at the Ritz" with Ronnie Wood in 1987.
* Guns N' Roses recorded a full concert for MTV in 1988.
* White Lion made a television recording at the club in 1988. This concert was released as the second disc of the 2007 compilation The Definitive Rock Collection
* The Dictators recorded a few tracks at the club in the early '80s, eventually released on their live album "New York, New York".
* "Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight?", the only live track on the Misfits' "Walk Among Us", was recorded at the Ritz in 1981. Parts of "Evilive" were also recorded there in 1981.
* "Memories Can't Wait" from the Living Colour EP "Biscuits" was recorded live at the club on April 22, 1989.
* Little Steven (aka Steven Van Zandt) filmed a concert in 1988 for broadcast in Japan at which Bruce Springsteen made an appearance.
* Great White recorded a full concert for MTV in 1987.

Notes

Sting made his solo debut at The Ritz "Dream of the Blue Turtles" was not yet released. It was in March 1985.

External links

* [http://squattheatre.com/article04m.html 1980 New York Times club scene article] [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40915FF3A5F12728DDDA10894D0405B8084F1D3 After Politics, There's Rock, Disco or Pop Clubs to Visit; Rock-Disco ... ] ]

References